SPOOKY range trip with XTP's

[Double 30]

Got 2 does already this year with my Omega and Hornady .430 cal 240gr XTP hp's over 70gr 3f T7 lit by CCI small rifle primers in Variflames.Terminal performance was...extreme to put it mildly.I previously used MMP sabots and accuracy was quite good, right around 2 inches at 100 yards for 3 shots. I decided to try some Harvester sabots, plain not the crush rib type. They load with alittle more effort than the MMP's , but not objectionably so. Accuracy is another story. To date, if I clean properly between shots , my largest group was 2 inches and the average is right around an inch. My last 3 rounds today went into 3/8 inch  , center to center at 100. Our bear season opens soon and I'm taking the Omega! I've heard it said that for best accuracy , keep the bullet diameter as close to caliber as possible. I dont  know if anything has seriously changed in sabot technology , but I've never had .45's shoot with this level of accuracy and more importantly , with this consistency. Also , the thicker .44/50 cal sabots seem less effected by barrels heat than the thinner .45/50's.

[sidekick]

Very interesting. I think I have all the components you listed, but don't think I've tried that combo in my Encore---but I will at the first opportunity. I have been shooting 300gr .45 XTP's in 3-petal MMP's with 90 and 100 gr. charges of T7 & the CCI primers in Vari-flame adapters. Getting between 2-3 inch groups, but I wouldn't mind better, especially if the terminal results are there. Thanks for sharing.

[alsaqr]

IMO the .44 caliber XTP bullet is better than the .45 caliber XTP.  It surely shoots better in my guns.  I use the short black sabot.  It does load hard, especially in my Encore.  With the .44 caliber XTP i have killed about a dozen deer and many dozens of hogs.  Most were bang flops.   

[Two Bears]

Very interesting. I think I have all the components you listed, but don't think I've tried that combo in my Encore---but I will at the first opportunity. I have been shooting 300gr .45 XTP's in 3-petal MMP's with 90 and 100 gr. charges of T7 & the CCI primers in Vari-flame adapters. Getting between 2-3 inch groups, but I wouldn't mind better, especially if the terminal results are there. Thanks for sharing.

I have been using the same bullet for many many years and I use the harvester crush rib sabot along with several powder types and have had very tight groups (I only use 100 grains or less over the years) and now I use Goex FFFG 85 grains and at 50 yards I put 3 shots in the same hole.

Try it out

[30-06man]

my encore is shooting 3/4 of a inch at 125 on sand bags. using 198 grain powerbelts and 100 grains of triple seven. i put a lot of man hours trying diffrents sabots and magum loads and got it right. i don't see it as strange that its shooting that well

[AndyHass]

I haven't noticed a difference in max accuracy between different caliber bullets in a .50.  I have gotten sub-inch performance out of .357 bullets duplex sabotted and sub-inch performance out of .45 bullets.  Some guns have a bullet preference but I've never seen it follow a bullet caliber trend.

What I DO see a trend in is tightness of the bullet/sabot combination in the barrel.  The tighter the fit, the better the accuracy.  Well, as long as a hammer isn't involved....

[huntswithdogs]

I'm shooting an older inline by CVA. I've tried a bunch of different bullet/sabot-powder combos and have had good and bad results. All that stopped last year when I happened by the sporting goods section at WallyWorld right after hunting season ended. They were closing out their BP stuff and had some of the Powerbelt bullets on mark down. I bought 3packs of them and haven't needed anything else. With 100 gr of Pyrodex powder and these 295gr bullets, I can hold her inside of 2" at 100 yds using a 4x scope. I'll be up there lurking in another week or two cause they've got lots of them again this year and ain't nobody buying them. Kinda feel like a buzzard just waiting for something to die!

HWD

[Semisane]

Kinda feel like a buzzard just waiting for something to die!

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