XTP bullets in Muzzle loader

[sublimaze41]

I am not sure if this the correct forum but here goes. My friend and I were sighting in his new Knight .50 Muzzle loader. He was shooting 300 grain .45 caliber bullets in a sabot, these were Hornady's and cost $15 for 20 bullets/sabots (ouch).

This got me to thinking as I also use a muzzle loader.... Can you shoot regular XTP bullets either .44 cal or .45 caliber in a .50 caliber gun? Is a particular sabot needed?

will any of these work...... .45 in 230 grain or .44 in 200 or 240 grain??


Many thanks!

 

[arcticap]

Yes. Look at the 2nd chart on the following linked page to see all of the bullet diameters that fit the specific .50 caliber sabots that are made to shoot them with.
However, some bullets will naturally shoot more accurately than others and those bullet weights are popular for that reason. Lots of folks buy bulk bullets or lead bullets for practice, plinking and hunting. If the bullets weigh the same and have a similar profile, then the hope is that they may also shoot as good as the more expensive jacketed ones.

http://www.mmpsabots.com/

 

[sublimaze41]

Arcticap,
Thanks.....Exactly what I was looking for!

 

[Mark whiz]

Ditto to Arcticap's post.

I love getting the bulk Hornady 300gr XTPmags with the mmp .45 to .50cal sabots - it's my benchmark load to which I compare any other bullet I try.

 

[dullh]

I use 300gr XTP's (.430") in my .50 Encore (with sabot). Anywhere you can buy bullets you should be able to buy sabots. MMP and T/C sabots are excellent, just make sure you get the right sabot for your bullet! The package of sabots should tell you the bullet diameter the sabot is for.

Also, if you want to save money, instead of buying the 20 round package of sabots/bullets, but a 50 count box of bullets then buy a 50 count package of sabots. It works out to be less money then the pre-package saboted bullets or sabot/bullet combo pack.

 

[atomd]

I had the same question recently. The answer is yes and no. The 230 grain XTPs are not designed to travel in the velocity that they would travel from a muzzleloader. So those would be a "no". Some of their other .45 and .44 bullets are just fine to use though.

I remember thinking to myself "hey...I got a ton of these for my .45..why not use them in the muzzleloader too". Then someone enlightened me. Check their velocity chart to make sure you are in the right range. The chart is in their catalog and it's probably on their website too.

I've been shooting the .45 300 grain XTP Mags in my muzzleloader. XTPs are great bullets all around.

 

[atomd]

Oh, I also buy the big box of just the bullets and I use the harvester ribbed sabots with them. It's wayyy cheaper than buying them in the package with the sabots.

 

[arcticap]

The answer is yes and no. The 230 grain XTPs are not designed to travel in the velocity that they would travel from a muzzleloader. So those would be a "no". Some of their other .45 and .44 bullets are just fine to use though.

Some XTP's may not be designed to be fired at the higher muzzle loading hunting velocities since they're pistol bullets, but that doesn't mean that they can't be used for target shooting or even used for hunting if not pushed too fast.
The OP didn't specifically ask about hunting, only whether they they would work in sabots. Nothing is softer than a pure lead bullet and they can be fired at any velocity. So it's not like they won't work, it's just that they might not perform as well if used for some hunting applications.

 

[dullh]

"Some XTP's may not be designed to be fired at the higher muzzle loading hunting velocities since they're pistol bullets, but that doesn't mean that they can't be used for target shooting or even used for hunting if not pushed too fast.
The OP didn't specifically ask about hunting, only whether they they would work in sabots. Nothing is softer than a pure lead bullet and they can be fired at any velocity. So it's not like they won't work, it's just that they might not perform as well if used for some hunting applications."

The load I have settled on (at least for now) is the 300gr (.430") XTP atop 110 grains of loose Triple Seven. This load yields a hard-hitting bullet at modest velocity. We chronoed it out of an Omega barrel at around 1800fps. That's not bad. That's still "lever gun" velocity. I haven't hunted with mine yet since it's so new but that's his load and he doesn't find himself doing alot of tracking -good shot placement and distances are 120yds or less.

 

[arcticap]

I buy bullets where I can find them.
Here's a variety that I bought partial boxes of:



Top left: .44 - 240 gr. Sierra / .44 - 200 gr. Speer / .44 - 240 gr. Hornady

Bottom left: .457 - 405 gr. Win. / .458 - 300 gr. Hornady / .44 - 225 gr. Speer

 

[atomd]

Some XTP's may not be designed to be fired at the higher muzzle loading hunting velocities since they're pistol bullets, but that doesn't mean that they can't be used for target shooting or even used for hunting if not pushed too fast.

Most of them would work anyways. I mentioned the 230 grain XTP because that one maxes out at 1250 FPS. That's much lower than the other .44 and .45 XTP bullets. All the other .44 and .45 bullets over 200 grains are good to at least 1500 FPS to over 2000.

 

[arcticap]

I buy bullets where I can find them.
Here's a variety that I bought partial boxes of:



Top left: .44 - 240 gr. Sierra / .44 - 200 gr. Speer / .44 - 240 gr. Hornady

Bottom left:
.457 - 405 gr. Winchester / .458 - 300 gr. Hornady / .44 - 225 gr. Speer

 

[alsaqr]

I buy the 240 grain .430 Hornady XTP bullets and the sabots in bulk. Total cost for sabot, bullet, 100 grains of powder by volume and a primer is about $.50 per shot.

In the past ten years I have killed about 20 deer and over 200 wild hogs with the 240 grain .430 XTP Hornady bullet. I pick my shots carefully and most of those kills were bang flops.


Here is the Hornady XTP bullet performance chart:

http://www.hornady.com/media/Handgun_Bullets.pdf