Looking for an affordable bullet that works.

[grouse]

When i started shooting and testing Lehigh bullets people came out of the cracks to complain about performance, cost, Brass, etc,etc. At the end of the day, all i know right now is they are accurate. Are they cheap, Hell no.

There are many companies with cheap bullets. I noticed Knight is selling MZ expanders for $14.00 bucks for 18 bullets. That's not cheap by any means. By the time you ship them they will be over a buck a bullet. If you like MZ Expander bullets, but cant afford them. Just buy a 250grn Hornady XTP or a 300grn XTP. They will do anything a MZ expander can do alot cheaper. I have no complaints about the Barnes MZ expander, they work. I have shot Deer with them. The XTP works to. Dont think you got to use a brand name bullet to shoot and kill Deer humanly. And you dont need to spend a buck a bullet either. My sporting store sells them for $16.00 bucks for a hundred 250grn XTP'S. That's like 16cents a bullet. They sell harvester sabots for $5.99 for 50 of them. That's 11cents a sabot. A little shopping and buying locally is a must to save money sometimes.

Can members please post some bullets that are cheap that you have had excellant results with for the members who dont have the money to buy the more exspensive brand name bullets. I would think Deer size game is good enough for the bullet choices. Maybe even some cheaper places to buy sabots and supplies. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have lost there jobs and could use a little help now in the pricing department.
I'm sure there are people who will appreciate this that read and dont even post.

 

[1sourdough]

 Here's a few things I do. I have 2 molds, a 250 grn 44 cal handgun type bullet & a Lee R.E.A.L. lead conical 50 cal mold. Those are my cheap options. I've killed deer with both. I have to get the appropriate sabot jacket for the 44 cal bullet. I have a good supply of lead. When I shoot or sight in I may use some 44 cal lead bullets to get things close then I use a Hornaday 250 grn SST(T/C Shockwave) for the hunt. Shooting this way can nurse that package of SST's along pretty well. It's best to buy them on clearance after the Fall hunting seasons are about over. One could also get the plastic sabot jackets & get the bulk pistol bullets of your liking to shoot or hunt. I always add, shot placement is everything.

[sabotloader]

Grouse45

Gold Dots - are a way better bullet than Hornady's and they are at a reasonable price.

They are bonded and they expand to a given point - they truly are a 'poor mans Nosler'



And Hornady's can come apart even at ML speeds....



I would believe even the UNI-CORE Speers would be a better bullet again as they a bonded - but do not have the dot in the center to stop expansion.

Here is an expanded Gold Dot showing the dot controller in the middle.



Information copied from Chapman Gleason

Without the doubt the cheapest best best ML bullet in my opinion is the 300g Speer Gold Dot:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000213974

thy are $18.02 at MidSouth, if you like 250g, you can get them for $15.39

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000214484.  Match that bullet with a

Crushed Rib sabot at $5.56 for 50

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00072H15045BR

and your shooting a MLer pretty cheap. 

These Speer Soft Core, Unicore bullets in 300g are only $16.72 for 50:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000214485

As Cayugad mentioned the XTP and XTP Mag are good and inexpensive:

This is Mag: https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000345235

This is non-mag: https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000345230

It you drop down to the 250g they sell them in boxes of 100 and they are 22.07:

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0000345200

[DennyRoark]

Traditions APB 200's (actually a Parker 250 Hydra-con) are less than Shockwaves, come 20 to a pack and shoot well from my Omega carbine.

[tc scout]

I will second the Gold Dots. Last season I was useing a 210 Gr. .429" in a crush rib sabot. Accuracy was great and the
one buck I shot dropped on the spot.

I used Barnes MZ's for years and they are devastating on deer. Probably would have never changed except for the fact
that I couldn't get them down the barrel of my new Triumph. They were reasonable when they first came out and after I found out how good
they were I bought a boat load of them. Had about 20 or 30 left that I gave away on GB.

The fact is the cheapest way to go is to buy a box of 44's or 45's, some sabots and load your own.
As others have stated, there are many good handgun bullets available. I will be trying some 44 XTP's in my ML since I
have had good Accuracy in my 357 Max with 180 Gr. XTP's and plan to use them for hunting next year.                   

[rt_con]

Of the 8 guys I MZ hunt with, all except me shoot the XTP's. 

