200 gn .40 Hornady XTP terminal performance in a .45.... Graphic!

[Skillet]

I just recently came back from a South Texas hunt where I was able to harvest a Javelina with one of my muzzle-loaders.

The gun is an older FIE 'Kentucky' rifle... I've cut the .45 barrel down to about 19" and named him "Shorty". While I like to use more traditional projectiles in my side locks, the most accurate load I've found so far for this gun is the 200 gn hornady XTP, in a blue, Harvester sabot over 44 gns of FFF grade Triple Seven.

Haven't chronied the load yet, but I'm guessing 1100, 1200 fps. Seemed wise to maybe go slow with a bullet designed for handgun velocities.

I was able to get a shot on my Javelina at about 20 yards. Full-frontal shot. Once the smoke cleared, I walked up to the expired skunk-hog and found that the bullet had entered in front of the right shoulder.

I was happy to see that the bullet hadn't exited (even as I was taking the shot, I was grateful for the angle and was thinking that the bullet could be recovered if I could make the shot).

I hadn't killed anything with this gun/load and was anxious to see the damage, a quick scan with a Garrett metal detector showed that the slug was still in the pig and had traveled about 12" from the point of entry.

Here's the Javelina and my "Shorty-Forty"


 
Here's the front of the recovered XTP (Widest portion measured about .81)

 
 
And the back of the slug (retained weight=134 gns)


 
 
I hope I don't get in trouble for this one... no offense intended, but I was so impressed with this bullet's performance upon field-dressing... I couldn't believe it, but here is what was left of the heart...


 
 
So there you have it: Shoulder broken, heart demolished, lungs destroyed, a piece of the liver was missing aprox. 3/4 the size of a playing card... I don't think the Javelina could have been any deader if he'd swallowed a hand grenade!
 
I would definitely hesitate to drive this bullet much faster though, I doubt that I would have found anything but maybe the copper jacket if it had been pushing 2000 fps.
 
HH All!
Skillet

[tn_junk]

Curious as to the rate of twist in that barrel. I've tried those sabot loads in my .45 with little success.
From the looks of that baby hog, you've got a great set-up.

alan

[Skillet]

Curious as to the rate of twist in that barrel. I've tried those sabot loads in my .45 with little success.
From the looks of that baby hog, you've got a great set-up.

alan

Near as I can tell, it's a 1:48 twist... strange, but it ought to shoot those TC Maxi's that I cast well, but neither those nor PRBs shoot well out of Shorty... maybe that chopped barrel has got something to do with it?

Surprised me too, but that XTP load groups about 3" for five shots at 50 yds. It's pretty much just a 50-75yd rig anyway.

I'm satisfied with it for now...
Skillet

[snapcrackpop]

Cute!  All of it, even the smashed heart.

Hard to put that gun in perspective, however.  Can I see another pic of the gun (in hand maybe)?

[Skillet]

I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of me holding it.

Here's on the back deck:

And here's the lock-plate with name engraved

Hope this helps with perspective, it started out as a full-length Kentucky rifle. The stock has been left in its original size. Again, the barrel is about 19" long.

Skillet

[Double 30]

Wicked little rig! Been using the Hornady XTP's for awhile now myself. The .44 cal 240 and 300 gr in Harvester sabots are scary  accurate and the 240's ( driven by 70gr of 3f T7), are a certified Death Ray coming out of my Omega Z5 at 1760 fps. I agree with Chuck Hawks, there is no better muzzleloading bullet ( even though they're made for c.f. handguns ) for the price , than the XTP's. I like light charges myself. Isn't it something , you dont need to pour 1/2 a can of powder down a barrel to kill a critter. 80 grains of 3f T7 gives me 1660 fps ( chrono'd) with the 300 gr XTP.I'll kill any critter in N.A. with that load.

[snapcrackpop]

Nice!

There is just something odd about the way it looks next to that oinker.
The pig looks like 5-10 pounds and the gun looks about 2' long.  I just can't get my brain to wrap around it.

Good eating!

[Skillet]

!
There is just something odd about the way it looks next to that oinker.
The pig looks like 5-10 pounds and the gun looks about 2' long.  I just can't get my brain to wrap around it.

It's probably the way I took the picture, I was standing up on the truck's tail gate, a few feet to the left of the pig.

The javelina's head was closer to the camera, it makes for a 'shortening' effect on the pig and gun. I agree it looks a little odd.

The pig was in the middle of a sendero road, so I pulled-up past it and just parked and took the picture off to the side. I probably should have taken the time to back up centered before taking the picture.

Skillet