Hey gents, new here and thought I'd start by saying there's a ton of awesome
Info on the forum. Really appreciate the trials and errors that have been shared for learning purposes.
Now onto my issue. I recently got into the 450BM game and am very impressed. I'm shooting the ruger American 16" barrel. I'm a handloader and have done countless hours of reading and research to find that perfect bullet for large whitetail and black bear. I know many of you may say just get one into the pump station and it doesn't matter what bullet you're using, and I agree to a point. My thought process is, I hunt in northern New York where deer are few and far between. But if the stars are alighted just right, when you do see a buck, its a beaut. I don't want that time to come and that deer standing at 150 yards and not shoot because he isn't broad side.
Not a real issue right? There's 10 bullets on the market that will achieve that goal! Well hang on.
Part two of my condundrum. I want to find a bullet that I can achieve max energy and is "flat shooting" in the world of 450BM.
So from my research Iv discovered a lot of the load data that is published is for AR style actions, which are not built to handle the pressures that a bolt gun can. So I don't think it'd be a dangerous venture to exceed max load data, in small increments checking for pressure signs of course.
Iv considered the Bonded Shock wave but didn't like the reviews on that. The 200gr XPB seems decent but I'm not thrilled with its 150 yard performance. I love how the FTX's group however I have had jacket separation on almost all of my test shots into wet news paper. My next attempt with be the Harvester Scorpion PT gold in 260gr.
So again, I understand I may be trying to accomplish the unaccompishable and at this point I'm just trying to get every bit of performance I can out of this awesome round. If anyone has any guidance or input or experience or has been on this same search any opinions would be appreciated!
Thanks guys!