200 SST vs 225 Fury Which bullet?

[bowbender6]

Looking at opinions/ experience with terminal performance for these two bullets. I have five .45 cal and I am trying to decide which is a better choice for my situation. Shots could be 25-250 yards Velocity range is 2300 FPS to 1500 FPS (mostly whitetail does in southern Mich.) which creates a wide FPS set of terminal performance. I have a custom Savage with a Pacnor barrel so these .45 saboted guns are for my family. My wife shot a doe at 165 yards this year with a 200SST. She hit it top of lung and it hit the bottom of the spine. Of course the deer dropped and the bullet fragmented on the spine. I wasn't disappointed but this is my only experience with these bullets.

Her gun is a 29" .45 cal CVA Optima with a Bergarra .453 ( large) barrel. I knurl the bullets up and run through a .403 die for uniformity. I found Harvester cruch ribs to shoot the best. Load is 84 gr weighed BH209. I clean between shots. The 200 SST shot just under 1" @ 100 yards and the 225 Fury is shoots 1-1.5 " groups.
Thanks

 

[D55]

I have used TC shockwave 200gr which I think is the same bullet with great results, also 250gr Fury with great results. Never tried 225 Fury. I was pushing them a little harder @2450ish fps. I would opt for the heavier myself just for the energy at longer range. Maybe try the 225 with +- a couple gr weight of powder see if group tightens up.

 

[WPrather]

I would think if your wanting to take shots out to 250yds. The most accurate combination would be the best. Hitting the deer in the right spot is the most important thing. Accuracy always wins when your talking longer ranges.

 

[sabinajiles]

I have no experience with the .40 Fury but I can tell you the .45 Furys are devastating. A little too devastating on a close range shot when pushed at 2800 fps and you hit bone and muscle.

 

[D55]

That left a mark.

I have no experience with the .40 Fury but I can tell you the .45 Furys are devastating. A little too devastating on a close range shot when pushed at 2800 fps and you hit bone and muscle.View attachment 3868

 

[jims]

I have not shot the Furys so I cannot say on those. We have shot over 15 deer with the 200 SSTs from 25 to 175 yards and never lost a one. Now some did take 75 yards of tracking, some none. These were yearlings to big Ohio bucks. Accuracy has always been good. Some like the 195 Barnes.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Aah... Ummm. How did you manage to fire a chainsaw?
That is a most impressive wound.

 

[sabinajiles]

Aah... Ummm. How did you manage to fire a chainsaw?
That is a most impressive wound.

She was walking straight at me at 65 yd. I was shooting a smokeless muzzleloader and using the .45 275 gr Fury Star Point 2 at over 2800 fps MV. I did not want to shoot clear through her and mess up the intestines so I made a quick decision to take a high shoulder shot. Big mistake as the bullet exploded on the shoulder. In retrospect, I should have shot head on and low in the chest. 5 minutes earlier, shooting the same rifle and bullet, I took a 165 lb buck with a perfect broadside lung shot at 90 yd. Small wound hole on both the entry and exit. The buck dropped without moving a muscle like you turned off a switch. Lungs were non existent and the whole body cavity was full of blood, including the abdominal cavity so I believe it blew up the aorta. While this was at smokeless velocity, I have no doubts that the bullet would expand well and deliver maximum shock at smoker speeds.

 

[mnoland30]

If you're shooting at 250 yards,the heavier (longer) bullet will make a big difference. It will retain velocity longer because of the better B.C., and will penetrate better because of the higher Sectional Density. You just have to make sure the bullet will still expand at that velocity. I read an article in Shooting Times years ago where they measured velocity of most factory 30-06 loads at 300 yards. The best had almost double the energy of the worst. Amazingly, many muzzleloader bullets don't tell you the B.C.

