180 Grain 40 caliber Gold Dot
 

Another bullet Scott sent is this one, which was shot into the standard carpet, shelf, jug set this morning. Load was 80g Blackhorn. Range was 25 yard.




























The photo show the front jug. First photo shows the jug airborne about 0.85 second after bullet impact. The second photo reveals the condition of the jug after bullet impact.

The smaller piece of the bullet was found inside the third jug, The main piece of the bullet went through the third jug, and bounced off the fourth jug without damaging it. It required searching with the metal detector to find it, and was located beside the horse hidden in the grass. The fourth and fifth jugs were reused for the next test. The main bullet weighs 103 grain. The smaller piece weighs 18.6 grain.

that did better then I thought. What are your thoughts if that had been shot at say, deer size animals?

My thought is, a good shot using this bullet, will put a deer in the freezer. However, it seems there are better bullets available.

Wow 3 jugs. Much better than i expected. Speer also has a "short barrel" version of that bullet with a deeper hollow point.

This lightweight Gold Dot bullet must be designed differently than a much heavier 250 gr. Deep Curl, which did noticeably worse on this same test and often-times noted here as being basically the same bullet. To make matters even more head-scratching, the 250 is a bonded bullet.

About 1/4 second after impact....







The 250g Deep Curl











The 180g Gold Dot










Which did more to the internals of the replicated deer?

So if I sit for three minutes, then get up to the exact spot where I shot that deer, instead of finding a blood trail, I should look for Deep Curl fragments all over the ground??.... since so much of that heavier bullet never entered the 2nd jug?

These two tests tell me my shot deer hot-footed away injured, has a better chance of awarding me a blood trail with the lighter bullet. Unless you believe all those lacerations created by the the high & mighty Niagara Falls-like splash, turns that bullet into a Bloodline?


C'mon, we both know better than that.

No, we both don't know better than that.....

Uni-Cor, GoldDot and DeepCurl are all bonded bullets. High quality plated is really a better description.

As far as i know only some rifle bullets and T/C offer jacketed bullets that are bonded to the lead core.

The 180 and 250 are in fact designed exactly the same. I agree that there are plenty of much better options out there.

the reason I asked is when I was bullet shopping for things my .45 calibers might like I saw these and my first thought was ... too small. No heavier then my 30-06. But no where near the speed. So I purchased 200 grain XTPs instead. I found them accurate, but again a little voice in my head made me doubt their ability. So these tests are a great help!

All these tests by Ron cater to penetration first - expansion 2nd and breakage 3rd. I lean to the side of Hornady when rating their XTP models for toughness. This 200 gr version is rated the worst, when judging 40-44-45 caliber handgun bullets, as for use in muzzleloaders. It's prone to bust-up at ML speeds.

Muzzle Velocity Range (fps) for it gives it ONLY a 700-1200 rating...... low-low-low. This was the first 40-cal bullet I considered when first shopping for 40s last January. It was also the first one I disqualified. I would not purchase any XTP, that does not merit at-least a 1600 rating. Then right after the speed rating, I look at density ratings. Then if I like the density/speed ratings of a XTP model, then I eliminate the need to purchase the tougher 240 or 300 Mag models, for deer are all I hunt these days.

So the bullet I ended-up purchasing last month was heavier than I wanted. But I trust the 44-cal 300 grain XTP to easily get the job done at higher speeds and not prone to break-up. The 240 was my 2nd choice. I did not like any of their XTP 40-cal offerings. The 185 model is tougher than the 200, but is less dense than the 200.

I never factored-in projected range with any of these models. I believe the differences are negligible. I also understand the liking to the 40-cal 200 gr, for it being the longest/narrowest of the group, which allows it to fly longer and straighter ..... but marginably thou.

What an absolutely unscientific statement!! You cannot know, what you wrote.

You can only know the test results.

