First let me say nice deer. But that picture looks very cold.

I think I have to agree on the over power factor for the XTP bullets. Been using them for years and shooting one or more deer each year with them. I have never failed to have more then enough blood for a good trail.

Now as to your situation. I think you may have over powered your XTP. I have shot this saboted bullet using Pyrodex, Clean Shot and the real stuff (Goex), but never really tried to shoot them using more then 85 or 90 grs. of powder. When I switched to BH 209 I shot the same loads that I was used to and did go up to max. Well I found I had the best results with my old tried and true load of 85 grs. You don't say what load you used of the BH 209, but I am thinking you were in the max range.

I will never throw stones at the Barnes bullets, they are great at killing game. But as you hae stated, they are costly. I use the Barnes Expander sabots in my Hawkens Carbine with great results. This is what I got from the Barnes:

This is the entry wound:



This was the exit wound:



As you can see it is a very effective bullet. This shot was taken at about 85 yds.

It sounds like you need more range time and need to run a bunch tests on thhese bullets. I would go back to the XTP and run them using lower powder charges. The XTP is a fantastic bullet with a good track record. You may want to try other bullet combinations in your rifle and have a bunch of fun in the process.

Hang in there and good hunting. And Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to thank everyone here for giving me food for thought.

I guess I come from a culture of blood-trailing is a bow thing. Bang flop is a 12 gauge thing. And muzzy hunting is a 20 yard or less thing.

When I put down my first deer with a bow this year it went less than 15 yards from where I struck it. The spitfire broad head was lodged in the heart (like a lollipop) from me shooting straight down its back from 30 feet up a tree.

This was my first year using a muzzy on opening gun day. I usually take out the 12 gauge, because when I am gun hunting I realize that half the fun is knowing that I wont have to track the deer. Every deer I have shot with my 12 went no where. Dead On Arrival!

It actually became a joke amongst friends to approach your deer after hitting it with a 12 and say,"nice blood trail." (joke amongst us bow hunters who spent many a wee hours looking for deer for friends and family during bow season).

I will have to really shoot BH 209 with different loads this spring to see if I can lower is velocity for the xtp, or just use it on ground hogs and targets and then just use a premium bullet for deer. As long as both projectiles fly the same, I can live with a $1.20 shot for each deer...lol

Plus I will shoot the Lehigh, Speer, Nosler and Barnes and let you know how they do on paper.


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I would also like to extend my review of Blackhorn 209.

I can't say enough on how impressed I am with this powder. I fought high winds, extreme cold, and lots of ice, rain, snow for the first week of gun season. I loaded my muzzy on the night before opener. It stayed that way for 7 days (never fired or cleaned).

On the 7th day it was fired at a deer. I still did not clean it for the next day because one more day of hunting was in front of me.

Without cleaning it for 2 more days I went and paper shot 3 rounds of Barnes Solid Copper. Then brought the gun home.

What a joy it was to see little fouling, and no rust. It was also a joy to have the breech plug come out with little effort.

Because of the excellent suggestions on how to clean BH here on this forum, I was able to clean my gun in 15 minutes. No water!

BH is my new love.


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That entrance wound is larger than my exit wound...lol

Thanks for the info rafsob.


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I see from your avatar you live in ohio? i suspect you don't take many shots over say 150 yds, most much closer? try the gold dots/deep curls first, from the "cost VS performance" aspect they may be the best lead bullet on the market.and about the same price as you xtp's.the barnes are awesome bullets also, but much higher priced.

Thanks Builder. I will give the gold dots/deep curls a try.



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