Originally Posted by venomballistics

these things still get messy ... don't they.
bullet composition, bullet construction, target medium blah blah blah blah .... all blind you to the brass tacks of the matter ... holes in paper, or metal in meat.
Does a paper target respond to bullet hardness? No .. absolutely not. A primer only propelled wax wad cutter can do that job just as well as a full house JHP load.
outside the range and into field application, things start to matter. However, not nearly as much as various ad campaigns would have us believe.
Would a deer shot with a 45-70 405G flat point fall over more dead from a 20 BHN bullet than from a 12 BHN? I don't think there'd be that much practical difference, and the results would likely favor the softer round.

My personal approach to the 44 magnum has pretty much book ended the OP's load out of existence on my bench.
for most uses, I favor a lighter bullet at higher velocity most of the time.
if there is a crossover velocity where bullets turn on the terminal upset ... its about 1250 FPS in my observations. In the 44 magnum, that is exceedingly easy to achieve with a powder in the burn rate range of unique and any bullet between 200 and 225 grains. it's a pleasure to shoot at 1250 - 1350 as it is lighter and more economical in the long run. it also does more damage than just poking a hole through things.
Full strength 200G XTP over H110 still holds a place of honor in the special collection. a 1500 FPS, the thing can grind some organ meat like few other loads can.

On the other end of the spectrum are the full house heavy hitters ... 270 - 300 grain, 1100FPS or more. Here we trade off terminal upset to favor penetration.

in between ... the classic 240G gets outdone on either end and fades to extinction.
There is nothing that a 1100 FPS 240G can do that a 1100 FPS 270G can't do better. and for the same energy theres nothing it can do that the 200G won't reduce to a crimson mist.