180 Grain Hornady XTP in 44 Mag?

[Reloader2]

Anybody care to chime in, yeah or nay?

[Ozzieman]

For what purpose?
I have used them in both hand guns and rifles.
Hand guns were ok in short barrels 5 inch or less since that’s all I own. In two rifles they were a poor choice for accuracy.

[Reloader2]

I don't know If this would be enough bullet for a deer load.

[Reloader2]

I just bought them because they were the only thing on the shelf

[iraiam]

I have shot that bullet weight before in a JHP, but can't specifically remember if they were Hornady XTP or not.

I much prefer the 240 grain weight in 44 Magnum, for both revolver and lever gun. I do like the 240 grain XTP.

[TimSr]

What are you shooting them out of?

If you sight in for 185gr bullets with a revolver, everything else will shoot super high. From a rifle, not quite as drastic, but still off.

240gr XTP is a super deer bullet.

[Mike / Tx]

I have shot several thousand of both the Hornady and the Sierra 180gr bullets back when I had a scope on my Redhawk. I had them loaded to top end and got many 1" to 1 1/2" groups at 100yds from a rest with them both. Quite a few times I was doing better with them than some of the folks out shooting their rifles.

I tried for several years to put one through a deer but never had one within the 50yd range I had decided to keep them under. I personally feel they would do great if slipped in behind the shoulder, but I would not, nor ever considered putting one through the shoulders.

[buck460XVR]

185 Grain Hornady XTP in 44 Mag?

When did Hornady start making .44 cal 185 gr XTPs?

[Ozzieman]

He is right, I have 180's

[totaldla]

Well I say "nay" because there is no such thing.

[Reloader2]

You guys are right as is expected to keep me straight. They are 180‘s.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I don't know If this would be enough bullet for a deer load.

Are these earth deer we're talking about or some sort of radioactive, mutant, zombie Martian deer? There's not a hunting-type bullet you could load in a .44mag that's "not enough bullet" for deer.

[44 AMP]

While I haven't used the XTP in .44 mag, I have shot a number of 180s. Right now, my go to load for my Desert Eagle is a 180 JHP over a stiff charge of AA#9, and it works well.

A long time back, my Dad, after taking a couple whitetail with the Rem 240s asked me if there was a .44 Mag load that wouldn't exit the deer.

If you can't take deer, even the big muleys, with a 180gr .44 slug, you can't take deer with anything. Now are 240 might be a better choice for some things, but the 180 will do the job if you can. If you can't, its not the bullet!

[mxsailor803]

I've never had too good of luck with a 180gr out of my .44's. They just seem to like the heavier bullets. If you can get good accuracy out of them, use them by all means.

[buck460XVR]

There's not a hunting-type bullet you could load in a .44mag that's "not enough bullet" for deer

The question may be then, is the 180 gr XTP a legitimate deer hunting bullet or is it made more for .44 special and SD/HD? According to Hornady, it's designed to perform between 750 and 1400 fps. While Hornady sells loaded .44 Special ammo using the 180 gr XTP bullet, they do not sell .44 mag ammo loaded with it. This tells me something. According to Hornady's manual, 1400 fps is just a middle of the road load for the 180 gr XTP. Pushing it faster than that with a legitimate hunting load, I'd want something a little less fragile, as I've seen the 240s break up when hitting bone when shot at carbine velocities. If you look at the BC of the 180 as compard to the 240s, you'll see the 240s would tend to be better the farther downrange you got also.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Considering that a good many folks hunt deer with a 125-158gr 0.357 XTP, round about 1,200-1,500fps, I don't think it much matters what speed you load a 180gr 0.431 XTP. Deer aren't that hard to kill. Their bones are not hard to penetrate. No doubt there are scenarios that make it look questionable, there always are when someone is trying to make a point.... but those are the very definition of the exception that proves the rule.

[WESHOOT2]

agree. deer are thin.

