I have been hunting with a 44 mag 10 inch tc contender using hornady xtp 240 grain with 20.3 gr.of accur 9. My groups have been 1.5 @ 50 yds on paper ( on deer yet) is the hollow point the right choice.

tccongreenhorn,

Hollowpoints should be fine for deer. The Hornady XTPs are a good choice in 44. If your game is an animal that requires deeper penetration, elk, moose, etc., the soft point, Barnes triple shock, or Nosler partitions might be a better choice.

Doc

Depending on how fast you're flying them, they should be just fine for deer. If you are approaching Supermag velocity a soft point might be better. Use what shoots good.

HP's in your 44 should do great for deer, if larger North American game is in your future I would go to Swift A-Frames, Speer makes great bullets also.

Hornady XTP's have a very good reputation on deer, that 240 gr slug shouldw work great if placed properly. Good luck!

Dick

The 240 XTP, Sierra JHC or Speer JHP's will all do fine.

Bullet placement is the important key. Hollow points will work when properly placed. You might not get complete pass through which could limit the blood trail.
Good luck.

Ive shot many deer with hollowpoints AND softpoints in the 44, and honestly, cant tell they expanded all that much. Mainly Winchester silver box 240grain JHP for factory, various makes for my handloads. In barrels from 6" to 83/8".
Shots behind shoulder almost always.
Thats one of the reasons I started using cast Keith type bullets.
Actually I have considered stepping down to a 200-225gr jacketed bullets for whitetail, when I deplete my current stash of 240's and cast bullets.

Love the XTP in the .44 cal guns - yet to meet a whitetail that has shrugged one off!

I am a believer in wide flat point hard cast bullets for everything. I like the LFN's and the WLFN's they have never ever let me down from Deer to Moose and Grizz

Your getting great advice. Pick one and go with it!

I would call it a wash. Either will work well.

thanks for all your help. I think xtps are what I will stay with. I have 1 tag left and 1 weekend left for deer gun season hope to bag my first handgun whitetail.

I've used that XTP on deer and at 1800 fps, it will leave a nasty exit hole at 100 yards. The one that I remember in particular left a blood trail about a foot wide. They work well on deer as long as the placement is good

In the .44 Mag and Special, I have killed deer with XTPs, Sierra JHCs, SWCs, and Remington SJPs. They all work equally well, you just have to put them in the correct place.

I've only used 2 hollow points on deer & hated them both. Remington 275's that I think are discontinued & XTP's! I use the XTP flat point in my 45 Colt Ruger w/good results. 260 flat points in my 454. If I had to use HP's I'd retrict my self to broad side lung shots. I know I'm in the minority but I had bad luck w/penetration, w/300 XTP's in my 44 on 2 occasions. Gave them away & never used them again. I like hard cast. Especially when $$$ is a factor. A little expansion is good w/deer though.

I have taken many deer using shoulder shots with hollow point bullets and not had a problem. As far as cast goes, I don't care for expansion, with the .44 on up the bullet is "pre-expanded" by virtue of being nearly a half inch in diameter before it is fired. Even the .36 caliber cast bullets I've used performed well with no apparent expansion.