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Doug's Message Boards :: Muzzleloader Forums :: Savage Muzzleloading Message Board :: Ballistica Test 300gr XTP Mag (.452) 2450fps

Author Topic: Ballistica Test 300gr XTP Mag (.452) 2450fps (Read 746 times)
thelefthand
Ten Pointer

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Posts: 428
Location: Centeral / South West Indiana
Ballistica Test 300gr XTP Mag (.452) 2450fps
« Thread Started on Mar 30, 2008, 7:55pm »
I have to admit. This test surprised me a little. After a recent thread on here about bullets, I anticipated that this bullet would be a lot tougher. A few members had commented that the 300gr XTP Mag bullets don’t normally open up unless they hit something solid. Since the XTP is designed to be a pistol bullet, I was surprised to hear that. After the test, I can say with some conviction that the 300gr XTP IS certainly a pistol bullet, and at 2457fps, it behaves like one. It opens quick, and sheds a lot of weight.

Criteria:
Date: 03/30/08
Temp: 32 degrees
Bullet: 300gr XTP Mag (0.452")
Load: 75gr Reloader #7
Impact Velocity:2457fps
Penetration:18"
Expanded Diameter: 3/4"
Retained Weight:178.7 gr, 59.6%

Since I hadn’t tested the 250gr XTP, I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of the 300gr XTP Mag. I will say that I did expect it to preform just a little better than this. Then again, it’s not like I can say that the bullet “failed”. Again, this is one of the blocks that I had used earlier in the week for calibration. The pellets and BBs were fired near the edge of the block so that they wouldn’t have an impact on the test, but they do make it even harder to see the wound cavity.

You can see that the 300gr XTP Mag expands quickly. A lot of the fragments only penetrate to about 4", and most of the weight loss occurs before the bullet reaches 7"

Still the bullet reaches about 18" of penetration. There appeared to be about ½" of gap between the blocks where the bullet traveled, so I took that into account in the penetration measurement.

The bullet expanded to 3/4" in diameter. After all of my testing so far, I would consider this to be the “norm” It will be interesting to see what the Hawk bullets do.

Conclusion: Of all the 300gr bullets, the 300gr XTP Mag certainly penetrated the least, and lost the most of its original bullet weight (over 40%). That’s not to say that it is a “bad” bullet. If you are shooting a little slower speeds, then this may be a really good bullet to choose. It penetrated as far as my 250gr SST hunting load does at the same speed, and it followed a straighter path in the PG block which is likely because the remainder of the bullet is 40gr heavier. I have shot this bullet in excess of 2400fps out to 300 yards, and it has held just over 4" groups. So I can’t call this a “bad” bullet If you shoot book loads, and are a little more picky about your shots, then this bullet should do just fine. I’ll really have to test this bullet at moderate and slow speeds to say for sure. However, if you are going to push your bullets fast, and want to take less than ideal shots on big white tail, I would suggest using something different.

Thanks,
Mark

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wilmsmeyer
Mossy Horns

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Location: Western NYS
Re: Ballistica Test 300gr XTP Mag (.452) 2450fps
« Reply #1 on Mar 30, 2008, 8:47pm »
Excellet write up and I'm only surprised that this bullet didn't shred itself more.

Here's a picture of a recovered 300 XTP Mag...from some other ballistic medium....an 8 pt buck. Notice the hair trapped between the jacket and core. This was fired from a Knight disc at about 1,575 MV. Impact was at approx 50 yds and about 1,450. The bullet fully penetrated the deer and barely stuck in the bark of a tree right behind the deer. Angling shot, no big bones...behind the shoulder in and out 6 inches ahead of opposite rear ham.

I have little doubt that this bullet does expand....and hold up OK...in a wide range of speeds.

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Savage Shooter
Mossy Horns

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Posts: 701
Location: Central Arkansas
Re: Ballistica Test 300gr XTP Mag (.452) 2450fps
« Reply #2 on Mar 31, 2008, 7:22am »

Quote:
Excellet write up and I'm only surprised that this bullet didn't shred itself more.

Here's a picture of a recovered 300 XTP Mag...from some other ballistic medium....an 8 pt buck. Notice the hair trapped between the jacket and core. This was fired from a Knight disc at about 1,575 MV. Impact was at approx 50 yds and about 1,450. The bullet fully penetrated the deer and barely stuck in the bark of a tree right behind the deer. Angling shot, no big bones...behind the shoulder in and out 6 inches ahead of opposite rear ham.

I have little doubt that this bullet does expand....and hold up OK...in a wide range of speeds.

HMMMM! another hair test. I really like "hair testing".
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