Tested new bullets............

[Richard]

Tuesday at the range............Weather was a very cloudy 48* with about Zero wind and looking like it wanted to rain! And it subsequently did by about 10:30 a.m...........which sort of cut our shooting a little short (of course we started popping primers by 7:30 ;D) So, did not get to shoot everything I wanted but enough to build on.
What you see in the picture is the "new 200 gr. Nosler--sort of XTP clone" These bullets are Blems which I got 400 of from Nosler. It is called the Shooters Pro Shop! With shipping, they ran $71.92. To me, these bullets look perfect? In the picture you can see the one that I pointed in my die.
Also in the picture is a bullet one of our members mentioned a couple of weeks ago when he asked how "Plated" bullets shot? He mentioned that he contacted this company........X-Treme Bullets Inc. about their 200 and 220 gr. bullets. He said a spokesperson sent him 50 of each to try. So I figured I would call also. I got a very nice lady and asked about getting a sample of the 220 grainers. I also explained that I would be shooting them probably over 2600 fps To which she advised me their bullets needed to be kept under 1500 fps............To which I explained that I had already shot 200 gr. Reniers over 2700 and would still like to give theirs a try. I subsequently received a box containing a bag of 34 220 gr. bullets.
Ok, now to the targets:
Not wanting to l"over" drive these lead plated bullets, my plan was to use 60 and 62 gr. of H-4198 to give them a test. See targets #1 & 2. On the first five shots I never used the cooling rod at all. Bullet velocities were kind of all over the place, but
1 1/2" for five shots did not seem too bad for a bullet not meant to be shot over 1500 fps I then upped the charge to 62 gr. and even with the first shot sort of out of the group, it managed all five in 2" with the last four in just over an inch. I think next week, I will try a few more with 56 and 58 gr. and also launch a few at 300 yards? These bullets run $65.00/500 + whatever shipping is. Tel. [phone]
The next two targets were shot using Noslers 200 gr. HP. The first target I used the bullet as it came out of the box. The second target the bullet was pointed in my die. As you can see, not much difference in accuracy. As you can see, all ten shots (from the two groups) would have fit within the second group of 1.139". Next week I will try shooting them at 300 yards to see if the pointed one hit any higher than the non-pointed which should give me an indication as to how much the BC improves.
Targets 5 & 6 were shot with the Hornady 200 gr. FTX sabot less. I wanted to see if 50 gr. of N-110 would do any good for helping to obturate these bullets for better accuracy. The FTX's have a very rounded base which I felt might not be the best for good accuracy. So, I took five of them and trimmed the bases in the lathe for comparison. Neither of them shot very well??? Even though ES was not that bad? When you look at group 5, notice the velocities of shots 2,3 & 5?.............They are within 5 fps and grouped together. In group #6, look at shots 3 & 5? They are within 1 fps and went virtually thru the same hole ;D Which leads me to believe that small ES, particularly with sabot less bullets is critical to accuracy! Saboted bullets, at least out to 100 yards, seem less affected by minor velocity differences?
AND THEN THE RAINS CAME

[deadon]

Great report Richard, Thank you. Have you shot the Nos 200 gr HP with 60 and 62 grs of H 4198? Thanks again, Rusty Ps, can't wait to try my new bedded Pacnor

[Savage Shooter]

Looks like the new Noslers are going to fly good.

[deadon]

Mar 16, 2011 20:14:23 GMT -5 Savage Shooter said:

Looks like the new Noslers are going to fly good.

Does anyone know at what FPS the xtp expands vs the new nosler? IIRC the XTP expands at around 1150 fps and at what FPS does the new Nosler expand. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. Rusty

[GMB54-120]

Great report.

Ive shot the Xtreme plated bullets with subs and overall i think they are a great plated bullet for punching paper. The plating seems really thick and weight/size variation is really good IMO. My sample's weight were perfect actually.

Really glad you chose the 220gr Xtreme too. I would really like to see this weight become more popular in 40cal hunting bullets. The 225gr hawks HPs seem really good at heavy sub speeds on media but im not so sure about anything faster...i doubt it without a thicker jacket and maybe a soft point.

I still need to cross section an Xtreme and compare it to other 40cals for a good side by side.

