with the same ammunition. Tests with various ammunition in the Ruger Deerfield yielded a velocity of over with a bullet, comparable to the muzzle velocity out of a revolver. Loads using slow burning powders maximize performance in both short and long barrels, with one published load generating from a revolver, and from a carbine with a bullet. Suitable game The .44 Magnum is well suited for game up to elk size. With precise shot placement and deep-penetrating cartridges, it has even been used to take the largest of game, including Cape Buffalo. Publisher Robert E. Petersen took a record-setting polar bear with a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum. It has even been used against elephants with success. In addition to beating the ballistics of the old .44-40 rifle loads, long considered a top deer cartridge, the heavy, flat-point bullets typically used in the .44 Magnum have an additional advantage. Tests performed where bullets are shot through light cover, intended to represent twigs and brush, have shown that the high-velocity, lightweight, thin-jacketed, pointed bullets used by most hunting cartridges today are easily deflected by contact with the brush. The ideal bullets for penetrating brush with minimal deflection are heavy, flat-point bullets at moderate velocities. Range The accuracy of the .44 Magnum is very good, with models from Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Ruger producing bullet groups of at , with most ammunition. The limiting factor of the .44 Magnum cartridge is not terminal ballistics. When fired from a revolver, a typically loaded .44 Magnum bullet will have more impact energy at than a .44 Special has at the muzzle, when fired from the same weapon. When loaded with a heavy, non-expanding bullet, the .44 Magnum will easily shoot through large game such as elk and even bison. The limiting factor is the bullet's trajectory: the best hunting bullets are heavy, so they are relatively slow. This means the projectile's trajectory will drop significantly at ranges beyond ; there will be virtually zero significant drop at , so the gun's aimed "line of sight" can meet the "bullet's trajectory" at the same point. When drop-out at is about , the drop-out at is more than ; with a zero drop-out, the drop-out at will still measure more than . Experts limit hunting ranges to when shooting .44 Magnum cartridges, less if practical accuracy requires it. In popular culture The .44