.45 caliber sabot/ .40 cal bullets

[smokepole50]

What 40 caliber bullet do you think works best for close range hunting as well as 200-300 yard hunting? Velocity will hopefully be 2300 fps.

Smokepole

[dave d.]

:)smoke the Barnes 195 will do the trick short or long. At 2300 the sst will probably work great also but have no experience with it at those velocities.

[Richard]

The 195 Barnes would be my choice also
Richard

[savagebrother]

have been shooting the 200 sst at 2800 fps and at 2900 fps with very good results at 200 yards and at 45 yards drt yardage didnt seem to matter that much
sb

[sw]

I think the 195 Barnes has excellent terminal performance. The 200SST shoots better in my 40 cal/sabotless. The 200SST does shoot a little flatter. I've shot deer with a 200SST from 35 yds to 284 yds with nearly 3000'/sec launch. The 200SST seems much tougher than the 250SST which didn't help the SW/SST image. I think if all SSTs were 200s or 300s there would be a different opinion of them. I do have a 45 set up for 195 Barnes since he wants more bullet placement forgiveness and hunts where 150yd shots are about max. Never lost a deer to 200SSTs even with scapula hits. Both bullets work well, IMO. I think the Barnes is tougher.

[smokepole50]

Thanks for the input guys. It sounds like the 195gr Barnes and the 200gr SST will work well in the Accura .45 so I'll see which one shoots the best at the upper end loads.

Thanks, Smokepole

[chuck41]

At the speeds we push these things most anything will work. Being a super cheap dude I have used 200gr XTPs or similar for most of the deer I have shot with .400" bullets and have not lost a single one. However, they almost explode on impact leaving huge entry holes and sometimes destroy a bit of meat. Innards have the consistency of lumpy pudding and blood trail is short and profuse with the deer at the end of it and not very far away.

If you are not a super cheep dude like me that doesn't want to shoot enough of them to be sure of their accuracy in your gun with your loads, then the 195 Barnes is probably the king of the hill. Good luck with that 45. Should be fun.

[smokepole50]

Well Chuck, I am sometimes known to be cheap but using a bullet that works does not mean you are cheap, just smart, so if the XTP works then you have the best bullet for the way you hunt. I like two holes for bleeding but if you can remember to punch thru the lungs at close range then it should not matter if you use the XTP. I have shot high thru the shoulder blade on many deer in the past with a Horn. 240gr Swaged Lead HP and it rarely went all the way thru to make two holes but the deer hit the ground right there, temparely parralized, while they bleed out and died.
Does the XTP explode at 100 yards when it is still going 2000 fps? At what speed does it just mushroom and not explode, 1500?? Having to make lung shots at close range is not such a bad thing and I often take a lung shot just so the deer will completely bleed out fast.


Smokepole