you will be happy with any xtp bullet. my fave is the 200gr

 

I love the XTP in the .44 and the .444. They are devastating on deer out of a .444. I have seen deer killed with them for years by my dad, uncles, brothers and myself. They work. I can't give you any first hand experience on deer out of .44 But I know they work well.

 

I use 240 grain XTP's over 18.5 grains of 2400 with a Win LP primer for my hunting load. Starline brass is my first choice,but I have used Win brass. It's not a top load,and I don't own a chrono,but the deer and a few pigs,and 1 fox,all died on the spot. This load is very accurate in both my 1894's. I get 8 full power loads,then relegate the shell cases to low velocity cast bullet loads. The primer pockets are still tight,and visually the cases look fine.
You never stated your powder charge,but at 1600 fps you will not have any trouble killing deer. I sight in 3" high at 100 yards,so I'm on to about 140 yards. I'm iron sighted,so pass up shots I'm not comfortable with. A scope sighted rifle will kill with XTP's at 200 yards or so,if the bullet drop is known. Your shots will most likely pass through. An excellent hunting bullet.

Rob

 

I've harvested quite a few mule deer with the 240 gr. XTP out of Marlin, Rossi and H&R carbines. Have never recovered a bullet on any of them, all pass throughs. Most have dropped on the spot, one hit in mid-leap, landed facing the way she came from. The XTP will work very well for you. DP

 

Not the bullet I use, but should work very well. Did some 1894 testing a few years ago which included the 240, 200 and 180 XTP into soaked paper that included a piece of plywood to simulate a bone. Anyway the 240 and 200 worked well, with the nod to the 240 for greater penetration, the 180 failed to penetrate deeply enough to indicate a pass through on deer was a given (in my opinion). Having always used a 240 soft point, noted was the various 240 HPs created a larger wound cavity, the cavity was produced earlier than the various 240 SPs, and overall depth of penetration while about 20% less than SP was certainly more than adequate for deer.

 

An interesting site, he has some useful info about many rounds.

What you always wanted to know... But were unable to test yourself! The Box o Truth

 

Lots of folks swear by them . I use a 300gr in my muzzleloader and wouldn't shoot anything else.. For deer 240's would be more than adequate. I'm with greymustang.. I've only used soft points in 44 mag with great results on deer and hogs..

 

I've killed deer with it in 44mag. Last one was a big rascal about 40-50 yds. Never had one go down any faster. Performance was good. No exit as it was quartering toward me. Best I recall I had two wound channels. I have a friend who has been using the deep curls in his with good performance there also.

 

The Box o Truth interesting site, think I finally figured how I will spend my time when I retire.

 

Thanks for the input guys! I've got a partial box and wanted to try them in the little rifle, worked up to 20.5gr which is a grain below max in the Hornady manual and groups just decided to fall into place with this load. Any more would be completely unpleasant in the SBH.
Now I just have to find a couple more boxes for practice till season starts, as we all know it's been hit/miss for availability but I find Hornady bullets at Walmart fairly often.

Happy hunting gents.

 

I shot some 300 grain XTP's out of my 1894 44 mag yesterday and could not beleive my eyes at the remaining builet which was pulverized in the medium. The medium was hard packed sand and hard packed dirt. Both shots went about 2 inches into the medium and blew to shreds. I know this is not a good medium and it is rough on bullets but I was a little surprised. I was thinking I would find a nicely mushroomed bullet but at around 1800 fps it was like shooting a brick wall. The dirt pile and sand pile had been sitting out in the weather for a couple of months and were plenty hard. I have no doubts that the closeness which was around 30 feet and the hardness of the medium contributed to the destruction of the bullets. I will not make that test again.

 

I forgot to say that when I shot into the dirt pile I hit a big rock which probably contributed to the destruction of the bullet. Please don't say that the bullets are not designed to shoot thru rocks. Ha. I love XTP's.

 

You think those XTP's are good try the 265 JFP's.
Yawsuh those shoot good and hit like the hammer of Thor.

 

When I had my 788 Rem bolt action I tried some of the 265's and they were very accurate but I always worried about expansion in a 44 mag but probably don't need very much with the 265's. I may give them another try in the 1894. What powder are you using if I may ask?

 

I use Lil Gun with those 265's. That stuff works wonders with any bullet over 240 gr. That said I also use 2400 but I do not like H110 with them. H110 works like a champ on the "standard" weights around 240 but I prefer 2400 or Lil Gun when the weight goes up.

 

my recipes always have w-296 pushing the pill out of the barrel. talk about horsepower!

 

HS.. I think you will like the 300 grs.. just make sure they don't say for magnum... those want expand at your velocity.. Just try a different target /media. They are deadly on deer and hogs.. Never recovered a bullet..at any angle I shot from.. CWT

 

We use the 300s with 23gr of H110

big, heavy, and fast

 

I like XTP's and have used them in my muzzle loader with success. One deer was spine shot as it was running and it blew a softball size chunk out after hitting the bone.
I worked up a 300 grain XTP load for my 1894 but the harder I push them, the faster the groups open up. I have not tried the 240's in it yet but 230 cast is showing great promise. I cant push the 300's fast enough for what I want in a hunting load with acceptable accuracy. I would not hesitate to shoot an XTP at anything walking in my neck of the woods.

