# 10 pointer



## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

10 pointer shot at 98 yards today. 95 grains of BH 209 and 250 Barnes expander. Went through part of the near shoulder, the heart, and into far shoulder to the hide. Perfect bullet expansion. I watched him drop after a short run.


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## Rainbow Record (Jul 13, 2012)

Muddy said:


> 10 pointer shot at 98 yards today. 95 grains of BH 209 and 250 Barnes expander. Went through part of the near shoulder, the heart, and into far shoulder to the hide. Perfect explanation. I watched him drop after a short run.
> View attachment 252418
> View attachment 252417



Very Nice Congrats on the late season buck. Way to cold for me just getting over the flu with Pneumonia do not want to end up in the hospital


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## Saugernut (Apr 22, 2013)

Nice deer congrats


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## ya13ya03 (Sep 21, 2010)

Great buck. Congrats.


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## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

Congratulations.


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## fireline (Jun 14, 2007)

Nice buck, Barnes make a great bullet, how long were you out before you got him.


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

I was in a natural vegetation ground blind that I built back in November by 2:15. I shot him around 5. Thanks to OGF for the BH/Barnes info. I am really happy with this combo over shooting Pyrodex pellets and SST's. I saw deer all afternoon starting around 2:30.


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## Kenlow1 (Jul 14, 2012)

Muddy, Congrats on the late season harvest, I love muzzy season especially when snow on ground. Have been doing research on Barnes bullets and also on post by Lundy and am ready to change over to Barnes. Can you tell me what color sabot sleeve you used? I know the sabot sleeves are green, yellow and black and each one has to do with bullet constrictions. Just trying to narrow down before I go to range and sight in for next season. I was shooting the 250 gr Shockwave with yellow sleeve and had several deer travel further than what I thought with making a good shot. Thanks, Ken


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

Kenlow1 said:


> Muddy, Congrats on the late season harvest, I love muzzy season especially when snow on ground. Have been doing research on Barnes bullets and also on post by Lundy and am ready to change over to Barnes. Can you tell me what color sabot sleeve you used? I know the sabot sleeves are green, yellow and black and each one has to do with bullet constrictions. Just trying to narrow down before I go to range and sight in for next season. I was shooting the 250 gr Shockwave with yellow sleeve and had several deer travel further than what I thought with making a good shot. Thanks, Ken


Black Sabot.


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## catfish_1999 (Jan 17, 2016)

Congrats on a great late season deer!!!! I love the Barnes bullets too. I use the blue tipped sabots and tripple seven. But whatever you have confidence in is what ya stay with. No matter what ya shot that deer with,it is a great deer! Congrats again!!!!


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## Kenlow1 (Jul 14, 2012)

Thanks Muddy, gonna order some from Midway USA.


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

Nice buck congrats


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Nice! That's the way a bullet is supposed to act!


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

I measured the recovered bullet width today. It measured 1 and 1/16". I shot Barnes expanders in my slug gun for many years. I was only ever able to recover one slug that didn't blow through the deer, but that one slug performed perfectly as well. Barnes seems to make a reliable bullet.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Nice Buck, Congratulations!

You got the same old boring reliable bullet performance the Barnes Expanders deliver every time, no matter where you hit them.

Kenlow, if those end up being too tight in your barrel with the standard black sabot the comes with those you can order some HPH-24 sabots that are just slightly thinner for tight fitting barrels.


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Congratulations on a Nice buck for sure.
And yes, that bullet had picture perfect expansion doing exactly as it was designed to do.


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## FAB (May 26, 2013)

Thought for a minute there that you had killed my porch buddy. He comes every evening to eat left over squirrel and bird seed.


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## Harry1959 (Mar 17, 2011)

Nice deer congrats


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## Schatty (Jul 13, 2012)

I will have to try the Barnes Expander next year. I have a TC Impact 50 cal that I have been using for about 5 years. When I first bought the gun I tried sighting in with Powerbelt bullets and the Hornady XTP and the Hornady XTP shined on the range. I had 2-3" groups at 100 yards with the Hornady and was lucky to get 4" groups at 50 yards with the Powerbelt. 

Since I have bought the gun I have hunted muzzleloader season 4 of the past 5 years and I have been fortunate to take deer 2 of those years with my muzzleloader, this year being the 2nd of those years. I hunted Saturday evening in the brutal cold from 4 pm until 5:30. With about 10 minutes of shooting light left, I had 4 bucks come by and I took the biggest of the 4, not a giant but a nice 3 1/2 year old 6 point. The buck was only about 50 yards away when I shot him and after the shot it was really tough to see which way he went with the deer scattering in several different directions. I was very lucky that I heard loud brush cracking and knew that the buck had fallen within earshot. When I got down to track the deer, not a single drop of blood. I looked in circles for about 5 minutes and found not a single drop of blood (there was snow on the ground so blood would have been very easy to spot) before I got too cold to continue to look. I decided to go back home, warm up and get some help and on the way to my truck I nearly tripped over the buck as he fell yards from the trail that I walk in on. Upon further inspection, the shot was perfect. The XTP took out the lungs and heart and the only place that I could find blood was right where the deer fell.

