I don't know about most recommended but I'd have to guess that the most USED bullet in the .444 is a 240 grain Core Lokt. Used that for a LOT of years before I switched to a 265gr Interlock. That 240 is probably the most used in .44 mags as well. For hunting bullets that is.

Many of the 180-200 grain ML shooters use the lighter bullet for recoil reduction. Has nothing to do with what's recommended.

Barnes offers lighter bullets that wont shed the jacket and retain far more weight if your arm cant handle a little 240gr bullet. The 225gr XPB comes to mind. There is no need to use an inferior weight for caliber and construction when attempting to make a humane harvest.

Excuses for choosing poorly still wont make it a good choice.

Yep. I wouldn't use this bullet on game. Way too many better bullets. Would be fine for target shooting, cheap and easy on the shoulder.

Please name a few 'way-too-manys" 180-200 grain bullets i 44-45-cal that are 23 cents apiece?...... even 50 cents? I am open to trying / buying them.

Lastly, I respect the wildlife game leaders of all 50 states. If a 177 gr. roundball was inhumane or unethical, I trust they would ban them from hunting.

What states have banned them? If none, then please stop this nonsense and quit telling folks here what to hunt with and that they are improperly outfitted. I have never told you not to hunt with your designated bullets and powder, volume, primer choices.....etc.

If you-guys want to pound your shoulder and blast the deer right out of the woods with you magnum powder charges and big-azz bullets, go right ahead. 90% of the time you won;t even have to walk more than 100 yards to reach your downed deer.

But wait - I forgot! You just blasted it another 10 yards with overkill, so make that a 110 yard march to find your downed deer.

LOL, I said "I wouldn't use them on game", not "nobody should use them". I also never said anything was banned. ?? You can use what you want, I prefer to use something better.

I don't know why you fixate so much on how much a bullet costs. That is the least expensive part of the hunt, yet its the part that can sometimes make or break it when it comes to the harvest.

For the avg hunter, they spend hundreds to thousands of dollars per year on gear, licenses, gas to and from hunting, food, etc. Even if someone has almost everything they need already, it still costs $ to hunt every year. Yet you want to save $.050 to $1.00 on a bullet.

How many deer do you shoot a year? Let's assume 2... you saved $2. Its not like you are shooting hundreds of "more expensive" bullets per year. IMO, it makes more sense to use a better bullet or the best bullet money can buy, regardless of cost because ultimately its nominal.

X2 - besides the fact that I believe you owe it to the animal to shoot the bullet with the highest Terminal Ballistic that are available. I keep hoping the old days are gone!

As practical experience and Ron's tests show there are many projectiles available that will do a great job, (including many that were used in the good old days), and many that are just marginally effective.
As the weight of the bullet goes down the options for an effective bullet are more limited.

Right on!! Agree 100% why use a bullet that will implode on impact with bone?

WVHunter your signature line says it all too!!:hail:

The Barnes bullets are not really analogous for what you're describing. Run the Barnes bullets too hard and they shed all of their "petals," leaving the non-expanding bullet base to penetrate like an FMJ.

The XPB, in particular, is known to shed its petals at about 6" - call Barnes themselves, they'll confirm that fact.

So the overall effect is relatively similar to what you'd see from that separated XTP - the bullet basically fails, but then the core continues to penetrate its way out. The Swift A-frame is another one that will perform that way - even if you crush the nose off of the bullet, the enclosed core/base will continue on through with a smile on its face.

I've hunted a lot with the XTP bullet, especially in 44mag, I've never had a jacket separation like that yet. Water does some weird things, especially when it comes to peeling jackets away from cores.

The Deep Curl, formerly the Gold Dot Hunting, is a bonded bullet - it doesn't separate. But it also costs about 40% more too.