 

Not arguing - just curious - but why would you need a lot of speed for a deer? You thwack him with a 300 gr pill and he's going down even at 100 yds.
I found that reducing my loads for 300 gr is the trick. I get 'em down range at around 1,400 fps and it's all good.

EDIT: Assuming you hit it where it'll do teh best good of course.

 

A last years hunting story... setting over a rape food plot in south west Tn on the muzzleloader hunt.. heard something coming.. it stepped out.. Dang yote! he squatted and done his business right there in from of me. He stood up and scratched dirt over it like a big tush hog he thought he was.. wagging his tail.. That just ran all over me... here it was right at dark and he was looking for deer.. Dropped the cross hairs right behind the shoulder at about 30yrds. Booooooom! when the smoke cleared all I could see was his tail stickin up out of the rape like a antenna. It slowly drooped. The story is to me ... no matter how thick the animal is and yotes are thin. When something.. deer ... hogs .. bear ... gets hit with that big fat bullet they go down or are just a short distance away. 90gr of pyrodex powder.. 300 gr xtp ..it is a 45 cal but that want matter compared to 44 cal.. Pull the trigger and go get um .. :eating: CWT

 

The 265 flex tip is a viable option for a heavier expanding 1894 load, shots well enough, and expands/penetrates very well, at least at fifty yards. I could not get the 300 XTP to expand much, if at all at 44Mag speeds, but is my long standing choice in the 444.

 

The 265 flex tip is a viable option for a heavier expanding 1894 load, shots well enough, and expands/penetrates very well, at least at fifty yards. I could not get the 300 XTP to expand much, if at all at 44Mag speeds, but is my long standing choice in the 444.

??? I tried the 265 in a dummy .44 Magnum case back when I was messing with the rubber tips, I could never get it to feed in the 1894, was too long, even with cutting the carrier stop back. Did you trim your cases back? It did fit in the Redhawk's cylinder, so that's what I've done with the rest of the box. It's really meant for the .444, I'd use it in that if it were legal where I hunt.

Stan S.

 

I needed a few things around the house so I made a trip to Walmart after work. Scored two boxes of 240gr .44 XTPs. :tee:
I'll be going to a gun show next week, Hopefully I'll find some of the 265gr soft points to try out too.
Look out Bambi! Deer season is coming.

 

I recently added a 20" 1894 in .44 magnum to the herd. It's really liking a load with the 240gr XTP over Alliant's 2400 in Winchester cases. The manual says this should be around 1,600fps from the little beastie and I'm wondering how the XTP holds up at carbine velocity on whitetail deer. AS a side note, these sound like a capgun from the carbine but had a family four shooting positions down from me ducking for cover when I touched them off in my 4 5/8" SBH this afternoon.

What's the consensus on the XTP? I don't know that I'll have time to get a better mold than my Lyman 429421 and the Hornady's shoot much better than the cast bullet. If there aren't any horror stories about the XTP's they may well go hunting this year.

Thanks!

I used XTPs for several seasons in the 1894, I never lost a deer with them. I no longer use them in the 1894 because one grenaded on me with a tough shot through some heavy bone. IIRC, it was from the rear, went through one rear leg bone where it disintegrated, the empty cup ended up in the opposite front shoulder joint, dropped out when we were dressing the critter out. I had it kicking around for awhile, don't know what happened to it. Was just about flat. Spent a long time picking lead slivers out of the meat. What I then went to was the Nosler 240 gr. JHP. These had the advantage of being much cheaper, at the time, $25/250. Both bullets cost about double what they were then. Both work about the same on broadside shots and spine shots. I had another snap shot with the Nosler, bored a 1" hole through the pelvis back to front, took out lungs and heart, ended up in the front just under the hide. The cup still had lead in it above the cannelure after all of that, was about 1" dia. Have that one around somewhere, too. That's the sort of bullet performance I want.

You get what you can for components these days and XTPs WILL work for broadside and spine shots. The cost isn't an inconsiderable item with me, I'll put a hundred or more hunting loads through in pre-season practice.

I still use XTPs in the Special and Magnum revolvers, I particularly like 180 gr in the Specials. I've never gotten 200 gr and lighter bullets to group with the 3 1894s I've developed loads for. YMMV

As I've posted before, I see no need to go heavier than 240 gr for thin-skinned critters like whitetail. I think the "heavier is better" idea started with the handgun steel shooters, they definitely needed more momentum to move their targets. Bigger bullets take up powder room, the trajectory droops a lot more, just aren't needed in the 1894, at least for deer IMO. I'd go lighter if they'd shoot straight. A 240 goes through side to side and most of the way through from either end. Don't see how a heavier bullet is going to improve on that.

Stan S.

 

I recently used my 44 mag carbine on a hog at about 75 yards. I loaded the 240gr XTP over 23.7 grains of W296 for a velocity of 1735 fps. Hog ran about 10 feet and piled up. The bullet was recovered and had separated jacket from the core but expansion was good.