Just an Opinion

Just an opinion and worth all the money that was sent to me for it. After questioning others, AND myself about heavy for caliber bullets I kinda think that if I need a bigger bullet than
240-255 grain in my .44s I'll just go to a bigger gun, as in my
.454. Not that I'll ever need bigger than the 255 gr. (hardcast) in a .44, it seems as though it would be more than enough for whatever I may encounter/hunt, especially in KS and MO. Going out west to the mountains may be a different story, I would gladly pack a little bit bigger gun knowing the most likely I have enough, both gun and bullet. Maybe I'm wrong, just an opinion. Thanks for the money

I have always been of the opinion that one should match bullet weight to bore diameter. When you go too heavy for caliber, pressure rises as case capacity decreases. It is better to move up in caliber, IMO

Does that mean using the bullet weight that was designed for the specific caliber, 240 for .44, 158 for .357 etc??

More or less, those are proven weights for caliber. I'm not saying you can't go heavier and I do it myself, but I will generally stay within 15 - 20 percent of those numbers, much more and I am moving up in diameter. JMHO

Your opinion / conclusion is sound. I've been operating that way for years. if I want heavier I go to a larger caliber. Example for my loadings:
.44 mag 240 -260 gr.
.45 colt 300-325 gr.
.454 300-360 gr.
.475 375- 400 gr.
If you don't have it then you should get it, Max Prasac's book "Big Bore Revolvers" in it he discusses heavy for caliber bullets.

Nothing wrong at all with a 300 gr 44 bullet. I dont find them excessive but ive never had a 265 beartooth fail on anything this far

Fact is, they're ALL more efficient with heavier bullets. No reason to constrain them to "standard" weights. The stanard weights work fine on deer or similarly sized critters but there's no doubt that the heavier bullets work better on the bigger ones. For those one gun/one load guys, the heavy bullets work perfectly fine for everything.

I load a lot of hardcast flat nose bullets. What I generally strive for is the most accurate bullet/weight I can achieve in the 1100-1200 fps range. Most of the time it is not the heaviest bullet for caliber. Sometimes the load I settle on depends on powder availability.

I'm in the heavy for caliber camp myself. I flat out LOVE the accuracy I get out of the 335gr 45 Colt. Same with the 440gr 500JRH. Not sure if that one would be considered "heavy for caliber", but I like it!

Guess I'm the oddball here. I use 240 grain bullets out of my 460, 150 grain bullets out of my 300 Win Mag Encore, and 58 grain bullets out of my 243 Encore. Haven't developed a load for my 270 Encore barrel yet, but it will probably follow that trend.

blanket statements without some additional consideration will get you down a path that may not yeild great results.

Heavy long bullets need to be driven hard in slow twist barrels or shot from guns with a faster twist. The 44 Magnum comes to mind think about the variety of rate of twists offered in different guns.

Light for caliber at higher velocities from handguns have proven to be just as effective as heavy for caliber it really depends on the task and the gun it's being shot from.

I will say this placed properly either type of bullet category will harvest game quickly and cleanly.

I think about the many deer I have taken with a 220 swift 52 grain X Bullet at 3950 FPS all deer shot in the boiler room DRT.

Then on the other end is my 475 355 grain WFN CG at 1100 FPS all animals dropped within sight.

I have to respectfully disagree. Light and fast works fine on deer as does heavy and slow. Deer aren't particularly hard to kill as they are narrowly and lightly constructed. Fast and light, however, is a recipe for disaster on big game, where penetration is at a premium.

When did this happen and by whom was it proven?

I'm not a ballistics expert and I don't play one on TV either, but even I know that a light and fast bullet won't be as effective on big game as a big, heavy bullet moving at the appropriate velocity. I don't think a 180 gr .44 Magnum bullet moving fast would have much effect on a grizzly bear, except to piss him off and add you to his dinner menu. There are exceptions to the rule however, like shooting him through the eye before he licks your remains off of his lips.

Exactly.....

The 180gr in the 357mag will work on grizz but is a different critter in 44mag, not so great

Who is doing the testing with the light bullets? Please include pictures.

Depends on the bullet. A light ceb solid going fast works on about anything. But yes whitworth covered this well in his book i believe. A 325 out of a 475 imho is t as good as a 360 out of a 454. Just my opinion though. Same way a 370 out of a 500 isnt is good as a 400 out of a 475. But a generalization. Highly dependent on bullet type

Nothing wrong with them and I have them for the .44 and still have some for the colt, even though I have about sold all of my colt guns and don't shoot the ones that I have left. I just don't really have a need to use them as there is really nothing around that requires the penetration, to justify messing with them.

However, I do shoot a few in the .454...mostly at paper.

But, if ya like'em...choot'em.