When you hit a deer with a Hornady XTP, it's not going to care if the core separates from the jacket, believe me! And neither will you.

Well, I totaly disagree with that... I care, I have shot more than a couple of ani,als with them (Hornady XTP's) and when they separte sure the animal is dead if you do your part - but in some instances - the animal does not really know that it is dead and heads for someplace other than where it was shot. I would by far rather shoot a bullet that remains together and causes the hydrostatic & tramatic shock that it should.

You judge... this bullet that was a pass through on an Elk..



This one a pass through on a deer



These bullets that were torture test to make them fail...



Or these that were tested also...

I don't know if I really have a favorite. I have the most experience with .44 300 gr. XTP's. They are accurate and have dropped every deer I ever shot with them. I know that other bullets are as good or better. I do like the low price of the XTP's.

I haven't checked them out yet..will have to..

Sabotloader have you tried the Barnes expanders? If so how do you think they performed.. How are they compared to the speer deep curls?

i use harvester funnel point

It seems my favorite bullet is the Deep Curl. They are shot out of my rifles year around. They are used to punch paper, water filled boxes/jugs, and for hunting. More deer have fallen to Deep Curl from my muzzle loader than any other bullet. They really work good putting deer down, right there, right now. They are inexpensive compared to many. Whenever i walk uphill behind where i punch paper, & find Deep Curl after they have been shot into dirt and rocks, they are still an intact bullet. Captured Deep Curl are usually pretty enough to be used in jewelry.

For some reason, i consider cost when i load bullets. Naturally performance is considered. Hunting where i hunt has me consider long range shooting. Putting all the parameters together when considering bullet, seems to lead me to choosing Deep Curl.

IMO price is only a concern at the range where you know you will be blasting away a lot of bullets sighting in or just having fun. On a hunt for a single animal, cost of a bullet is of no concern.

My concern is what's the best bullet that's legal in my state?

Slim pickings.

Barnes with Lehigh a close second