I have some recent problems with my wrist which leads to my 44 mag being painful to shoot. I have been thinking of switching over to My S&W model 10 (4" barrel) and using the buffalo bore loads for deer under 30 yds . Any thought how effective these loads would be at this range? I am really accurate with this pistol to this yardage.

Looks like it reproduces the .38/44 load meant for the old N-Frame S&W Outdoorsman Model, which steps on the heels of .357 Magnum performance. It was considered adequate for deer at close range at the time.

They ought to work just fine at those ranges. A 158 gr bullet doing 1100+ fps is .357 Magnum performance for all practical purposes. One of my fellow LE buds carries them in his J-Frame BUG, but he doesn't like shooting them very much for some reason.

Odd that performance out of two different six inch barrel revolvers is so divergent.

1255 fps -- Ruger GP 100, 6 inch barrel, 357 mag.
1186 fps -- S&W Combat Masterpiece 6 inch barrel, 38 SPL (circa 1958)

Why should the longer chambers in the Magnum produce that much more (or any more) velocity with the same load?

My K frame 10 has the heavy barrel which in my experience keeps the recoil down a bit more. my other option may be to go too 44 special loads on my 44.

Better option.

That's just variation in barrel/cylinder gap.

And/or forcing cone size and depth. I have 2 M-29’s that are identical in every way except the size and depth of the forcing cone and one is from 50 to 80 FPS (depending on the load) faster with the same Ammo on the same day.

Don't know about your state, but 38 Spec. isn't legal for deer here.

In Kentucky, any centerfire pistol or rifle cartridge is legal for whitetails. I'm having a long slide 25 auto built.

Why not just load the 44 mag with 44 specials? IMHO a 230-250 gr cast bullet in 44 or 45 cal at 800-1000 fps is much better choice than the hottest 38 special load.

Put the bullet through the vitals and the deer will most certainly die 🦌

There is no gun big enough (unless it fires an explosive warhead) to guarantee a clean kill on a deer with a bad hit, and almost no gun too small (unless it says
"Daisy" on the receiver) to prevent a clean kill with a good hit. .22 rimfire rifles have harvested hundreds of thousands of deer (mostly illegally) over the years.

If you wait for a good target angle and put that BB .38 Special load through the chest cavity behind the shoulder, you will have a deer to gut and drag out. It might run 75 yards, but it will be lying there waiting for you.

American Indians often hunt deer with .22 Long Rifle using a lung shot.

That makes sense. Kind of an expansion chamber effect with the larger cone.

You mean shooting BB ammo from a standard .38 Special? Really?
Maybe the deer where you live are small and weak and will go down easily.

How about this...sell off the .44 Magnum and replace it with a Glock 40 6" barrel 10mm which will have FAR LESS felt recoil than any .44 Magnum, yet is fully capable of delivering 800-900 lb-ft of KE to a deer!

Exactly what is wrong with shooting BB ei splc. ammo from a 38 splc revolver? He doesn’t need to go to a different pistol or caliber, what he has will work. I do agrees that a larger diameter projectile is preferable, the 44 mag loaded down to 1000 fps would not recoil much and be very effective.

Foot pounds of energy is not what kills, penetration through vitals is what kills.