The Elite 45 continues to amaze me

[GM54-120]

Man can this gun shoot, and not just a few bullets. it seems to handle just about anything. I even got the big .401-260s to settle down with Harvester CrushRibs. Clover leafing the Hornady Great Plains 285gr is priceless. The only one i cant get sub MOA is the PR QT 250gr but they sure cut nice holes.

6 Hornady 180gr XTPs and just 90gr.

200gr SST, these usually tighten up with 100grs

200gr SST with 100gr and it put 2 in one hole. Cool down times vary due to cease fires.

My Meister .401 260gr cast RNFP

Barnes 175gr MZ

PowerBelt Plat 45 300gr with 100gr of BH209 loading them as fast as i could safely. :yeah:

The guy at PR was right, the Ultimate 45 360gr conical is a tack driver.

Even the Great Plains 285gr HBHP has very little room for improvement.

The only disappointment was the Lehigh 185 DOA which usually is much better. I used the MMP tan and 110gr of BH209. This one is usually much better using the Harvester Smooth but i didnt have time to tailor the load to the MMP sabot.

And no that is not a misprint. Most of those shots were with WinT7s, over 30 actually and perfect ignition. This is with ZERO cleaning of any kind while at the range, not even a nipple pic. :yeah:

A few more pics here http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e151/ ... nge050810/

I love this gun.

 

[johnpb]

Thats some awesome shooting. If I can get my Accura to come close I'll be tickled. I can see right now I've got to find some way to get me some of that BH209!

 

[GM54-120]

Thats some awesome shooting. If I can get my Accura to come close I'll be tickled. I can see right now I've got to find some way to get me some of that BH209!

It sure can. Mine will and with some bullets its slightly better with milder charges. It may not with conicals with the false muzzle but....

Do you have a Accura 45 also or am i still the only one on the board?

Mine loves the 200gr SST and just 90grs or the Lehighs and 100gr. It shoots the long for caliber bullets a tiny bit better IF you are using less powder.

The Elite starts to pull ahead with the hotter charges but the Acurra is no slouch and shoots cleaner than many guns.

 

[johnpb]

No mines a .50. My first muzzleloader I bought was a .45 Traditions and where I live its just hard to get anything to shoot in a .45 unless you order it. Thats Ok but theres times that you need something right away and you end up doing without. I still shoot it but my grandson has kind of adopted it for right now.

 

[rogo]

BH209

John

Read your private messages. I sent you a place and number in NC that has everything you need for your ML. I believe he has .45 cal stuff too.

Rogo

 

[rt_con]

GM54-120 WOW.. what a day with the .45 Elite !

Think the 180 XTP's will work for deer ? I sure do. I just put them on my short list to try.

Have decided the .45 Elite with the Lehigh b/p will be my deer rifle this year. Don't know if I trust those T7 primers with BH209 in the cold weather... will probably stay with the W209's or Fed 209A's.

Thanks for posting ! 8)

 

[GM54-120]

Have decided the .45 Elite with the Lehigh b/p will be my deer rifle this year. Don't know if I trust those T7 primers with BH209 in the cold weather... will probably stay with the W209's or Fed 209A's.

I wont either but since i know in 50-60F weather they are 100% then a Win209 should do nicely in lower temps.

Im sure a 180gr XTP will kill a deer with good shot placement but i would prefer a GoldDot if i can find them or a 200gr XTP/SST.

Next year i will probably use one of the Ultimate conicals or the PB Plat 300gr unless im scoping a large field.

 

[hawki]

I have had 180 grain XTP s fail on deer(no exit, fragmented) when pushed with 120 grains of t7. I don't know what the velocity of that load was but it was too fast for the XTP.If you keep the charge where you have it you should be within that bullets performance envelpoe.

 

[jsteurrys]

What yardage were those targets shot at? I did not see it posted.

 

[saxman1]

Great shooting
45's ROCK!!!!!!!!!

 

[GM54-120]

What yardage were those targets shot at? I did not see it posted.

100 yards on a sled with no weight. By the time i got there the 50 was packed with the bang bang bang guys. I ended up leaving after a bit and heading up to private area i use in Silex. Wind was a PITA there also most of the day and i had many groups far worse.

These were the best groups during the least amount of wind and most consistent barrel cool down time unless i was trying to load fast. Cease fires ruined a couple of very nice groups due to large variations in cool down time.

This one is all me though supporting the Elite. No rest or sand bags ect. Using a 2x7x40 scope on 7 power.

This is my real trophy since it shows what i can do from a typical hunting rest position. It was also one of the last and fatigue/hunger were starting to take their toll.

 

[jsteurrys]

Those are some excellent groups for 100 yards and in the conditions you described. I can not wait to get my DISC Elite .45 out for the 1st time.

 

[GM54-120]

Those are some excellent groups for 100 yards and in the conditions you described. I can not wait to get my DISC Elite .45 out for the 1st time.

The big conicals and even the GP 285gr really bucked the wind well. The Ultimate was quite low but nearly perfect windage. When i switched locations most of the wind was at my back. Most of the targets show sighs of a left to right wind.

I didnt have many Lehighs with me and i didnt want to waste any more under yesterdays conditions but i really want to try upto 100gr with that Ultimate 45 360gr and see how it does.

It was bad enough that i didnt even shoot the Acurra 45 in a head to head. I only readjusted the scope (sight in w/200grSSTs) since the target knobs were moved by the gun sock. It was shooting really far to the right. I shot it just enough to get the 200gr SST where i like them at roughly 2-3" high at 100yard.

