Bullet Performance Database

[Shootist43]

This 400 Gr Swift A frame was fired out of a 404 Jeffery at 2300 FPS. The Eland was hit slightly above the shoulder on the right side. The bullet was recovered just under the skin on the left side.
The shot was taken at approximately 80 yards. Retained weight was 391.6 Gr. I didn't request an autopsy or other report on what the bullet went through. The animal attempted to take a step backward but before he could do so, collapsed in his tracks never to move again.

 

[meigsbucks]

Ridge walker: If anything the eland bullet had the toughest route. The hartebeest was the lightest animal of these three and yet it lost the most weight. You've got me. The bullets didn't get mixed up as they were numbered and put in separate bags.
As a side note, the gemsbok I shot at 90 yards, the bullet blew through both shoulders and exited.

 

[Von S.]

Great thread..

 

[Tommy Teas]

Just back from my first hunt in Africa, this one for Plains Game. Hunting with HGR2 and his bride. Of a Sable, Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Eland and Mountain Reedbuck taken; these 3 were the only bullets recovered.

The 2 on the left are 225 grain Barnes TTSX, launched at 2,750FPS from a 338 WM. The first struck the point of the shoulder of a zebra quartering toward me, breaking the shoulder and stopping under the hide behind the diaphram on the off side. I figure it lost 3 petals while smashing the shoulder. The Zebra staggered about 25 yards before collapsing.

The second hit a few inches high and behind the shoulder of a broadside Sable. It was found under the skin of the opposite side. The Sabel stumbled about 50 yards before stopping, and I stuck another round through the boiler house.

The third bullet is a 285 grain Barnes TSX, which load I had worked up in case I decided to go after something bigger. We were after Eland, and I had the 285s loaded, when the Blue Wildebeest popped up. The round hit the on-side shoulder as he was quartering toward me, and came to rest against the pelvis on the other side of the midline. Apparently, the launch velocity of 2,300FPS was insufficient to cause expansion. It should be noted, however, that the animal dropped in his tracks, DRT. To be fair, I'm sure this bullet was developed with the 338 Lapua in mind, so I'm not too dissapointed that it acted as a solid, and did not expand at 338WM velocity.

As mentioned , the Wildebeest dropped in his tracks. So, unaware that it had failed to expand,I continued to stalk Eland with the 285s; taking a nice bull with that round later in the day. No bullets were recovered from the Eland. I guess that a 285 grain 338 "solid" is not that bad of a hunting bullet. <G>

TT

 

[AfricanEclipse]

Nice write-up @Tommy Teas !

The 225 gn bullets performed very well!
I would think that 2300 fps MV of the 285 gn TSX probably was not enough to initiate expansion. Perhaps it didn't hit anything solid enough?

Again - Good report!

 

[MechaDriver]

3 of the 4 peregrine 300 grain vrg3 .375 H&H bullets from my cape buff.

 

[Von S.]

It most assuridly is tough to argue with success.

But where one guy shoots a cape and makes him immediately as dead as Julius Caesar the next guy using the same round appears to him the same size animal and it takes 5 more shots to take the starch out of his legs.

Just another one of life's grand mysteries.....like where the hell did my other sock go!

 

[Hogpatrol]

It most assuridly is tough to argue with success.

But where one guy shoots a cape and makes him immediately as dead as Julius Caesar the next guy using the same round appears to him the same size animal and it takes 5 more shots to take the starch out of his legs.

Just another one of life's grand mysteries.....like where the hell did my other sock go!

No expert on other animals but in my deer hunting experience, the older animals give it up quickly, even with bad hits. The young ones will be functionally dead and still try and run in to the next county.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Dr Kevin Robertson wrote about heart shots in his books. He stated I f the heart is full of blood, it tends to explode making an almost immediate kill. But if it has just pumped the blood to the muscles and brain it will take much longer for the animal to die.
I found this very interesting.

 

[Von S.]

No expert on other animals but in my deer hunting experience, the older animals give it up quickly, even with bad hits. The young ones will be functionally dead and still try and run in to the next county.

I believe that you are more of an expert than you let on.

Many is the person who would scoff at the bullets that you use for deer because there is quite a possibility that those flying hand grenades that you use might not blast a hole out the other side of the chest and that gives many a detractor enough ammo to say they are no good and try to convince others of the same. Of course they never mention that when the animal is shot where it should be it turns the internal organs that keep it alive into a pile of goo and that makes them dead really quick.

I use Nosler Ballistic tips myself and when hit right things take face plants.

