Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders 45 Cal .452 300 gr XTP performance on game?

How does this bullet perform on game up close and past 100 yards and what load did you use?

Tracy

Accurate, complete pass through, large exit hole, impressive blood trail. easy to find and inexpensive. No complaints from me. No need to push them too hard. I use 100gr BH 209 by volume.

Great performance . Pass through, a lot more than 240/250, not much difference in drop, to 150. 100gr. Loose 777.

Fine bullet. I shoot it over 85 GOEX out to 150 yards and get excellent results on our typical 160 lb. S.E Louisiana piney woods bucks.

With a 29" barrel and hundred yard zero, 100gr loose 777 puts me 6.5" low at 150, 16" low at 200.

As said performance is great, farthest Ive killed anything with them is about 85 yds but turned the vitals to mush.. shooting either 85 or 90 gr pyrodex select. Regular Xtps always perform good on game not so much for the mag version which do not expand reliably on thin skinned animals.

They are friggin' killers! I too use 100gr of Triple 7. I had no problem knocking a doe flat at 135 yards with one and they kill just as well <20 yards too. It's rare that a deer catches one at any range. Usually they whistle on through.

I get right at 1,700fps with that load out of a TC Thunderhawk (which, BTW, really has too slow of twist for that bullet). I've since gone to a 265gr bullet just because of the twist.

We've shot 3 cow elk with them and two were pass through and quick kills (didn't make it out of sight). The third was at about 145 yds and a front on shot went down the spinal column and broke four vertebrae in a row! I would use them all day every day.

KC

Ive shot both the 45 and 44 cal 300 gr XTP's. Both are excellent killers but I get a tad better accuracy with the 44 cal with 110 grs of Blackhorn 209 out of my CVA Optima V2 LR. I use the green Harvester sabot. This load has PLENTY of punch on both ends! Be prepared!!

Wouldn't be my first choice if I was expecting long opportunities, but they kill well even over only 80gr of 209. My sons killed 4 or 5 with that load, including one that dressed at 172 pounds, and didn't catch any.

Deer hammers.

I shoot the 300gr XTP Mag instead of the regular XTP. I use 105 gr BH209 and tend to shoot close, so the XTP Mag (designed for .454 velocities) assures complete penetration. Plenty of expansion as well.

Most deer are DRT. I did have a large buck make it 20 yards after a double lung hit.

I’d agree with this on range. If I was hunting where I realistically expected longer shots, I’d switch to a more aerodynamic bullet. But for close in muzzleloader hunting, the .453 300gr XTP is my first choice.

And now is the time to lay some in. Later on, those and the 300gr .44s disappear, along with the Speer Gold Dots.

Yes indeed. Buy them on sale at the end of the season. I always have at least a couple boxes in my stash.

My Firehawk shoots the 300 grain .45 ( non-mag) XTP VERY accurately. It has the same 1-38 twist as the Thunderhawk. According to Greenhill, the 300 grain .45 XTP needs a 1-39 1/2 twist to stabilize.
The 1-38 is fine. In my experience, for the typical muzzleloading hunter, it's the ideal twist for a .50.
The non- mag going 1500 fps, 70 grains 3f Swiss and a Harvester crush rib sabot, quickly and thoroughly removes a critter's will to live.
Make a fine batch of chest soup...

Under 125 yards they are deer hammers in my experience. But beyond that I feel more comfortable with pointy bullets. Groups were usually between 1-2ins with the XTPs

Excellent bullet! While I don't use them in my ML, they are one of the most accurate bullets in my 45 Colt levergun at 1590fps.

I used a 44cal 240gr XTP to kill a big 10-point VA buck years ago in my ML. 100gr by volume of BH209 crushed it. The bullet killed well but came apart and didn't exit. I temporarily switched to the 265gr Hornady FP until I shot some Fury Star Tip full bore bullets.