Another XTP falure!
 

Yesterday I shot a small whitetail buck (management deer) at a distance of approximately 75 yards with a 50 caliber rifle using an XTP bullet in a sabot. The buck ran for nearly 30 yards before falling over, and then kicked a couple of times! I guess it is lucky that the deer was recovered after being shot with such an extremely poor bullet. In my defense, I did not know that I was using a bad bullet until I read it on this forum.

Big Uncle

Personally I do not think you are using a 'real bad bullet' The XTP is a proven bullet, the only thing I say is that it can fail do to stripping the lead from the copper on occasion and even that is very rare - but it can happen. I prefer not to worry about when it might happen by using a different bullet that can not separate.

The other thing if you shoot it slow enough, as it is a pistol bullet, you probably would never have a problem. But hunting with a 45 colt or long colt bullet at colt velocities is certainly different than what most of ask from a bullet shot from a ML, especially a fast twist bore.

And congrats on the harvest....

:happy0157::happy0157::happy0157::happy0157::happy 0157: i read the same about sst/shockwaves too.but my experiances with them hasn't shown any problems.i have 4 differant types of barnes and 260g nosler partitions on hand and can and do use them but i still have complete confidence in those sst's.:party0005:........karl

??? Are you saying that because the deer ran 30yds it was a failure?

I'm confused. :s13::s13::s13:

Wow, it is a very good thing you read this forum. What if the next deer you shoot with the XTP runs 20 yard, or perhaps drops right there. You would never know that you are using a bad bullet.

Sounds like a good kill to me.did it leave a blood trail? i have deer plowed through both lungs at 100 yds with a nosler out of my .270 run that far. bottom line deer was dead and didn't know it lol.

Not a muzzleloader comment, but I do use the XTP in a custom made slug gun. It is a break open .410 shotgun that has had the barrel double wrapped and then rifled with and extremely fast twist rate. We use re-primmed AA .410 shotgun shells, 50.5 grains of IMR 3031 and top it with a .410 XTP bullet. Absolutley devastating on whitetails and I have never seen a failure. Shots from 10 yards out to 170 yards. It is legal in lower michigan (shotgun only) to use due to the plastic hulls classify it as a slug gun. I do not know the velocity of this gun, but I have never seen the bullet fail.

In the 30 yards the deer went, what was the bloodtrail? Any exit? How was the internal damage? Did you find the bullet?

That is what has me alarmed. It makes me wonder how many other deer that I have killed with this bullet died simply because I did not know any better.

I am very lucky that I could see the deer drop. I may not have been able to follow the blood trail through the snow if he had run another 5 or 10 yards and expired behind a tree!

i think the original poster was being sarcastic

I agree. I hope nobody thought otherwise.

I have never shot a deer with a sabot/bullet combination. Not from lack of trying mind you. So maybe my comment means nothing. I shoot A LOT of XTPs on the practice range. They are one of the least expensive bullets I can shoot. Also I find them to be very accurate and consistent in their flight for the most part. What I have discovered through countless rounds of testing them in various ways is...

IMO... I believe most people that hunt with the XTP are pushing them too fast. Remember, this is a pistol bullet. I have a friend (on line friend) that hunts with the 300 grain XTP. He hunts three different states with a Knight rifle that has a 22 inch barrel. He takes deer every year with that XTP but he shoots 85 grains of Goex powder. He claims to have no problem with knock down or blood trails. I think at the speed he is shooting them, they are performing just like they were intended to do. Maybe at the top of their game, but still they hit, open up, plow through, and because of the lower velocity, they do not come apart as much. A lot of posters I read shoot 100-120 grains on average. That to me is a lot of powder.

I agree with Sabotloader, there are some better constructed bullets out there. The Nosler, the Barnes, the Speer Deep Curl, Parker Extreme, the Lehigh, etc.. the list goes on and on. And many of them are a premium bullet and cost a premium price. But if that XTP is working that well for you, and you have that much confidence in it, then by all means use it. And don't worry about what other people claim it does.

I personally saw it as sarcasm as soon as I read it. Thanks for the smile it caused. And congratulations on the deer.

Serious question
 

What is the problem with the XTP pistol at higher velocities?

This is a serious question. I am trying to understand the tradeoffs.

