If you load a 180gr or 200gr XTP a little lighter than full power say 1100fps they will often penetrate 18+ inches but when you push a 180gr XTP 1300 or a 200gr XTP 1250fps they will often penetrate 13 to 15in in gel from the tests I have seen. There is nothing wrong with that of course but I was thinking it would be nice if there were a woods load that would expand just a little at full power velocity (maybe to .45) and then penetrate around 25in in ballistics gel. Maybe more of a compromise between a hardcast and a soft point.

I'm not an expert perhaps there's not really room for such a load but I wondered if anyone here who is more experienced than I am had thoughts about this.

Federal Trophy Bonded 180 grain is pretty close to what you're looking for, though they generally won't expand at all out of a 4" barrel. I think they made that bullet just a little too tough for pistol velocities, though I do get expansion in water jugs from a 6" barrel, and it expands well from a 8" barrel.

It seems that Speer did start to put the 200 grain Gold Dots out as handloading components recently!  I do like them at 1200 - 1230 fps based on my own testing Mr. Revolver guys test as well!
I know I could drive them even faster but 1225 fps is right where I like these...

At the risk of sounding like a old-school luddite, this is one of the big advantages of casting you own bullets.  You can tailor the alloy to expand at the desired velocity.

It seems anymore bullet casters only focus on cheap heads for practice rounds.  But there was a time when bullet casting was more about wringing out the best performance than saving money.  The money saved was an afterthought.

This doesn't create a solution for the guy that just wants to buy a box of bullets though.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the faster we driver a hollowpoint the more it expands and the less penetration we get.

I agree with the Federal Trophy Bonded, the new Federal Fusion, and perhaps the Underwood Lehigh Defense loads could be more of what you are looking for.

May not have as much knowledge as some, but I'm very happy with the XTPs..
They don't open up as fast as the gold dots nor may be as big but they seem to hold together well at the upper speeds.

Been available for a while as components ... maybe I'm just jaded cause I have 500+ of them sitting to load still

Yep, I really like the XTP / HAP a lot

Resize 41 magnum bullets. They are usually 195 to 210 grain, not 180.


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Quote from: my_old_glock on March 11 2020 11:49:16 AM MDT

Resize 41 magnum bullets. They are usually 195 to 210 grain, not 180.


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This is something I've wanted to know more about.. how difficult is it to size a bullet?

Quote from: Overkill338 on March 25 2020 12:31:53 AM MDT
This is something I've wanted to know more about.. how difficult is it to size a bullet?

.410 down to .400?  Not too bad at all.  A rockchucker will do it with minimal effort.  You may need to take two steps to keep from deforming the bullet, but probably not.

Sizing brass down from .425" to .400" is a real chore though.   

I can tell you for a fact, ballistics gel is a terrible indicator of penetration when shooting big hogs.  Your numbers in gel are WAY optimistic compared to what's going to happen when that bullet hits a big hog.  That 15 inches of gel penetration, can easily turn into 5" in real life.

I've shot a pile of hogs with hand guns since 1980, and failure to penetrate is an issue with handguns.  I haven't shot many with rifles, but Todd at Lone Star Bores has probably shot more hogs with rifles than anyone in this country and he will tell you hands down, ballistics gel is a complete joke when it comes to bullet performance in a hog. 

Tony

From my understanding ballistic gelatin is meant to simulate the density of human tissue. And I would have to assume that game animals or hard training athletes would have much more density. It is just a consistent medium that can be used to compare different bullets  in a fair way as opposed to one guy using milk jugs then the next using wet phone books.

You can never have a reliable test media. The gel test is only for bullet comparisons. It'll never simulate real life situation.

TNOUTDOORS9 tested factory Hornady 180 XTP (before they turned up the power) at 1155 fps, and it penetrated 17". Then the Chopping Block tested the 180 XTP loaded to 1290 fps, and it penetrated 13.25".

I can understand that. The higher velocity caused the XTP to mushroom faster thus more energy dump.