250gr Hornady XTP Performance

This is a big doe I took earlier this year. It was shot while faceing me at 20 yards or so.


In the following photo, just to get you oriented, the deer is hanging by it's right front leg and it's rear left leg. As you can see, there is a nice entry hole. When I made the shot, I was hoping I would be able to retrieve the bullet, but.....



The exit hole was just in front of the right hind quarter. Didn't measure either hole, but you can see the damage.



I was shooting the XTP's at around 1550fps, just shy of Casull standards (Couldn't find Casull brass at the time). She ran about 70 yards before posing for photos. I'm well pleased with the results at hand. Just wish I could've got bullet, but then there wouldn't have been two holes.

Evidently, your bullet worked like a charm!

Kral, I really like using expanding bullets for the reason your picture shows. A quality, controlled expanding bullet like this can offer great penetration on all deer size game. An exit wound this size will loose LARGE amounts of blood making tracking pretty easy. I like speer gold dots in pistol calibers, but this XTP offered all the performance anyone could ask for. GOOD JOB MAN! With my Competitor in 50 AE, using a 385gr. Bonded Core Hollow Point, I had complete penetration on a broadside shoulder shot on the Yak I killed. On animals from deer to yaks, the right expanding bullets will offer penetration like your pictures show. Great!

Excellent KRal. Thanks for sharing; that is VERY impressive performance. What brass were you using?

So that was a "hot" .45 LC Load...ha ha! Nice.

Love the XTP's in my .45Colt. thanks for sharing your experience.

Gregg, the brass is MagTech. As everyone knows, ammo and components were very hard to find about ten months ago and some still are. The MagTech was all I could find after very extensive searching. I normally prefer Hornady, but so far I don't have any complaints with the MAgTech.

I have had about the same results out of my 45 Colt. I am pushing the 250 in the 1200-1250 range --that is a guess never put it thru a crono.

Quarter size exit holes every time.

It would be hard for me to use another bullet in my 45 colt wheel gun.

These twin girls were shot with that bullet at 80 yards bothe complete pass thru's with that huge exit hole.

http://www.handgunhunt.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=851

Would you recommend the same for a .44Mag? I shoot Hornady and Nosler out of my TC's, but have several custom .44's that need to be hunted with. I handload, so I am not restricted by anything component-wise.

The Hornady's or the Partition's (if you have some, they're discontinued) should work fine in the 44.

KRal,

Solid work! Love the XTP's in my .44, backordered indefintely for my .41 (ARRRRRGH!), and have a bunch in .45 cal as well. Excellent terminal performance on whitetails!

Kral, I pushed the 250 XTP in my 454 about 200fps faster and was rewarded with devestating results on rams and feral goats with shots out to 90yds.I recovered 2 bullets that showed perfect expansion and weight retention. Its clearly a case of using the correct bullet on the size game your huunting. Good huntin,JFS

James, I didn't think that the 250 gr. XTP's would not handle the higher velocities in the 454. Please explain this.

They handle 2000 fps in a muzzleloader quite well!

When I started to reload for my 460 I used the Hornady 240 gr. mags. and not the 250 gr. bullets. The price for the 240's was a little higher but that is what I was told to use. I'm still learning. I've been reloading for 2 yrs. and now I also reload for my 454. I heard that if the bullet is not able to hold up to the higher velocities of the 460 or the 454 that the bullet over a period of time that the forcing cone could be damaged.

Reply to Mikefrompa, Your not the first to question my handload using the 250gr XTP moving at 1700fps+ from my FA 454.......
Let me start by saying that my reload info came from Hornady`s 4th edition (1994-15 years ago)where they used a FA`s 454 with a 7 1/2" brl.
and their 250gr XTP over a charge of 33.4grs of H-110 for 1750fps
Let me add that this was NOT their max load for the 250XTP which was 50fps faster running at 1800fps. This was also before Hornady added that small paper ,with their bullets, listing the optimum high/low velocities for the XTP to properly expand.Like I said in my previous above post, this load was devestating on the size game that I shot and I had not experienced any problems with the amount of these loads I fired through my 454. I think I fired less then 200 of these rounds and would not hesitate to use it again.However, if you asked me if I would use the 250XTP at 460 velocities I would give you a definate NO.....A lot of things have changed in the last 15 years and top velocities for XTP bullets is one of them.Hope this is a decent explanation.
PS My FAs 454 is an early model with the unremovable firing pin that had to be sent back to the factory,when the pin broke, to have the gun drilled and tapped and the new system installed. I`ve been handloadin the 454 since the first box of factory ammo I bought from Freedom Arms cost $63.64....old habits die hard.

Mikefrompa, I also had read about the same issues you mentioned about the 250. The 250 xtp was the only jacketed hunting bullet I could find at the time. After discussing it with Jamesfromjersey, I went with what I had avalible. I've experienced no eratic bullet flight and as James said, they're devistating on deer sized game. I have since bought some 240 MAG xtp and 260 partition to load for the casull.

Guys,just so you know,the 250 X.T.P. isn't suppose to be pushed passed 1600 fps,it starts to come apart and erodes the forcing cone.I would have never known this if I hadn't been talking to one of the Hornady techs,thats why they started making the 240 X.T.P.mag. bullets because their jackets are a little thicker.

Of course, there's the sabot and the bullet doesn't actually touch the rifling....

Nor subjected to a forcing cone.......

Zactly my re-thinkin'!