44 MAG ... XTP

[CASE]

WELL I WANT SOME  OPINOIS , AS TO HOW   THE  HORNADY XTP 300 GR  BULLETTS WORK ON GAME ...   FROM DEER SIZE TO BEAR ,SIZE . AND HOG SIZES ,TOO ,,LOL :eek:  IVE  BEENN SHOOTING  THESES BULLETS OUT OF MY 5 1/2 REDHAWK . WITH 18.GRS OF 2400 . WITH EXEPTIONAL ACURRACY ....EVEN OUT TO  100 YARDS .  IVE BEEN HANDGUNNING FOR 16 YEARS NOW ,  AND IVE ALWAYS USED 200  GR SPEERS ... WITH EXCELLENT RESULTS ...

[Catfish]

Case,
   I personally don`t like the XTP bullets for deer. I found, as you did, that they are very accurate, but the 240 grners. will not open on deer. I much prefer the 240 grn. Serria bullets for deer. They are as accurate as the XTP`s and they expand well at handgun velosities. For bear and hogs the 300 grn. xtp`s should be excellant though.

[oso45-70]

Case,
If it were me and i was going to hunt the larger game i would go to the 300 gr. cast bullets, They work and your accuracy will be good also. I Don't know if you load or not, If you do not load you might find some one who loads, that could load some for you. If it were me i would not use XTP bullets for hunting,,,,Thats just me.......have a good day Sir....Joe............

[MS Hitman]

Case,

If the loads are accurate and you are happy with them; keep shooting.  If the 300 XTP does not open up, it will perform much the same as a cast bullet.  If shot many with the 240 XTP and never had trouble recovering deer.

[Hcliff]

I have had good luck with the 300XTP.  Great accuracy.  When I ran peneration tests it did not open up and mushroom like a 240 XTP or a Sierra HP.  It expanded some but had deep peneration.  Good Bullet.

Hcliff

[44 Man]

I have a box of the 300 gr XTPs, but have never loaded them.  I have always heard good things from my hunting friends about XTPs.  I inherited several boxs of Speer 300 gr plated soft point bullets from a friend and have been using them exclusively for hunting.  Excellent results, have never recovered a bullet.  (except for the one that went through the deer and into a tree)  I have been loading them over 19 gr of 2400 (max load) seated out using the bottom cannilure.  They are more than you need for whitetail but I have heard several stories of deer lost when using 200 gr hollow points (unknown brand/load) and will always use 240gr or 300gr bullets.  44 Man

[Rmouleart]

I have had great results using Hornadys XTP's since they hit the market, either my SRH 44/454 Casull...Yes you are right no expansion on deer using the XTP, but put them down just fine. No#1 shot placement, goes without saying. Now if you want a good mushroom expansion, try out the Speer GoldDots GDHP's...Talk about ashtrays, also very good results, out of the both the XTP's are more accurate and the GDHP's open up the best on impact. I prefer the 240gr GoldDot for the 44mag and the 300gr XTP for the 454 Casull. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[v-man]

Deer here in Florida are kinda puny. The 180gr XTP in my 5.5" RH will expand and do the job.
Now the 300gr XTP won't expand at those 6" velocities but oh baby what it does out of an 18" carbine. SHPLATTT!!!!!!

[osceola]

For intense energy transfer and deep penetration in a hollow point I have to go with Barnes XPB.  On a whitetail they open completely and don't loose the mushroom petals.  I have pushed them at 900 fps in 45LC and they open, upto and including 1,650 fps in my 454, they open plus they're  intact.  At 1,650 fps I have shot them into mud, cord wood, phone books soaked overnight with the consistancy of goop and none of it tore off any petals.  On deer I base it on the entry vs the exit,(over the fps ranges listed) but more importantly it's the drastic difference of the hydraulic action in the wound channel, even soft tissue organs 6" or more away are heavily affected by the pressure.  They are pricey but one definitely gets what they paid for and more.  Likewise, I believe .44 mag would do very well with them.

[Rmouleart]

I would be very careful using LC bullets rated for 900fps then loading the same bullet into a casull full house load at 1600fps, you could end up leaving the jacket in your barrel and still shooting the lead at the target, next shot if not noticed could be trouble, this is very important when using underrated bullets for the casull, LC's are very much slower than a full house casull round shooting the same bullet, remember they design the bullet for the the fps the gun produces, in order for bullet to open at slower speeds, on the other hand using casull bullets in a LC load will not open up at all for the most part, the skin of the bullet is much thicker than a LC. Take a look at the Speer golddot in 44sp the hollowhead is huge, the biggest ashtray I ever saw, then look at the same bullet GDHP HP in 44 mag, the hollowhead is much smaller, this should tell you something. Just a safety reminder, not a flame Aim small hit small. RAMbo.

[Glanceblamm]

Has been great reading. The 240 & 250gr XTP's have done their job well at the practice range & through load workup for myself.
Am still sitting on the fence though on what to take Deer hunting. Those cast 265gr LBT WFN series shoot ALOT better than I ever thought they would.

[osceola]

Rmouleart----Your suggestion on being careful about pushing a "Jacketed" bullet that will open at 900 fps then driving it to 1600 fps is a good point.

Barnes XPB bullets are "Not Jacketed".  They are solid copper and therefore are somewhat longer than lead or jacketed lead rounds.  They have an incredibly deep hollow point pocket and the petals that fold back are pre-scored to open in a uniform manner, every time.

Hope this helps clarify, should of put this in the original post/reply.

[Wlscott]

Glance, I tested some of the 265gr hard cast Lead RNFP's in my Super Redhawk.  My gun liked them too.  It REALLY liked the 300 gr hard cast FP.  I'll be testing a 255 grain lead bullet this weekend.  

Sorry about hijacking your post Case.

[S.S.]

I have mixed reactions to the 300 Gr. XTP ----
My S&W m29 Loves them, But I can't work up a load
that my Ruger SBH likes at all. I think the
Jacket thickness is a bit much for Whitetail,
But they will do wonders on a South Georgia Boar!!
My current whitetail load is a soft Cast 300 Gr. Semi-wadcutter
with a gas check. I only load them to about 900 Fps.
but I have never had one fail to leave a nice exit hole.
My longest shot was only about 55 yards with my SBH.

[Old Griz]

:cb2: I've always had good luck with the Federal 300-gr. CastCore, but a friend suggested the Hornady, so I tried them. The 300-gr. were good, but the 240-gr. patterned better than anything I have tried yet. But that was just on paper. I haven't tried them on game yet. Do they make a 270-gr. XTP, or am I confusing that with Gold Dots?

[Lloyd Smale]

is that one of those bullets that has that coppery looking crap covering the good lead

[Yankee Reloader]

Try Gold dot Soft Points in 240 and 270 grain, they dont open as fast and penetrate deep, also dont forget the winchester factory 250gr Partition or Platinum tips.