 

[GregK]

All of the Fury Star Bullets regardless of caliber & operate the same way. In my opinion & from the # of deer I’ve seen shot with Dennis’s Bullets they will outperform the SST everytime in every weight.
His Bullets are bonded & he says they can be turned inside out & not come apart. From what I’ve seen (mostly from 2800+ ft/Sec smokeless guns) that has been the case & major exit wounds have been the norm. I have yet to see one “pencil thru” a deer or “blow up”. As with any bullet there may be exceptions to the norm in unpredictable circumstances.
I prefer the regular Star Tip over the 2 for my shooting. Inside of 300 yards the Star Tip 2 does nothing but add to the cost.
With my 1-20 Mountaineer I’ve gotten 1” groups at 200 with Fury Star 40/225, Harvester smooth blue sabot, 84gr BH209 by weight

I recommend calling Dennis at Fury Bullets & talking to him.

 

[ported45]

I have no experience with the .40 Fury but I can tell you the .45 Furys are devastating. A little too devastating on a close range shot when pushed at 2800 fps and you hit bone and muscle.View attachment 3868

OUCH!!

 

[bowbender6]

GregK , I talked with Dennis a couple times and he said the same. I just wondered what the guys on the board experienced. Thanks

 

[sabinajiles]

Again, I am drawing from my experience with .45 bullets but from smooth sizing .45 Fury bullets and the .45 250 SST bullets for sabotless shooting, it is very obvious that the Fury bullets have a softer jacket and core composition than the 250 SST. The Furys easily size with one pass through the sizing die while the SST takes multiple passes at a tighter setting because of spring back. As GregK pointed out, all Fury muzzleloader bullets are built the same. I am unsure if the .40 200 SST is built with the same composition as the .45 250 SST but if it is, I believe it would be safe to surmise that the Fury is going to expand more consistently, at a lower velocity, than the SST.

 

[45-70]

exit using a .50 star tip

 

[ENCORE50A]

exit using a .50 star tip

Excellent exit.
I used the .50cal Fury star tip this past season myself. They literally will FLATTEN a whitetail.
I'd hunt with a Fury before hunting with either the Shockwave or SST.

 

[sabinajiles]

I used the .50cal Fury star tip this past season myself. They literally will FLATTEN a whitetail.
I'd hunt with a Fury before hunting with eith

I took 3 deer with Fury bullets this season. Besides the two I already mentioned, I took another 170 lb buck at 90 yd using the Fury 275 FAT in my Bestill Omega. MV 2550 fps. He was quartering towards me and I hit him right behind the left shoulder and the bullet traveled through him, breaking the right hip. It never exited but I couldn't find it when I field dressed and processed him. The internal carnage was insane. Needless to say, he dropped where he stood. Again, even slowed down to smoker speeds, I can't imagine the Fury not performing as well, or better, as any other good bullet.

 

[dbowling]

that's way more damage then I would want to do to any critter I'm going to eat but you cant argue with the terminal performance. I don't mind doing that to a coyote

 

[sabinajiles]

The damage to the doe I shot was a combination of poor shot selection, at too close of a range. for the speed at which I was shooting the bullet. My poor judgement was to fault, not the bullet. The two deer I shot at longer range, in the rib/chest area, did not have extreme damage and the bullet performed just as it should.

 

[GregK]

The damage to the doe I shot was a combination of poor shot selection, at too close of a range. for the speed at which I was shooting the bullet. My poor judgement was to fault, not the bullet. The two deer I shot at longer range, in the rib/chest area, did not have extreme damage and the bullet performed just as it should.

That’s the issue with velocity. My new build from Jeff will likely be in the 3000 ft/Sec range & it will be built around a flat base premium small opening hollow point target bullet (we think). The plus side is that the velocity alone will cause a huge wound channel & tremendous system shock as it passes through the animal. Explosions will not be a factor especially at close range.
Once I have the gun I will contact Dennis to see if he’d like to build something for me to play with.
There are several reasons for going this route with the build but it’s the combination of velocity, accuracy(which is always #1), & terminal performance. This is of course if the combination of caliber, twist, powder chamber, etc all work out.
I won’t say more about the build until Jeff wants to share what it is, but it’s gonna be sweet!!

Greg

 

[donparadowski]

Neither...Harvester 300 grain PT gold. Use their black crushed rib sabot.