Sabotloader costs me $$

[ElDiablo]

On paper, when comparing the Barnes 250 TEZ and the SSK 265, it’s tough to beat the Barnes.

Barnes .45 250 gr TEZ BC .21, SD .176

SSK .458 265 gr BC .168, SD .165

 

[LBAhunter]

Check out Bear Creek Ballistics.

 

[MrTom]

I don't know what all the physical mumbo-jumbo is regarding the Barnes XPB 225 grain [.44 cal] is but this is what one looks like after taking a trip length-wise and diagonally thru a nice whitetail doe. This was shot from an Optima pistol. I'm not crazy about having the petals blowing off in my deer. This bullet did a very effective stop on the doe.

I'll be hunting the same bullet/sabot/charge in the pistol this fall aside of a smokeless .45 cal pushing Fury 225 grain, .40 cal pills at a modest speed. Hopefully the bonded .40 cal bullets does about what this XPB did.

 

[ElDiablo]

I don't know what all the physical mumbo-jumbo is regarding the Barnes XPB 225 grain [.44 cal]

Barnes XPB .429 225 gr
BC .166
SD .175

 

[LBAhunter]

I don't know what all the physical mumbo-jumbo is regarding the Barnes XPB 225 grain [.44 cal] is but this is what one looks like after taking a trip length-wise and diagonally thru a nice whitetail doe. This was shot from an Optima pistol. I'm not crazy about having the petals blowing off in my deer. This bullet did a very effective stop on the doe.

I'll be hunting the same bullet/sabot/charge in the pistol this fall aside of a smokeless .45 cal pushing Fury 225 grain, .40 cal pills at a modest speed. Hopefully the bonded .40 cal bullets does about what this XPB did.

I bet the Barnes 45 ACP 185gr TAC-XP bullet would shoot good in your pistol.

 

[MrTom]

It might LBA, but I don't want to go any lighter. That 225 grain number is a real hitter and I have plenty of them to play with. I use a 250 grain XPB in .45 cal in my Accura and that is a super accurate bullet out to 172 yards [experience here] and does a super number on deer at that range. For the BH209 loads, I'm plenty happy with these two Barnes bullets. I have a .45 Kodiak and the Barnes 195 grain Expander in .40 cal is one hell of a hunting bullet too. At non-smokeless muzzleloader speeds, I think Barnes bullets have the world with a fence around it.

 

[LBAhunter]

It might LBA, but I don't want to go any lighter. That 225 grain number is a real hitter and I have plenty of them to play with. I use a 250 grain XPB in .45 cal in my Accura and that is a super accurate bullet out to 172 yards [experience here] and does a super number on deer at that range. For the BH209 loads, I'm plenty happy with these two Barnes bullets. I have a .45 Kodiak and the Barnes 195 grain Expander in .40 cal is one hell of a hunting bullet too. At non-smokeless muzzleloader speeds, I think Barnes bullets have the world with a fence around it.

I like the Barnes bullets.

 

[LBAhunter]

I like the Barnes bullets.

The Barnes .45 225gr XPB, 45 ACP 185gr TAC-XP, 41mag 180gr XPB, .357 140gr XPB, .284 110 and 120 TTSX all have done well.

 

[phenix78_99]

Just wondering the best choice for hunting Also looking for better trajectory. Seems like the ssk bullet might do both well. Any info is much appreciated thanks

I can’t speak to trajectory, but I can speak to the on target lethality of the Knight Bloodlines. I’ve taken deer with three types of muzzleloader bullets: 1) Barnes TEZ 250 grain 2) Barnes MZ Expander (250 grain) and 3) Knight Bloodlines (220/250/275 grain). I also harvested a doe this past season with a Barnes TEZ doppelgänger in the form of the Federal Trophy Copper 300 grain slug. In my experience, given similar shot placement, the Bloodline bullets harvested the deer more quickly, with less travel from the place of impact, as compared to all of the Barnes/Barnes imitator. I had one Barnes (250 grain MZ Expander) not pass through, and one of the 220 grain Bloodline bases did not pass through on a quartering to shot. Otherwise, the base of the Bloodlines have always passed through the deer. There has also been more bloodshot meat with the Barnes bullets, when the shoulders were struck.

Next, my neighbor, who has been muzzleloader hunting much longer than me, who was a lifelong SST (or TC equivalent) shooter, converted to Bloodlines after hearing me shoot one time, and call back to my house on the walkie for evac not long after the shot, time after time. Since then, he has not had to track a single deer, or ask me to help him track one.

Finally, I now have ~350 275 grain Bloodlines stored up for use, which will likely last me for the rest of my life (especially if we get raptured out of here soon). I believe in the performance of these bullets, and my rifle shoots the 275 grainers the best.

