what hornadys xtp or sst?

[Allseasonhunter7]

i think you "all" are shooting those sst's right? i plan on buying some and maybe shooting them before work today . i am not going to loose another deer with powerbelts.. any way should i use 100 or 150 grains of powder out of my optima also ill be buying the sabots in around 250 grain

[Allseasonhunter7]

also which is better triple seven or pyrodex pellets
thanks alot

[Triple Se7en]

Pyrodex pellets are the better buy. Buy a pack of 30 grain pellets too... just in case your shot groups are best using 90, 110, 120 or 130 grains. I would not exceed 130 grains of pellets in any rifle. Many times, anything beyond 120 is not properly ignited & comes out your bore in a ball of fire.

Oh - I forgot to mention that old stock SST bullets still exist in stores. They have the thicker sabots that are difficult to load in many MLs. Buy the sister/brother Shockwaves. If you want the easiest loading ones, buy the yellow sabot Super Glides. As always, I recommend the 300s over the 250s for more thumping power - more bullet for the same price.

The T/C XTPs (Mag Sabots) are fine. I only like them in 300 grain - which are slow sellers & hard to find. You are better-off to purchase a 50-pk of Hornady XTPs 300sin the reloading aisle - then use the 50-pk Harvester plastic sabots as the skirt. Both are sold separately & are nice economical options.

[sabotloader]

Allseasonhunter7

You might not like the SST/Shockwave as much as you think vs the powerbelt unless you are shooting at longer ranges. The have been a lot of occasions the SST/SW have passed right through deer at closer ranges... the deer is dead but it will run off and you will be tracking with a very small if any blood trail. All of this can be taken care of if you nail the animal in a major bone and start the bullet expanding sooner and harder. Although I would agree the SST/SW is a better bullet on the average than any PB.

If you might consider another bullet look at the Spreer .452 - 300 grain Gold Dot. It has a decent BC and is a bonded bullet designed to cloverleaf at impact - even on thinned skinned deer.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1791957

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1794250

I am still using Nosler .451 260 grain Partitions but as soon as I run out this will be the bullet.

I should have added the SST/SW - outstanding bullets at longer ranges - again in my opinion

Just my opinion....

Good luck...

[lemoyne]

I guess a lot depends on the load your gun likes the SST and the Shock Wave the XTP and the Speer Gold dot in the 250 gr weight are all interchangeable in my Omega; for places I expect 150 yd shots I load the SST or Shock Waves I find no differance; in them for areas that I expect 125 or less yds I load XTP. I have shot the Gold dot and it shoots fine but so do the XTP and I already have 500 of them.
The one thing I would mention is fined the right sabot for your gun before trying to fine tune I tried all of them from Harvestor and MMP and ended up with a different one in each gun,not all barrels do notlike the same fit, some like them tight some shoot better with them just fitting snugso you have to try them in that particular gun to find out. Lee