Author Topic: Hornady XTP vs XTP MAG (Read 2577 times)

Two Bears · « **on:** March 25, 2006, 06:28:53 AM »

The other day as I picked up some Hronady XTP 300 grain .452 bullets at Cabelas ( I can't walk by them without adding to my inventory ) I bought 3 boxes and after I got home I noticed that 2 boxes were the XTP MAG version.
Well I have shot both before but never put them side by side until the other day, There is a big difference between them!

The XTP has 2 rings around the shoulder and has a more defined shoulder, has 6 pedal perforations, and is SHORTER than the XTP MAG by just less than an 1/8th inch!

The XTP MAG has 4 pedal perforations, a not so defined shoulder that is kind of rounded, has 1 ring around the shoulder and is longer.

Well that threw me so I called Hornady and found out why they were so different.

The XTP was built for the long Colt
The XTP was designed to expand at lower FPS.
The XTP has 6 pedals to allow it to expand at the lower FPS
The XTP has 2 belts around the shoulder which helps for the bullet to expand.

The Mag was built for the .454 Casual
The Mag was designed to expand at a HIGHER FPS for the .454 Casaul.
The Mag has a more rounded shoulder to aid in its expansion at the higher FPS
The Mag has 1 belt around the shoulder to help with it's expantion
The Mag is longer than the XTP and does not work in the Long Colt for reloading.

Hornady said that the XTP will expand better at lower FPS which will be a plus for use in black powder: a side note that the MAG could be used in muzzleloaders when using a heavy charge such as 150 grains of powder.

They also said that they will shoot the same on paper as far as accuracy and that you should not see any difference between them.

I am going to stick with the standard XTP bullet as I use 85 grains of BM3 and when using Pyrodex I use 100 grains just for one reason - Better expansion with the lower FPS.

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Deer Dave · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2006, 11:29:32 AM »

Two Bears, good post and research. I was wondering the same also, as I have the Hornady XTP in 240 and 300 gr. along with the XTP-Mag.

I recently shot and recovered a 300 gr. XTP in a dead stump, and the expansion was awesome...I later weighed the 300 gr. XTP on my Redding scale and it was 295 grains. The Hornady bullets shoot great and are everything they claim to be. Best accuracy out of my Omega.

Dave

UtahRob · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2006, 04:55:47 PM »

The .45 cal 300 grn xtp mags from T.C.shoot great out of my Tradition Pursuit Pro.

Two Bears · « **Reply #3 on:** March 27, 2006, 05:59:35 AM »

Yes UtahRob they do shoot good.

But they were made for the casull and are built to expand at a HIGHER velocity, A velocity that 100 grains of powder is not producing to maximize the XTP MAG's potential.

The standard XTP is perfect for the slower velocity of 100 grains of powder.

BTW I used the XTP mag to take a heavy whitetail and it expanded pretty good but after now knowing a little more about this MAG bullet it does look like it should have expanded more that it did as it hit 4 bones before comming to a stop under the hide.

Pic of bullet
http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/album_pic.php?pic_id=1108

Two Bears · « **Reply #4 on:** March 27, 2006, 06:18:32 AM »

Quote from: UtahRob

The .45 cal 300 grn xtp mags from T.C.shoot great out of my Tradition Pursuit Pro.

UtahRob
The picture of your bullets is NOT the XTP MAG it is the standard XTP, They have the double crimp at the shoulder and have a larger hollow point with 6 pedals. And a defined shoulder

The MAG has only 1 crimp and only 4 padals and a smaller hollow point with copper covering the rim of the hollow point. And also has the rounded shoulder.

The package says MAG sabots but that is Thompson Centers "advertising" at work there, using the standard XTP bullet.

UtahRob · « **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2006, 06:44:32 AM »

I thought they were xtps and not the and not xtp Mags.
I have a bulk box of Hornady .45 300 grn that seem to be same thing.
I knew they had 6 pedals and two bands . Every photo I have seen shows the Mag as you described one band and 4 pedals. I was wondering why T.C. called them Mags. Any way if the mags do not work with my loads then i'm glad they are the xtps.

Thank you for the Info.

-Rob

UtahRob · « **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2006, 06:59:34 AM »

My son Cody has a Digital photography class at his school. The topic for his assignment was ( what is it). So we lined up a box of xtp bullets and the some Sabots upside down and put some water in them and then put a light behind some stripped color paper we made that would reflect on the water in the Sabots. The photos turned out pretty cool. Here are the results.

doctordisaster · « **Reply #7 on:** April 07, 2006, 12:26:52 PM »

Two Bears.I reload my 454 Cas.If you can't return them I may buy them from you,Let me know.
BTW the Power shocks work great in my Knight Disc.

Two Bears · « **Reply #8 on:** April 07, 2006, 08:01:11 PM »

Quote from: doctordisaster

Two Bears.I reload my 454 Cas.If you can't return them I may buy them from you,Let me know.
BTW the Power shocks work great in my Knight Disc.

Sorry TOO late....A guy at my work shoots these XTP mags in his muzzloader and he just took them and gave me an even trade of the XTP's.

djmbow · « **Reply #9 on:** April 08, 2006, 01:45:43 AM »

Two Bears,

Thanks for the information.
Just what I needed----------
Hope you don't mind that I printed off a copy and put it in my shooting box for future reference.

skamaniac · « **Reply #10 on:** April 08, 2006, 10:47:18 AM »

They didn't happen to say exactly what FPS each bullet is supose to expand at did they?

Two Bears · « **Reply #11 on:** April 08, 2006, 04:17:39 PM »

Yes they did but I can't remember what speeds they were.

The Mag XTP is for the Casual but I don't know what velocities they produce.

Also the Mag XTP will perform very well with 150 grains. and also do good at 100 grains with a little less expansion.

Take a look at the picture of my recovered bullet and you will see what the XTP Mag will do at 80 grains of BM3 which is very close in velocity to 100 grains of Pyrodex powder. ( picture is in an earlier post above )
It looks like it could have used a little more expansion IMOP but is still pretty good.

Adkhunter · « **Reply #12 on:** April 11, 2006, 02:36:03 PM »

Thanks for the work on the bullets. I knoew there was something like this but I wasn't sure.

Utahrob, Great photos!!! They should be copyrighted and then sold. $$ It might be the hook to a life of photography. Awesome!

rickyp · « **Reply #13 on:** April 12, 2006, 07:58:31 AM »

I have tried the 45 XTP mag's out of my 14 inch 209x50 contender abrrel with 90 grs of powder. I can say for sure they did not work well at all infact so poorly I will not use them for anything but paper punching now.
I shot 4 deer with them and only recovered 1 the other 3 did not even bleed so I had nothing to track them with. I spent several hours on each looking for any sign of them and couindn't

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 12, 2006, 09:37:56 AM »

In think the 45 XTP's work great. Shot placement like any bullet is key.

JEV · « **Reply #15 on:** April 18, 2006, 03:07:28 AM »

For what its worth, I did a little experimenting with the XTP's and XTP mags last year. I felt the regular xtp's were expanding to much and were not holding together very well. I shot them into wood blocks with only 85gr of 777 and there was complete jacket separation. The Mags held together much better. First time out hunting with the mags I took a nice black bear. That 300gr bullet inflicted massive damage. The bears left lung was litterly hanging out of the exit hole. That sold me. I took a nice doe and a nice buck in the muzzleloading deer season with similar results on both. Now, I'm sure both types of XTP's will work, but I lean a little more towards the mags.
JEV