Has anyone used any of the following Hornady bullets in a hunting situation:

- 44 Cal .430 240 gr HP XTP
- 44 Cal .430 265gr InterLock
- 44 Cal .430 300 gr HP XTP

Did they perform well? What type of game were your pursuing?

Deer for all three. 240 did best because of better velocity.
Note: In .454 300XTPs did not get complete penetration on most angled shots involving bones or great amount of abdominal contents. Would expect same with .44s.
Broadside shots do fine.

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder how it would perform on elk with a broadside shot.

I use the 240gr. factory loads for deer,very accurate and excellent performance in my Raging Bull.

On the one brown bear taken with 300xtp the shoulder shot only made it half way through but the second neck shot busted the spine. Did not have to shot twice when using the 320 JDJ bullets all the way through every time.
The XTP's were loaded 25gr. 296 using bottom crimp grove in 9 1/2" RSRH at way less than fifty yards.

The 240 did well on deer for me, the 300 did as well. I never used them on anything heavier.

I have used the 240 XTP for quite a few deer in 44 magnum revolvers. Great bullet. I have shot the 300 but not at game. I would choose the 300 XTP for any game over 200 lbs. Bear, big boar, Elk, etc.

X2

used 240 xtp hp on axis and sika deer. complete pass through on both. short blood trails. both shot behind the shoulder from about 75 yards.

I also use the Winchester 240 gr sjsp and have killed (4) deer with them all pass thru one shot kills. I have killed two other deer with the hornady 240 gr sjhp with the same results. Of the six deer taken the shortest shot was eight yards and the longest was 75 yards and they all passed thru and killed with one shot. The furthest any of the deer ran after the shot was about 100 yards and they all left good easy to follow blood trails. Three of the deer fell without taking a step.

I shoot a Ruger Redhawk with open factory sights.

Michael

I didn't have a chance to take many animals with .44 since I am predominantly caring my .454 but I was testing XTP and Gold dot in water jags and it might give you an idea what you can use 240 XTP for;
XTP HP 240 grs went through 3 jars (18" in total), expanding to 17 mm (0.67") keeping 93% (223 grs) of initial weight
On the other hand, Speer Gold Dot stopped at the end of 6th jar, expanding to 13.7 mm (0.55") with mass retention of 100%
Having this in mind I use in my Desert Eagle 240 grs XTP HP as a first round while tougher Gold Dot I keep for 2nd/following shot(s)

The XTP is a fantastic bullet but personally I would question it's use on game such as elk and bear. I would think a hard cast bullet would be called for for use on elk and bear, both are big, solidly built animals where penetration over expansion would be needed.

In the 44 Mag., both the 300 gr. XTP & the 300 gr. Speer FP would work great for most game one would want to hunt with the 44. The 280 & 300 gr. Swift bullets would also work great. In the 454, the 325 gr. Swift A-Frame has cleanly taken Cape Buffalo. If deer sized game is what you are going after, any 240 gr. bullet will work fine.....that is if the shot is true.

300 grainers are nice. I like 240 soft point too