Hornady FTX what's the point?

[Richard Head]

I'm looking at the Hornady 9th edition reloading manual and comparing the .357 140 grain ftx to the .357 140 grain XTP and I can't find any advantages for the FTX over the older XTP whatsoever. The FTX has a plastic tip that's supposed to give it superior ballistics over the XTP, but the XTP actually has a higher ballistic coefficient, 169 for the XTP and 160 for the FTX. The FTX also requires cases to be trimmed much shorter than the XTP reducing case capacity and therefor velocity. Hornady shows a maximum velocity of 1650 fps for the FTX and 1900 fps max velocity for the XTP. That's a huge advantage so what's the point of the more expensive and more time consuming to load FTX bullets, am I missing something?

 

[Sunray]

The FTX line is for allowing spitzers(that being the point. snicker.) in lever actions and other tube mags. Marketing.

 

[Rule3]

But regular XTP bullets are fine in tube magazines?

As said, Marketing.

 

[rskent]

I thought the FTX was supposed to be for better barrier penetration.

 

[Rule3]

Here is the technical "beauty" (ad) of the FTX

I guess for hunters they might provide some advantage, I don't know.

https://www.hornady.com/store/FTX

 

[herrwalther]

I am going to say this is a multi-faceted answer. In self defense handguns I don't think there is a reason to have FTX bullets. FTX is typically advertised as a hunting round and shoots flatter. But in many jurisdictions it is illegal to hunt with hollow point bullets.

EDIT TO ADD:

FTX bullets are safe to use in tubular magazines as mentioned. I use FTX in my Marlin and they shoot much more accurately than Cor Lok bullets.

 

[Bigdog57]

I tried the FTX bullet for my .30-30 rifles but they did not thrill me. I get better accuracy from the common flatpoint and spitzer (in my bolt action) bullets.
Others may do better using a different powder.

 

[R.W.Dale]

It sold a lot of 30-30 ammo and put hornady on the map for the cartridge.

That's the point. The ONLY point. From the get go the gummy tip was all smoke and mirrors

 

[KansasSasquatch]

Controlled expansion and better penetration are Hornady's claims on their website. I've never used any FTX bullets but I trust Hornady. The only "gimmicky" product I've seen from them is the Z-Max ammo and bullets, and those are only a gimmick if you concentrate on the packaging and marketing, they're serious bullets if you know what to use them for. I don't know how much better the FTX bullets perform over more traditional designs when it comes to hunting. But I do know that for defensive purposes I prefer their Critical Duty ammo over the Critical Defense, in .45acp. The Critical Duty uses an FTX bullet (although they aren't pointed) while the Critical Defense uses an XTP with a polymer filled hollow point. From the ballistics testing I've watched, the Critical Duty expands more reliably and more consistently, and at the.same time gives a little more penetration. I imagine the other FTX bullets do the same. Use what works for you though.

 

[BSA1]

Youtube is your friend.

The main advantage seems to be more reliable expansion is short barrel >3" handguns. These also mirrors my highly scientific testing (NOT!) shooting through several layers of demin cover water jugs. 9mm FTX expand whereas 124 gr. JHP's less often.

For my 38 Spl. snubbie FTX outperforms Federal Hydra-Shoks. However videos shows that Remington Golden Saber with the non-bonded bullets expands well and it is cheaper to boot. I need to fill up some milk jugs and do some more backyard testing.

There are a lot of videos about these rounds. The best are the ones by Shooting the Bull.

 

[kerreckt]

I always heard it touted in 30/30 for its higher velocity. Traded for a couple of boxes and will have the chance to reload some of these. At 30/30 velocities, a couple of hundred more fps doesn't mean much to me. I like shooting my cast 150-170gr. GC bullets. Dead accurate in all my 30/30 rifles.

 

[Rule3]

I think they are supposed to extend the shooting range of the 30-30 by another 50 yards or something??

 

[KansasSasquatch]

In handgun calibers most hollow points are designed to expand as much as possible and dump all of their energy quickly to avoid over-penetration. FTX bullets are designed to give deep penetration and controlled expansion. FTX bullets use Hornady's "Interlock" feature rather than bonding. In some of their promotional videos they say they do so because bonded bullets typically have a much softer core, which according to them is necessary for the bonding process. They also claim bonded bullets tend to deform badly if they hit harder objects like bone matter, due to the softer cores. The BC's of the handgun caliber FTX bullets aren't all that great. But if you compare their rifle caliber FTX bullets to other similar weight bullets, ones used primarily for lever action cartridges, you'll see that the rifle bullets do offer higher BC's than just about any of the competition. They claim the higher BC's are also due to special ogives on the rifle bullets. So it might be all smoke and mirrors, but if you're looking for specific characteristics, they might just be the bullets you're looking for.

 

[gamestalker]

I've never used the FTX, I have no reason to want to. After all, we're talking about a handgun cartridge, not a 3000' fps bottle neck application.

As for accuracy, the XTP's shoot very well for me, and I push them at full velocity with H110/296.

GS

 

[cougar1717]

I have loaded the 140gr FTX in 357 mag. IME, I would first make a dummy round and see if it will chamber without cutting your brass short. In a revolver, mine was fine - the tip was within the cylinder and I had a good enough crimp that nothing moved. I know these are marketed to the lever action carbine crowd, but it's worth it to check first.
Secondly, seating these can be quite a task - so much that Hornady sells special seating plugs for their dies to use with FTX bullets. The problem is that the petals that hold the FTX tip are incredibly soft. A regular seating plug pushes right on the petals and flattens out the tip. I noticed this as my seated cartridges looked different than the unseated, loose bullets. All fit the cylinder and fired no problem, they just looked a little strange.
Lastly, the crimp groove is placed so that a larger amount of bullet is in the case compared with the 140gr XTP. This is why the charge weights are lower. A compressed load of H110 is significantly less with FTX than with the XTP. Put too much powder in the case (but not even close to the maximum for any other 140gr bullet) and you won't be able to seat to the cannelure. You will also have basically ruined any BC advantage as the bullet now looks more like a hemisphere with the FTX tip sticking out.

 

[gspn]

From the Hornady website:

Hornady® FTX® bullets revolutionized lever-gun ballistics, creating a whole new level of performance for these popular firearms. Lever-gun enthusiasts can now harness the accuracy, power and long-range performance of a tipped bullet that's safe to load in tubular magazines.

The patented Flex Tip®, combined with Hornady® pioneered secant ogive design, creates an aerodynamic bullet with a thinner, tapered front section and extended bearing surface for much higher ballistic coefficients. The FTX® flies faster and flatter than traditional lever--gun bullets, resulting in improved accuracy at ranges well beyond what was historically common.

 

[jmorris]

Why does it just have to be marketing? Isn't that biased on scientific fact?

http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax