I know everyone loves heavy hardcast. I do too. BUT, the one animal I have taken with one was a mid sized Alaskan bull moose. It was with my 450 Marling guide gun. 420gr at about 1850fps. While the moose died in a reasonable amount of time, I was not overly impressed. There were 2 solid chest cavity shots (through & through) that showed no effect (I knew he was dead, but he didn't), & I finally put him down with a spine shot above the shoulders. All of this was at around 100yds. I have been in on enough moose kills to know they have a habit of walking a ways when hit, but when it's downhill away from the vehicle I don't like that :-)

So that is my very limited experience. With that in mind, I have considered going to something like the Hornady XTP (400gr) for my 480 Ruger.
Critters I get to run across on a semi regular basis are moose, black bear, & brown bear.
My current load has a Lee 400gr cast from wheel weight material & water quenched at dropping at just shy of 1200fps as I recall (data not here)& is as accurate as I am.
Gun is 7.5" SRH with 30mm Ultradot.
Thoughts?
Even better, Experience

I personally feel those velocities are too high for a hard cast bullet. They are fine when operating well under those speeds. I have driven the 400 grain XTP to low velocities and while I have never recovered one, judging by the damage they apparently didn't expand. If they don't expand, they do a poor imitation of a flat-nosed hard cast bullet IMHO.

I've shot a bunch of deer with .475 400 gr. XTPs and as Whitworth said, they don't expand, just act like .375 solids (tiny hole and tiny damage). They probably would work better on moose and maybe a really big bear with all that mass showing some resistance to the bullet allowing some expansion. My PH in Africa wants it used as the first bullet followed by solids on Cape buff.

Vance, I have used the 400 gr. XTP quite a bit, in three .475 Linebaugh FAs at velocities ranging from 1150 fps to nearly 1400 fps. Although a .480 Ruger case wasn't used, I feel that some of what I've seen may be instructive and transferrable to the .480.

The animals taken include several large boars, bull elk, South American water buffalo, North American bison, and a couple of large black bears. Not all these animals dropped where they stood, and we shouldn't expect them to. But I rank the killing power as excellent.

Many bullets were not recovered, but of those that were, several showed expansion ranging from .690" to .830". One or two showed no significant expansion, but ragged edges.

I have also used hardcast 420 gr. bullets in 2 of these guns, including test rounds in .480 cases. My bottom line is that my favorite .475 bullet is the 400 gr. XTP.
I would emphasize however, that I would not use it for deer, the constuction being too tough for game that size.

I used a .450 with 420grs on this behemoth. The first shot snapped the giant leg bone, went through the lungs and disabeled the off side shoulder. Thesecond shot was in the aeorta and blood shot as far as 6' from the critter. That being said it is true that some critters don't know they are dead.

For 475's I find the barnes to be the best killers so to speak. Xtps work well for me and are a good budget alternative. They work well and are cheap. I think the citting edge are excellent as well

Another option would be CEB Raptors. I have used the light 220s and have some 280s loaded up for the next go-around. They also have a 340 grain flat-nosed solid that is great for really big critters. Keep in ming that these are mono metal bullets, so they are lighter than their lead-cored counterparts, but typically longer.

Nice animal Reflex.

Awesome water buffalo!

I .480'd my water buffalo to death last August. The load was the CEB 340 grain solid over a shot of Power Pistol.

Nice buffalo

Thanks a LOT guys.
I come with one choice. 400gr hardcast or 400gr XTP.
I leave with a half dozen choices!

Seriously, all food for thought.
I have about 100# of wheelweight alloy so I guess I'll probably stick to my hardcast load until I have a chance to prove on a game animal that it's not the best choice.
If I end up hunt black bear only over bait I may grab a box of Factory ammo with the XTPs.

One problem with the 400 XTP's is that they are discontinued.

Thanks Gary. I didn't realize that. A local store has 2 boxes (50ea0 fitting on the shelf for about $36 each but I don't want to get started on something I won't be able to get later.
I wonder what's in factory ammo now.

Well that settles that!

I had talked to Hornady earlier lastyear. They had only temporarily discontinued, so they could concentrate on the more popular calibers. Once production is caught up, they DO plan to restart production of the 400gr. XTP's.
That is unless plans have changed, and I'm not aware of it.

That is good news!

At 480 velocities I never could drive it hard enough to really justify using a jacketed bullet. Up the speeds a little to the mid range of the 475L and it starts to look better. Mash the gas to the upper end and then a little and it shines pretty good.

I love everything I've ever read about the .480, just wish the Toklat was made in this caliber?
Steve

I'd like to think that is true but it's wishful thinking

Yet another factor in my decision to go with the .454

I think Gary is spot on. The 400 XTPs are shown in the most recent catalogs and loading manuals as flat out discontinued. Unfortunately I think they are gone for good. Then to FA834MEs point, I personally can shoot a .45 cal a lot cheaper and more frequently than the 475 from a simple cost factor. With that said though, I wouldn't give up my 475s. Love them FA M83s.

