Rocky Mountain Recharge

[High Desert Hunter]

Took a day off of work and headed up into the mountains to clear out the stresses from work.


Various 454 and 357 projectiles from today's outing. The 180gr 357 bullets were tough to recover, as they penetrated like there was no tomorrow, the 160gr 358156 bullets weren't bad, the Sierra Jacketed bullet is tough, and it penetrated as deep as the 330gr WFNGC bullets. The 357s were top loads of H110, the 454s were midrange HS6 loads that would likely go end to end through a cow elk. Pretty sure if I wasn't worried about expansion, any of the bullets except for the 357 160gr JSP and the .452 Speer Deep Curl 300gr bullets would be the way to go. The 357 bullet would be perfect for a broadside shot on a whitetail at revolver velocities, the Speer Deep Curls had no expansion, the noses filled with cardboard and paper and never expanded at all, not bad except they have a very small meplat. The Sierra 300gr JFN bullets are just ever so slightly softer than the old Freedom Arms JFN, and I would trust them on anything North America has to offer. I found a few more of the LBT bullets Dennis Coats sent me that I had apparently squirrel holed away for some reason, they really drive deep, the 330gr WFN don't penetrate as deeply, but experience has shown they create a devastating wound channel. Test medium today was a cardboard box filled with shredded paper for a target holder, and a backstop of damp clay for 15" then decaying rock and dirt. Certainly need more trigger time. The Sierras were the most accurate, followed by the 180gr FNPB 357 and 325gr LBT GCSWC.

 

[enysse]

I thought the Deep Curl from Speer, was a nice addition to their line of bullets a few years back.

 

[High Desert Hunter]

I will have to give them another go with either H110 or 2400 to see if i can get some expansion. They are certainly accurate enough for hunting, and should be suitable for anything up to moose in size.