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-   -   Hornady 250 FTX (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/black-powder/316682-hornady-250-ftx.html)

sabotloader 02-05-2010 01:46 PM

Hornady 250 FTX
 
This has always been a problem for me with Hornady bullets. It started years ago when I was hunting with a Hornady .308/200 Round Nose, shot from a 300 Winchester Mag.

I shot two elk with this bullet and both time I found the copper just under the skin on the entrance side and of course they never exitied. Yes both elk were harvested, so yes I gues the bullet worked but i certainly would not trust it.

When I moved from centerfire to muzzleloader the first bullets I tried were XTP's and the experienced continued. Not always did they strip but on occasion they did. Of course after my ML discovery of the the problem I immediatly switch to Noslers as I had done even for centerfire hunting.

I was shooting some 250 FTX's the other day at the farm and today when I set the target out I found this FTX in the trough in the ground. Shook my head... but I picked it up for pictures. Yes, I know shooting this bullet into wet soil if tough on a bullet but I am not certain howm much tougher it than shooting throught the hide of a bull elk - especially if you strike a major bone.

Fore myself Hornady's are good for shooting paper but I never really trust them when shooting a game animal.

sorry for the heavy yellow color - that is what I get for using a yellow back ground paper....


oldsmellhound 02-05-2010 02:29 PM

Sabotloader,

How much powder were you using, and what was the range the bullets were impacting the soil? Me & my hunting buddies have always had very good results with XTP's of various sizes and weights as long as the velocities weren't in the "magnum" range. I had core/jacket separation a couple times- these were on high velocity impacts (2000 fps+) at close range with the 200 XTP. My friends that use the .452 240 grain and .429 240 grainers have never had (to my knowledge) this problem. Of course they are pushing these bullets at no more than 1750 fps out of the muzzle.

I have no experience on game with the FTX. I did shoot one with the 200 SST and it performed decent, though I wasn't able to recover the bullet to see what happened to it.

sabotloader 02-05-2010 03:04 PM

oldsmellhound

Well see that is the point... The FTX is a pointy bullet and is meant for long range hunting. I was shooting 110 grains of T7 and the velocity was running in the 1900 FPS area.

I am really not trying to change anyone's minds that is totally up to you. What I am stating is that I have never found a Hornady that will stay together in difficult situations.

Here is an experiment that I have fired in the past using Hornady's and Speers. These Speers were shot into the same medium and held to gether just fine.




I repeated the activity shooting Hornady XTP's...



Notice I also say some but not all Hornady's stripped. Enough did strip and have stripped for me that I have not real faith in the bullets. I really thought the FTX might be different as they were designed to fly faster and harder... Not the case


Me & my hunting buddies have always had very good results with XTP's of various sizes and weights as long as the velocities weren't in the "magnum" range.
I think a majority of Hornady users would agree with your and your findings - it just that I consistenly find the opposite on occasion.

turk1270 02-05-2010 04:38 PM

kinda hard comparing apples to oranges really not a fair comparsion since the speer is a bonded bullet and the ftx is not

sabotloader 02-05-2010 04:48 PM

turk1270

Correct and half the cost of the FTX... and just a bit more than than a XTP.

That really is my point more than anything else - there might be a bullet out there that has better construction than the XTP or even the FTX a reasonable price.

Again not saying that the Hornady will not work because we all know that it will, but I really would feel more comfartable hunting with a bullet that does not come apart under tough circumstances...

MountainDevil54 02-05-2010 05:16 PM

shoot in into a controlled source, like a bucket full of sand. that should give better results.

spaniel 02-05-2010 05:36 PM

The 250 FTX is nothing more than a 250SW with, supposedly, a little harder lead or thicker jacket depending who you talk to. As you know it is not bonded.

You know I shoot almost exclusively Hornaday bullets and if someone asks me about something to shoot deer at 100-150 yds and further they top my list. But for elk, NO. I would recommend the 300gr BONDED SW but not any of the lighter non-bonded bullets. Will they work? Probably. Most of the time. But there are better bullets for the job.

I've posted pics of recovered 200SWs that look a lot like that, the jackets stripped on the far side after going through both shoulders. This is one reason that, for DEER, I like the 200s better as they are longer-for-caliber and therefore hold together better.

The opposite is also true. I shot a deer with a 300SW, hit no bone, and from the wounds it was very clear I got zero expansion. Great elk bullet, too hard for deer.

If you want to shoot a pointy bullet at elk, try the 325gr. It is a nice long, heavy bullet. If the one I shot lengthwise through a deer as 20 or less yds with a MV of 1950 fps could survive with so much retained weight, I would not hesitate to shoot an elk with one.

Personally, I have never been a fan of the 250 SW (and now FTX for that matter). It is in a popular weight range but both the 200 and 300 gr versions are better bullets in almost every way (BC, terminal performance)

sabotloader 02-05-2010 06:21 PM

spaniel

My only point is that I have yet to find a Hornady that will not strip itself (I have not shot any bonded Hornady) I shoot them at paper and will continue to shoot them at paper but I feel it is somewhat a crap shoot when using them for hunting. I also believe they are more than 95% effective, but for just myself I would not depend on a bullet that strips the lead from the copper, or sometime expands and sometimes does not. With those unkowns to calculate into the varibles - I would rather shoot an economical bullet that those varibles are not a part of.

Again I am not just saying this about their ML bullets only - i have had the same problem with their .308's and .277's.

Just got a 2010 Hornady catalog, I see now that Hornady is producing a new bullet that could be the best thing they have done. It is called a GMX, a solid metal - you should not have to worry about lead stripping from that. Might be awhile before we see them in a caliber that a ML can use but at least they are getting started.

SHulion 02-06-2010 04:29 AM

Do any of you guys have any experience with the .430/265gr. FTX. I shoot them in my Endeavor and they are really accurate but I havent had a chance to use them on any game yet or shoot them into any phone books. I'm pushing them with 110gr. of BH209. What kind of MV do you think I'm getting. You think this bullet will hold together better than the 250.

sabotloader 02-06-2010 07:23 AM

SHulion


You think this bullet will hold together better than the 250.
Please remember shooting into this medium is extremly tough on a bullet, much more so than the normal shooting of a big game animal, so I would say that shooting any of the FTX's would provide you with good results.

I would guess that 110 grains of BH would probably provide you right @ 1900 fps. And I totally agree about their accuracy - they are accurate...


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