Looks like you beat me to the Nosler 10mm/200gr tests. I got a 250 retail box ready to go for this weekend. The HP is a bit larger than a XTP and a bit deeper. They are supposed to have a pure lead core which likely helps accuracy but it may fragment badly on game. The bearing surface is also slightly more than a XTP. Not sure if that matters or not but i like the way they fit the Harvester smooth sabot.

Did you notice the base has pretty much no radius edge where it contacts the bearing surface? Its nearly sharp to the touch. I assume this is a good thing for SML sabot use.

The groups sure look sweet to me so i might be correct for a change.

BTW i THINK the 45-200gr FTX has a fairly thick jacket and is made tougher than the 45-225gr. I dont know if you've tried the 45-225gr FTX but ive had a little more luck with them as far as accuracy in sabots.

[Richard]

Rusty.........I just got the new Noslers the day before we went to the range. I post every shot I shoot. So no, I have not shot any H-4198 yet. Whatever results you are getting from 60 and 62 gr. of H-4198 with the XTP's? You should get very similar results with the Noslers. What it is...............? Is just another bullet we have available. I would guess there is not going to be any significant difference in expansion between the two. I think those plated bullets are definitely a good buy if you want to do a lot of shooting without expending a lot of cash. I figure about $75.00 with shipping for 500 bullets. Thats $0.15 each And, I bet they will kill a deer as dead as any bullet we have available ;D
Richard

[Deleted]

I just bought a box of Extreme Plated Bullets for my .380 LCP. They seem to be quality built bullets. I measured and weighed a handful and they all were spot on with each other. I should have gotten some for my Savage.
Zen

[jray57]

I did a side by side test with the Nosler 200gr and the 200gr XTP yesterday. In my gun the Noslers consistently grouped better. I shot 3 shot groups with the same powder, charge wt, primer and sabot. Did not have the chrony set up so no velocitys. As mentioned the Noslers appear to have a slightly longer bearing surface but in my gun seemed to load slightly easier(didn't mic them). Both required considerable pressure to get down the bore with the smooth blue Harvester. This is just within the first 50 shots out of my new Pac. Accuracy with the best load was about .75 with the Nosler on 63 gr H4198(didn't go any higher). Same load with XTPs was just over an inch.

[edge]

Richard, have you tried to recover any of these bullets from your backstop? It would be interesting to see how the plated bullet survives vs the Nosler.

edge.

[Richard]

Edge..........actually I did not. The rain started pretty heavy so we just packed up and left. I will try next week but generally don't have too much luck recovering bullets. The backstop is a lot of RED clay and crushed shale and usually pretty much destroys bullets
Just a visual inspection by myself, Herman and Bill seemed to conclude that any difference in bearing surface was not readily apparent? Since they mic'd .400" just like the Noslers and XTP's, I really found no difference in seating pressure?
gmb..........Yes, I do have a supply of the 225 FTX and have shot them. I have gotten some good results but not one holers. I consider them DEER good but not benchrest good. Also, I have not just concentrated on them to try to perfect a load for them? Possibly some tweaking with various loads might improve my results. There are just so many bullets and loads that one can play with, with the .45 since you have the option of shooting both saboted and sabot less. Deadeye has taken us into another area of super long range with very heavy bullets. I would guess its costing him a bit of $$$ buying those Parkers I think, if there were some formal matches in my area, I would be more inclined to pursue these bullets. Or, if a "very" big game hunt with the possibility of a long shot, was in my future, it would get me more pumped. Unfortunately I don't see that occurring and without having a range over 300 yards "readily" available, I will be more prone to generic bullets What with the number of shot I fire every week.
Note: I just went to the shop and gave it my best shot at measuring the bearing surface between the XTP and the Nosler: As near as I can tell, the Nosler has about .018" more surface? Now, the fact that both are enclosed in a sabot (which is actually what is "bearing" on the rifling), I would doubt .018" should make a significant difference? But who knows? With these ML's, there are other factors which can influence the size of groups when doing a comparison. They DO shot very well but are they better than the XTP? Maybe when and if more people shoot them, we can get a better opinion. Right now, there is only a handful of members who shoot and post results? Hopefully with the weather getting nicer, more will be out shooting and hopefully documenting and posting pictures and results
Richard