How fast is fast enough?

Suppose you have a 44 or 45 caliber handgun firing a properly constructed 240 to 250 grain hollow point bullet, and you're hunting white-tailed deer. Odds are, you'll want to push that bullet fast enough to expand properly and do its job. But how fast is enough? At what point does the gain in recoil and muzzle blast exceed the potential gain in killing power?

Why am I asking? Well, my particular 45 caliber fires a 240 grain bullet in excess of 2000 fps, but I'm not sure that's necessary for the deer around here.

I get 1,400 with a 250 in my 45 Colt and find that sufficient for my purposes. More speed will net a flatter trajectory, deeper penetration and a more significant wound channel but MN deer and bear don't really warrant it at the distances I usually hunt. That said, I am building a Striker that will push a 45 caliber 250 grain slug in excess of 2,200 fps. Why? Who knows ;-)

ln 1873 the US Army wanted a repeating cartridge handgun capable of penetrating a horse at 100 yards and killing an lndian on the other side. The 45 Colt cartridge was born..255gr @ 900 fps...Yes l think 2000fps is sufficient for deer

I find 1300 fps to be more than enough.

TN Lone Wolf, the answer to your question "depends". It depends on the jacket thickness, where the bullet hits, what it encounters, how large the deer is, and the angle of your shot. Deer are really not hard to kill and their anitomical make up doesn't make them really "tough". Is the recoil & muzzle blast worth it question, now that is very subjective. Is it worth it to have a 460 that will push bullets faster & harder than a 45 Colt? I say yes due to the "possibilities" that round offers, but there is no deer that will be able to tell the difference ;-)

I try to match the bullet construction to the manufacture's recommended velocity range.

dhom hit it right on the head.

Fire an expanding bullet well above it's designed velocity range and it is likely to come apart on impact.

You need to find the balance between speed/charge, accuracy, and weight. Somewhere within those 3 items is a sweet spot for each gun.

As long as the bullet expands and does not explode, you have a deer killing round in 44mag or 45 colt. A 240gr SWC does not expand at all and it has taken countless thousands of deer.

True, but some bullets like the XTP have a very wide performance window so I concentrate on accuracy first. With H110 that sweet spot tends to be at the higher end of the velocity curve and those bullets tend to work well in that range. One certainly doesn't want to outrun a projectile's capabilities.

so far i have only been able to smack a deer with a 240 xtp out of my 44 special going a blistering 1191 fps. it put the deer down right there. have not been able to collect one with my 45's and 250 xtp but that is on the agenda for this year. i dont see 1400 fps being unbearable in either gun, but have not been able to cram enough 110 in the 45 to get to that point yet. on a side bar, i use 210 xtps in a 41 magnum going somewhere near 1300 fps and it flattens deer like the hammer of thor. these days i mainly go for what load is accurate out of the gun i am using.

I have one to sell we could discuss.

I have 45 Super, 45 Colt & 460 S&W. All serve their individual niche. I run my 250 XTP's at 1250-1300 fps. Have yet to collect a fired bullet.