What is the best use of the 400 XTP? Given the moderate velocities from a 480 Ruger revolver will they expand on medium game like black bear? I have plenty of hard cast 400 grain bullets to fall back on but hope for some expansion. If .512 for sure is a more reasonable outcome, my next big game bullet may be the .475 325 XTP or 420 grain .512 cast in 500 Linebaugh.

Redhawk, from my experience with the 400 xtp at 480 velocities you'd be better off with the 325 if you are looking expansion. But that said starting with a hole that size not sure expansion is necessary for death. Your 400 grainers you have on hand will work an at subdued velocities.

Vance, I would think twice about getting those 400XTP`s for moose. Took this Florida water buff using the 400`s. He is close in body size to your moose and when the first shot hit him his entire body gave a slight shaking. Never saw that before. The bottom line is he took a few steps and fell over dead. The guide had me put another bullet in him but it was not needed...
PS- a 100 of the 475cal. 400gr XTP`s will last a long time....

This is the 400gr. XTP recovered from the offside shoulder of the water buff.... As you can see the expansion is classic... The bullet lost its jacket and it was clear to see it struck bone, however, the hard lead kept its shape and lost 103.5grs which includes the jacket weight. The recovered weight was 295.5grs. Like Ken O`Neil said "its a good bullet".....

I'd say looking at that bullet James I'd venture a guess and say it was rolling at upper 475L velocities.It sure don't look like it was running in the low 12s but more towards Linebaugh velocities of 1375 and higher maybe even over 14.

The listed MV of the Hornady 475 LB with a 400gr XTP bullet is 1300FPS... The listed MV for this round at 50 yards is 1177fps. My shot on the water buff was at 40 yards, so with the 10 yard difference in range I would be surprised if my bullet had an impact velocity of 1200fps...The point being is that the perfectly mushroomed 400gr XTP that I recovered for my big critter did not need 1400fps to expand nor did it need 1300fps to expand. It did all its terminal damage in the 1200fps range...Its all in black and white on any box of Hornady 475LB w/400gr XTP ammo or their website. Nothing magical about the bullet...Its just good....

Yes once again you missed the point you are shooting,"The listed MV of the Hornady 475 LB with a 400gr XTP bullet is 1300FPS." Linebaugh velocities not 480 Ruger. That was my point,no one said it weren't a good bullet but you can't expect, nor will you achieve, that kind of expansion at 480 velocities.

Ever chrono'ed that load out of your long barrel? Bet it ain't 1300,even though that's the listed on the box velocity.

Nothing says more about a particular handgun bullet then it being used in the field. The 475 cal 400gr XTP from my 2 revolvers have taken quite a number of game animals. When used in my 5 1/2" Gallagher I prefer to use 480 Ruger cases as the kick can be quite stout in the short barrel Bisley. The load uses a charge of LILGun that gives a MV of 1184fps. This combination has taken some very large boar. The bullet performance is pretty much the same in either handgun....

James is right. The animals we hunt don't read the numbers on the box or chrono and die accordingly. Real world experience cannot be overstated. Personally, I draw from the collected experiences of the folks on the site to direct my own testing, etc.. Saves time, money, and keeps me from pulling out what little hair I have left.

Doc

Still missed the point James but we'll agree to disagree,because a bullet that sheds it's jacket and loses almost half it's original weight don't meet my criteria. And that bullet shot with max and a smidge above loads of H110 out of a custom 4"bl ruger by JRH,custom redhawk,or tarus raging bull, never gave much if any expansion on critters or any test I did. Must be the humidity in these parts,

The bull did not mail me the bullet to check its weight. It was taken from his dead body. For me, and that`s a BIG for me, the bullet did its job. You use what you want on your next test....
PS- Doc, Thanks for taking a stand. You got heart.....

Almost forgot to mention but I have taken over ten 200+lbs animals,
with this bullet in either 480 or 475 loads, to know that it works.
How many animals have you taken with this bullet to know that it does`ent work???

As moderator I would think your reading comprehension would be better. No where will you see me say it didn't work. I said it will not perform,i.e.expand at 480 velocities as well as it does at 475L. I have taken in a hunt several deer, under 200lb, a bear over 200, and help slaughter a few dozen top hogs in the 300-350 range. Don't be so defensive your opinion is not the only one. There are several other folks that have as much dead critter experiences.

OK bring back the popcorn.

Both of you hunters (james and cotton) are apparently experienced with the bullet in question and both of you have formed your own opinions on its performance on big game, based on your personal experiences. At this point there is no reason to continue as it is coming down to an argument, instead of exchanging experiences, IMO.

Thank you both for sharing; I believe most of us here have gained in knowledge from reading this post.

Let's leave it alone for now.