Would the Winchester Silvertip in .44 be adequate for deer? I always thought it to be more of a self defense round but am hearing more and more what a good deer round it would make.
I have both the 200 gr. .44 special round and the 210 gr. .44 Magnum factory loads at home. Any concern in using the .44 Special on a medium sized deer??

For the little East Texas whitetails I hunt a well placed shot from either, especially the .44 Mag would be fine. I'm not so sure about big bodied northern whitetail and I do not see where you are located. I'm sure others with experience up north will chime in.

i use 44 mag.on the big boars 300 lbs.or so.....44 is plenty for deer

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

Quick answer, as I'm at work. .44 spl Silvertip, no way. 210 gr. Magnum Silvertip, yes it should work, but would not be ideal. I've carried both in a 4" S&W 629 Mountain Gun just as my walk-around woods load, but have not shot critters with either. I don't carry the .44 spl in the woods anymore.

I can tell you that the .41 mag 175 grain silvertip will take a mule deer out in Colorado and a whitetail in Georgia. Both were one shot kills with my 8 3/8" Model 57. It is a fine bullet in my experience and I used to shoot them in my .270 as well and have taken a number of both deer and elk with 130 grain WW Silvertips.

I have taken several deer with my 8 3/8 inch 29-2. In my experience a 240-250 grain cast bullet with 20.5 grains of 2400 far out-performed a faster moving 180 grain jacketed hollow point. My cast bullet loads blow right through a deer while the lighter hollow point does not exit the body.

I shot a doe with a 44 Mag Silvertip entering the foreword aspect of the right shoulder .She turned and half heartedly hopped a few steps staggered and fell dead in about 15 feet.The bullet passed through the body diagonally and was tented up under the hide of the back aspect of the left hip.Used a 4" Model 29.The mushroom was unbelievable,perhaps double diameter.Another time I put a Black Talon through both lungs of an 8 point buck of good size.He may have bounced 10 feet further.Bullet not recovered.Moral..a 44 Mag of any type except "snake Shot" will Kill any deer if it is well placed.

I hunt with silvertips in my 7 1/2" 657 .41 mag. For white tails you should be OK with either 44 round. I have a friend who has killed more than I can count with a .22 magnum. Shot placement is king.

Winchester Silvertip rifle ammo and Winchester Silvertiop handgun ammo are loaded with two completely bullets. The rifle ammo is excellent but the handgun ammo is marginal for large Deer. If you are going to use it I would think the 44 Magnum would be the best choice.

In 44 Magnum the Winchester Platinum Tip HP ammo would be a better choice and is rated for big game soft skin animal hunting but then again, so are the Silvertips. Even better is the Winchester Duel Bond HP which is rated for thin skinned and heavy skinned animals.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Assuming your idea of Medium size whitetail is anything vaguely close to my local idea of medium size whitetail , the ST in .44Mag will be fine.

The .44Spl is accused by its detractors of severely underpenetrating in humans. +/- 10in of penetration ( with plenty of expansion ) would probably be fatal on a close range unobstructed lung shot. But even at factpry lpad energy levels , a 240 swc at modest vels would be better all around choice.

I also use the Win 175gr STHP in .41 for deer and don't worry about it. Now when in big bear county its loaded with a heavy WFN cast bullet.


CD

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De Oppresso Liber

I have never used that load, but with proper shot placement I would not feel it is at a disadvantage. Like Greenmachine, I have only used Keith style 250 gr. hard cast semi-wadcutters. All one shot kills and I have never recovered a bullet. Very controllable at around 1100fps. In theory, a clean through shot would cause the deer to bleed out faster with a less than optimally placed shot. I have never experienced that, all deer I have shot with that load dropped dead no more than 50' from where they standing - some have piled up right on the spot. I am talking about typical Ohio whitetails.

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Tony