It took most of the day to get those good groups but it was worth the effort. I wont get to finish up today, im going to see my stepmother (i really dont like that term) and father then do some laundry.

Have a great Mothers day

Scott

 

[GM54-120]

Great shooting
45's ROCK!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Sax, those Barnes/Knight 175s you sent are deadly. Sub MOA without much effort and recoil is very mild. I had never tried them before but now i will watch for them on sale.

 

[GM54-120]

I have had 180 grain XTP s fail on deer(no exit, fragmented) when pushed with 120 grains of t7. I don't know what the velocity of that load was but it was too fast for the XTP.If you keep the charge where you have it you should be within that bullets performance envelpoe.

Thats one of the reasons i didnt push them as hard, plus with just 90gr they have similar trajectory (out to 100yards) as other heavier 40s i shoot with more powder.

I strongly prefer 200gr or larger 40s and most shoot very well for me including the big resized 260s. The 220gr plated are awesome, to bad i cant find one in a hollow point other than Hawks bullets.

Its more of a practice bullet for me but by the time that 90gr load is at 100 yards it might be within its design envelope. The 200gr XTP is actually designed for lower fps expansion.

 

[sabotloader]

GM54-120

You already know that I shoot the Speer 40/180 Gold Dot as a sub for the Lehigh 40/200 which will be my hunting bullet. The GD and Lehigh fly almost identical to 100, after that the GD's come down faster than the Lehigh's.

But I would also add there would be no hesitation on my part to shoot the 180 GD's at any Idaho deer. Those bonded GD's (now Deep Curls) are great bullets...

What did you find about the 'home defense' 250 and the GD 250???

This is a picture of a 250 cut open with a hack saw.... you can see the 'DOT' in the lead on the left hand picture (i did not get right down the center).... Cut one of your 'Home Defense' and see what you might find..

 

[GM54-120]

GM54-120

You already know that I shoot the Speer 40/180 Gold Dot as a sub for the Lehigh 40/200 which will be my hunting bullet. The GD and Lehigh fly almost identical to 100, after that the GD's come down faster than the Lehigh's.

But I would also add there would be no hesitation on my part to shoot the 180 GD's at any Idaho deer. Those bonded GD's (now Deep Curls) are great bullets...

What did you find about the 'home defense' 250 and the GD 250???

This is a picture of a 250 cut open with a hack saw.... you can see the 'DOT' in the lead on the left hand picture (i did not get right down the center).... Cut one of your 'Home Defense' and see what you might find..

I found out i was wrong, they were both the GoldDots Hunting series but the hollow point appears to be much deeper than your cutaway pic. Mine are labeled 45 Colt too.

The model# on mine is #4484 and the cavity mics to roughly .365+ in depth. That is far past the cannelure. OAL is roughly .700

Im still looking to replace most of my SST/FTX/XTP favorites with GoldDots. I wasnt sure before but IMO the GoldDot is far superior on game over a wider fps range. I do like the 40 200SST though but its being replaced with the Lehighs since the Lehigh is about the same price. They dont offer a 40cal SST in bulk so...

Locally the only 40 GoldDots i can find are the 165gr. I tried my MG 165gr HPs a little yesterday but couldnt get a good group. Too much wind and too light to "buck it" i guess.

I fixed my minor vertical stringing issue i had. The front scope ring wasnt quite tight enough on the base.

Next time out im going to rinse and repeat with the loads that excelled but with the Lehigh vent liner. Yesterday was more about "what if" WinT7s can be reliable with the Lehigh NFPJ. I got the bonus of yes and they are very accurate too. Ive noticed in several of your posts the WinT7s also showed a lower fps deviation even with BH209, so i was curious and had to try it out.

It will be interesting to see if swapping only the vent liners makes any differences. The PR liner is only .001 larger and flat. I shot all day and never had to clean anything for the Lehigh NFPJ to function great. It needed some cleaning but its WAY cleaner than the Knight FPJ in the same gun and ignition is perfect everytime. :yeah:

 

[sabotloader]

GM54-120

I found out i was wrong, they were both the GoldDots Hunting series but the hollow point appears to be much deeper than your cutaway pic. Mine are labeled 45 Colt too.

That is because I am wrong the bullet cut in the picture was a .452/300 grain - it has the shallow HP, where as the colts have the deep HP.

 

[GM54-120]

OK now im not confused.

I do like these 250s though, i just wouldnt drive them as hard unless i knew my shots were going to be a bit long. They mushroom like mad with just 90grs and shoot great.

Penetration and weight retention were probably still plenty for deer. Quartering shots might need some care but....

IMO mine are a great bullet for a youth type load or just a mild brush load.

I still want some DeepCurls but almost everyone is out of stock in the sizes i want. I really want to try some of the new 475-275gr DeepCurls.

Until then i will just have to play with the box of Lehigh 185s i ordered.

 

[santoslhalper]

WOW! That is some great shooting! I'm glad there's other guys out there shooting .45's - we're kind of in the minority most of the time.

I'd give a +1 on not pushing the 180 XTP's too fast. I've used the 200 XTP exclusively for deer for the past 4 years, but I am looking to switch to another bullet because it can't quite handle high velocity impacts. I've recovered every deer I've shot with them, but the ones hit at close range I've had over-expansion/fragmentation issues.(I'm shooting them at 2,100 fps) It performs awesome with 70 - 80 grains of powder, but at higher charges it gets iffy on close range shots.

I'm interested in picking up some 185 Lehighs, I just hope that they shoot good in my rifle. I've shot 1 deer with the 200 SST, and it did okay - but again, it was a close range shot and there was some fragmentation.

Keep up the good work!