185 Gr Hornady xtp

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185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Tennessee Dairyman » Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:52 pm

Has anyone loaded any of these just for plinking? Or any other 185 Gr bullets?
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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Hoot » Sat Jan 03, 2015 8:49 am

Welcome aboard TD.

I have loaded COP 185gr bullets, but despite having good luck with several different 200gr bullets, the 185s had multiple performance issues. I believe they were mainly the result of the poor quality control COP had in its early days. The bullets varied significantly in diameter, down to as low as .4486. Still, they shot better than the COP 160gr ones by leaps and bounds. My experience with Hornady has been that their quality control is much better and that is the foundation of successful reloading experimentation. Unfortunately for your particular question, I have not experimented with the 185gr XTP. I have however experimented with other weight XTPs. In the case of the 185, the blessing is the curse. Their lighter weight will enable them to reach impressive velocities, but that velocity may make them self-destruct because they are operating outside their design parameters. The Mag version of the XTPs has a thicker jacket and hence, are more structurally rugged. There is the theoretical and the practical worlds and occasionally they intersect (see my sig). Many people agonize over bullets coming apart as a function of RPM, myself included. However, I've never had that happen yet, for all the calibers that I reload for. Heaven knows the 185 XTPs are at a great price point. I'd say buy the smallest lot you can get your hands on or mooch a handful from a friend and give them a try.

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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby pitted bore » Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:30 am

Tennessee Dairyman wrote:Has anyone loaded any of these just for plinking? Or any other 185 Gr bullets?

Mr. Dairyman-
About five years ago I did some work with 185-grain bullets and reported it on this forum. At least part of the work may be interesting to you. I was attempting to make the bullets go as fast as possible, and since I was working with a bolt-action rifle I was not concerned with having to maintain reliable semi-auto function. So, some of the loads are above SAAMI pressure levels for the 450B cartridge and may be dangerous. Several lessons I learned will be applicable to any action type.
Soon after the 450B was introduced, shooters began to wonder how lighter bullers would work in the 450B. The problems these experimenters discovered still exist. A principal difficulty is getting powder ignited properly behind the light bullet. Because of this, loading 185-grain bullets should probably be attempted after successful experiences with bullets weighing less than 230 grains, for example various 225- and 200-grain weight bullets.

Here's a thread that may be usefully reviewed: Hornady 451 XTP 185 GR.

Should you decide to attempt loading 185-grain bullets, could you post about any problems you encounter, and how you solved (or didn't solve) them.

--Bob
Last edited by pitted bore on Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Tennessee Dairyman » Sun Jan 04, 2015 1:29 pm

Ok thanks guys! I think that tells me all I need to know about 185gr bullets, that's too much for a novice like me to get into! The only reason I asked is that I could get 100 Hornady xtp's for free since I bought the 450 die and also a local business has 185gr Hornady fmj cheap but guess I'll stick with the heavy bullets for now and just get some more 30 cals for the 308!

Thanks for the help, I just couldn't find the info I was looking for through the search.
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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Hoot » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:24 pm

Tennessee Dairyman wrote:Ok thanks guys! I think that tells me all I need to know about 185gr bullets, that's too much for a novice like me to get into! The only reason I asked is that I could get 100 Hornady xtp's for free since I bought the 450 die and also a local business has 185gr Hornady fmj cheap but guess I'll stick with the heavy bullets for now and just get some more 30 cals for the 308!

Thanks for the help, I just couldn't find the info I was looking for through the search.


I recall reading here a while back that Hornady would work with customers who were redeeming their free bullet offer, in allowing different bullets to be chosen, other than the default ones listed in the offer. Perhaps the person/people who made out that way will chime in. If you want to stretch your bullet budget get some 225gr FTX. They are affordable and fly very well in the 1:24 barrel. They run around 27 cents each from a couple of sources (not Midway).

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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Stealthshooter » Thu Jan 08, 2015 2:14 am

Call and they will work with you. They may make you pay a couple bucks for the price difference but it's still well worth it.
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Re: 185 Gr Hornady xtp

Postby Jim in Houston » Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:19 am

I participated in the Hornady offer a couple of years ago, when I started with the 450 BM. The 250 gr FTX were not on the list of bullets they would provide, but after a phone call, they sent them to me at an extra charge reflecting the differential in cost.

This year, I added to my reloading equipment so that I can do .30-06 rounds. I ordered them and the 185 gr .452 cal bullets, but then found out that these did not work well in the 450 BM. I emailed the contact on the offer, and they swapped out the .452 bullets for additional .30-06.

In other words, Hornady seems to be very accommodating on selecting alternate bullets or working with you on the offer.
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