40 Caliber 200 Grain XTP

Scott sent three of these bullet to test. Shot them through carpet, shelving, and into water jugs. Powder was 80g Blackhorn. Range was 25 yard.










The bullet shredded the first jug, went through the second jug leaving small pieces of lead, and was found in the third jug. The third jug contained most of the jacket, and most of the lead. A small piece of the jacket was found on the ground in front of the horse. The sum weight of all the found parts is 162.5 grain. The last two jugs were intact, and can be used for another test.

One of the members here uses that exact bullet, at higher speeds than that.

I have read hunting reports of it doing very well with reduced charges. I shoot them in both the .45 and .50 caliber sabot with normally 90 grains of powder or less. Excellent test. I can't say I am happy with the fragmentation of the bullet but if it gets the job done ... well mute point I guess. But a hard shoulder shot might give me pause for concern.

That's not a picture perfect mushroom compared to what we often see with Barnes. That said I still plan on using them this Fall in my Knight 45 cal, just over 2200 FPS.

The reasons are, they shoot very well and more often than not I'm able to work out a 'soft tissue' shot right behind the foreleg. I've only shot a few deer and one long range coyote with them so far, no adverse issues.

In previous testing they shot very close to the same impact point as the Barnes, so I used them interchangeably after sighting in. I just drop them in a light blue crush rib sabot and away I go, with the 45 cal.

the test reflects what I have seen in the field, broadside lung shots exit, quartering shots or shoulder hits no exit, bullet fragments on far side.

I plan on using them this fall on deer @ just over 2400fps. I always limit myself to shots behind shoulder or lungs so I feel confident they will get the job done still.

cljohnson

Why use a bullet rated to hold-up for one-half of the speed (1200) you're sending it? Why not use a 44-cal 240 gr (non-mag) that's rated for 2200. Both are very close to the same price too.

My guess would be that he is shooting them in a 45cal rifle. Shooting a 44cal bullet would not be an option.

The Knight bullet is an option, and may be a better choice. Hornady recommends mv between 700 and 1200 for this bullet. To me it seems 2400 fps for this bullet is asking for trouble. However, what do i know; i have only shot the bullet twice; just yesterday.

GM54-120 said:

My guess would be that he is shooting them in a 45cal rifle. Shooting a 44cal bullet would not be an option.

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For whatever strange reason, I presumed Johnson was shooting the 40-cal XTP. Maybe I'm mistaking him for another MM member then.

As a side note, I watched some videos on the best ammunition manufactures for both expansion and penetration per FBI specifications for the .380 Auto and the .40 S&W. The top group of ammunition for each caliber ALL used the Hornady XTP bullet.

Rifles, not pistolas.

I am shooting the .40 XTP in a .45 cal Elite and a 45-70 conversion. They group much better than the the SST's. I can slow them down a bit to 2200fps but the groups open up to about 1.5"@100(same as SST's).

FWIW - I've shot deer at <25 yds with the .452 250XTP's at similar speeds and they are like magic on deer, so my logic is that this bullet is tougher with a better SD and smaller frontal diameter then the .452/250XTP.
Some people place way too much emphasis on penetration(when talking about deer and smaller game).. Whatever a bullet leaves with is simply wasted. Almost any angle a shot is taken from(besides direct rear end)requires < a foot of penetration to cleanly kill. Lots of guys dwell on accidentally hitting shoulder bones and bullet blow up(small odds) but how many talk about the more prevalent risk of hitting soft tissue or it's paunch on running deer?

TripleSe7en said:

Rifles, not pistolas.

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Well no kidding. I was pointing out the effectiveness of the XTB, regardless what it's shot from.