300 xtp or gold dot?
03-04-2009, 08:53 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: South Georgia
Posts: 28
300 xtp or gold dot?
I wanted to see which bullet you all thought would be best for deer in the 100-150 pound range and hogs. Most of the hogs I have seen would go under 200 pounds with the average "good eatin size"being around 100 pounds. I am looking at using the 300 grain xtp or 300 grain gold dot and didn't know if everyone felt better about one than the other. The load is going to be roughly 100 grains of loose pyrodex RS in a black harvester crush rib sabot. I sent my broken Knight Shadow back in (great customer service by the way) and received the new Knight Extreme that I ordered in its place, so that is what I will be hunting with. I'll try to post some pics of it soon - I really like that gun. I am thinking of using 300 grain bullets for a better chance at pass through since the areas I hunt are very dense. Shots should average around 50-60 yards with some being as close as 20 and some stretching 115 or so. Thanks for your input.
03-04-2009, 09:31 AM
#2
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
Because you shoot a knight and I am basing this on how well my two Knights shoot them... a .44 .430 caliber 300 grain Hornady XTP in a Green Harvester Crushed Rib sabot. They are deadly accurate in my Knights, and would do the job on deer and hogs. You can buy them in bulk and even save some money.
03-04-2009, 09:50 AM
#3
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 11,703
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
smokeblower
Unlike Cayugad i have never found the time for 44 caliber bullets from a 50 cal ML - Ireally like being closer to bore size, so much so that I in fact shoot .458/300 grain bullets for elk hunting. For deer i do come back to .451/.452 bullets.
I have to tell right off the bat I am totally partial to the Gold Dot. It is a bonded bullet and it has a BC of .232 close to some of those pointy bullets out there.
In defense of the XTP - they have taken a ton of animals and shot by a lot of shooters. You should also know that there really are 2 .452/300 grain XTP's. One is just the plain old XTP and is an excellent buttet form 10 to 100 yards on whitetail, the other is the XTP-Mag - it is a bit tougher bullet and does not expand as easy as does the regualr XTP - but it is probably better at long ranges.... At close range I have found that it will pass through a white without expanding much at all.
I have torture tested both against XTP's against the Gold Dot and it my conclusion tha Gold Dot will provide better penetration from 10 to 200 yards - plus it will stay together - I have nickmamed them a poorman's Nosler.
Most important you will need to discover which one will shoot from you gun best...
These are recovered Gold Dots both 250 and 300 grain...
These are recovered XTP's from the same test... This does not show an XTP-Mag. You can see there is/was significant weight loss. But I will be the first to tell you shooting a projectile in mud @ 100 is awful hard on a bullet.
Unlike Cayugad i have never found the time for 44 caliber bullets from a 50 cal ML - Ireally like being closer to bore size, so much so that I in fact shoot .458/300 grain bullets for elk hunting. For deer i do come back to .451/.452 bullets.
I have to tell right off the bat I am totally partial to the Gold Dot. It is a bonded bullet and it has a BC of .232 close to some of those pointy bullets out there.
In defense of the XTP - they have taken a ton of animals and shot by a lot of shooters. You should also know that there really are 2 .452/300 grain XTP's. One is just the plain old XTP and is an excellent buttet form 10 to 100 yards on whitetail, the other is the XTP-Mag - it is a bit tougher bullet and does not expand as easy as does the regualr XTP - but it is probably better at long ranges.... At close range I have found that it will pass through a white without expanding much at all.
I have torture tested both against XTP's against the Gold Dot and it my conclusion tha Gold Dot will provide better penetration from 10 to 200 yards - plus it will stay together - I have nickmamed them a poorman's Nosler.
Most important you will need to discover which one will shoot from you gun best...
These are recovered Gold Dots both 250 and 300 grain...
These are recovered XTP's from the same test... This does not show an XTP-Mag. You can see there is/was significant weight loss. But I will be the first to tell you shooting a projectile in mud @ 100 is awful hard on a bullet.
03-04-2009, 12:17 PM
#6
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
I'm sure the Gold Dots are good bullets. But personally I like the 300 gr XTPs (.430" with Harvester Green CR sabots). They are accurate and perform well for me. Below is a pic of the only recovered one I've found. I also use 200 gr .40 cal in my 45 ML.
03-04-2009, 02:28 PM
#7
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
The vast majorityof my muzzleloader hogs have been killed by the 240 grain .430 XTP.Over90 percent of them bang flopped.
A friend killeda big hybridboar lastweekend with myCVA MagnumHunter using the 240 grain .430XTP bullet and 120 grains of Goex 2F Pinnacle. That hog weighed over 280 poundsfield dressed. Range was about 30 yards. The 240 grain XTP bullet hit the hog just behind the crook in the leg and made mush of the heart and lungs. Hog staggered about 5 yards and fell over dead. This was her first hog and she wasecstatic.
A friend killeda big hybridboar lastweekend with myCVA MagnumHunter using the 240 grain .430XTP bullet and 120 grains of Goex 2F Pinnacle. That hog weighed over 280 poundsfield dressed. Range was about 30 yards. The 240 grain XTP bullet hit the hog just behind the crook in the leg and made mush of the heart and lungs. Hog staggered about 5 yards and fell over dead. This was her first hog and she wasecstatic.
03-04-2009, 03:35 PM
#9
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 11,703
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
1eyebuck
You bet... the 454 Casual is a big game pistol.
Doesn't count but the only anmal I have shot with one, a .452/250 grain was a peeper @ 51 yards... blew it to bits...
Members that I know that have used sucessfully are Lemoyne and Chapman Gleason. There are others that are using them but do not remember the names...
I have a question, are those gold dots from animals?
Doesn't count but the only anmal I have shot with one, a .452/250 grain was a peeper @ 51 yards... blew it to bits...
Members that I know that have used sucessfully are Lemoyne and Chapman Gleason. There are others that are using them but do not remember the names...
03-04-2009, 03:54 PM
#10
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: 300 xtp or gold dot?
The reason I suggested the Hornady over the Speer is I get much better accuracy with the Hornady in my Knight Rifles. In fact I just bought three more boxes of the .44 300 grain Hornady.
The worst shooting bullets I have are .44 caliber Speer Gold Dots. They are a 270 grain and I forget the other ones. I have shot them and they were accurate out to 75 yards. After that they started to spread out. But that could have been me.
Now I have been shooting a .458 Speer 300 gr HP in Orange MMP sabots and they shoot accurate. Sabotloader was telling me they are different thena Gold Dot and look like they should hold up well on critters.
The worst shooting bullets I have are .44 caliber Speer Gold Dots. They are a 270 grain and I forget the other ones. I have shot them and they were accurate out to 75 yards. After that they started to spread out. But that could have been me.
Now I have been shooting a .458 Speer 300 gr HP in Orange MMP sabots and they shoot accurate. Sabotloader was telling me they are different thena Gold Dot and look like they should hold up well on critters.
