Wildcatter,

Your points are correct, once you know what you are doing. as the op said he was new to the game, it seemed logical to help him avoid the pitfalls of premium lead. One thing for sure, if you cannot get an XTP to shoot accurately, then there is a kink in your reloading or shooting, and if you have access to a chronograph that can point to either, usually. I did mention Lasercast bullets, as historically I have had pretty good luck getting those to shoot well with very little effort. But these bullets tend to have slightly less applicability in a hunting discussion, although my wet print tests with 250 grain .452 rnfp's at mid level velocities sure looks like these would play heck on medium size game.

I hear you on the cost of premium lead. I laid in very large supply of Cast Performance and Beartooth bullets about 10 years ago. About 3 years ago I decided to top of the pile. Bout had a coronary.........

Craig