Another affordable bullet that I've had good results with on deer is the Speer 260gr JHP (.451).  Worked well in my Knight's and T/C Omega with 777.  Not so much with BH209.

For a little more $... I also like the 250gr Speer Gold Dot.   

 

[Skopia]

I'll second the xtp's. Only been muzzleloading for 2 years. I have harvested 5 deer with the .430 240 gr xtp in a green crushed rib sabot over 90 gr 777 in my T/C Omega. All one shot kills. All pass throughs with wide wound channels. All shots were between 30-70 yards. Never seen blood trails useing Breneke slugs out of my Rem. 1100 like I have seen with these little ole xtp's. They have made a believer out of me. In fact, the muzzleloader is all I hunt with now.

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

Traditions APB 200's (actually a Parker 250 Hydra-con) are less than Shockwaves, come 20 to a pack and shoot well from my Omega carbine.

250gr hydra-con
Those shot great in my omega but i wasnt to impressed with the results in the sand trap. I shot these with 110gr pyrodex P @ 100 yards.

[DennyRoark]

Bigblock, I shot 2 into the sand trap at 90 yds w 80gr Pyro and got the same size without the seperation and fragmentation.  Measured one last night and got .450 .  Most sabots are .451 or .452.  Know of a sabot that might fit one better.  I think if I could find the right plastic, this bullet would shoot MOA for me.

[sabotloader]

Grouse

I was just packing up to go do some shooting and thought of another bullet that has really been good to me, actually the whole line of Sierra's have been great through the years.

But one that comes to mind right now as I look at the box in front of me is a .458/300 Grain Sierra Prohunter. I have not taken game with this bullet, but i do shoot it lot as sub for the .458/300 Noslers I normally shoot. This bullet is really accurate and flys very well for me. It's little bit of thicker copper jacket for the 45-70 really makes the bullet a bit stronger.

http://www.sierrabullets.com/index.cfm?section=bullets&page=bc&stock_num=8900&bullettype=0

Back in the centerfire days - Sierra's were always my back up for the Noslers.

Price: $23.00

http://www.wholesalehunter.com/product.asp?keywords=%2E45+300+Grain+HP%2FFN%2F50&productid=5274

[rt_con]

Bigblock, I shot 2 into the sand trap at 90 yds w 80gr Pyro and got the same size without the seperation and fragmentation.  Measured one last night and got .450 .  Most sabots are .451 or .452.  Know of a sabot that might fit one better.  I think if I could find the right plastic, this bullet would shoot MOA for me.

Denny... I think the thickest sabot for the .45 bullet is the the Knight 50/45 High Pressure sabot. I used to use this for .450 & .451 bullets in the MK-85.  It's only available thru Knight. I asked Del Ramsey (MMP) and he said he makes it for Knight, but he can't sell it directly to me.  I always thought it was the same as the MMP short black, but it's not. 

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

i used the short black mmp-12 sabot for the hydra-cons. Pretty much every sabot i shot in the omega wanted it.

[Cheesehead]

I use home made cast bullets in .452 and .458 with great accuracy results. Made from FREE wheel weights.

Cheese

[hunt-m-up]

.44 cal 270 grn Gold Dot JSP with MMP sabots or Sierra 300 grn JSP

[Two Bears]

VERY hard to beat the Hornady XTP 300 grain !

They do not come apart unless shot into a gravel back stop which raises heck with most bullets.
If I can find a picture I have of the XTP 300 recovered from a mature northern deer that went length wise (end to end) while going through a few bones along the way. It retained 90+ % of its weight I will post it.

[sabotloader]

Two Bears

They do not come apart unless shot into a gravel back stop which raises heck with most bullets.

They do and have on accasion come apart on me even at ML speeds.  The last time I shot a really nice whitetail buck with a XTP, somebody flinched either me or him which resulted in the bullet hitting high in the left shoulder bone from there it broke the scapula and defeltcted up to the back bone - well the lead did as the copper was still in the front shoulder near the scapula....

into a gravel back stop which raises heck with most bullets.

Totally agree with this statement that is exactly why I conducted the test - If the bullet stays intact after shooting into some terrible medium - it will certainly stay together when shot into an animal (bone or tissue). 

XTP's can be stripped, copper from the lead, IN SOME CASES - not often and not even a majority but on occasion when shot into an animal. I prefer to use a bullet that does not separate at all.

[Swampman]

The T/C Cheap Shots shoot great for me.  They are about all I use.