hunting pics

[jameslovesjammie]

I've got a video of a deer my dad shot in 2003 about a mile west of our farm in Montana.

The shot was ~225 yards with a .270 Winchester on a custom Interarms Mark X action with a 24" barrel. The load was 130 gr. Sierra Gameking, 60 gr H4831, and a Winchester Magnum primer.

Sorry the video is kinda big, I think it was like 14 meg when I uploaded it. Broadband won't have a problem.

http://jameslovesjammie.zippyvideos....eer_hunt_2003/

Enjoy! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[sewwhat89]

Nice video.

[Troutslayer]

I disagree. I have seen deer with small exit holes and insides turned to jelly, but on this one it was obvious that the bullet passed through the top of the heart and didn't destroy anything else. The heart itself wasn't even that bad, just severed across the top. I do not consider that to be good bullet performance. Do you think that finding most of the copper jacket inside of a deer is a good sign of expansion or a sign of poor performance and seperation? I always assumed it was the latter, but I really don't know for shure.

I have seen what corelokts are supposed to do, and seen what they have done in 30.06 .308 .and others, and I assure you that from my .300 winmag they are not doing it at medium ranges. I think they have too much steam behind them to do the job right.

You think that Barnes will be similar, or expand less? I really tried accubonds but they don't shoot worth a crap out of my gun and Barnes paper very well. I should clarify that the Barnes are handloads and the accubonds are factory.

[sewwhat89]

If Barnes bullets shoot well out or your rifle use them, BUT don't expect great expansion on long shots. Long is relative to bullet weight and MV. A 75 gr .25 cal X at 3500fps impact velocity will mushroom perfectly (99% retention) while breaking both shoulders on a deer. Likewise, a 140 gr. .308 XBT at impact velocites around 30xx will expand very nicely; however, I have shot the same 140 gr pill at 300 yds, and it did not expand fully. It expanded to about 35 caliber compared to 0.6x at 100 yds. Will it kill a deer at that range? Yes. Is that a good choice to kill deer at that range? In my opinion no. Lead-core bullets are much more forgiving imo. A 150 gr AB loaded at the same velocity as the Barnes X gives great penetration and expansion at 500 m. I am not biased against Barnes; rather, I use them in every gun I hunt with except when I specifically go hunting with a 300+yd shot in mind.

[Charles A]

Troutslayer, on the first deer what was the tissue damage like inside? If that bullet did not expand would that deer have dropped, or ran? On the second, no, finding the bullet had seperated from the core is not a bad thing in this case. What do you think happened to the lead core? Short range, high velocity, non bonded bullets tend to do that. It being a 300win will not cause the bullet to go through so fast it doesnt have time to expand. Which I believe your alluding to. Just the oppisite. The higher the velocity, the faster and more dramatic expansion will be. I have shot deer with bullets that didnt expand, with the autopsy pictures to prove it, and it would be HIGHLY unlikely that the deer would "die instantly". I believe if you shot a few more deer you would find similer results, little exit holes, lots of tissue damage, with deer dieing instantly.

Barnes bullets are good at what they do, however I do not believe they are the right choice for longer ranges. Once the velocity drops they will not, (to me), give acceptable terminal performence. If you want to really see a bullet that creates massive tissue damage, load a 178gr Amax at about 2900-3,000fps [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

[Troutslayer]

Charles, Though I hit the heart on both of these deer, I would have been able to still eat it if I wanted to. Expansion or not they both would have died pretty quick. The second one the bullet did do more damage. If I were to make a shot that only went through lung and nothing else, I want it to leave a great big hole on exit. I don't want to blow anything in half but I'd rather have a lot of blood to follow and inhibit their ability to breathe.

I always thought that the jacket remaining on the bullet was a sign of a well made bullet, and in the little picture on the box of the deadliest mushroom the copper jacket remains. I'm excited to try something a little different this year for comparison sake, but reading what some of you old timers have to say I won't be afraid to try corelokts again in the future.