Question on Hornady .475 XTP's

[Gun 4 Fun]

I would like to hear from Lloyd Smale, or those of you who have used the .475- 325, and 400 grain XTP bullets on game. I am not interested in target accuracy, or other bullet caliber/weights for this discussion. I know what most of their lighter weights will do. I would just like to hear about their performance on game and what they were used on. I like cast bullets, but where I hunt deer, I need to put them down ASAP so that they don't get onto the neighboring property (another story in itself ) I have been thinking about running a 325 pretty fast out of my .475, to cause rapid expansion, and massive damage. I don't care nearly as much about losing a couple pounds of meat, as I do losing the whole deer across the boundry. In my experience, cast bullets kill well, but not as fast as an XTP on average when it comes to deer.

I would like to know how these two perform, and what they were fired through (anatomy).

PS, I know I don't need a .475 for deer, but I have it and I like it. Nough said!

[Lloyd Smale]

I cant help you a whole lot as ive never taken game with them. All my hunting with the 475s have been with cast. I can tell you that the 400 xtp is a very accurate bullet and im sure it would do very well on game up to and maybe over 500 lbs from the penetration testing weve done. Id forget your thoughts on pushing a 325 fast though. All your going to do is insure you get poor penetration. Stick with the 400s and youll be fine.

[Ken ONeill]

The 400 gr. Magnum XTP is a tough bullet, but will expand on large game. It is generally a good penetrator. I have used it on a couple of large bears, several hogs, bull elk, bison and South American water buffalo (Argentina), and am very satisfied with its performance on that larger game.
 Velocities have ranged from a bit over 1200 fps to nearly 1400 fps, depending upon the gun ( I use 3). Expansion has ranged in one case up to about .75", but is generally a bit  under .60". Many bullets were never recovered, so who knows what they did? I consider the 400 too tough to expand on deer, although I have not shot one with it.
I would recommend the 325 for whitetails. The one hog I shot with it showed greater expansion than I experienced with the 400's. I'm usually a .44 Mag. (mostly with  240 JHP's) kind of guy when it comes to using revolvers for deer, so I may never get much experience with .475's on them.
In any event, a .475 will obviously kill any deer alive, but like you, I believe in expanding bullets for whitetails for quicker kills.