200 gn Hornady .40 XTP terminal performance in a .45... Graphic!

[BrushPopper]

I just recently came back from a South Texas hunt where I was able to harvest a Javelina with one of my muzzle-loaders.

The gun is an older FIE 'Kentucky' rifle... I've cut the .45barrel down to about 19" and named him "Shorty". While I like to use more traditional projectiles in my sidelocks, the most accurate load I've found so far for this gun is the 200 gn hornady XTP, in a blue, Harvester sabot over 44 gns of FFF grade Triple Seven.

Haven't chronied the load yet, but I'm guessing 1100, 1200 fps. Seemed wise to maybe go slow with a bullet designed for handgun velocities.

I was able to get a shot on my Javelina at about 20 yards. Full-frontal shot.Once the smoke cleared, I walked up to the expired skunk-hog and found that the bullet had entered in front of the right shoulder.

I was happy to see that the bullet hadn't exited (even as I was taking the shot, I was grateful for the angle and was thinking that the bullet could be recovered if Icould makethe shot).

I hadn't killed anything with this gun/load and was anxious to see the damage, a quick scan with a Garrett metal detector showed that the slug was still in the pig and had traveled about 12" from the point of entry.

[align=center]Here's the javelina and my "Shorty-Forty"[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]Here's the front of the recovered XTP (Widest portion measured about .81)[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]And the back of the slug (retained weight=134 gns)[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=center]I hope I don't get in trouble for this one... no offense intended, but I was so impressed with this bullet's performance upon field-dressing... I couldn't believe it, but here is what was left of the heart...[/align][align=center][/align][align=center][/align][align=left]So there you have it: Shoulder broken,heart demolished, lungs destroyed, a piece of the liver was missing aprox. 3/4 the size of a playing card... I don't think the Javelina could have been any deader if he'd swallowed a hand grenade![/align][align=left][/align][align=left]I would definitely hesitate to drive this bullet much faster though, I doubt that I would have found anything but maybe the copper jacket if it had been pushing 2000 fps.[/align][align=left][/align][align=left]HH All![/align][align=left]BP[/align]

[cayugad]

That is some extensive damage that 200 grain caused. I shoot them out of my Knight Rifle but at much higher speeds. I have yet to harvest anything with them.

Congratulations on the javelina!!

[Semisane]

Dang, that's a neat looking `lil gun there, BrushPopper. Could carry it all day.

Good report. If you've got a scale it would be interesting to know what the bullet weighs.

[BrushPopper]

Thanx for the kind words 'sane, retained weight was 134 gns.
BP

[frontier gander]

Great looking pig. My brother in law wants to take me to southern new mexico to hunt those.

With only 44 grains triple 7, i cant believe how that bullet started to come apart. Those bullets have thick jackets on them too.

Great lookin piggie.

[rem 700]

I would've expected more weight retention...but who cares, it did a fine job!

[lemoyne]

Good job, excellant pics. I have yet to recover one usually get pass throughs on everything. Did it hit any bone? Lee

[BrushPopper]

ORIGINAL: frontier gander


With only 44 grains triple 7, i cant believe how that bullet started to come apart. Those bullets have thick jackets on them too.

Yeah, me too. I figured it was because the bullet hit that shoulder-bone going in. If I'd been driving it much hotter, I reckon the bullet would likely have blown-up andmaybe not penetrated as deep.

Those little pseudo-hogs are fun to hunt and seem to be custom made forsmoke-poles and handguns... they aren't that hard to hunt, just sometimes hard to find!

BrushPopper

[wabi]

Looks like the bullet did it's job well.
That's a very useful looking rifle, too!

[corey012778]

great job,

I like the rifle.