Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 265 ftx in .44

I'm trying to search for this and not having luck.
I mistakenly bought some Hornady pointed 265 ftx bullets that are used in the 444 marlin thinking I could use them in a Ruger 77/44 bolt rifle that only shoots the .44 225 ftx bullet accurately, but I wanted more weight. As you probably already know, it is too long. And needs a special seating stem for the pointed part not to get crushed. Before I buy the stem, let me explain what I did: I noticed that the .44 spl case and the 265 bullet are the same length as the .44 mag case and the 225 bullet (for feeding). So I loaded some 265's in the .44 spl case over 18.3 gr of 296 and got 1450 - 1500 fps. No sticky bolt or flattened primers. (18.5" barrel I think, 97 degree day). Feeds great too.

Now finally, the question. Will the bullet work at, say, a 1300 - 1400 fps impact velocity??? It is supposed to be pretty explosive at 2000 fps out of a 444, and I'm mushing the nose (jacket is just starting to open) just seating the bullets in the case.

Anything else I'm not thinking about???

The 225 ftx factory loads are a dollar apiece. They chrono about 1775 fps in hot weather. I killed a 160 # buck (live weight) with a neck shot and it didn't exit.

I don't actually know this will be as accurate (mushed noses right now), but I'm hopeful.

Thanks in advance,
Von

Nobody helped me out here for whatever reason, so I'll pass along the response from Hornady tech dept: 1750 fps is min impact velocity for "adequate bullet performance."

Von Odenwald,

Even if those bullets don't expand they are going to leave a large hole in flesh because they are already large. They should perform about as well as any semi-wadcutter, and a lot of knowledgible people are proponents of semi-wadcutters. I would not hesitate to hunt with them. Just keep them in the vitals like any other bullet. Good luck!

You are right, but I don't think I'll buy the seating stem since I'm so far under the ideal velocity.
If they would blunt up to about .50 cal, they would be ideal for pigs and really big deer, but I'll probably sell them to a buddy with a .444.
It was a thought, and a pretty interesting project, though.
Von