The thread on the 500 Wyoming Express raised some very good points. One of those was velocity with hard-cast bullets, and maybe this question was answered in the thread and I didn't read it. If so, I'll apologize in advance. I am not trying to rekindle the debate from that thread, but I do want an answer from someone who knows. I have both a Ruger SRH and a Marlin 444P. I use Beartooth 325gr. WLNGC's in both. I have never chronographed either load, but I am guessing it leaves the SRH at about 1200fps and the 444P at about 1900fps. Everything being equal, including range and shot placement, will the bullet from the SRH penetrate as deeply as the bullet from the 444P?

Is the SRH a .480? Or is it a .44 magnum?

The SRH is a 7.5 inch 44 Mag.

That is a super boolit. And of course you will get a larger primary wound channel with the faster one, possibly a faster kill, maybe not. My belief is that you will need to shoot a very large animal before you see any difference in penetration and even then you might have to shoot it lengthwise. The larger the animal the more energy it can soak up too without flinching so the energy turns into a moot point.
Then again, I have shot too many deer that showed little or no reaction, even with the .475. I see little difference between one shot with the gun or the bow. It feels strange to smack one with the .475, 430 gr boolit and have it stand there, even the deer with it don't run off.
I shoot that boolit around 1300 fps from my SBH and have never recovered one. I have shot through deer into the ground and dug up the ground and still haven't found one. I needed a shovel! :D
Even with your 1200 fps estimate, you will be hard placed to recover a boolit in most animals.
So what you really gain with the .444 is extended range. If two animals are shot in exactly the same place at the same distance, with both guns, there is no guarantee one will drop faster. More depends on the individual animal.
Then the only question remaining is if a large animal is hit with the rifle at the faster speed, will the boolit slow faster in tissue and limit penetration down to what the revolver's is? I can't answer that with a hard cast but an expanding bullet can lose a lot of penetration if too fast for it's construction.
The simple truth is that more deer are lost here where I hunt from my neighbors. They all use 7mm and .300 magnum rifles. I help each year to track down losses. I have seen small deer go 1/2 mile with all of their guts blown out. I have recovered deer at least a mile from where shot with a hole large enough to stick your head in, no blood trail after 100 yd's. I still find many in the spring. This shows that you can't depend on energy alone. You need a big hole all the way through but as soon as you start to blow up tissue, the faster the bleeding will stop = lost animal!
Use the revolver with confidence, just make good hits with either gun! :rolleyes:

Thanks for your reply!

i can never understand people wanting to hunt deer at close range with magnum rifles and then wonder why 150gr bullet moving at 3200fps will not have reliable penatration. those guns are good for 1 thing and that is long range hunting they work ok if you shoot heavy for cal bullets 220gr 300 win mag or 175 for 7mm and like was said if and when you recover them there aint much left to take home.if you are hand loading than you can load down for reasonable speed for range you plan on hunting.

i can never understand people wanting to hunt deer at close range with magnum rifles and then wonder why 150gr bullet moving at 3200fps will not have reliable penatration. those guns are good for 1 thing and that is long range hunting they work ok if you shoot heavy for cal bullets 220gr 300 win mag or 175 for 7mm and like was said if and when you recover them there aint much left to take home.if you are hand loading than you can load down for reasonable speed for range you plan on hunting.
I totally agree. I hunt deer close range with a magnum rife but mine is a 350 Rem mag pushing a 225gr slug a 2620FPS.
as far as penetration, I do not think you'd notice a difference between the 44 mag and the 444 until you hit major bone ie shoulder or back bone or in a lengthwise shot ie Texas heat shot or straight on heat shot, then I thing you'd see a difference between the two rounds

Having no experience with a hard cast bullet at 1900 FPS, I do not know how the bullet will stand up to hitting heavy bone or even just tissue at that speed. Bullet integrity would most certainly affect penetration.

I believe that Ranch Dog has a 44 Marlin and maybe he will chime in. I know that he used a 44 a year or two ago for a one shot kill on a Nilgi

Having no experience with a hard cast bullet at 1900 FPS, I do not know how the bullet will stand up to hitting heavy bone or even just tissue at that speed. Bullet integrity would most certainly affect penetration.

I believe that Ranch Dog has a 44 Marlin and maybe he will chime in. I know that he used a 44 a year or two ago for a one shot kill on a Nilgi
Or maybe Marshall will, who has plenty experience with cast bullets in both rifles and handguns.

Both Marshall and Ranch Dog have shot plenty of big crittes with the .444. I don't think that either of them has ever recovered a bullet.

If the bullet won't shatter, it will be fine (Marshall's bullets won't). I've put them through pigs, too, at velocities over 2,000fps in my .35 Rem.

Makes a mess you'd have to see to believe. They work!!!