by Jeff Michel » Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:16 pm
Took three deer this year with the 225 FTX all at one hundred yards or less and none penetrated completely. Two small does and a fairly large buck. all three bullets were fragmented, two bullets that I weighted were 97 grains and 131 grains respectively. One of the does received a shoulder shot that resulted in a fist sized crater about an inch deep. only fragments were found embedded in the lobe of the lung. A companion utilized the 250 FTX in a 460 S&W loaded well below 450 factory performance and he dropped five deer with five shots with complete pass through with the exception of one that he shot at 295 yard (laser) struck in the left rear ham and traversing the entire length of the deer and recovered just under the skin adjacent to the base of the neck. I will not use the 225's for deer again, it did kill them, but I was not pleased with the performance. FWIW, I also took two large does with my 1894 Marlin in 45 Colt, 280 grain WFN and an over book load of 2400. Both dropped where they stood and both bullets passed completely. I don't think you can compare the two other than in diameter of the bullet but I think it might be illustrative of how they compared against the 225 FTX