Skip Sackett
US Veteran
I have been wanting to get some of the Hornady FTX bullets for quite a while now. I suppose I should have held out for the 215gr that were designed for the 44Mag but no one local has them in stock. The ones I ended up with are for the 444 Marlin, at least according to the Hornady website. I thought they would work in the 44Mag but had some trouble getting them to an usable OAL.
Here is a picture of the missles though, pretty impressive to look at anyway!
When I stuck them in my M629 Classic with 5" barrel I was shocked to have them so long that I couldn't close the cylinder! I started thinking about putting them in 44Spl brass and decided against it. I thought I would shorten the 44Mag case enough to get them to fit too, and decided against that as well. Here is a picture of them in the cylinder as that is pretty cool looking too!
I just gave up on them in the revolver and moved on to my Marlin 1894CS. They wouldn't feed in it! They would chamber if inserted single shot fashion but wouldn't feed from the tube! Well, I took them to the range and shot them single shot style and here are the results:
265gr Hornady FTX
19.8gr Lil' Gun
Wolf Magnum Large Pistol Primer
Federal Nickel Plated Cases with a firm crimp.
Low 1609fps
High 1624fps
Avg 1618fps
ES 15fps
SD 8.39fps
Not too bad by the numbers. Accuracy was acceptable @ 50 yards but a little low and to the left. I didn't want to change the scope as it is set up for the next loads perfectly.
Those loads consist of a 240gr jacketed bullet in 2 different different configurations. One was the Remington JSP and the other a Hornady XTP. Both sitting on top of a maximum load of 24.5gr of Lil' Gun ignited by a Wolf Magnum Large Pistol Primer.
The results were quite good along with the accuracy. While neither the rifle nor the shooter are of the "bench rest" quality, hitting a clay pigeon on the bank at 100 yards every time did seem to be impressive to the wife. She even shot it and hit one!
(That's my girl!)
These loads are going to be my hog round in the future. I have several friends that have taken deer with the JSP bullet. Another guy thinks it is the most effective ground hog round ever developed! He even has a hole in his shed where he shot through one of those buggers just the other day!
At any rate, here are the chronograph results:
240gr JSP
Low 1814fps
High 1864fps
Avg 1840fps
ES 49fps
SD 25fps
240gr XTP
Low 1785fps
High 1852fps
Avg 1812fps
ES 66fps
SD 35fps
Now, like I said, the wife shot this load and hit what she was aiming at. She only shot it once, but she shot it none the less. I sighted it in at 50 yards simply because that is the distance that most deer are taken in our area. It hit right on at 100 yards too but I think it may have crossed the line of sight at that point. Just a guess though.
The clay pigeons didn't like them too well. I just have one question. How do you fix those pigeons, anyway?
Here is a picture of the missles though, pretty impressive to look at anyway!
When I stuck them in my M629 Classic with 5" barrel I was shocked to have them so long that I couldn't close the cylinder! I started thinking about putting them in 44Spl brass and decided against it. I thought I would shorten the 44Mag case enough to get them to fit too, and decided against that as well. Here is a picture of them in the cylinder as that is pretty cool looking too!
I just gave up on them in the revolver and moved on to my Marlin 1894CS. They wouldn't feed in it! They would chamber if inserted single shot fashion but wouldn't feed from the tube! Well, I took them to the range and shot them single shot style and here are the results:
265gr Hornady FTX
19.8gr Lil' Gun
Wolf Magnum Large Pistol Primer
Federal Nickel Plated Cases with a firm crimp.
Low 1609fps
High 1624fps
Avg 1618fps
ES 15fps
SD 8.39fps
Not too bad by the numbers. Accuracy was acceptable @ 50 yards but a little low and to the left. I didn't want to change the scope as it is set up for the next loads perfectly.
Those loads consist of a 240gr jacketed bullet in 2 different different configurations. One was the Remington JSP and the other a Hornady XTP. Both sitting on top of a maximum load of 24.5gr of Lil' Gun ignited by a Wolf Magnum Large Pistol Primer.
The results were quite good along with the accuracy. While neither the rifle nor the shooter are of the "bench rest" quality, hitting a clay pigeon on the bank at 100 yards every time did seem to be impressive to the wife. She even shot it and hit one!
(That's my girl!)These loads are going to be my hog round in the future. I have several friends that have taken deer with the JSP bullet. Another guy thinks it is the most effective ground hog round ever developed! He even has a hole in his shed where he shot through one of those buggers just the other day!
At any rate, here are the chronograph results:
240gr JSP
Low 1814fps
High 1864fps
Avg 1840fps
ES 49fps
SD 25fps
240gr XTP
Low 1785fps
High 1852fps
Avg 1812fps
ES 66fps
SD 35fps
Now, like I said, the wife shot this load and hit what she was aiming at. She only shot it once, but she shot it none the less. I sighted it in at 50 yards simply because that is the distance that most deer are taken in our area. It hit right on at 100 yards too but I think it may have crossed the line of sight at that point. Just a guess though.
The clay pigeons didn't like them too well. I just have one question. How do you fix those pigeons, anyway?
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