 

[ingramjets]

I can’t speak to trajectory, but I can speak to the on target lethality of the Knight Bloodlines. I’ve taken deer with three types of muzzleloader bullets: 1) Barnes TEZ 250 grain 2) Barnes MZ Expander (250 grain) and 3) Knight Bloodlines (220/250/275 grain). I also harvested a doe this past season with a Barnes TEZ doppelgänger in the form of the Federal Trophy Copper 300 grain slug. In my experience, given similar shot placement, the Bloodline bullets harvested the deer more quickly, with less travel from the place of impact, as compared to all of the Barnes/Barnes imitator. I had one Barnes (250 grain MZ Expander) not pass through, and one of the 220 grain Bloodline bases did not pass through on a quartering to shot. Otherwise, the base of the Bloodlines have always passed through the deer. There has also been more bloodshot meat with the Barnes bullets, when the shoulders were struck.

Next, my neighbor, who has been muzzleloader hunting much longer than me, who was a lifelong SST (or TC equivalent) shooter, converted to Bloodlines after hearing me shoot one time, and call back to my house on the walkie for evac not long after the shot, time after time. Since then, he has not had to track a single deer, or ask me to help him track one.

Finally, I now have ~350 275 grain Bloodlines stored up for use, which will likely last me for the rest of my life (especially if we get raptured out of here soon). I believe in the performance of these bullets, and my rifle shoots the 275 grainers the best.

Thanks that’s very good info

 

[knightnut2000]

I shot and hunted with the bloodline bullets when they first came out . The accuracy was fantastic so I was very excited to use them during the hunting season. I did harvest a big mature doe but was less than pleased with the performance of the bloodline bullet. The shot was 60yds broadside standing still she took off and out of sight. When I got to were she was standing I found a clump of gray hair I started tracking in the direction she ran 10yds 25yds 40yds and still not 1 speck of blood so I continued tracking from were she was turning up leaves as she ran. Finally walked up on her at around 85yds and in 85yds I did not find any type of blood trail at all my shoot was true and on the money a double lung hit I couldn't understand why there was no bloodtrail but when I dressed her out the body cavity was full of blood but the bullet did not exit her off side . From were she was laying it was only 15yds to a thicket and I mean a thick narrowly huge thicket if she would have made it in there I for sure would have lost her so I sold all the bloodline bullets and have went back to conicals and the barns MZ bullets. As far as my experience I in good faith could not recommend the bloodline type of bullets. BTJM

 

[phenix78_99]

I shot and hunted with the bloodline bullets when they first came out . The accuracy was fantastic so I was very excited to use them during the hunting season. I did harvest a big mature doe but was less than pleased with the performance of the bloodline bullet. The shot was 60yds broadside standing still she took off and out of sight. When I got to were she was standing I found a clump of gray hair I started tracking in the direction she ran 10yds 25yds 40yds and still not 1 speck of blood so I continued tracking from were she was turning up leaves as she ran. Finally walked up on her at around 85yds and in 85yds I did not find any type of blood trail at all my shoot was true and on the money a double lung hit I couldn't understand why there was no bloodtrail but when I dressed her out the body cavity was full of blood but the bullet did not exit her off side . From were she was laying it was only 15yds to a thicket and I mean a thick narrowly huge thicket if she would have made it in there I for sure would have lost her so I sold all the bloodline bullets and have went back to conicals and the barns MZ bullets. As far as my experience I in good faith could not recommend the bloodline type of bullets. BTJM

I’m sorry to hear they did not work out for you, and I know the frustration you must have felt, believe me. When I harvested the doe I mentioned in my earlier post, with the Federal Trophy Copper 300 grain slugs, I had a similarly frustrating experience. I shot her ~40 yards broadside, she did a 180 and ran the way she approached the stand I was in. When I climbed down and inspected the ground where I shot her, there was no blood and only disturbed oak leaves. When she had run away, and out of my sight, I heard her hit the fencing to my SW, so I just walked to the fence line and followed it hoping I would find blood. I finally found a few drops and followed them until the few drops became larger swathes of blood and disturbed oak leaves.

Ultimately, I found her ~125-150 yards from the place I fired on her. She had a broken offside shoulder, which was absolutely destroyed, and bloodshot to hell. When I field dressed her, her heart had been split, and the two halves were only connected by a small piece of cardiac muscle tissue. I couldn’t believe a calm doe that ultimately dressed out at ~110 pounds made it that far with an inoperable shoulder and split heart, after being hit with a 300 grain slug moving at ~17-1800 fps (chronograph verified), with a full pass through, but she did. Out of curiosity, I tested this bullet later, and recovered the bullet in the attached pic.

Just for my own curiosity, did you do a postmortem on the doe you shot with the Bloodlines? If so, what did you find? In my experience, the petals don’t appear as if they shear off until the bullet gets inside the chest cavity, as exit and entrance holes appear to mimic those of what I have seen from an LFN bullet (caliber size hole in and out of the muscle/bone tissue on either side of the chest cavity). I absolutely like the idea of the heavier Bloodline bullets, particularly after the failure of my 220 grain Bloodline base to exit the deer I mentioned in my earlier post.

All that said, maybe I’ve just been extremely lucky with the Bloodlines.