450Bushmaster.net

I found these Hornady Monoflex solid copper projectiles on a web search, and I'm wondering if any of our resident hand loaders have run across them. Hornady offers them in two setups. The first is their LeveRevolution rifle projectiles in that come in .458 among other sizes. The second setup, and only offering in .452, is the muzzleloading sabot. I'm wondering why they don't offer the LeveRevolution setup in a factory-produced cartridge for those who want an option when hunting tougher game with our Thumpers. They claim these will hold 95% weight retention. It's becoming clear Remington is likely never going to actually produce their Hog Hammer ammo in 450 BM, so since Hornady now apparently offers a copper solid projectile, why wouldn't they make that in a factory round for the 450 BM?

Anyway, have any of you seen these or had a chance to work with them?

Here is the link to the LeveRevolution projectiles:

http://www.hornady.com/store/MonoFlex-Bullets

Here is the link to the muzzleloading sabot:

http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-Sabot-Low-Drag-with-45-Cal-250-MFX-Bullet/

When I had my 300 WSSM/OSSM AR15, I tried two variations of them in the weight range I was interested in. They did not shoot well in terms of accuracy, but many bullet weights and brands did not shoot that well in that platform. That's why I used to have it. No point in having a rifle that can shoot out to 500 yds ala 300 Win Mag but could not even make MOA accuracy, but I digress.

The Monoflex bullets while not satisfying my particular application, appeared to be well made. In a different caliber and load, they probably shoot lights-out.

Hoot

Palmetto State Armory actually shows to have the sabots in stock.

Not in a 450B yet, but I have shot that Hornady 250gr ML and the Barnes 250gr TEZ ML bullet from my MGM 460 S&W Encore rifle. Groups just shy of 1 1/2" but I only had 4227 to work with at the time and it's never been my go to powder for best accuracy. Either should be a great performer on any critter.

Dunno about sizing down those .458's, I've done plenty of lead cores without much effort, but never tackled a solid.

What would make this bullet preferable to the 250 gr FTX? Better penetration or what?

The HITS value, which Hornady uses to class their bullets according to small, medium, large, or dangerous game applications is slightly lower for the Monoflex than for the FTX.

Jim in Houston wrote:What would make this bullet preferable to the 250 gr FTX? Better penetration or what?

The HITS value, which Hornady uses to class their bullets according to small, medium, large, or dangerous game applications is slightly lower for the Monoflex than for the FTX.

A couple of years ago, I got tired of spitting out bits of lead from my ground venison chili. It made me think about how many pieces I didn't catch and spit out. Now it's all copper bullets for deer hunting. Aside from that, the water shots I've done with all copper hollow points, had a much greater symmetry of expansion than lead core, copper jacketed bullets. Probably only matters in pictures, given the caliber. Might help with a poorly placed shot though. I'm surprised about the HITS values though. Might relate to the fact that lead cored bullets have more weight per unit volume than all copper.

Hoot

Jim in Houston wrote:What would make this bullet preferable to the 250 gr FTX? Better penetration or what?

The HITS value, which Hornady uses to class their bullets according to small, medium, large, or dangerous game applications is slightly lower for the Monoflex than for the FTX.

Jim-
Do you recall where you found the HITS values for the .452 250-grain Monoflex and FTX bullets?

I'm curious because I'm trying to understand the logic behind calculation of HITS values. The calculator inputs are velocity at impact, bullet weight, and bullet diameter. The ballistic coefficients of the two bullets are the same, according to Hornady, so if the muzzle velocities are equal then the impact velocities of the bullets should be equal. The bullets have the same weight and same diameter, which should make the calculated HITS values identical.

Thanks for any references or hints from your recollection.
--Bob

Just received 60 Mono s from PSA today. Can"t wait to try em. They are about .1 inch longer than 250 FTXs so I will have to start over developing load due to the extra bearing surface and maybe the hardness. They sure look high quality. What I've come to expect from Hornady. Due to a health issue it may take me a while to load 'em. Will post my results then.

Al in Mi wrote:Not in a 450B yet, but I have shot that Hornady 250gr ML and the Barnes 250gr TEZ ML bullet from my MGM 460 S&W Encore rifle. Groups just shy of 1 1/2" but I only had 4227 to work with at the time and it's never been my go to powder for best accuracy. Either should be a great performer on any critter.

Dunno about sizing down those .458's, I've done plenty of lead cores without much effort, but never tackled a solid.

I have had no issue with solids. In fact they are simple. Swaging them usually simply puts a shine where there wasn't one.

pitted bore wrote:

Jim in Houston wrote:What would make this bullet preferable to the 250 gr FTX? Better penetration or what?

The HITS value, which Hornady uses to class their bullets according to small, medium, large, or dangerous game applications is slightly lower for the Monoflex than for the FTX.

Jim-
Do you recall where you found the HITS values for the .452 250-grain Monoflex and FTX bullets?

I'm curious because I'm trying to understand the logic behind calculation of HITS values. The calculator inputs are velocity at impact, bullet weight, and bullet diameter. The ballistic coefficients of the two bullets are the same, according to Hornady, so if the muzzle velocities are equal then the impact velocities of the bullets should be equal. The bullets have the same weight and same diameter, which should make the calculated HITS values identical.

Thanks for any references or hints from your recollection.
--Bob

The difference would be in the velocity at impact at 100 yards. I used the ballistics data from the Hornady website to get these values. Why they should have different impact velocities at 100 yards, I don't know. At any rate, they both fall in the in the upper range of the medium sized game category, so suitability for a particular deer (for example) should be about the same.