The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Handgun hunting bullets: cast, jacketed, or mono

ligonierbill · July 2, 2017, 07:21 AM

I am more of a caliber freak than a handgun hunter, but I might give it a try if I can get my shooting up to par. Right now, I'm having fun getting some revolvers to "all that they can be". I hunt Pennsylvania mostly, so revolvers only.

What is your opinion, or better, experience with jacketed HP or SP, cast and monolithic bullets for big game?

From a paper punching perspective, I have had good results with 158 Hornady XTP and 140 Barnes XPB in .357 Mag. I was a little disappointed in 180 Cast Performance (seemed to lose more velocity than I liked), but maybe I didn't give them enough of a chance.

For .41 and .44 Mag, I have only loaded 210 and 240 JHP, with good results. For whatever reason, I never tried anything else. Should I?

The .45 Colt (Blackhawk) has only seen cast, with one exception. I tried a published "Ruger only" load with 300 Hornady XTP, and sure enough, it ran 1,200. But it seems sacrilegious. Cast up to 360s work well.

As if that weren't enough, I am fixin' to test 325 XTP and 410 Cast Performance in a .480 Ruger Super Redhawk. There are fewer bullets available in .475, suggestions welcome.

I have read a lot about the virtues of big flat-nosed cast bullets for game. I have seen very little about the monolithic bullets in handguns, although many, myself included, have seen good results in rifles. I guess the XTP and Gold Dot bullets are standards for a reason, but I haven't seen a lot of comparison among all these. What are you shooting?

July 2, 2017, 07:21 AM	#1
ligonierbill Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Posts: 2,454	Handgun hunting bullets: cast, jacketed, or mono I am more of a caliber freak than a handgun hunter, but I might give it a try if I can get my shooting up to par. Right now, I'm having fun getting some revolvers to "all that they can be". I hunt Pennsylvania mostly, so revolvers only. What is your opinion, or better, experience with jacketed HP or SP, cast and monolithic bullets for big game? From a paper punching perspective, I have had good results with 158 Hornady XTP and 140 Barnes XPB in .357 Mag. I was a little disappointed in 180 Cast Performance (seemed to lose more velocity than I liked), but maybe I didn't give them enough of a chance. For .41 and .44 Mag, I have only loaded 210 and 240 JHP, with good results. For whatever reason, I never tried anything else. Should I? The .45 Colt (Blackhawk) has only seen cast, with one exception. I tried a published "Ruger only" load with 300 Hornady XTP, and sure enough, it ran 1,200. But it seems sacrilegious. Cast up to 360s work well. As if that weren't enough, I am fixin' to test 325 XTP and 410 Cast Performance in a .480 Ruger Super Redhawk. There are fewer bullets available in .475, suggestions welcome. I have read a lot about the virtues of big flat-nosed cast bullets for game. I have seen very little about the monolithic bullets in handguns, although many, myself included, have seen good results in rifles. I guess the XTP and Gold Dot bullets are standards for a reason, but I haven't seen a lot of comparison among all these. What are you shooting?