After 15 years os wanting one, I just bought a redhawk in 44 mag.with the 7 1/2 " barrel. will carry for whitetails in Pa. any suggestions on a hunting load to use? I dont handload. thinking Hornady XTP's in 240gr.

any of the various jhp will work just fine on whitetails at reasonable ranges. various people favor different weights from 180-300 gr. based on personal opinion and experience. i don't think you can do much better than the xtp....it's usually quite accurate and expands reliably at field velocities. by the way, welcome to the forum.

Welcome tothe forum Sureshot, & I agree with Bisleyfan at least in principle although I have no whitetail experience.

I don't know my sugestion is better then what is suggested above. But what I use in my SBH hunter is 240 grn jsp from winchester in the white box.

Hi there Sureshot--I use the Winchester Platinum Tip loads in both my 44's and 41's. The 44 loads are 250gr and 41's are 240gr. They are very accurate and recoil is very manageable. Only wish they offered them for the 45LC.

i don't use factory stuff, but would lean more towards tx44hunter's ideas if i did. hornady xtp's in factory oughta be good......but the much cheaper 240gr ammo by winchester or federal american eagle etc would be plenty o whitetail medicine and would afford much more practice for a reasonable price. i'd much rather pay $20+/50rnds.....rather than 20rnds

Hey
What part of Pa are you from ? I prefer XTP bullets , but you can't beat a 300-320 hard cast (preformance vs price)

I agree w/ KYODE...most likely any factory 240gr HP fodder will work well on whitetails. As long as the shot is placed right, the deer's internal finctions will cease! Bullet performance in the larger bore handguns is not that critical as long as the bullet penetrates deep into the right area.

I've shot several deer w/ a .44 Mag...but never with a 240gr slug. I've used 180gr HP, 300gr Keith style cast and 320gr from Penn Bullets and had great success.

I thank all of you for your welcomes, and am ejoying reading everyones opinions. I am going to be putting a lot of ammo through this gun, and cant wait to try the winchester and Federal offerings. When I was 14, My uncle was shooting his 44,357, and 22 in a field out back of grandma's house. I bugged him to shoot a handgun. So, guess which one He hands me?? He says "if you want to shoot one,..." and the rest is history. The 357 was a let down after the 44.

If you plan on doing alot of shooting try and get some woodchucks with that 44. I see you live in PA, should be a few around to practice on. They are about the size of the kill zone on a deer. The practice in the field will really help when out in the woods. Bench shooting is good, but field practice really helps when there is no solid rest.

I reload for my 44 and have really good luck with the 240gr pills. I have got a few charlies with the Rem 240gr SJHP. I would use the same load for deer.

good choice in gun. i havnt shot mine in about 4 weeks. weather has been bad and needed to scratch a few thing off the honey do do do do and more do list. that way i am free for hunting season. it is a fun gun to shoot. i would like to here how you make out with factory ammo. i'm still trying to find a hand load i like.

I have chosen those 250 grain Platinum tip Winchesters too, for my deer this year. I used the Platinum tipped shotgun sabots year before last, and they were excellent. That said, I am going to start handloading soon, (have the press, dies and everything...) I just need to figure the thing out. (I have been reloading all 4 shotgun gauges for years in competition skeet). Somehow, maybe that knowledge will filter through me as I try to figure out the dies and such...

Great choice in a gun. I hand load my own pills with 26.3 grains of Hogdon 110 behind a 180 grain Hornaday xtp bullet the recoil is easy on you and the accuracy is super. I have found that this more than enough for deer in my kneck of the woods. There is a great article by Dan Bowers on this site called put your .44 mag on a lightweight diet give it a read if you haven't already its got some helpful insight.