Denny-
I have been using the Hornady 325 grain flex tip in a harvester crush rib sabot the last two years, It is .458 dia while the 250 grain is .452 dia. so that is another bullet to expiriment with if the 250 is loose in your bore. I took two decent whitetail bucks last year, one dropped in its tracks, other ran 20 yards or so, will be using that bullet this year also! As you stated, they are much cheaper to shoot, about half price of buying them prepackaged. The 325 grain bullet is used for the 450 marlin and 45-70 I believe.