 

[Graham Hunter]

I believe that you are more of an expert than you let on.

Many is the person who would scoff at the bullets that you use for deer because there is quite a possibility that those flying hand grenades that you use might not blast a hole out the other side of the chest and that gives many a detractor enough ammo to say they are no good and try to convince others of the same. Of course they never mention that when the animal is shot where it should be it turns the internal organs that keep it alive into a pile of goo and that makes them dead really quick.

I use Nosler Ballistic tips myself and when hit right things take face plants.

When the Ballistic tips 1st came out they gave terrible performance on anything larger that a South Texas Deer or Antelope. We had some hunters who had shot the little South Texas Deer at 100yds from a blind with their 300 Mag. Swore they were devastating. Well duh!! But our Alberta Deer are considerably bigger with lots of hair. In one season we followed more wounded Deer than we had in the previous 19 seasons combined. BT's were blowing up and no penetration. They were banned from Deer Camp after that. Nosler has since redesigned the BT to be more effective for Big Game. But they are still quite fragile. So why not use a bullet that will still give you a god chance of recovery if you don't make that perfect lethal 1st shot?

 

[Von S.]

Graham,

The BT and a 300 mag anything don't really go together to shoot unless it is 300 yards + away.

I have shot moose, back bear, and deer out the wazoo with a 30-06 with ,180 grain BT's and never had anything ever run away.

You mention " if you don't make that perfect lethal first shot"...

Hummmm... I have waited and have passed up many a shot that a friend or a guide has shook their head in disbelief that I didn't take it. My response has always been that I pull the trigger when I see fit and not until then and so far it has worked out swimmingly.

If someone makes a bad shot with a solid it zips through and adios whatever, but I have seen bad liver shot deer fall over pretty quick from a BT because the shrapnel not only blew the liver up by did damage elsewhere as well.

Do I always us BTs? No! They aren't for everything, but then again is the 30-06 either. I machine my own bullets for 375 and above and the damage they inflict is devastating and are built species specific.

My true desire when I go hunting is to make 1 shot kills and for the most part I fire more shots practicing each year than most people might in a lifetime and once my rifle is sighted in the only thing I use a bench for is a place to put my gear. The bench is over used by people as a warm up to do a month before they go out and miss a 100 offhand shot and blame everything but themselves .

Good luck

 

[Graham Hunter]

Graham,

The BT and a 300 mag anything don't really go together to shoot unless it is 300 yards + away.

I have shot moose, back bear, and deer out the wazoo with a 30-06 with ,180 grain BT's and never had anything ever run away.

You mention " if you don't make that perfect lethal first shot"...

Hummmm... I have waited and have passed up many a shot that a friend or a guide has shook their head in disbelief that I didn't take it. My response has always been that I pull the trigger when I see fit and not until then and so far it has worked out swimmingly.

If someone makes a bad shot with a solid it zips through and adios whatever, but I have seen bad liver shot deer fall over pretty quick from a BT because the shrapnel not only blew the liver up by did damage elsewhere as well.

Do I always us BTs? No! They aren't for everything, but then again is the 30-06 either. I machine my own bullets for 375 and above and the damage they inflict is devastating and are built species specific.

My true desire when I go hunting is to make 1 shot kills and for the most part I fire more shots practicing each year than most people might in a lifetime and once my rifle is sighted in the only thing I use a bench for is a place to put my gear. The bench is over used by people as a warm up to do a month before they go out and miss a 100 offhand shot and blame everything but themselves .

Good luck

Oh and if only the several million other hunters who use BT's were as careful practised and experienced as you.

 

[Von S.]

My belief is that I'm NOT a better shot then most, just more disciplined as to when to let the dog off the chain. I'm not a better hunter by any stretch of the imagination , just luck in my choice of when and where to set up and thank goodness that I have no compassion for an animal than I have for a piece of paper as to me both are nothing but targets. I believe that it is that compassion that makes many miss or flub up relatively easy shots.

Plus! I'm lucky as hell .

 

[Graham Hunter]

My belief is that I'm NOT a better shot then most, just more disciplined as to when to let the dog off the chain. I'm not a better hunter by any stretch of the imagination , just luck in my choice of when and where to set up and thank goodness that I have no compassion for an animal than I have for a piece of paper as to me both are nothing but targets. I believe that it is that compassion that makes many miss or flub up relatively easy shots.

Plus! I'm lucky as hell .

We're not going back to the frozen herring are we?

 

[Von S.]

Don't understand...

