I hunted Michigan's early antlerless season on a client's farm this weekend. Brought the Redhawk loaded w/ 300 gr XTPs pushed by a near-max load of H-110.

Early yesterday morning I shot a little doe at about 20 yds. I hit her a little higher than I intended (I like a shoulder shot) but her lungs were pulvarized and I found her about 75 yds away.



The 300s were left over from a feral pig hunt in Texas and are a little tougher than I would choose for this purpose, but even so I was surprised by the lack of expansion. This is a pic of the exit:



Has anyone run the 225 LeverEvolution bullet through a deer? I was kinda thinking about scoping this revolver and running those as fast as possible to get the expansion I like on deer.

Thoughts?

efw,

Congratulations on the wheel gun deer!
That 300 gr is a tad heavy for expansion on deer unless you hit some big bone. Never the less, it worked very well.

I shot this doe last year with my S&W 629 Classic loaded with Nosler 240 gr JHP and 23.5 grs H110. She quartered away at 65 yds and I hit her in the back of the rib cage. The bullet exited behind the off shoulder leaving an exit wound the size of a quarter.

JD338

Im wondering if you had that 300XTP seated to the rear cannelure or front? If to the rear you could push that bullet up to about 1385 or so over 25grs 296.

Yeah I always seat em in the rear. IIRC I ran only 19 gr of H110 which is the same as 296, and that is listed as max in the book?

I think that Brian guy who writes on revolvers for Wolfe Publishing did something on HEAVY magnum loads for the Redhawk/Super Redhawk. I set that one aside for future consumption, but still don't think that 300 gr XTP is what I want for deer.

Have you hit a deer w/ one loaded to the ultra-max like you're describing? Milk jug even?

Nice doe there JD! You da man!

I woulda guest you'd be running Noslers... are those the ones you can get in packages of 250?

How'd your early season go? Your daughter whack one?

I took Samuel out this morning and we didn't see anything, then butchered mine from yesterday. Brought it home just before noon and had the pan heated up and home made BBQ all ready before 1! WHEW HA!

Kids LOVE IT!

Hate to be the bearer of bad news so to speak, but the max with the 300XTP seated to the rear cannelure is, according to my March 92 Shooting Times article on the 10.9mm Ruger magnum, 24grs H110 & 25grs 296 for velocities of 1340 & 1387 respectively, you might be getting 1050 with your load. This pic shows a SSK 330 hardcast seated to the rear cannelure with 22grs 296, velocity:1400fps. Only paper targets with this bullet, havent tried the 300XTPs since I have the 330 SSKs.

Congrat, Eric. I've been totingsaw along a Redhawk just yours for years in hopes of shooting a deer with it, hasn't happened yet though. I usually load a Remington 240gr SJHP over 24grs H110.

The only animal I ever shot with the 300 gr XTP was an average blackie that I killed with a frontal Kennedy shot, worked very well. Maybe a bit too well actually. I was using a rifle, and impact velocity was right around 1,500 fps.

I haven't tried the Hornady flex tip you asked about. Seems like I remember something about some special case prep required due to the length of that bullet. I'll check my Hornady manual when I get a chance and confirm this (or not).

Hodgdon lists the 19 gr load as max.

I bet that 330 grainer would be da bomb on the heavy stuff like griz...

I think I'm gonna have to try some heavier loads w/ the JHPs JD is running...

I can tell you one thing, its not really fun to shoot, it really rocks, just ask my son, he's not fond of it either.

Nice deer. Your experience with the XTP pretty well mirrors mine. The 300's, and the 240's.

I tried alot of different jacketed revolver bullets in my life. And my expansion was inconsistent at best with them.

I just shoot my cast 240 grain bullet now. I can play around a little bit with the alloy in order to get the expansion I want on the game I will be hunting.

I hunt deer with a 240 grain bullet cast from straight WW for the 44 magnum, and 45 Colt. And I use about 20.0 grains of 2400 in both cartridges. I usually get expanision of about 80 to 90 caliber. Plus they are a whole lot cheaper. Tom.

Hi Rich. I'm kind of new to handgunning and the bullets to use for which game but have taken a cow elk and a heifer buff with hard casts out of my Redhawk 45 Colt. While they penetrate well, they effectively acted like solids and both animals while taken were not dropped as quickly as I would have liked.

I plan on hunting whitetails this winter and have been loading and shooting the Horn Leverevolution 225-gr because I'm looking for something a lot "softer" than I experienced above. However, in plinking with them (~ 1200 fps) they seem to have the toughness of an tossed aspirin and a SD not much better in 45 cal. Many have come apart shooting into soft wood at about 25 yards.

That's to say I would have guessed that the horn XTPs to be about right for deer.

