Toughest Big Bore Jacketed Bullets

I prefer hardcast to jacketed bullets if deep penetration is what's wanted. I like Cor-bon. Buffalo Bore also has an excellent reputation, and I believe they both carry .41mag. Other brands I've heard of, but not tried, are Garret and Double Tap.

Punch bullets.

Barnes solids are right in there, as well, or their expanding versions.
Petals break off, leaving a wadcutter to cut a big, deep, hole.

Probably, considering this is a pistol, you might be better off with LFN hard cast, so you could practice with the gun.

Check Hawk as well.

IMO, it's tough to beat XTP's...Especially when Walmart sells 'em for about 20 bucks per 100.

I don't want to shoot cast bullets. Thats why I specifically asked about jacketed bullets.

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Linotype metal will do anything that a jacketed bullet will do at a fraction of the cost. I have recovered a number of them from dirt backstops that showed no damage except for rifling marks. Any animial hit with one will not know the difference.

While I know the OP only wants cast, I'm with you Owen Sparks as far as cost and performance goes. I load MBC to magnum velocities in .44. I get no leading and great accuracy. I'd have no problems taking a poke at the baddest black bear out their with one of my cast handloads.

Another thing is that you can get a little more velocity out of hard cast bullets because the feiction required to drive them down the bore is less. There is no game animal in North America that can not be taken sucessfully with hard cast bullets just as well as with jacketed ones as neither will fail against flesh and bone.

+1 on the XTP's they expand well yet still hold together.

XTP's are a good choice, as would be Gold Dots, Partitions, or Barnes. Not sure how many choices you have in .41 mag though.

I would want deep penetration and that would call for a heavy cast bullet. Check out the 295gr SSK offering from www.pennbullets.com
I don't load .41 but I have bought some of their bullets. Great quality and service.

Any bullet that will kill a deer will work for black bear. They're NOT grizzlies. If you're real worried, look for some XTP SOFT NOSE, not hollow points. Those will open slower, penetrate deeper.

Any of the bullets you mentioned will work fine on black bear. I would tend to stick with the bullet that shoots the best outta my gun.

HARV6 said:

some of these posters that can't understand the discussion is about jacketed bullets only. Why waste everyone's time? When you're at a restaurant and you tell the waiter you've got a hankerin for a big ol' cheese burger does he keep suggesting the salad bar?

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It's called narcissism, and it's bad forum etiquette to continue to go off topic when the OP requests to stay on topic. Some folks just don't get it.

Well, I'd look to what are the "toughest" handgun calibers, and which bullets to they use?

.460 Mag, .475 Linebaugh, the .500s.

Buffalo Bore uses a JFP of unspecified make, perhaps their own. Hornady uses the XTP, no surprise. Grizzly uses Hawk Precision bullets. Speer uses its Gold Dot. Nosler, Sierra, and Barnes seem to be the rest.

My experience? Never shot a bear with a .41, but I've liked Barnes X's on what I have shot. Having said that, if I were in your shoes, I'd use a 265 gr cast lead of the type offered by Buffalo Bore (assuming I could shoot it well, and that it was accurate out of my revolver).

Good luck.

It's called narcissism, and it's bad forum etiquette to continue to go off topic when the OP requests to stay on topic.

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It's also bad form not to offer one's best advice; if that involves cast bullets, so be it. OPs do occasionally change their minds, maybe especially if they hear the same advice from several well-meaning (though, according to some, narcissistic) members.

I honestly don't think that a hard cast is in the same ball park as a jacketed bullet. I can't imagine pushing a H.C. down my 7 mag. barrel at 3600 fps and expect it maintain integrity. Lead is a money saving method of loading and can be quite accurate, but it isn't capable of performing with the trouble free function of a jacketed bullet. Yes, it may do well for X number of shots. But when the leading begins the damge does too, if it isn't removed.

I honestly don't think that a hard cast is in the same ball park as a jacketed bullet.(quote)

You will find that cast bullets in many handgun hunting areas are superior to jacketed bullets. Federals Cast Core bullets are heavy cast bullets in different handgun calibers including .41 made for deep pentration on game.
In addition all major game animals have been taken with cast bullets in .454 Casulls and .475 Linebaughs.
Properly made cast bullets will outperform many jacketed bullets for penetration and weight retention compared to their jacketed counterparts and you do get more velocity with a cast than a jacketed bullet.
Many jacketed bullets especially hollowpoints can expand too early and not penetrate deeply enough.

My opinioin is that XTP's are very tough with thick jackets, which is what I shoot most of the time, 2nd are the Speer gold dots, or deep curls as they are now called.

I think the Nosler sporting bullets are cup and core and will separate as well as the sierra JHC.

That said, Nosler partitions should be good as well as the swift A Frame, if available for the 41mag, but I don't use either of those.

Several people mentioned XTP's. Personally, if I was planning on hunting and/or running into a bear, I would not want hollow-points. In the 25+ years that I lived in Alaska, I carried a .41 mag (S&W Model 57 6"), or a .44 mag (S&W Model 29 6"), when I was in bear country. I always used jacketed soft-points. Bears have very thick bone and even the best hollow-points are not going to hold up enough to penetrate deep enough. I used 240 grain bullets for the .44 mag and 210 grain bullets for the .41. Some people like hardcast and that's fine, but my only advice would be to stay away from HP's for bear. My other advice would be to stick to heavier bullets, like 210+ grains in your .41 mag. I wish you luck out there. Hope you get a bear!

PUNCH BULLETS!
http://www.gunblast.com/BeltMtn_PunchBullet.htm

Ya, I'm pretty sure you can XTP's as hollow points or soft points. I've never hunted anything dangerous so I use the hollow points. I shot a whitetail with a 180 HP XTP in a handload with my 44 mag years ago. Perfect rib shot, went right through.

The Sierra JFP in .44 and .45 are excellent bullets and very affordable. They are very hard, expand only a little even at top handgun velocities, therefore giving great penetration, have the near legendary Sierra accuracy, and are very affordable. If Sierra makes one in .41 it would be a great choice.

Punch bullets are outstanding however they are not affordable.

XTPs are fine bullets, I have no experience with the .41, however the 250 and 300 grain .45s are superb, although they penetrate somewhat less than punch, the Sierras, or a good cast bullet.

Punch bullets are the toughest. You don't wanna shoot a bear with a hollow point. You want all the penetration you can get. Punch bullets have a lead core jacketed with near 1/8" of bronze. They do not deform and crush bone like a sledge hammer.