 

[Graham Hunter]

Sorry it's a quote from an old post of the same nature. It was said that a Buffalo could be killed with a well placed frozen herring. But why?

 

[Newboomer]

Won't disagree about Berger.
However, not sure they are the best practice for all game..... Berger's design is to react like shrapnel when it hits..... many times. That's just what Doc ordered. Drops them DRT. Some game, needs penetration, weight retention, wound channel, etc.

I shot my kudu with a Berger 90g VLD Hunter in a 243 Win at 220 yards and dropped him in his tracks. Shrapnel is right . All we found were a few shards of copper. He and another were running up a bank away from me. I asked my PH "Which one?" He said "Second one." Hit him right between the shoulders and spined him. It looked like the bullet hit the spine and blew a chunk out as it disintegrated. Lucky shot? Very likely. Good bullet? You betchum, Red Ryder. I was very skeptical when my PH handed me that suppressed rifle. "You want me to hunt big game with this popgun?" That day we were hunting in an area where they breed buffalo and they didn't want loud gunfire to disturb them. Well, it worked, small caliber and all.

On another tack: Got another new toy today. Ruger Hawkeye Predator in 6.5 Creedmore. I've been comparing ballistics of it with 243Win, 264 Win Mag, 6mm Rem and 7mm Rem Mag. The 7mm is pretty much in another league, but the others are relatively close depending on the bullet. I'm contemplating taking it to Africa next year for plains game. Considering a 143 g Barnes TSX loaded 2 0r 3 g under max. I like all my loads on the warmer side for African game. Any thoughts other than Don't do it?

If I don't take the Ruger, I'll take my 7mm. It's proven itself on everything from springbok to blue wildebeast and zebra. One shot kills with Barnes 160 g TSX out to 325 yards.

 

[Newboomer]

May I suggest a bullet performance data base topic, where members can place pictures of recovered bullets. You need to add data to the post relating to the performance.
Type of bullet
Bullet speed
Distance of shot
Original weight
Recovered weight
Calibre
Species
Shot placement e.g. Frontal, headshot. etc.

This way we can all learn from each other when looking for a different type of bullet. One does not always recover your own bullets and I would like to see how a bullet performs when hunting.

Alchemist,
Rifle: Browning A bolt
Bullet: Barnes 160TSX
Bullet speed: 2900fps
Distance: 125 yards
Original wt: 160 g
Recovered wt: 160.3 g
Caliber: 7mmRem Mag
Species: Impala
Quartering to me. Bullet entered just ahead of the left shoulder and was found just under the skin of the right hind leg. It had four perfect petals and had mushroomed to double diameter. The extra 0.3 g were tissue embedded in the petals.

Of the 10 species I collected on that safari, this was the only slug recovered. All other shots were broadside and went clear through. Springbok to blue wildebeast ,zebra and waterbuck. A very effective bullet.

Second hunt.
Rifle: Win model 70 Safari Express
Bullet: Barnes 350 g TSX
Bullet speed: 2650fps
Distance: 50 yards
Original wt: 350 g
Recovered wt: Not recovered
Caliber: 375HH
Species: Cape buffalo
Head on chest shot.
Ran about 75 yards and we found him stone dead.

Rifle: Win model 70 Safari Express
Bullet: Barnes 235 g TSX
Bullet speed: 2500fps
Distance: 150 yards
Original wt: 160 g
Recovered wt: Bullet not recovered
Caliber: 375HH
Species: Sable
Quartering away. Bullet entered just ahead of the left hind leg and exited just behind the right shoulder. He was broadside when I set up and turned just as I fired. We found him dead about 1/4 mile from where I shot.

Rifle: Win model 70 Safari Express
Bullet: Barnes 235 g TSX
Bullet speed: 2500fps
Distance: 180 yards
Original wt: 235 g
Recovered wt: Not recovered
Caliber: 375HH
Species: Red Hartebeest
Broadside. Through and through. Dead in his tracks.

Rifle: Win model 70 Safari Express
Bullet: Barnes 235 g TSX
Bullet speed: 2500fps
Distance 125 to 250 yards
Original wt: 235 g
Recovered wt: Not recovered
Caliber: 375HH
Species: Springbok (4)
Broadside. Through and through. Dead in their tracks.

 

[MAdcox]

240gr Hornady XTP 44 caliber in a sabot for a 50 cal. Hawkins.
100 grains of Pyrodex
60 yard shot quartering to on big bodied Whitetail buck. Went 20 yards and collapsed.