Please show me the load data for a 10mm shooting a 200gr bullet at over 1200fps. There is no sense in rating your bullet faster if the cartridge can not achieve that velocity. What cartridge do you suppose they based their rating on? ;)

The 401 Herters PowerMag is basically dead so 10mm is the hottest commonly found cartridge for this bullet. It will also most commonly be shot in a semi auto handgun and not something like a Contender single shot which can achieve a little more velocity. Even in the Contender around 1500fps is max and that would be considered a very hot load.

The 180gr bullets can obviously be shot faster than the 200gr in the 10mm. So of course they will be rated higher.

Using Hornady's .199 BC which seems inflated, a 200gr XTP leaving the barrel at 1800fps is impacting around 1450fps at 100 yards. By 125 yards its under 1400fps. Using Nosler's .163 BC for their 200gr 40cal is probably closer to the truth.

I only used it's fps rating to align it with Hornady's toughness rating - its comparison to other XTPs.

Use any bullet you desire. But I would never purchase a 1200-rated bullet for a ML rifle that may need 150 yard shots. Yet some on this board seem to like this bullet for a-lot longer shots than that. Whatever!

Hey, but who am I to judge bullets? I'm great at picking the wrong ones to purchase. Perfect example is my last purchase of 250 gr. Deep Curls. I never knew two different nose variations of the Deep Curl existed. I found out about 12 hours after my bullets arrived at my doorstep.

Lesson learned there.

So, you changed your mind about the 180gr QT by Precision rifle? I cant imagine it holding up much better than either 40cal XTP or the 180gr Speer Golddot.

You do realize that both Hornady and T/C have packaged those 40cal XTP bullets with sabots in the past? Im not recommending them. Im just saying Hornady's recommended ratings is a poor way to base your opinion on a bullet you have never used.

Wrong! There are different tests other than water. I seldom hit soft tissue only- unless I produce a belly shot. I shoot offhand.... remember? No sticks, blinds, bait piles, no private land.....etc.

The 185 gr XTP disintegrated after hitting a soft pine tree trunk last December. My lead bullets produced nice mushrooms and stuck to the tree.

Without blinking an eye, I would use my 185 Precision QT Polymer Tips over a 185 / 200 gr. XTP on deer. No doubt whatsoever! I aim for double lung shots, but hit bone often. Goes with being 63 years-old - nerves of glass...lol.... eyesight of bifocal proportions.... lol

So you have evidence a PR QT 40cal 180gr soft lead bullet performs better than either 40cal XTP or GoldDot on deer?

I would like to see it.

All circumstances considered it has no chance. 195 Barnes has no chance either. The XTP will win in most cases on Deer size game.

Depends on your definition of hunting and placement, which mine is obviously different than yours. So in my case, yes I have Huron National Forest evidence left behind, but not-that of the Gold Dot.

From all indications here, XTPs would easily win a poll that judged the XTP vs the Gold Dot. So may be you ought to quiet-down on your Gold Dot recommendations. Speer sure has.

When did i recommend the 180gr GoldDot or 250gr DeepCurl?

Then why bring it up?
I'm going to start answering mine in questions, since you are so good at it.

Well it appears to be the title of the thread.

180 Grain 40 caliber Gold Dot

So im guessing you can not find where i recommended any of them i mentioned.

I didn't see a question addressed to me or even a question mark. Let me look again.

Just wondering T7, what part of that concrete jungle in the SE part of MI are you from? Do they even have shooting ranges that are not clubs there?

Easy there Barnes, Michigan has a lot of good hunting and shooting areas. Granted South East not as much as some parts but there are still quite a few open spots. It's according to how far the South and the East is

This isnt a "dig" against PR. I find many of his bullets to be interesting. I just think a 180gr soft lead bullet has very little chance of performing any better than a XTP or Speer in the same weight range.

Im no fan of the 200gr XTP either (for hunting) other than it shoots fantastic for me. The 180gr XTP did also in my old Elite. I never shot many of the 40cal GoldDots. I got a couple boxes and seldom shot them.

Now if Speer were to offer a 200gr or 225gr "bonded" 40cal, i would be giving them a try. I would love to see a good 225gr-240gr 40cal offered for ML at a similar price point as bulk SSTs, PT Golds or FTXs.