This actually brings out a point that is being missed a good part of the time.
For one thing there are bullets designed for many different purposes, these XTP bullets were designed to be efficient handgun bullets shot at velocities of from 900 t0 1500 feet per second.
The bullets primary purpose as it was being used was to kill a deer and it did and the deer was recovered; whats bad about that?
My definition of a bad bullet is one that don't do the job, as an example before I new any better I shot a deer with a Power Belt 245 gr with a 120 gr load of pyrodex right on the front shoulder any decent bullet would have killed the deer. Instead it blew hair skin and meat all over the snow and we tracked that deer for several miles and watched him twice with binoculars standing and looking back at us, we could see the big hole in his shoulder and he was limping but he was headed for the next county and I doubt that he died from that bullet, that bullet failed.
Some of us complain when the lead comes out of the jacket or when the bullet does not exit and while this may not be failure it is some times expressed as such. That's why the make a lot of different bullets if you don't like the way it works the try a different bullet I won't say better because that's a matter of opinion. Some think the copper bullets are better some think the bonded bullets are better some think the brass bullets are better some think conicals are better but to me the only time a bullet fails is when it hits where it should kill the deer and it does not do the job.

well said!not only did you cover all the bases,you made a home run as well.......karl

What Lemoyne said. Lots of folks make good bullets; use whatever you want too. i won't try to push you toward any bullet. i will say that my chosen bullets work very well for me: They may not work for you. If the bullet you are using does not work for you or you're not happy that the deer went 40 yards after being hit; then use something else. Do not try to tell me that my bullet does not work because of some testing that was done on non-animal material.

There is very little doubt that some folks are pushing bullets too fast. Currently i'm using 100 grains of 3F Pinnacle with the 240 grain .430 bullet in my CVA guns. The velocity with 100 grains of 3F Pinnacle is around 1,750 fps: That's fast enough for me.

Well! There you go! If you read it on the internet it has to be true.

Congrats on your deer!:guiness:

I have killed a bunch of deer with the 44/240 XTP.My Rem 700ML loved this bullet with 90 gr PYRO RS.Best bench group I ever shot was 3 shots at 100 yds .625" Never had a "failure"

Charlie

Those Darn XTP's, it is a BAD BULLET, Awfully Bad for the Deer!
(BP)

Finally 2 of you gents figured out the post

xtp bullets
 

My son has killed six deer at ranges of 30 to 110 yds with the 250 gr XTP. ALL were DRT.
T/C Pro-Hunter with MMP short sabots & 110 777 powder.
I guess Deer didn't know XTP's were bad bullets?

Mark

ive tested a couple hundred rounds of the 300gr xtp mags. They came out perfect. I wouldnt be afraid to use them.

This 300 grain XTP Magnum bullet and others like it were dug out of the dense clay bank that is about 10 meters behind my 100 meter target. It was fired months before using 120 grains of 777. Was in a hurry working up a load for elk: That bullet
and powder charge were not very accurate when fired from my Encore so i gave it up.

mine certainly did not look like that but i was shooting them into cement like mixture of sand. Very watery.

The .45 300 grain in .50 cal is my never fail bullet. Never had a deer go more than two steps. Usually a big exit and about every deer I've shot with them, drop on the spot. My farthest was in the 150-175 yard range. I tried an SST ONCE, went through both front shoulders, ran 60 yards and NO blood. Back to XTP I went.

Now this is my example of a bad bullet! Well said Lee.

I have had mixed results with the XTP. I have killed six deer with my Encore shooting XTP's with 100 grains of pellets. I had never found a blood trail with the first 6 deer I shot. Luckily they didn't go far and I was able to find them. One I shot right behind the shoulder and tracked her for over 60 yards in the snow and not a drop of blood. Once she jumped a small creek she started bleeding and didn't go far. Had it not been for the snow I would have never found her. I could follow her tracks until she bled. This year i shot a doe at about 100 yard and she dropped on her front end and then hobbled off dragging her front leg, barley able to stand. We never found blood and never found the deer. After that I switched to a Barnes bullet and killed 2 deer. So far both of them had a good blood trail. I recovered a bullet from one that was mushroomed perfect and retained almost all it's weight.