Barnes .451 250gr XPB
 

I ran some 100yd groups today through the Pro Hunter w/ Encore Bergara barrel using some Barnes .451 250gr 454 Casull XPB pistol bullets. Targets show 100 and 110gr charges. On the 110gr target I flinched on shot 3, hence the high one. A 4th was shot and dropped right into the group. Bullets weighed 250gr before I shot them and the two I dug out of the dirt mound weighed 250gr also. 100% weight retention! The only difference I can see by looking at a Barnes XPB pistol bullet and a Barnes MZ is the XPB has a cannalure around it. Sorry about the picture quality, I am no photographer!

Nice shooting and i never could see any performance difference between a MZ and XPB either. Have you tried kurling any copper bullets yet?

They load really easy so Knurling them up would not hurt. I do not have any files on hand though. With 100gr recoil was basically non existant. Stepping up to 110gr recoil was still pretty mild.

Try the Barnes .458 250gr with the big hollow point sometime. In a black crushrib it may perform extremely well.

They are on my to do list..:D

If i remember correctly after reading about them on the barnes site they need a little more fps to open than the M/L barnes offerings. Ray

With 110gr of BH209 I am pushing the 250gr XPB faster then most load data I found for the 454 Casull. It opened perfectly and retained all its weight. At 1800-1900fps the .458 250gr will more then likely retain all its weight and petal into 6 razor edges too.

I just checked the load data on Barnes website for the 250gr Casull. The max load they have listed is about 1500fps+ with that bullet in handgun. Although im sure it could handle much faster speeds.

The 45/70 data for a Barnes 458 250gr can exceed 2500fps in the upper end loads for strong actions. Thats pretty similar to what a Savage can do with the same bullet and even the same powder. Its possible this one is a bit tougher but ive looked at them. They looked really similar to the .452 250gr XPB, im pretty sure they would still expand at sub speeds too.

50S&W 275gr data is really close to the the 54x50 speeds a GMB54 can achieve with the MZ 275gr bullet. Ive used both and besides the cannelure, i couldn't tell a difference in the two 50-275gr bullets. Ive shot these from mild to max and not one failed to expand on media or produce a quick humane kill. Its one of my favorite bullets but the BC really sucks if you want to shoot much past 100 yards.