Hornady Custom 180gr XTP

[Intercooler]

   I tested these before and got 1156 FPS average. I sent Raggedyman one or two for gel, but looks like at the time I didn't send one to The Shadow for pull-down. Since I was in Cabela's today raping their ammo  trying to figure out the Buffalo Bore 180gr HP, I picked up a box to complete the data. This will hopefully help figuring out Raggedyman's latest gel test of the ammo giving higher than advertised velocities as well.

[Buckeye 50]

Intercooler:

I hope you don't view this competitively (not my intent) but on YouTube tnoutdoors9 has tested this in gel with EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE results.  Because of that it is one of my two go-to choices for home defense.

I will be interested to see if further testing coincides with his results.

Pat

[Intercooler]

    Not at all. I mainly bought these today for the pull-down and to see if I mimic Raggedyman's last test of what he thought was a factory Hornady 180gr XTP.

TN got 1155 FPS... Almost identical to me:

Raggedyman got 1261 FPS:

[Raggedyman]

Based on the preponderance of data, I think my chronograph might have given an erroneous figure.

[mag360]

I wish hornady would case mouth and and primer seal the Custom loads.  Id carry it but that holds me back.  Yeah I know its probably not needed but Federal/Winchester/remington puts it on their carry and duty loads and critical duty and TAP is sealed as well.

[sqlbullet]

I wish hornady would case mouth and and primer seal the Custom loads.  Id carry it but that holds me back.  Yeah I know its probably not needed but Federal/Winchester/remington puts it on their carry and duty loads and critical duty and TAP is sealed as well.

Break out the finger nail polish.

[The_Shadow]

I wish hornady would case mouth and and primer seal the Custom loads.  Id carry it but that holds me back.  Yeah I know its probably not needed but Federal/Winchester/remington puts it on their carry and duty loads and critical duty and TAP is sealed as well.

Man, I have seen and used ammo that was under water/mud for weeks that had never failed to go bang!  Before Hurricane Katrina struck, we loaded 500 rounds of 9mm ammo for my Brother-In-Law, well his house was at ground zero (20' tidal surge) and his house was wiped out.  During the cleanup and salvage he brought me the ammo (in tote bins still wet), I washed it off, dried the cartridges, then tumbled it to polish up the brass and bullets as loaded.  Out of 500 rounds only one failed to go bang! (That one the powder was fine but the primer went bad this was several years later)

[Intercooler]

I love it when I basically nail the rating when testing!

EAA Elite Limited 4.75" 1187, 1167, 1185. Average = 1179.66 FPS/ 556 LBS
EAA Hunter 6" 1216, 1219, 1215. Average = 1216.66 FPS/ 592 LBS

[mag360]

Good to know they are loading them consistent at the rating.  Thanks for running those.  One other thing, hornady doesnt use flash supressed powder either on the custom loads.

Anyone have some hornady contacts?? Youd think they could SUPER easily make a nice couple of premium 10mm loads.

Flash suppressed, sealed nickel cases, 180gr and 200gr.  Bump the 200gr up at least 30-50fps to get it over 1100!!

[Raggedyman]

Good to know they are loading them consistent at the rating.  Thanks for running those.  One other thing, hornady doesnt use flash supressed powder either on the custom loads.

Anyone have some hornady contacts?? Youd think they could SUPER easily make a nice couple of premium 10mm loads.

Flash suppressed, sealed nickel cases, 180gr and 200gr.  Bump the 200gr up at least 30-50fps to get it over 1100!!

This is particularly important. When I tested the 200 gr XTP at 1,037, it failed to expand. Good thing other companies are pushing it faster.

[Raggedyman]

I wish hornady would case mouth and and primer seal the Custom loads.  Id carry it but that holds me back.  Yeah I know its probably not needed but Federal/Winchester/remington puts it on their carry and duty loads and critical duty and TAP is sealed as well.

Man, I have seen and used ammo that was under water/mud for weeks that had never failed to go bang!  Before Hurricane Katrina struck, we loaded 500 rounds of 9mm ammo for my Brother-In-Law, well his house was at ground zero (20' tidal surge) and his house was wiped out.  During the cleanup and salvage he brought me the ammo (in tote bins still wet), I washed it off, dried the cartridges, then tumbled it to polish up the brass and bullets as loaded.  Out of 500 rounds only one failed to go bang! (That one the powder was fine but the primer went bad this was several years later)

I've had S&B .40 fail to pop after less than five minutes submerged about two feet under water. I've had Speer Gold Dot (training only) and Blazer Brass also fail after an overnight soak in a two liter bottle filled with water. In the first case, after a few minutes, every single one of the rounds was a dud. In the second case, one out of five failed completely but two more had dramatically reduced velocity.

I believe that some ammo is loaded in such a way that the case mouth and primer pocket form a tight mechanical seal and no further sealing is necessary. This is not always the case, though, and repeated chamberings and rattling around in a magazine probably doesn't help the integrity.

I loaded some .40 S&W 180 gr Gold Dots for camping by using a Q-tip to put a light coat of lanolin in the primer pocket before priming and the case mouth after throwing the powder charge. After seating the bullet, I painted the case mouth and primer with fingernail polish. After spending several days swimming back and forth in the river, loaded in my pistol and mags, they all fired with no velocity change.

It's also worth noting that most military ammunition is very well sealed.

[4949shooter]

The Hornady 180 XTP is indeed a nice load. Nothing nuclear but nice.

[Intercooler]

For two legged defense it's a good one.

[4949shooter]

For two legged defense it's s good one.

Agreed!

[sgtbones]

Are you guys loading it in your guns for self defense?