Hey GUYS, I'm new to the handgun hunting world. Decided to give it a try for the first time this year for deer season. Bought a ruger super redhawk in 44 mag. worked up a accurate load with a hornady 240gr xtp at about 1200fps.
Last weekend I was able to harvest a nice 4x5 muledeer buck, but was not very impressed with how long it took to expire. When I was shooting at it, you would swear that I wasn't even hitting it, not even a flinch from the deer. After about aminute or two the deer wobbled and went down to my surprise.
When I opened the deer up, I had hit him in the lungs with one bullet and in the heart with the other.I had full penetration through the chest cavity.
I guess I;m just used to my rifle where the animals expire very fast or on the spot, but my question is, Is this normal for handgun hunting? Could I be using a better bullet and get faster results?

It seems that you had excellent shot placement. You also had a very tried and true handgun bullet for the .44 Mag. XTPs are awesome. Sometimes game does goofy things that just can not be explained...seems as though this is the case.

I've taken five animals so far this year (three lope, one badger and one turkey) and the furthest one went after the shot was about 30 feet. Time from impact to expiration was maybe three seconds.

Like Dan B. said, sometimes goofy things happen. Next year I would give a good WFN or LFN hard cast bullet a try, with the type of hits you made I have always found the animal to expire in a matter of seconds.

I prefer the R-P 240 gr JHP for deer because it is a bit softer than the XTP, and yields greater expansion in deer sized animals. Greater expansion results in more tissue damage, which generally equates to more stopping power. I have probably killed 25+ deer in 40+ years hunting with the 44 Mag in both rifle and pistol, and 90% of those were with the R-P bullet. Without a spine, or neck shot, most did not simply drop in their tracks due to the lack of hydrostatic shock from the caliber's relatively low velocity. Although, few went further than 30 yards.

I run my 240 gr. loads at 1,400+ fps, which is pretty much max.. The additional velocity also boosts expansion, and might help with the XTP if you decide to stay with that bullet. Nothing wrong with the XTP. IMHO it is just a little tough in the 44 Mag for deer. The load that I use is 24.0 gr H-110, which is a book load and not excessive. It is also very accurate in most of my 44 Mags..

Welcome to handgun hunting & the forum, & CONGRATS on your buck!
I would love to see some pics of him if you have any.
As far as the bullet performance goes, what was the range at bullet impact? I think that bullet can be driven much faster from that gun between 1400 & 1500fps easily I believe), & I'm wondering if impact velocity was low enough that there was no bullet expansion. That would give you a rather ineffective bullet profile just pushing it's way through. I have no idea what the lower end opening velocity is supposed to be on that bullet. Just a thought.
Did it look like there was much tissue destruction or did it look like the bullet just "penciled" through?
Again, Congrats!!!

The lower velocity listing on the xtp is 900 fps.

It was a little on the lower end of the velocity range but not by much. What ended up happening was that without much expansion, your bullet performed like a hardcast. You got full penetration which is good. And the metplat on the xtp is similar to some of the swc used for hunting. It will work without much expansion.

For more spectacular results but not more dead, it should be pushed a little faster.

Sounds like he was just dead on his feet. If he had run a half mile after being hit it would be another story. I agree you can push that slug quite a bit faster, if you want more dramatic results. But, dead is dead, bon apetite.

Had a friend here that shot a moose with an '06 rifle at about 30 yds as it was walking past him. He was using factory ammo with 220s. Punched it in the chest broadside 3 times & he said it just kept walking. Finaly shot it in the spine & it fell. Autopsy showed all 3 right thru the lungs & did what they were supposed to do. Like Rod said, "Dead on his feet".

Interesting thread. I worry about velocity at target alot as I'm stuck having to use all copper bullets...

The distance to the deer was about 65 yards. The wound channel through the heart was big enough that I could insert my thumb in the hole and slop it around. Thanks for the replies guys!

Congrats on the mulie! But, you can't tell us about it and not show pic's...LOL

congrats on your buck ma be your next 44 kill will be kwiker all animals act deffrient to shots even with big bore 500 lol

Ive killed quite a few deer with various factory 240gr 44mag softpoints and hollowpoints. As far as I'm concerned, none of them "openend" up very much, if at all.
I have several boxes of 240gr jsp reloads, that are hotter, and I don't think they expand much more than the factory loads. Judging by exit damage.
My next round of reloads, I might experiment with some 200gr rounds.
Still as mentioned, dead is dead!

I shot a spike during the last minutes, of the last day of muzzleloader season. The round (180gr .40cal sabot), devastated the facing lower shoulder, carried bullet and lots of bone fragments through the heart, liquifiyng it, and broke the off side leg (which stopped the bullet flat). The wound channel was horrific.
The deer still managed to "scoot" 50yds on its sternum, due to its broken legs, with its rear legs kicking.
That far from a peaceful grazing stance, with a perfect shot.

I shot a another deer several years ago with a 44 spl 240gr hardcast that just kicked its rear legs when hit, like it was a bee sting. Then it continued to graze. After a few minutes, me on the ready, the deer just lay down, and drifted off.
The bullet went straight through the deer, both lungs and tipped the heart.
Virtually no blood loss outside either. So much for through-n-through blood trail.

Experience tells me, you just never know how they'll react to even a "perfect" shot.