I have not shot a doe, haven't even put the cross hairs on one yet. Several close encounters for my daughter. Had a fawn 7-8 ft from the blind and mama was 20 ft away.
My daughter is loving it. Tomorrow will be here day!

JD338

Good luck to her. Be sure to let us know how she does.

Will do.
I gave her my M700 Classic 257 Roberts and she shoots it well.
The deer are there and are within 50 yds. Its just a matter of time for her to get on one. She has been practicing getting on a few squirrels and her confidence is soaring.
I can't wait to post a picture.
BTW, she wants to rifle hunt the UP with me this year!

JD338

My son and I have been using the 44 mag LE for the last few yrs., for hunting whitetails here in Indiana. Granted, we are both using rifles, but the 225 gr. LEs have done a number on them. We've yet to hit a deer with them, and the deer got away. Blood trails are usually great, but over 1/2 of the deer were DRT. We'll be using them again this year.


maddog

Thanks guys. I have to give a small word of explaination here. I was atop a hill when I shot her, and the picture shows the exit, so you can imagine that the entry was a lot higher.

Iron sights get harder and harder for me to use the older I get... its a combination of diminishing eyesight and an addiction to the precision I get from rifles and scopes.

I'm excited to try something a little more frangible in an effort to get a nice big blood trail at the very least. Those 225 gr LEs seem like just the ticket for explosive expansion!

Thanks again,

efw

PS- I fried some up in olive oil and my 5 kids gathered around me to enjoy it on Saturday afternoon. They're as excited as I am to have meat in the freezer!!!

That's for a short 1.6" cartridge. What's the OAL for your long seated ones?

I load them at 1.743" OAL. My SuperBlackhawk loves em.

Honestly never paid much attention; they're just short enough to let the cynlinder function.

I'm going to run these for the rest of the season, plug the rest into milk jugs for expansion testing, then use the hotter "Ruger only" numbers to build something running a 225 LE or 240 JHP of one type or another. That'll give me the "splatter effect" I'm looking for.

Thanks again all,

efw

I'd go to the 240 for deer too, but you can spice up that long seated 300 a good bit over 19 grains of H110 when you want to pop a big hog or whatever.

Unlike the small percentage difference everyone gets all atwitter over when stretching the 257 Roberts to 3" long, lengthening a 44 mag round by .130" or so really does appreciably add to the ballistic potential.

efw, I've seen evidence of good "splatter effect" (good, descriptive term ) when using Remingtons' 240 gr. SJHP. It's a very soft bullet and expands readily at impact velocities produced by pistol length barrels. I've loaded them in my .44 mag rifles too, but they are a little too frangible for my tastes at those velocities; depending on the particular rifle I'm using it's not too uncommon to see approx. 300fps more from my rifles than from my 7.5" Redhawk.

FWIW, my recent edition Hornady reloading manual lists 20.1 grains of H110 as max for the 300 gr. XTP.

Listed OAL?

I'll double check when I get home and get the book in my hand. I'm aware that this bullet has 2 different cannelures and I've used both seating depths in the past. IIRC, the manual didn't specify seating it out to the longer length at this charge, I did look for that info and will look again in a little while.

OK, Hornady's 8th edition gives the following info for the. 44 magnum:

All loads listed are maximum!!!

Rifle data-Hornady/Frontier case, Winchester large pistol primer(does not state magnum), 300gr. XTP bullet, 18.4grs H110 for velocity in the 1,400fps range from a 18" barreled Ruger carbine. COAL-1.600"

Pistol data- Hornady case, Winchester large pistol primer, 300gr. XTP bullet, 20.1 grs. H110 for velocity in the 1,200 fps range from a 7.5" Ruger Redhawk. COAL-1.600".

Also listed is data for the .44 Magnum in the T/C Contender; Same components, max charge H110 under the 300XTP is 19.8, getting things into the 1,400 fps range from a 14" barrel.

Oh yeah, almost got scolded from one of the Hornady techs about seating the 300s to the rear cannelure, but if you can get a few more grains of powder in the case with the same pressures as what was it, 20.1grs and get more velocity, I say do it, it worked well with the 330SSK type Penn bullets I load.

What was their problem?

The best bullet I have found for all around deer, hogs etc. is the Remington 240 grain HP over 23 grains of H110. It gives me a bit over 1,500 in a 10.5" Blackhawk and a bit over 1,700 in an 18" barreled Marlin. It always expands well and really hangs together. 1.5" 100 yard groups are the norm. I have yet to destroy one. I have shot them into all kinds of stuff and critters. I haven't recovered one in game yet and they always leave a good 1" exit hole with LOTS of internal trauma. They go through trees really well too Flinch

Congrats on the baldy. My XTP recipe for such things, includes the 200gr version over 22grs of 2400, from a 6" M629 Smiff.

No issues with either penetration or expansion, yet.