Hunting with cast vs. jacketed

[glw]

I'm new to handgun hunting for deer and planning to start casting in the next month or so. Could someone give some real-world experiences between the type of damage done by a jacketed vs. cast bullet in deer?

The three rounds under consideration are 44 mag (180 or 240xtp), 357 mag (140xtp), and 357 max(140xtp). I understand that jacketed sometimes won't expand, but under ideal conditions what sort of wounding could I expect from both the jacketed and the cast on deer?

Thanks for your help.
Glenn

[jhalcott]

glw, cast bullets kill some what like an arrow. By bleeding out the deer quickly. They CAN be made soft enough to expand or hard enough to penetrate an elephant's skull. I've used the .44 mag to kill a few deer with cast bullets. Also a couple with jacketed ones. Both types killed the deer quite well. The cast bullets I used in the 44 were 240 grain swc,gas checked and fired at about 1200 fps.Complete pass thru at 75 yards was normal. The jacketed bullet was a Remington soft point also at ~1200 fps. The bullets seemed to cause MORE meat damage than cast bullets at the same distances. I would use the 357 MAX instead of the 357 mag for deer with cast bullets. I have used a 14" contender in 35 Remington to kill some deer with a 200 grain bullet. You can get real close to those ballistics with the MAX with heavy bullets. While I KNOW the 357mag CAN do it ,I think it is a marginal round when range gets longer, or deer get bigger! I tend to err on the side of caution, though. To sum all this up, ANY shot put in the CORRECT place will kill the deer. You will never forget the feeling of taking your first deer with a boolet YOU made!

[Blammer]

check out this thread, I have a pic of the deer I took with my 357mag and a cast boolit.

[Blammer]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=25299

here it is.

[jeff223]

my first cast boolit kill
357max teamed up with a 35cal Ranch Dog boolit
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cf02b3127cceb03cb64fcf8900000026101AZtWzlu4csU
my 2nd cast boolit kill with the 35cal Ranch Dog boolit
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc01b3127cceb26a7aa113c200000026101AZtWzlu4csU
here is a recovered boolit and a nice unfired Ranch Dog boolit
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7cc38b3127cceb26672d5d69100000026101AZtWzlu4csU

ive killed deer with the 180 grain Hornady XTP too and they work great.the 180 grain XTP does alot of damage.i push both the Ranch Dogs and the XTPs as fast as i can

[Old Ironsights]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=25299

here it is.

Nice hole... I must have cast this C358180RF out of Plutonium for it to detonate like this at 110yds...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/MrMisanthrope/IMG_0534.jpg

I was able to recover this one though - 50yds(ish).

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/MrMisanthrope/IMG_0538.jpg

Mmmmmm. Jelly...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/MrMisanthrope/IMG_0570.jpg

[glw]

Thanks for the help. That is what I am looking for. If anyone else wants to chime in, I'm all ears!

Glenn

[Thumbcocker]

There are lots of others who have more handgun hunting experience than I do on this sight but here goes. In shooting 4 deer, 1 coyote, and 1 hog with .44 boolits my experience is that you don't get spectacular results unless you hit bone.

If you hit shoulder, neck, or spine you get a DRT or close to it scenerio. Otherwise it is the classic Keith style big hole in big hole out dead critter 30 or so yards away. The loads have been 250 grn Keith boolits both solid and hp's at about 1200 fps.

Last year's buck was first hit at about 65 yards and kept walking my way with his tail down. He did look over his shoulder wher teh boolit that passed through him hit the hill beyond him. I shot him again at about 30 yards and he moved slowly uphill, bedded down, coughed a couple of times and expired. Both shots were high lung rib hits. I don't usually aim for the soulder because I hate to waste the shoulder meat (good jerkey) but if you want to avoid a tracking job you might be willing to risk some meat loss.

A hit near the junction of the shoulder and neck where the neck curves down will drop them in thier tracks but can be hard to make if you are excited. I always go for the lung shot and am willing to trail a little but I am hunting on family land and am not too worried about theives.

In reading Sixguns it seems that the critters usually walk a little way before they bed down when hit in the ribs.

Maybe some of the more experienced revovver hunters can give us more information.

[cattleskinner]

Here are a couple of deer that I got last fall using a muzzleloader, and a Lyman 454424 out of a sabot. Used 80 gr. Triple Seven powder and didn't find either boolit.

~Amos:drinks:

[glw]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. The information is very helpful.

Glenn

[trickyasafox]

Thumbcocker-

I never even thought of someone stealing game. I just can't imagine that conversation! Thankfully I've never had an experience with that- even though I'm sure it happens far more than I realize.

I'm just starting to get into pistol hunting myself- this year I took out a 15in 7mm-08 encore- and to be honest- I think it was more than I wanted. It's a great barrel that shoots well- but I think something shorter is in order for me. I'm in the works now for a 10in 44 mag barrel- I think that'll fit my needs a bit more.