before i started to use cast exclusively, i used a 10.5" ruger sbh in 44 mag and 240gr xtp with a stiff, stiff charge of win296. it was going around 1550-1600+/-fps(?), i never chronoed it. i would kill deer at 15 -140+/- yards. it would expand quite nicely out to about 125+/- yards. but 140+/- yards it didn't do much, it went thru the doe and it didn't expand. now this was only 1 shot at 140+/- yards, so i can't reliably say the the 240gr xtp doesn't expand at 140+/- yards. the doe didn't care, she ran about 30-40 yards and then she died. i didn't complain either.
now i use a 5.5" ruger sbh in 44mag that is "doomed" to be a 44spl with a 250gr keith(coww with a smidge of tin) and 7.5gr of unique. i have killed deer at 10' - 53 yards(i have a laser range finder now). they are all one shot kills. i use a tc encore with 24" barrel in 444 marlin. back in the day(when my shoulder didn't hurt) it would go around 2300fps in a 275gr ranch dog(coww and a smidge of tin) with a stiff charge of rel 7 or a 280gr gc lfn with a stiff charge of rel 7 or h4198. the rd wouldn't go as far as the lfn. the rd would go 150 yards and then the accuracy fell off. the lfn would go 250 yards. i don't know about its accuracy, but it fell 2 1/2 - 3" at 300 yards. now i use a 280gr gc wfn with 25.5gr of 2400 with a tuft of dacron(i think it goes 1700fps, my chrono was destroyed by a boolit). i have set my limit to 150 yards using big bore rifles. i have seen bucks and does that go beyond my limit but i don't take them. i have another tc encore in a 24" barrel in 500 linebaugh with a 460gr gc lfn(22bhn, bought from montana bullets) and a charge of hs-6(around 1200-1300fps). that gun will go 125 yards, the extra yards aren't that important to me.
pardon me for say,(and i do) but there is a difference between bullets and boolits. loading a boolit will be a completely different ball game. i'm on the 15 yard line, i have 85 yards to go, 3rd down and 10 and the 1st quarter. this is coming from a guy that has 15 or so years using cast. heck, i use a cast iron pot and coleman stove to make boolits.