Bullet Performance Database

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

SSTs are an interesting bullet. They kill quickly but there is no perfectly mushroomed bullet to take a picture of. I’ve shot SSTs, 140s in a 270, 165s in an 06 and 154s in a 7 mag for deer and pronghorn antelope for 25 years. Animal is either DRT or gives a hop and takes a few steps and goes down.

This bullet is what’s left of a 154 SST from a 7 mag on a pronghorn antelope. Quartering shot was at 200 yards so impact velocity was about 2700 FPS. Bullet hit the shoulder and exited behind the offside shoulder. I saw the pass through impact in the field behind the animal. What I actually saw was the bullet core because the bullet jacket was caught in a rib in the exit wound. Antelope was DRT so I can’t say the bullet failed. They work well on deer and pronghorn. I load Nosler accubond or partitions for bigger game.
View attachment 705792

@DG870

150gn 308 cal SST from my sons rifle.
80kg pig 150yds retrieved from just under the skin in the off side shoulder. Retained weight 117gn. What's not to love.
Bob

 

[Crishuntbrasil]

I've always been terrified of unbonded bullets, but they're always very accurate and work well on small, thin-skinned animals. I've used the Hornady LDX 143-grain 6.5 Creedmoor a lot on impala, blesbock, bushpig, jackal, warthog, and even lechwe in Africa. And I'll tell you, to be honest, I've never seen anything so deadly. The bullet hits the "engine room" and fragments like a grenade. The internal damage is enormous, and the animals die quickly. On zebra, wildebeest, and oryx, they didn't work well and gave me a lot of trouble. For larger animals, I prefer bonded bullets in more suitable calibers (30.06 and 300) and heavier bullets (180 grains).

 

[Luederitz]

28 Nosler
175 gr Hornady ELD-X
Game: Riedbock

Next time I try e.g. Accubond, Partition or North Fork

 

[dchum]

28 Nosler
175 gr Hornady ELD-X
Game: Riedbock

Next time I try e.g. Accubond, Partition or North Fork

View attachment 706612

how far was the shot? What was the angle of the animal?
Surprised it did not exit.

I guess this just really shows that when soft bullets are exposed to Hot-Rod speed like a 28 nosler ; you don’t get much penetration due to rapid bullet deformation

I’m sure it was very deadly on the reedbuck!

 

[skelleywag]

Type of bullet: Barnes LRX
Bullet speed: 3,030 FPS
Distance of shot: 318 or 380yds - he was shot twice, not sure which bullet this is.
Original weight: 145GR
Recovered weight: 144.4GR
Calibre: .280 Ackley Improved
Species: Kudu
Shot placement: Broadside, top of the crease for the first shot. Second shot he was quartering away, behind the shoulder.

 

[Mawzer308]

45-70
400gr Speer FNSP
MV 1860fps
103yds Frontal quartering towards, Sika hind
Impact velocity 1551fps

 

[Longwalker]

Bull elk, .375 H&H, 250gr. Trophy Bonded Federal factory load. Range approx 170M. Broadside presentation. Bullet entered shoulder, broke humerus into multiple pieces, passed through both lungs and ribs on both sides as it deflected a little lower and stopped in the skin of the opposite "armpit". Expansion was more than double, retained weight 205 gr. ( over 80%) I was expecting an exit, but looking at the bone damage I was pleased.