Hornaday FPB, they worth a try???
 

Has anyone use this bullet yet and any reports on the peformance. I picked up a pack today and will take them to the range. I still have some BH209 left and thought I would try them.

These bullets remind me a lot like miniballs with their hollow bases and thin skirts. Paid $18.99 for a pack of 15 ea. Hope they are worth it. Oh yeah, I got what they had and they are the 350 gr. weight.

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The 350 grain Hornady FPB is a good hog killer for sure. Have killed a few of them with that bullet and all were bang flops. My Encore with 120 grains of Goex Pinnacle powder makes 2-3" three shot groups at 100 yards.

I've shot quite a few out of different inlines and had some impressive accuracy with them. I never harvested any game with them, but if Falcon says they are good for game, I sure believe him. I would be willing to try them on some.

In some guns they are awesome they shoot close to a inch in my triumph and well under in the Endeavour. have not shot any thing but hogs with them yet but that's usually a good test and they were impressive on the two I used them on. There have been a few reports on several forum's on them one was with a nice mushroom taken out of an elk after a long angle shot. They seem to shoot best in most guns with 90 or 100 gr most reports have been on using them with BH. My personal load for accuracy has been 90 gr BH. Lee

I love them in my Omega with 90 gr of BH 209. That load took out a big cow elk last fall very nicely. And they only come in 350 gr!

They shot okay out of my Endeavor but I wasn't overly impressed. I'm more interested in the Thor Bullets for a conical.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the 350g is the only size they come in.

Since you bought them, they sure are worth a try. I shoot them in my Genesis over 100 loose Pyrodex, and they are accurate. I've shot 3 deer with them and they perform the way I want. Three pass-throughs, with good sized exit holes.

I think not needing a sabot is a big plus, and the full-bore bullet diameter can't hurt either. I'll be interested to hear your results with BH 209.

With a 1500 muzzle velocity and a 125 yd zero, this is easily a 150 yd load.

Please explain???

This is the only photo i have of a hog that was shot with the FPB. This sow field dressed 188 pounds. The exit hole below the ear is at least 1" in diameter. i also killed a bigger sow from the same sounder using the FPB bullet. Both bang flopped.

IMO: This is a good bullet to use on shoulder shots. It will put the animal down now.

Was the other sow a shoulder shot? Pretty much any bullet will bang/flop a hog if you put it right behind the ear.

i do not normally shoot hogs in the shoulder. However, two friends of mine have shot hogs up to 225 pounds in the shoulder with the FPB and it has always exited.

The other hog i killed that day was hit square behind the shoulder and low. The exit hole was huge. It took out ribs going in and exiting. The third hog, a big boar, was killed somewhat later. It was also hit just behind the shoulder, a little higher than the other one: Another huge exit hole. Neither went anywhere after being hit-they just DRT.

I did not shoot mine in the shoulder either, why blow up the meat if a bullet is any good and and has a decent load behind it the behind the shoulder shot has always work quite well for me. Lee

Well I shot the FPB and loved it. I also have to say that the BH209 and the FPB are a match. I started with 85 grs. and got a group of about 2 & 1/2" @ 50 yds. When I went to the max of 100 grs. the group size dropped to less then 1".

I was very pleased. The only problem I can see is a follow up shot. It is very hard to line up the bullet when loading it in my Knight Vision. There is no resess in the barrel on the rifling. Once it is started, it runs down the barrel very smoothly.

As much as I hate to say it, I am falling in love with this damned BH209. I shot over 25 bullets yesterday at the range without ever running a patch down the barrel. I never had one problem with loading my gun. I still hate the price though. :cool2:

Cool! Sounds like great performance to me. :happy0001:

Rafsob
they load faster than a sabot in the TC QLA. And my newest the Endeavor tears a 3/4 inch hole with 3 shots at 100yds, and they suprised me on how well they stayed in a group with out much drop to 150yds. They are definately my go to for some states. Lee

Hey Lee, I usually only shoot my BP guns at 50 yards. With my bad legs it makes it easier to walk that distance. Plus my shots are usaully in the 50 to 75 yd range here in Va. I normally set my sights at about two inches high and that will put me in the 50 to 100 yd range.

But I am having so much fun shooting this gun, I think I will take it to the 100 yd range and get a good reading on the performance. I will be a the range next Wednesday and file a report.

I started shootin them last summer when they came out,I have a CVA Kodiak with a Leupold 2-7 and It shoots almost one hole groups at 50yds with 2 777 pellets! I love these bullets.I ended up buying 5 packs for $9 when they went on clereance at walmart. I shot a doe opening morning of our ML season here in TN at 60 yds,complete pass thru and had a blood trail ray charles could follow.

Nice doe bushbustin!

Just saying that eliminating a variable is a benefit. One less thing to think about in load development. One less thing to go wrong. Sabots must fit the bore properly to shoot well, and can be affected by temperature. There's obviously nothing wrong with sabots, and they are probably the best way to go for shooting longer ranges.

I like bullets on the heavy side for MLs, and I rarely attempt shots at even 100 yds. I also like the fact that they start out at 50 cal, and do seem to expand a bit on deer, yet also reliably give full penetration and a nice exit hole. FPBs are designed to work in a range of 50 cal bore sizes, as the hollow base skirt expands to engage the rifling. If the FPBs didn't shoot well it would be a moot point. But since they are as accurate as I need for my hunting, it's a plus not to have to deal with sabots.

With what powder/charge? I want to try them in my PH. I tried two in my Lyman but couldn't find them (meaning I had just shot GP conicals fine then loaded up the FPBs and missed the entire target...twice. Don't know where they were going). :confused:

If your gun does not have QLA or something like it, loading the Hornady FPB is problematic. You have to set the butt plate on the ground, line the FPB up straight and give the short starter a hard whack.

The powder charge I used is 90 gr it shot so well I have not even tried any other.
My hunting friend shots a Knight and they shot real good for him but he had a hard time loading them so I made him a false muzzle in a block just the size of his bore and it eliminated his loading problems. He runs them through the block at home and it sizes them just small enough to start good and still lock up over the powder good. Lee

I have heard of people starting their bullets at home, then pushing them out so that they have rifling marks on them. Then when you get to the range or hunt, you just line up the riflings and they start easy.

I have not tried it, but when I get my new LRH, I may give it a try.

Txhunter58
we played with that to if you reline up the rifling marks and the rifling it works well but getting that alignment is kind of a pain. If you push a round ball that's been flattened to just a bit bigger than the bore into the barrel a couple inches then push it back out from the other end and measure it across the largest part so you can bore a nice smooth hole that size in a brass block and bevel the edges then you can start the FPB nose first push it through the block. Once it is down to where it is just the right size to cut the rifling it seems to start fairly easy. Lee