[BOOMST1CK]

CAUTION: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither the writer, The Firing Line, nor the staff of TFL assume any liability for any damage or injury resulting from use of this information. 180 gr xtp with 24 gr h-110 shooting out of a 6" 629. 1.6 col.
imr-4227 with this bullet I'm loading about the same, 24 gr.
I'd take on a moose with these loads let alone a deer, but like others said, the 44 likes heavy bullets. 240 gr.

Edit, just checked hodgdon load data sight, they have a start point of 29gr of h-110. I worked up to 27 gr when I had problems with flat primers, and stuck cases. Even 25gr has flat primers, and a healthy kick.

[black mamba]

The 200, 240 and 300 XTPs are considerably tougher than the 180s, giving deeper penetration with less explosive results, but the 180s still have a good reputation on whitetails. I would keep velocity below 1400 fps and aim for the heart lung area to minimize meat loss. I have a very accurate load with the 180s and HS6 for my 6" 629 Classic. To me it's more of an SD load, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on deer if that's all I had.

[buck460XVR]

Originally posted byBrian Pfleuger:

Considering that a good many folks hunt deer with a 125-158gr 0.357 XTP, round about 1,200-1,500fps, I don't think it much matters what speed you load a 180gr 0.431 XTP. Deer aren't that hard to kill. Their bones are not hard to penetrate. No doubt there are scenarios that make it look questionable, there always are when someone is trying to make a point.... but those are the very definition of the exception that proves the rule.

I agree, deer aren't that hard to kill. Still the OP asked, "Anybody care to chime in, yeah or nay? ". My opinion was not that 180gr HPs outta a .44 mag wouldn't work, but that I prefer something heavier and less fragile when used at legitimate .44 mag hunting velocities. Again, when a bullet manufacturer doesn't use a particular bullet in a caliber when making loaded ammo, even for general purpose, I assume they also think something else works better. Deer have been taken with a sharp stick. Not the best tool for the job but it works. Over the years in my line of work and in hunting, I've discovered that using the proper tools makes the work/hunt easier and of better quality. Because of this, in both scenarios, I attempt to use the best tools I can obtain and afford. If the OP has no other options than the 180s, then by all means go for it. But they would not be MY first choice for the reasons I mentioned before. Poorer penetration and poorer downrange performance than their 240gr counterparts. I've taken deer in the past with 158gr HPs outta a 6'' 686. But from my experience, they too would not be my first choice for a hunting bullet in whitetail and I would recomend a JSP over them to someone that asks for advice.

[madmo44mag]

I never used the XTP bullet in 44 mag to hunt white tail deer but I have killed my share of white tails with a 185 gn JHP out of a 44 mag.
At 75 or less yards they work great but out past that the performance drops off pretty quick.
I loaded them to 24. gn of 2400 out of a Ruger SBH with a 10 inch bull barrel.
They hit hard and penetrated deep.

[Real Gun]

I use those only for .44 Special. I am fortunate to have the 240 gr XTP for .44 Mag. No particular science here, but that's what the real magnum powder loads seem to call for in the Hornady 9th Edition. The 180 loads use faster powders.

[riverratt]

I tried them in my boys youth h&r with poor accuracy. I loaded them down to around 1700fps according to my load manual. After testing through wet pack at 50 yards the bullet expanded great but sheded alot of weight and penatration suffered greatly. If i recall right it weighed in around 140gr with paper left in it and only went in about 12".

That said if you do your part and place it behind the shoulder im sure it will kill a deer, but i would opt to keep the speed down or go with a heavier bullet. I have found that full house loads with the 200gr xtp do a great job out of my 7 1/2" sbh.

[bfoosh006]

The only thing I didn't like about the 180's in a .44 Magnum was the teeth rattling concussion wave out of my 4 5/8" Ruger. .... I think my fillings got looser from shooting them.

As for performance on deer, well... they will kill the deer... but make a mess out of a lot of meat. And I would only consider a broadside shot, since penetration will be limited ,because of the excessive expansion of the light weight bullet. XTP's are a tough bullet , but carbine velocities are excessive for proper performance with this bullet.