Semisane

Grab a cup of coffee guys, this is a long one (11 target pictures).

I took two does last season with 200 grain XTPs and 85 grains of GOEX FFFg in my Renegade with the .45 caliber Green Mountain Long Range Hunter barrel. But I've really been wanting to try some 180 grain Gold Dots in that gun. I did that Friday afternoon.

I decided to start the 180s with 95 grains of GOEX FFFg. Knowing the gun was sighted in to hit one-inch high at 100 yards with the 200 XTPs and 85 grains, I wasn't sure where it would shoot the GDs. So I shot the first shot at 25 yards. Here's what it did.




Well, I figured there won't be any need for a scope adjustment.

So I put a target out at 50 yards and took three shots. Here's the target.





Of course, I was pleased with that. Will it hold up at 75 yards? Let's see. Three shots at the 75 yard mark produced this next target.




Well that was disappointing!!! At least twice the group size I was hoping for.

Let's try 100 yards anyway, just to see how bad it gets. Here's the 100 yard target.




Not great - but not as bad as I expected after the two-inch 75 yard group.

SIDE NOTE: That 100 yard target illustrates what I dislike about three-shot groups, and why I favor five-shot groups. In this case we have the benefit of the previous group at 75 yards in making a judgement. But what if all we had was that 100 yard three-shot group. I'd be asking myself - "Is this a 2+ inch load as indicated by the target, or is that shot low and right an anomaly? Is it really a 3/4" load? Did I screw up that one shot?"

So, with 95 grains of powder I got a two-inch group at 75 yards and a two and three-eights inch group at 100 yards. It's time to try a new load.

The 200 grain XTPs shot best with 85 grains of GOEX. Let's try that at 50 yards. Here's the target.




LOOKING GOOD! Just a tad bit tighter than the 95 grain / 50 yard group. But I wonder, would dropping another ten grains be even better? Let's try three shots with 75 grains.



Nope! That didn't improve anything.

OK. It looks like 85 grains is doing best. Let's get serious with a five-shot group at 50 yards and really see what it will do.

Up until now I've been wiping the bore with both sides of one alcohol patch between shots. So I fully cleaned the barrel before shooting the next group. Here's the target.




Well, it's not one of those great "one hole" groups. But it's good enough for a neck shot at 50 yards. Notice that Shot #1 on the fully clean dry bore was right in there with the group. That's nice to know. I wonder if that vertical stringing is my fault? Maybe I'm gripping the gun a little differently each time.

Let's take it out to 75 yards and see if it holds together.



OK. Nothing to shout about, but certainly acceptable. Too bad about that one that hit lower than the rest.

Next, I set a target out at 100 yards and stole the chronograph from my brother-in-law who was testing some handloads for his .243 on the other shooting bench (heck, it' my chronograph anyway). Put the chrono out twelve feet from the muzzle and started shooting. I took five shots, but gave the chrono back after the first three. Here's the target.



I was really pleased with that group. The chronograph readings were right about where I expected them to be. I need to plug them into a ballistic program and see what the energy figures are for this bullet.

Heck, let's try 125 yards. Here's the target.





More vertical stringing. It's got to be something I'm doing. Still, an acceptable hunting group at that range.

Well the sun is getting pretty low in the sky. Time for one more round. Last target - 150 yards.



OK. Not great. Not too bad. By the way, I didn't adjust the scope at any time during the session and all aiming was at the center dot.

Forty-one shots makes for a pretty long range session. But recoil was negligible and I had a lot of fun with this one.

lemoyne

Thats off of cross sticks? Pretty good shooting.

Semisane

Naw. From a bench with Caldwell shooting rests front and back.

These pictures of the rifle range at our hunting lease are about a year old. We now have two benches, side-by-side. The tree line at the far end of the range is 325 yards.

kb1

thats a nice range!how do those groups compare to the xtp's
great post(went well with my morning coffee)........karl

Semisane

The XTP groups were very similar to these Karl. It would be hard to call one better than the other without side-by-side shooting on the same day.

However, both the 200 grain XTPs and the 180 grain Gold Dots clearly shot a tad bit better than the 41 caliber 210 grain Gold Dots. I wish Speer made a .400/200 grain Gold Dot with the same construction as their 41 caliber hunting bullet.

lemoyne

Semi
I have been wishing that for a long time. The 200 shoots best in 50calibers and at least in mine the 180 does not do near as well. The 180 shoots ok in the 45 caliber but I am inclined to believe the 200 would be better and the sectional density is Better.
The choices in a 40 caliber bullet are limited, unless you cast a bullet or settle for lead copper plated bullet the only ones I know of are the SW, XTP and the Lehigh I have been using the Lehigh because I get very good groups with it wit max loads at long range.

cayugad

Some good shooting there... Looking at your groups, if you aimed center mass on the kill zone of a whitetail deer, you would have hit. Granted, you might have had to adjust for drop at 150 yards, but face it that group you shot did have the long range potential. The question is, does the bullet have the ability.

Also my understanding is, this is a pistol bullet. So it "preforms" best at certain velocities. I think your right in that range with 85 grains of powder. My rifle is doing great at 30 yards, but I wonder what about further back? So that was a very interesting report. Keep shooting them. I hope you harvest a deer with one next year. It would be interesting to see how well it does.

Semisane

That's exactly the question I've been pondering Cayugad. Take a look at the chart below with ballistics for the 200 grain XTP, 180 grain Gold Dot, and 210 grain Gold Dot, all launched at 1750 fps.

That 180 grainer looks pretty anemic. But then I consider this: The 10mm Auto is considered a fine handgun hunting round for whitetails, falling about midway between the .357 Magnum and .41 Magnum in power and easily capable of clean kills at 50 yards. A hot load with a 180 grain bullet in the 10mm Auto has a muzzle velocity just under 1300 fps, and a 50 yard velocity around 1150 fps. My 85 grain load is beating that velocity all the way out to 150 yards. I think that, as always, shot placement is key.

cayugad

That, and from looking at the construction of the Speer GDHP I think with the additional velocity you would get some real good expansion. Put that in the right spot and you should have some real internal organ damage.

And they are fun to shoot. I love to sit at the range and shoot. I buy in bulk and can shoot them somewhat reasonable. Plus they do seem to be accurate so far.