Breechplug

My buddy showed me a box of 240gr XTP's he just got from Cabelas for his TC Encore. I was checking them out when I noticed he was'nt shooting what I thought he was. Both of us always thought we were shooting the same bullet but he is using the .44cal .430"dia 240gr HP XTP and Im using the .45cal .452"dia 240gr XTP MAG. Now they both weigh 240gr's, but his are listed as a 240gr HP (Hollow Point) XTP and mine are listed as a 240gr XTP MAG. He said there both the same thing, I said how can you say there the same, look at them. Besides yours being a .44cal and mine being a .45cal, your's are slightly taller besides being narrower. Also I dont know why the .44cal 240gr HP XTP is called that when my .45cal 240gr XTP MAG is called a MAG. I also pointed this out to him and he said it's called a MAG because your suppos-to shoot a MAG Load behind it. I know this is'nt right and to avoid a arguement between friends I sucked that one up and grabbed a sabot that we both use.
Now we both shoot a .50cal MLer, he shoots a TC 50cal Oncore and I shoot a .50cal CVA Accura. We both use the black MMP HPH-24 Sabots. I told him to look at the way your 240gr XTP fits in the sabot compared to mine. The sabot swallows his up and mine fits it like a glove. He also told me this does'nt matter because the sabot it what fits the bullet to the bore. Yes this is partially right I told him, but your XTP will go into the barrel easier than mine because your's is a .44cal and mines a .45cal. He would'nt buy this one and was still convinced both bullets are the same because there both 240gr XTP's and that because were both shooting a .50cal MLer and use the same sabots that were using the exact same thing. Again to avoide an arguement I just left it at that.
My question is as I've never used the 240gr .44cal .430"dia HP XTP's are they any better than the 240gr .45cal .452"dia XTP MAGs that I use? The 240gr HP XTP .44cal he uses are taller and narrower than the one I use. Do the taller narrower ones he uses that weigh the same as my shorter fatter ones have any advantage or disadvantage over one another? Will the taller narrower .44cal shoot better or flatter than the .45cal shorter fatter one?
I know my friend gets good groups out of his Mler with the .44cal XTP's but I seem to get better groups out of my .45cal XTP's. I always assumed we were both shooting the same XTP untill the other day, but now Im wondering if his XTP's are too lose in the bore compared to my XTP's because mine are .45cal and his are the .44cal one's.
Can anyone clear this one up that has tried both? what advantage or disadvantage does one have over the other? I know it's all in how they fit in the bore for best accuracy, but does one have a better advantage over the other besides how they fit the bore?
Here's a few pics of them both side by side, the .44cal is on the left in each pic and the .45cal XTP is on the right.
(BP)

cayugad

I have shot both and personally I like the .430 diameter with a Green Harvester Crushed Rib sabot in many of my rifles better then the .452.

stripercrazy

i got the xtp.452 300 mags and after i got them wondered if i should have got the non mag ones.....if i understood it right the mag bullets are made for faster fps or more power....i was shooting them with 150grans of prodex(3 pellets) thats why i got the mag bullets......now i'm useing them in my white mountian with 80 grans of loose prodex rs...and maybe its not fast enough to get a mag bullet to expand as good as a reg 300xtp...but the mag bullet are different than a reg there stronger built for mag charges......ed

nchawkeye

This is crazy, your friend is using the wrong sabot...With a .44 caliber bullet the correct sabot would be a green sabot made for .44 caliber bullets...

I have both bullets and use a Harvester plain green for the .44 calibers and MMP-24s for .45 calibers...My Knight prefers the 300gr .44 caliber Hornadys...I prefer it because if it's great ballistic coefficient (because it's so long)...

The Mag desigination is simply for higher velocities...They will all work for deer, with the regular XTPs probably mushrooming better...

stripercrazy

i looked and the .45 240 xtp mag is sold with a black sabot the .44 240xtp is sold with a green sabot....probly a good reason

.454

I really like the .429 300 XTP due to the BC is around 233 and shoot much flatter than say the 300 .452 XTP and I believe also that the .429 240 will also have a higher BC than the .452 45 cal. 240 XTP as well. You are very correct that they are not the same because one is .44 cal and the other is .45 cal.. The only reason why they call the .452 240 the mag is because it is the largest of the 240 XTP line. and the .452 300 mag is the largest in the 300XTP line. I hope I made sence.

hubby11

What nchawkeye said, your buddy is wrong in so many ways, the biggest being he is using the wrong sabot.

I shoot the Speer DC .44cal/240gr bullet almost exclusively, which is very similar to the XTP, I think the main difference being the Speer bullet is bonded. I use a Harvester green CR sabot. I am pretty sure using a sabot made for a .45cal bullet (usually black) with a .44cal bulletwill almost certainly give you diminished accuracy, heck, it might even be dangerous.

Breechplug

Agreed, I tried to tell him he's using the wrong sabot, I even showed him tonight how his fit too lose in the mmp hph24's and mine fit like a glove. But as I said to keep friends friends, I left it as is. Now he has taken enough deer with his set up, but he also shoots a TC, and mabey, just Mabey, his TC bore it tighter than my cva accura bore and for that reason they work. I know some TC bores are tighter than most 50cal MLer barrels, so this might be why they seem to shoot ok out of his Oncore.
Also you mentioned the .44cal XTP's are longer, so the longer bullet has better ballistics over the shorter .45cal XTP's?
I have taken a few deer out to 175+yds with the .45cal XTP MAG's and they always do the job, plus the trjectory is good also. Im using 110grs of pyro rs and sighted in for 2" high at 50yds. This puts me dead on at 135yds, and 1"low at 150 and 4" low at 175. So if I have a 50yd shot I aim for the heart, then aim dead on out to 150, past 150 I hold at the top of the lungs and Im good to 175-200yds.
(BP)

lemoyne

Using a 45 caliber sabot with a 44 caliber bullet is dangerous he is setting up a situation where a barrel obstruction is just a matter of time.

Breechplug

I wish I could get you to talk to him lemoyne, mabey I'll just show him this post when he comes over, he's not a computer user at all. Plus he uses Pyro Pellets and 3 of them, a 150gr load behind it.
But I've told him many things that I have learned on this Forum, and his reply is "You cant believe what you read on the internet" He's set on his way's, he's a Dear Life Long Friend and I just dont want to have this between us even though I want to, what would you do?
(BP)