FTX Bullets Comparison

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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Cutright » Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:44 pm

I am new to this group. Thank you very much for this article. I have recently shot two deer at about 50 yards with the Hornady 250 factory rounds. Both hit the spine and both broke apart badly. I was thinking of reloading Barnes to see if they hold together better
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby mauser323 » Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:00 pm

This my first time on this site and I must say the work done by Hoot on the FTX Bullets is over and above , GREAT JOB, bud
My love affair with rifles started at the age of 4 yrs. old and still provides thrills today at the age of 63. My pet rifles are built on military Mausers, the first was a model 98 chambered for the 8mm built in 1917 and now that I hunt southern Michigan I have decided to have that great old battle rifle re chambered into the 450 Bushmaster. I am going to keep the military step barrel and have it re-bored from the .323 dia. into the .452 dia. I have a local gunsmith working with me on this I'll keep you all posted on the build. Thank you to whoever started this site. Mauser323
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Cutright » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:37 pm

My son just shot another deer with the 250gr factory FTX around in a bean field at 150 yds. Some beans were hit before entering the deer and the bullet went in right behind the shoulder. The entry hole is large, but only a small piece went into the chest cavity. While it doesn't seem fair complaining about bullet performance on a dead deer, this seems odd to me. That is three deer with this bullet where the bullet did not perform well. I think I am switching to Barnes 200 gr. It is not quite as accurate as the FTX's, but I think it'll work better once it hits. The other deer were shot at around 50yds. so I just assumed that it had too much energy for that bullet
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Al in Mi » Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:50 am

Cutright wrote:My son just shot another deer with the 250gr factory FTX around in a bean field at 150 yds. Some beans were hit before entering the deer and the bullet went in right behind the shoulder. The entry hole is large, but only a small piece went into the chest cavity. While it doesn't seem fair complaining about bullet performance on a dead deer, this seems odd to me. That is three deer with this bullet where the bullet did not perform well. I think I am switching to Barnes 200 gr. It is not quite as accurate as the FTX's, but I think it'll work better once it hits. The other deer were shot at around 50yds. so I just assumed that it had too much energy for that bullet



Im not a FTX fan on hair either, but if you want, try the blue tipped bonded Shockwaves from TC. Midway will have them as blems from time to time a good bit cheaper. They fly the same for me as the FTX and have shot a few deer with them in MLs at the same speeds as the 450B with complete pass thrus.

also, hard to beat that 200gr Barnes too.
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Cutright » Mon Sep 19, 2016 4:30 am

Thanks Al. I have the Midway blems and have been using them for targets. The 250gr seem to shoot a little better in my gun than the 200s so I'll give them a try
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby mwalters » Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:28 pm

There is official loading data in the Lyman book now for both the 250 FTX and the 225 FTX. Here is the 225:

2.122" OAL
BC:140
SD: 157

Powder Starting gr. Vel. Max gr. Vel.
Acc #9 31.0 1964 34.0 2210
4100 34.0 2016 39.5 2261
Enforcer 37.0 1989 40.5 2323
Lil' Gun 38.0 2154 41.0 2249
H110 38.0 2008 41.2 2249
IMR-4227 38.5 2054 42.0 2261
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Camp Cook » Sat Jan 27, 2018 8:58 am

Excellent post and info thank you for this work.

I just received my Ruger American in 450BM this week was sitting down last night to put together my first loads.

I have all three 200gr (100 count) - 225gr (400 count) -250gr FTX (200 count) on the shelf so this info is perfect.
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Hoot » Sat Jan 27, 2018 9:09 pm

Camp Cook wrote:Excellent post and info thank you for this work.

I just received my Ruger American in 450BM this week was sitting down last night to put together my first loads.

I have all three 200gr (100 count) - 225gr (400 count) -250gr FTX (200 count) on the shelf so this info is perfect.


Lots fun time sitting there! I highly recommend Lil Gun powder to cover all three. H110/W296 are also good though they favor the 250 grainers.
WRT primers, the Rem 7 1/2 are my favorite, with Winchester WSR a close second. I've never A/B'd them against CCI primers, so I can't say how the CCI compare. When I find a winner, I stick with it. My wife says I'm a boring diner date. ;)

Make sure you give us a range report or two. We never tire of them.

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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Camp Cook » Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:42 am

I finally loaded up some 225gr FTX - 240gr XTP-Mags & 300gr XTP-Mags last night with Win SR primers but I have about 2000 7.5 primers I'll try next I used LilGun for the 225 & 240's and used AA1680 for the 300's.

I am now using a LabRadar Doppler radar chrony so will definitely get some velocities posted when I get out to the range.

What I'm needing is some recommendations for 355gr - 405gr - 535gr WLNGC's cast bullet loads.

My eyes are having issues with not seeing iron sights clearly anymore a scoped Ruger American 450 BM loaded with these heavier bullets is actually why I purchased this rifle/cartridge combo.
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Re: FTX Bullets Comparison

Postby Hoot » Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:48 am

Camp Cook wrote:I finally loaded up some 225gr FTX - 240gr XTP-Mags & 300gr XTP-Mags last night with Win SR primers but I have about 2000 7.5 primers I'll try next I used LilGun for the 225 & 240's and used AA1680 for the 300's.

I am now using a LabRadar Doppler radar chrony so will definitely get some velocities posted when I get out to the range.

What I'm needing is some recommendations for 355gr - 405gr - 535gr WLNGC's cast bullet loads.

My eyes are having issues with not seeing iron sights clearly anymore a scoped Ruger American 450 BM loaded with these heavier bullets is actually why I purchased this rifle/cartridge combo.


I too got a LabRadar unit. The rife range at the gun club consists of an 8 position concrete slab, with 8 rock of Gibraltar concrete T shaped tables, with a nice shingled roof over top that has a plywood ceiling 7 ft above the slab and boy is it loud under there!!! The LabRadar is very fussy when shooting my rifles with muzzle brakes on them. I waste a lot of shots just getting it to a happy place. Once there, its pretty cool, but it a PITA for how much it cost. My trusty, $100 Chrony was much less of a hassle other than when the sun was in a certain angle at a certain time of day. That rifle range is the only one I use. We worked hard getting it fixed up real nice over the course of my first three years as Coordinator for it. So, I'm not switching ranges. That would be heretical, not to mention inconvenient since I live only 8 minutes away. If it wasn't where it is, I would probably not be here typing this. I called LabRadar and they were of no help, talking to me like I was some idiot. I've worked in Electronics Engineering (including microwave) for just shy of 40 years and I don't cater to CSR's who don't know what they're talking about. I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, using my LabRadar introduces an unnecessary source of frustration at the range, but I'm too stubborn to walk away from it, given the cost.

Sorry to say, I have zero experience with cast boolits, or 450b projectiles above 325gr. The frontal area of a 200 grainer is just as large as a 325 and there are no bison around here, so I prefer to play with faster, lighter bullets myself. Lastly, even when my eyes were at the top of their game, I still preferred scoped rifles. Most of what I hunted had better eyesight than me, so scopes level the playing field. ;)

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