Hunting bullet construction

[Powerhouse]

Hate to drag up an old thread, but I had another disheartening experience today.

I shot another deer this morning with the SST. Right behind the shoulder, about 60 yards away. Entrance right behind the shoulder, bullet hit one rib, found lodged in the ribcage on the opposite side. The bullet destroyed the shoulder next to the entrance, at first I thought it was bone fragments but my son found jacket material in it. Brought the bullet home and weighed it, only 62 grains left out of 130. It mushroomed good, but shedding that much weight and the evidence of violent expansion coupled with no pass through means these babys have to go.

 

[bassdaddy00]

I shot a 1.5 year old spike with a 30/30 loaded with 150 gr Barnes TSX. I was amazed that the bullet did not expand at all acted as a fmj. Small entrance and exit wounds as well. I hit him behind the shoulder, 2/3 of the way down. That should have taken out the heart and both lungs but the deer still made 150 yards without leaving a blood trail. In fairness, I have heard of this happening with the Barnes TSX and they have done away with the problem of non expansion with the introduction of the TTSX, which contains the polymer tip that aids expansion. Aside from the TTSX, which I believe to be one of the best bullets out there, my primary deer bullet is a Berger H-VLD. That thing virtually detonates just under the skin and penetrates thru the ribs on the off side without exiting . Result = Bang-Flop! I have killed several deer with the Berger and all have gone down as if struck by lightning. Load is a 140 gr in .284 for my 7mm Rem Mag. at 3,065 fps.
I typically use the Berger when strictly deer hunting but switch to the Barnes TTSX if there is a possibility of killing a hog.

 

[fz1boxer]

When using the barnes tsx series make sure you are hitting the minimum expansion threshold,check with barnes for that info.
At what range did you shoot the deer?
What is the muzzle velocity on your load?
Some barnes have a heavier construction that others and are designed to be barrier blind and need higher velocity.

 

[kuduman]

If you want it to hold together and penetrate in a straight line: Northfork is my choice. Probably overkill for anything in the SE though. I'd choose something different if I was anticipating shots beyond 300 yards; something with a higher BC.

For expensive hunts with big animals (Africa, for example): Barnes X, Swift A-Frame, Trophy Bonded, Northfork, GS Custom. That's about it. All penetrate fully and won't come apart after hitting major bones. All cost well upwards of $1/bullet too.

I personally have mixed opinions about Barnes. I like Barnes-Xs effectiveness-- they work well, but in some calibers you lose so much velocity that I'd choose a lead-cored bullet. (Barnes bullets are long for weight, thus more friction and less case capacity for powder. That's why there's special loading data just for them.)

I don't really think you need these bonded bullets for whitetails though. Cheap Remington core-loks in a .270 seem to put 'em down just fine.

 

[howl]

Have you called Hornady to ask the speeds at which that bullet is intended to work? You might want to slow it down some for use on those short-range shots. A plain old soft nose bullet with a sectional density of at least .240 starting out around 2700 fps is close to optimal for Southeastern whitetail killing.

 

[erkinator]

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in hunting chat, so I'll just give it a go here. I'm pretty sure I know the answer I'll get but I would like as much input as I can get.

I've reload for mine and my sons hunting rifles, in .270 and .30-06. I used Sierra Gameking 140 gr HPBT in the .270 for years with mostly good results. I had a couple of bullets fragment after hitting bone, those shots did not result in a clean kill. I have since switched Hornady SST bullets, 130 gr in the .270 and 165 in the '06. This morning I shot a fair sized buck at 20 yards, from behind right behind the shoulder blades. The bullet should have exited from the breast bone. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes,I let him sit for about 15 minutes. Walking up to him, very short walk, he was still alive. After another round I discovered that the first shot never exited, one lung was destroyed but it wasn't a kill shot. I assume that the bullet fragmented on impact, I figure a combination of hitting bone and maximum velocity caused it to fly apart.

I want a bullet that will hold together. I've looked at the offerings from Barnes, as well as the Nosler partition this morning. I know these two bullets have a very good reputation, but are there any others that could be recommended?

My brother has loaded our 30-06 for over 3 decades and the last 20 we have been using nosler 165 grain ballistic tip boat tails. It will exit and take some meat with it.

 

[bassdaddy00]

When using the barnes tsx series make sure you are hitting the minimum expansion threshold,check with barnes for that info.
At what range did you shoot the deer?
What is the muzzle velocity on your load?
Some barnes have a heavier construction that others and are designed to be barrier blind and need higher velocity.

I shot the deer at a hot 40 yards. If I remember correctly the velocity of that load is just under 2400 fps. That is pretty quick for a 30-30. The exit hole looked to me like it acted as a fmj would. I wonder if the bullet collapsed inward instead of expanding out. The darn bullet is an ashtray hollowpoint, it should have expanded and and made a large exit hole.

 

[Powerhouse]

Have you called Hornady to ask the speeds at which that bullet is intended to work? You might want to slow it down some for use on those short-range shots.

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Junior_357]

I shot the deer at a hot 40 yards. If I remember correctly the velocity of that load is just under 2400 fps. That is pretty quick for a 30-30. The exit hole looked to me like it acted as a fmj would. I wonder if the bullet collapsed inward instead of expanding out. The darn bullet is an ashtray hollowpoint, it should have expanded and and made a large exit hole.

40 yards...I can believe that the bullet didn't open at that range. A lot of modern bullet designs don't seem to open as fast as older design - especially the solid copper projectiles. I know with 25-06 rounds lots of bullets don't expand at all if the target is less than 100 yards out. Just too much velocity. That's why I still swear by the old Nosler Partitions...controlled expansion and great weight retention. Overkill for GA deer...but I know the bullet is going to do its job and stay together.

 

[ngcsugrad09]

That close is causing the bullet to fragment due to velocity. Instead of looking for one that will pass through, I'd look for a projectile that enters, expands and transfers the energy to the target instead of punching right through. However, most anything that close from a bottleneck rifle cartridge is most likely going to fragment regardless. I'd take a look at some of the all copper Barnes bullets if you're trying to find something that doesn't come apart at close range.