RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

Hey wabi, now's no time to be talking sense! I do believe that Barnes solid copper bullets are the most effective game bullets made. (I still hate paying a buck a bullet, especially when I know and XTP or Gold Dot will kill a whitetail as dead as they can get.)

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

The SW are VERY VERY accurate in my new Savage (5 out of 5 within an inch at 100 yards), as are the Parker Ballistic Extremes 275g (4 out of 5 witin an inch at 100 yards). Before I shot the BE last weekend I wasthinking on doing the exact same thing your doing on close shots, putting them thru the shoulder blade so they would expand. Glad to hear from someone that it works. Chap Gleason

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

"Loosy no accuracy, tighty but not pound them down gives great accuracy." That has been my experience, clean barrel every time.
Chap Gleason

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

My first (& last) buck with an XTP bullet went almost 30 yards after the hit. My buddy talked me into trying Barnes bullets the next year, and they are all I've deer hunted with since. Not a huge score (haven't kept count, but 4 or 5 deer) but every one dropped on the spot!

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

wabi, may I ask at what distance the shots were taken with the xtps? Were they 250g 300g? Only reason I ask, is that I have set scope, load, etc up for the upcoming season using 300g xtp. Thanks for any info.

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

you know it is amazing how some deer drop on the spot from a questionable shot but yet the next deer with a perfect shot will run a hundred yards or so after impact.up until this year i have been a shotgun only hunter in illinois and for the last six years have been shooting winchester partition gold slugs they have been great have killed around twenty deer with them most did not make it ten feet. but one in paticular last year took three thats right three through the front shoulder and still managed to make it 80-100 yards out of the field before collapsing.on that hunt i was using a new scope and thought as the deer kept moving that i was missing him but luckily i found some blood before it got dark and recovered that deer. when we got him skinned out we could see i shot a 2 inch group in his right shoulder and it looked like a softball had came out the left i was really amazed that he made it that far...with that beeing said no wonder it is hard to get a strait answer on what ML bullet to shoot because i dont think to many deer will give me three shots with my new omega...

RE: Tried new powder/bullet combination
 

oldrookie,
It was a 300 grain XTP at about 60 yards. Nothing wrong with the bullet performance, or the recovery. A shot through the lungs and the buck didn't go far. The only reason I switched was the Barnes record among hunting friends. With a good hit - 100% recovery rate and almost all dropped right on the spot. One hunting buddy even badly mis-judged range and took a nice buck when the Barnes took two legs almost off. :(