Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns which 45 acp hollow point bullet?

Steelhead those are some nice looking bullets,Do you know the hardness factor and have you run any expansion tests?
They look like they might make a good hunting bullet.

John, I've found XTP's to be variable in their consistency of expansion vs penetration over the years... not necessarily from lot to lot, but in design changes Hornady has made without bothering to tell their customers what changes have been made and how to expect the bullets to perform. This has been particularly true with their .452 caliber XTP's.

For example: I have no idea what current production bullets will do, but in years past 230 gr XTP's had MUCH thinner jackets and expanded at MUCH lower velocities than their 250 gr XTP's.

Mind sharing your 230 XTP hunting load?

200 grain Gold Dot in bulk, 1000 fps is fine, good exit diameter on small Tennessee deer. Use factory +P for self defense, in 185 gr up to 230 gr. The old flying ashtray was fine, the Gold Dots can only be better! HydraShok 230 gr expands well in deer in my one deer test, no exit on side to side rib shot and no recovered bullet fragments but deer took only a couple of steps before collapse. For hunting, I like two holes with expansion on 200 lb animals. Large stuff, use more gun, 41 Magnum has considerable more immediate reaction on deer with high speed JHP, 175 Winchester Silvertip on up to 210 gr Speer Deep Curl, for me. 44_Special and 45 Colt for elk, other big bores go without saying but aren't starter guns unless you reload, that is working up in recoil.

I know they are dang pricey but is anyone playing with the barnes lineup? We all seem to love the light and fast aspect of the barnes in our rifles, what about the 160gr load for the .45? Im guessing close to 1200fps if pushed to +p levels.

Somehow turning a 45 into a 357 magnum just seems like going in the wrong direction, but that's just me.

Yeah I thought the same thing until I saw a gel test of a 95 Barnes in a 9mm at 1300fps out penetrate and out expand anything else while producing less recoil and muzzle flip. I run the 124+p HST and am very satisfied but also have a case of it in the closet.

I am not shy about playing with technology to solve a problem and I did not know if the price was preventing anyone from playing or if they did not offer a true advantage across the board. I can see them really boosting a .380 into something decent.