Comparison of Gold Dot and XTP in .480 Ruger?

[Larry Ashcraft]

My son has been loading 325 gr Speer Gold Dot softpoints for his .480 hunting loads, assuming they would give better penetration than the Hornady XTPs on game such as elk. Now he wants to try the XTPs for pronghorn this weekend to see how they perform.

I'm think either would work on antelope, but does anybody know if the XTPs will reliably penetrate elk or will they open up too much at about 1500 fps?

 

[dakotasin]

i don't know for sure... i am under the impression that the xtp's are among the better penetrators as far as jacketed bullets go.

but...

because i had questions like you when i started working w/ my 480, i researched and researched, and came to the conclusion that a heavy, hard-cast bullet was the answer. unfortunately, there were a lot of factors, so i didn't get to work up the load i wanted, but instead used a 355 cast, gas check, wide flat-nose (oregon trail true-shot? maybe... don't recall the exact bullet, but it has a high silver content, and is made by oregon trail bullet co.). i hope to get some on-game testing done this fall (i'll be using a rifle for antelope this weekend). accuracy has beaten my expectations, holding under 2 moa to 100 yards (2x scope).

anyway, my suggestion is to work a load up w/ a 400-425 grain cast bullet. you should get all the penetration you need.

might want to check out www.baitshopboyz.com/forum for a little more info. besides myself, there are a couple other fellers that have worked w/ a 480 ruger. i've asked in the past on this board about the 480 and the short mags and get little to no info on it.

good luck!

 

[dakotasin]

email inbound... thr is acting up for me.

 

[P95Carry]

Larry - hardly useful for your question but ... I am into 300 grain XTP's for my .454 and that is as much as anything cos other guys round here swear by them and stick with em ...... only for whitetails tho.

I would suspect ... that the XTP will have a lesser penetration tho .. in bigger animals the Gold Dot probably winning that contest. However, the XTP's terminal performance at velocities of 1500 and more is as far as I can judge, pretty awesome... it does deliver up a hell of a disruption.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

That's kind of what I expected as far as the XTPs go. They may be hollowpoints, but at 1500 fps I wouldn't expect much expansion, and therefore good penetration. The Gold Dots are working well, so we'll stay with them until we have time for further testing with the XTPs.

Chrono testing today, the Hornady max load showed 1350 fps w/H110 powder, compared to the published 1500 fps. Is there a better powder we should be trying?

Kind of late for this year's seasons, but I'm betting that the elk won't know the difference between 1350 and 1500 when he's hit with that 325 gr bullet.

 

[dakotasin]

i don't know why, but it seems as though the 480 has a hard time getting light bullets where they are supposed to be, velocity wise.

my load w/ 355's is a pretty stiff load (h-110), but guys who are shooting heavier bullets are having better luck getting the goods out of their gun (read: same or better velocity w/ heavier bullets).

i think h-110 is about as good as it gets for the 480.

 

[P95Carry]

That 1350 Larry seems down on published figures ... 1400 appears more like what you could get from a 25 grain starting load ...... 27 grains H-110 being quoted for the hot load pushing 1500. Only other powder mentioned which seems to be very close to H-110 is the Lil Gun. Of course I am not a 480 user - I am 454 brigade! So ... just thinkin out loud!