Thanks again guys. Everything that has been posted is full of info and valuable opinions! I have no doubt that the 300gr GD is a great load for any big game. I really wish that I could find some info like the Hornady chart above that shows how the 300s would perform if I were ever to drop down in load to say 85gr? My goal is to find a bullet that gives me the best chance of a pass through with good exspansion, but as stated, most if not all bullets should do that placed behind the shoulder, broadside. That's usually the shot I take. However, if it's a bad day to track a deer due to rain, terrain or hunting pressure, I would like to feel confident in a shoulder shot that won't fragment to the point that there's nothing left of it. I have also been busted by deer quartering towards me and don't have the chance of waiting for a broadside shot when they're 20yds in front of you. I tried searching for some GD charts, but wasn't successful.

Thanks,

Mike
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You will need to try your own experiment, something like "Frontier Gander" did with PBs. What he did was take 1 gallon milk jugs and fill them with Sand. They he shot 295g PB into them at various powder charges, 70, 80, 90, 100g of 777 or Pyrodex or Goex. Then he laid them out and you could see at like 90g that the PowerBelts started to pancake out and the edges fragment out. Now I think with the Hornady say 250g regular (not the mag) you will see a point where the jackets start to come off, with the gold dot, I do not believe you will see fragmentation. I believe at all power levels even up to 150g you will see the Gold Dots hold together and shoot thru like 3 jugs back to back. I would put 4 or 5 jugs on your first shot, because I used a 5 gallon bucket for my little experiment that I did with Nosler Partitions, XTPs and SW, and the Noslers and SW shot all the way thru the length of the 5 gallon bucket. Anyway with each bullet you should see some form of pattern emerging where they totally "pancake out" and start to break up, first at the edges and then at the core. As Craig Boddington says of "long shanked perfectly mushroomed balanced bullets", they are a "thing of beauty", exactly like the ones Semisane published. If the Gold Dots shoot thru 4 or 5 jugs of sand, perfectly mushroom at all speeds 75, 85, 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145g of 777, and I do think they will then I think you have a bullet that will hold up in the shoulder and oblique angle shots (quartering toward you at 20 yards). I shot a buck in 2006 with 100g of 777 with a 300g Nosler Partition, straight on in the brisket, I found the bullet just in front of the hind quarter of the deer under the skin and it had gone thru almost the whole length of the deer, perfectly mushroomed, now that is excellent bullet performance. I do believe, as does SabotLoader, that the Gold Dots will do that also. So do the same experiment with Hornady XTP and Gold Dot in either 250 or 300, then you will know for yourself. Shoot at about 25 to 30 yards at the jugs of sand. Any sand will work, I have even used potting soil mixed with sand.

Read this article:

http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/July03/july03.htm

and look at this chart:
http://www.snipersparadise.com/tsmag/July03/TSD%20Wound%20Chart-MZ.xls

The guy that wrote this book, is a big XTP fan:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0873419510/qid=1114882877/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-8867395-7390420?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

This book is excellent for bullet theory "Rifle Bullets for the Hunter, A Definitive Study":
http://www.ramworks.net/estore.html
Bryce Towsley (MLing Editor of American Rifleman) wrote the chapter on MLing, he likes Large Frontal (meplat) 45/70 rifle bullets in a ML going slow for deep penetration, and he like Barnes bullets for distance:

http://www.barnesbullets.com/information/product-news/publication-mentions/breaking-out-of-the-mold/


Best wishes for your quest to know more about bullets and bullet performance.
Chap Gleason

PS. This is the Nosler that came out of the deer in 2006, I call that "beautiful".