Mushroom tests Nosler/Hornady

[MagTen]

I have had a box of Nosler Sporting Handgun HP 45cal 230grain bullets ordered from Midway for over a year. Midway finally notified me two weeks ago that they had received a shipment and I could not get the truck pulled over fast enough. I ordered a box and got them in and finally made it out in the country to test them in my special superduty extra high teck water jug testing facility. My intention was to use these slugs in my 45acp, 460 Rowland and my 45 WinMag. Well maybe this testing will keep some of you guys from wasting your money. The highly sought after Nosler Sporting slug will NOT perform at ACP speeds. Note the photos. Their website shows photos of this bullet performance from 800-1350fps. Maybe I will get better results from the Rowland and WinMag.

This is Hornady website photo info

Below photos are of Hornady 240grain XTP MAG slugs which I also picked up several months ago to use in my WinMag which will NOT work in the ACP. Hornady website indicated the MAG bullets are designed to work at speeds of 1100-2200fps. As you can see from the photos they were totally new looking when poured out of the final jug.

Please note that the Hornady 230gr XTP HP worked flawlessly with ACP.

 

[johnnyk]

Thanks for the info MagTen. I usually load the Horn. 230gn XTP HP for general use and practice with my Pro Carry II. JohnnyK.

 

[MagTen]

I have had a box of Nosler Sporting Handgun HP 45cal 230grain bullets ordered from Midway for over a year. Midway finally notified me two weeks ago that they had received a shipment and I could not get the truck pulled over fast enough. I ordered a box and got them in and finally made it out in the country to test them in my special superduty extra high teck water jug testing facility. My intention was to use these slugs in my 45acp, 460 Rowland and my 45 WinMag. Well maybe this testing will keep some of you guys from wasting your money. The highly sought after Nosler Sporting slug will NOT perform at ACP speeds. Note the photos. Their website shows photos of this bullet performance from 800-1350fps. Maybe I will get better results from the Rowland and WinMag.

This is Hornady website photo info

Below photos are of Hornady 240grain XTP MAG slugs which I also picked up several months ago to use in my WinMag which will NOT work in the ACP. Hornady website indicated the MAG bullets are designed to work at speeds of 1100-2200fps. As you can see from the photos they were totally new looking when poured out of the final jug.

Please note that the Hornady 230gr XTP HP worked flawlessly with ACP.

I finally shot the XTP Mag and got good results:

 

[MagTen]

I have had a box of Nosler Sporting Handgun HP 45cal 230grain bullets ordered from Midway for over a year. Midway finally notified me two weeks ago that they had received a shipment and I could not get the truck pulled over fast enough. I ordered a box and got them in and finally made it out in the country to test them in my special superduty extra high teck water jug testing facility. My intention was to use these slugs in my 45acp, 460 Rowland and my 45 WinMag. Well maybe this testing will keep some of you guys from wasting your money. The highly sought after Nosler Sporting slug will NOT perform at ACP speeds. Note the photos. Their website shows photos of this bullet performance from 800-1350fps. Maybe I will get better results from the Rowland and WinMag.

This is Hornady website photo info

Below photos are of Hornady 240grain XTP MAG slugs which I also picked up several months ago to use in my WinMag which will NOT work in the ACP. Hornady website indicated the MAG bullets are designed to work at speeds of 1100-2200fps. As you can see from the photos they were totally new looking when poured out of the final jug.

Please note that the Hornady 230gr XTP HP worked flawlessly with ACP.

I finally shot the XTP Mag and got good results:

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

Personally, I have become a fan of the Nosler 240gr JHP in my 44mag. Medium loads showed great accuracy and very nice expansion at 50yds. I actually like the Noslers better than the XTP. The Noslers put a nice buck, a doe, and a coyote on the ground this year without any problem. When the Noslers were shot side by side with the XTPs into wet phone books at 50yds, the Noslers expanded wider and held together much better than the XTPs. I also feel that the Noslers preformed better on game. But this is just my opinion.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

I thought about this after my earlier post.
Have you tried any Speer Gold Dots in your 45acp?

 

[LeddSlinger]

You'd probably see a lot different results if you put a clothing article in front of the jugs and filled them with something a little thicker, like maybe jello? Just guessing, but that would definitely be closer to an actual body. Of course ballistics gelatin is the best, but not cheap.

I bought a Kimber Eclipse Custom II last fall, but instead of the 45 acp, I opted for the 10mm Auto chambering. It's a hammer. No noticeable difference in recoil vas a 45 acp, but there's a lot more energy with same weight bullets. Plus it holds an extra round over the 45 in a single stack Kimber magazine. The 10mm Auto can operate at nearly double the 45 acp pressures which allow it to provide a lot more punch. The 10mm can push a 230gr bullet at over 1120 fps, whereas the 45 acp is topping out to hit 900 fps with a 230gr. I personally like the XTP bullets. I use the 180gr XTPs in my 10mm at around 1250 fps and I also use the 300 gr XTPs in my Taurus Raging Bull 44 Mag (8 3/8" barrel). I have not chronographed the 44 Mag yet. But in both guns, the XTP bullets give phenomenal accuracy. Would be interesting to see the expansion on my rounds. Might have to set up a similar test to yours one day.

 

[MagTen]

More interesting results today after stepping up velocities of my ACP loads to max loadings. (around 900fps) My 460 Rowland loads to about 1250fps. And 45 WinMag loads to around 1350fps. The Nosler HP has now begun to shine in all loadings. It is not a good round for minimal ACP loads. The Hornady XTP-Mag is still great load for all 460 & 45Win Mag loads. The Hornady XTP in 185 & 200 grain have been poor performers in all three ACP, Rowland and Win Mag. The only XTP worth it's weight is the XTP-Mag.

Notice above the Nosler slugs with varying cores not mushroomed. WM then 460 then ACP

Above XTP-Mag from 460

Above 3 on left are poor performing XTP 200 grain out of ACP. Far right is 230 grain Gold Dot. Best looking mushroom out of all tested.