Montana Gold FMJ Flat Point

[SPDSR]

Underwood and DoubleTap (and the now defunct Corbon) and some others offer Montana Gold 200 grain FMJ flat nose rounds for hunting and critter protection. Not sure how well that would perform. They have all specified they penetrate just as well as hardcast. They even add it is great for hard barriers like auto glass. No clue if Montana Gold FMJ's are extremely tough to hold up against auto glass, or blow through bone though. They have them for the same purposes in other calibers too. Often, FMJ's separate or deform through tough barriers. Anyone ever try them on hard things or hunt with them?

[sep]

Since there have been no responses I'll chime in. I've not tried those bullets because it is my understanding Montana Gold makes their bullets for target shooting and not hunting. The meplat of non expanding bullets coupled with velocity determine the size of the wound channel they produce.  These bullets have a decent meplat but not quite as big as hardcast bullets like Beartooth and Montana Bullet Works.
If these bullets hold together and don't expand, they should penetrate pretty well and make a decent wound channel. I might buy some and experiment with them this coming spring. They may shoot more accurately than the hardcast bullets I am loading.       

[Ramjet]

They make a HP I have 500 of those loaded up.

[fltbed]

I shot several cases of the 40 cal 180 grain FMJ almost 20 years ago, when I was a bit more competitive in USPSA.  They use a Brass jacket rather than traditional gilding metal that make the jackets quite a bit harder.
When they came out with JHP's, I tried a few in different test media, just to see if they would expand. (bare gel, clay & water)  40 caliber 180 grain JHP's loaded to a bit over 1200 f.p.s. and 9mm 115 JHP's loaded to 1500 f.p.s. would not expand.  The Hollow points sometimes collapsed and the bullets sometimes tumbled but no expansion like you would get out of an XTP.

IMO, they're good for paper or steel.  Not much else.

Jeff

[Ramjet]

That's primarily what I use them for is punching paper. too many premium hunting bullets out there.

[SPDSR]

I'm sure there are better JHP options for hunting than Montana Gold, but for situations where you might use a solid round, like a hardcast or Lehigh screwdriver, the Montana Gold FMJ are what Underwood, DT, BB and Corbon (before they sold the business last year) load in their woods defense/penetration 10mm ammo. Doesn't seem like many people have tried these on critters or hard barriers to determine if they are a viable choice for either scenario. To see if the brass rich jacket really hold up better than normal jackets, and of the moderate flat point helps any.

[Trapper6L]

Not to rain on anybodies parade but we've just about given up on any premium bullet for hunting with pistols. If the speed is 1500'ps or less, I've never seen a premium bullet, hollow point or solid, do anything much more than a lead bullet. This is on about 100 coyotes a year and about 300 feral hogs. We've gone to either Berrys or Rainier bullets and haven't looked back. Like anything else when it comes to hunting, you have to hit the animal with a kill shot regardless. Once you've ventilated the animal, he's dead. We pretty much have every cartridge commercially made and some you've probably never heard of. When it comes to pistol bullets, don't over think it. A premium bullet is not going to make up for a lousy shot.