After thinking back on the previous deer that I shot, a doe a few years back, a very similar scenario played out. My uncle and I were meeting up at a set time to head back to the truck and a group of does came running past and stopped about 25 yards away. I put the crosshairs right on the shoulder and took the shot. The deer all bolted off and out of sight. We found a little bit of hair at the spot where they were standing when I shot. We followed the tracks of the deer in the snow for about 100 yards before we started to see any signs of blood, a few drops that led us to the doe, a lung and liver hit. Where she fell there was lots of blood but again hardly before that. In both instances it did not appear that the bullet expanded. Both entry and exit holes in both were about the size of my pinky finger. 

As I recall my previous hunts with my TC, I am wondering if the lack of expansion cost me a really nice buck several years ago. I had a 100 yard shot at a really beautiful 8 point and when I shot it looked as though the deer was hit. 3 of us searched for hours and did not find blood or the buck and assumed that it was a clean miss. I still replay the shot in my mind and I don't know how I could have missed or mistook the reaction of the deer when I was sure it looked like he was hit well. Unfortunately in that instance there was no snow on the ground. 

I am wondering if anybody else has had these issues with the XTP or if these are isolated incidents. I use 2 50 grain powder pellets with my XTP. I am definitely going to switch for next year and will see how my TC responds to the Barnes Expanders. Thanks for the tip and congrats on a nice buck in harsh conditions.


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

Schatty said:


> I will have to try the Barnes Expander next year. I have a TC Impact 50 cal that I have been using for about 5 years. When I first bought the gun I tried sighting in with Powerbelt bullets and the Hornady XTP and the Hornady XTP shined on the range. I had 2-3" groups at 100 yards with the Hornady and was lucky to get 4" groups at 50 yards with the Powerbelt.
> 
> Since I have bought the gun I have hunted muzzleloader season 4 of the past 5 years and I have been fortunate to take deer 2 of those years with my muzzleloader, this year being the 2nd of those years. I hunted Saturday evening in the brutal cold from 4 pm until 5:30. With about 10 minutes of shooting light left, I had 4 bucks come by and I took the biggest of the 4, not a giant but a nice 3 1/2 year old 6 point. The buck was only about 50 yards away when I shot him and after the shot it was really tough to see which way he went with the deer scattering in several different directions. I was very lucky that I heard loud brush cracking and knew that the buck had fallen within earshot. When I got down to track the deer, not a single drop of blood. I looked in circles for about 5 minutes and found not a single drop of blood (there was snow on the ground so blood would have been very easy to spot) before I got too cold to continue to look. I decided to go back home, warm up and get some help and on the way to my truck I nearly tripped over the buck as he fell yards from the trail that I walk in on. Upon further inspection, the shot was perfect. The XTP took out the lungs and heart and the only place that I could find blood was right where the deer fell.
> 
> ...


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## halfrack (Oct 13, 2004)

Congrats on a nice buck. I use Barnes 250 gr TEZ blue sabot blue tip they load nice in my CVA accura with BH 209 100 gr by volume. The two does I shot at 50 and 70 yds we’re both double lung hits. They went about 10 yds fell over with awesome blood trail. Plus the bullets we’re both pass through


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## M R DUCKS (Feb 20, 2010)

My doe this year was a close 20 yards. I use the 300 grain XTP ! She ran about 35 yards, I don't think I have ever seen so much blood!...seriously,kind-of gruesome...upon field dressing, the bottom half of the heart was shredded....
As I posted before..different thread I think, I use to use the power belts and never lost a deer or had any go very far, but I rarely, if ever got a pass through. I switched to the XTP (good reviews) plus I hope that if/when I may need to track- that it will give me pass through performance.
My opinion/research/thoughts are that there are different powerbelts ( & other bullets) for different performance, powder loads, game, etc. also, bullets have an ideal range in which they perform the best. I am trying to take advantage of a bullet that has a wide range in which it performs as designed. My current choice claims to perform from about 850 fps to 1900 fps. *IF *I were to switch away from my current set up though...*IF*...I think I would go with the Barnes Expander also...a friend of my really likes them.


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## bare naked (May 1, 2015)

Schatty said:


> I will have to try the Barnes Expander next year. I have a TC Impact 50 cal that I have been using for about 5 years. When I first bought the gun I tried sighting in with Powerbelt bullets and the Hornady XTP and the Hornady XTP shined on the range. I had 2-3" groups at 100 yards with the Hornady and was lucky to get 4" groups at 50 yards with the Powerbelt.
> 
> Since I have bought the gun I have hunted muzzleloader season 4 of the past 5 years and I have been fortunate to take deer 2 of those years with my muzzleloader, this year being the 2nd of those years. I hunted Saturday evening in the brutal cold from 4 pm until 5:30. With about 10 minutes of shooting light left, I had 4 bucks come by and I took the biggest of the 4, not a giant but a nice 3 1/2 year old 6 point. The buck was only about 50 yards away when I shot him and after the shot it was really tough to see which way he went with the deer scattering in several different directions. I was very lucky that I heard loud brush cracking and knew that the buck had fallen within earshot. When I got down to track the deer, not a single drop of blood. I looked in circles for about 5 minutes and found not a single drop of blood (there was snow on the ground so blood would have been very easy to spot) before I got too cold to continue to look. I decided to go back home, warm up and get some help and on the way to my truck I nearly tripped over the buck as he fell yards from the trail that I walk in on. Upon further inspection, the shot was perfect. The XTP took out the lungs and heart and the only place that I could find blood was right where the deer fell.
> 
> ...


Have shot a dozen deer with the xtp & never had one go more than 30 yards.


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