Badlands Precision Bullets thread - From BC to terminal ballistics

With such high impact velocities weird things can happen. The weirdest is a friend shot a Wisconsin White Tail using a 150 SBD2 from a 300 Ultramag going 3500 fps. Hit the deer in the chest broadside a little too far back and the lung on the opposite side came out of the chest, The deer ran off with the lung flapping in the breeze. It was found the next day half eaten by Coyotes.
While not as extreme as turning and coming out the chest, the exit on this whitetail was higher in body cavity than the entry was. Shooting from a tree stand, the shot angle was downwards so that means the bullet changed coarse after impact by about 20-30 degrees. I was scratching my head for a bit, but the entry was directly in the middle of a rib so it's very possible that it deflected. Very excellent performance from this bullet for me so far so I have no complains. Very minimal meat loss on the latest kill.
 
My 14-year old nephew shot this whitetail yesterday with my 25-06 and 95gr. BD2. Impact velocity was 3480fps @ 30 yards and double lung broadside shot sprayed lung material on the ground. Blood trail was phenomenal and he went about 50 yards before tipping over within a few seconds of the shot. I found a bone fragment lodged in the liver like a spear. It was pretty neat, but I didn't take a photo. Dog-bone-shaped hole was the entrance. As much coaching as he received to shoot into the shoulder, he still shot further back than I wanted to see. I still haven't seen how this bullet behaves when it hits shoulder blade or leg bone, but I hope to make that connection before season closes next weekend.
Are you sure that wasn't tumbling? That's a real odd entrance wound. Unless the bullet was sideways.
 
Are you sure that wasn't tumbling? That's a real odd entrance wound. Unless the bullet was sideways.
That is a very good point that I hadn't considered. He was shooting through some brush so it is totally possible. Of the ~250 of these 95gr BD2's I have shot at this point, I have never seen one tumble on paper so I am confident it wasn't tumbling before it entered that brushy mess. I didn't get any detailed photos of the hide before we started working on it, but the entrance hole was much larger than I saw on the Pronghorn I shot with this bullet back in September. Pronghorn had a very boring ~0.257" diameter hole with a ~2" exit, but the entrance on this whitetail looked about the same as the exit. I just went back and watched the video of where we were tracking the deer and the entrance hole is kind of visible and very close in size to the side profile of the 95gr. BD2. Now I HAVE to shoot another whitetail just to confirm ;)
 
I got my first kill with a .257 110gr SBD2 bullet earlier this month. Unfortunately, due to the Missile Range's photography policy I wasn't allowed to get any terminal performance pics.

PB042107.JPG


That said, I shot this oryx with my 1:7 twist 257 weatherby at 350 yards and an impact velocity of around 2950. The bullet entered in the "V" on her right side without hitting any shoulder bone, destroyed the top of the lungs and heart, and excited mid body with about a 3/4" exit hole on the side you see on the pic. There were 2 small petals under the skin on the exit side, and the hole in the paunch was about 2".

She expired in less than 20 seconds after impact. Due to the bullet and petals passing through the aorta and her larynx, there was a ton of blood spraying out of her nose and mouth during the few steps she took before faceplanting. There was minimal meat damage, as expected. Can't complain with the results at all. Especially considering these animals are thought to be some of the toughest to kill.

Next up for this rifle and bullet is Arizona Coues deer after Thanksgiving.
 
Are you sure that wasn't tumbling? That's a real odd entrance wound. Unless the bullet was sideways.
I got my first kill with a .257 110gr SBD2 bullet earlier this month. Unfortunately, due to the Missile Range's photography policy I wasn't allowed to get any terminal performance pics.

View attachment 409504

That said, I shot this oryx with my 1:7 twist 257 weatherby at 350 yards and an impact velocity of around 2950. The bullet entered in the "V" on her right side without hitting any shoulder bone, destroyed the top of the lungs and heart, and excited mid body with about a 3/4" exit hole on the side you see on the pic. There were 2 small petals under the skin on the exit side, and the hole in the paunch was about 2".

She expired in less than 20 seconds after impact. Due to the bullet and petals passing through the aorta and her larynx, there was a ton of blood spraying out of her nose and mouth during the few steps she took before faceplanting. There was minimal meat damage, as expected. Can't complain with the results at all. Especially considering these animals are thought to be some of the toughest to kill.

Next up for this rifle and bullet is Arizona Coues deer after Thanksgiving.
Sounds delicious!
 
Looking for feedback on loading up the 195 vs. 175 BD2 in a 20" 300WSM, 1:9.5 twist. Any idea what speeds I can expect in a 20" barrel? Would like to run the 195 with higher BC to buck wind, but not if I'm looking at 2700fps or less. I got 181 Hammer Hunters up to 3090fps before I saw pressure signs. Thank you!
 
I'm currently working up a load in my 20" 1:10 300 WSM. I've got one hole groups at 2824 FPS with H4350 in a new barrel, but slight bolt lift. I'm trying to figure out if it's the Cerakote in the action, or actually pressure signs. I am pretty confident RL26 will get me to 2,900 with the 195. I'm toying with the idea of trying VV565 also.
 
I'm currently working up a load in my 20" 1:10 300 WSM. I've got one hole groups at 2824 FPS with H4350 in a new barrel, but slight bolt lift. I'm trying to figure out if it's the Cerakote in the action, or actually pressure signs. I am pretty confident RL26 will get me to 2,900 with the 195. I'm toying with the idea of trying VV565 also.
Not a bad idea. You might also consider StaBall 6.5
 
Looking for feedback on loading up the 195 vs. 175 BD2 in a 20" 300WSM, 1:9.5 twist. Any idea what speeds I can expect in a 20" barrel? Would like to run the 195 with higher BC to buck wind, but not if I'm looking at 2700fps or less. I got 181 Hammer Hunters up to 3090fps before I saw pressure signs. Thank you!
 
There is a significant G7 BC advantage using the 195BD2 (G7BC=0.345 vs 0.232). You are likely to get 2800 fps at least which still gives you the advantage which likely you will see by 500 yds and it is more manifest at 950 yds ( 250 fps and 370 ft-lbs in favor of the195 under standard conditions). This means that the enrgy remaining for the 195 is about 1200 ft-lbs. yds
Looking for feedback on loading up the 195 vs. 175 BD2 in a 20" 300WSM, 1:9.5 twist. Any idea what speeds I can expect in a 20" barrel? Would like to run the 195 with higher BC to buck wind, but not if I'm looking at 2700fps or less. I got 181 Hammer Hunters up to 3090fps before I saw pressure signs. Thank you!
 
Looking for feedback on loading up the 195 vs. 175 BD2 in a 20" 300WSM, 1:9.5 twist. Any idea what speeds I can expect in a 20" barrel? Would like to run the 195 with higher BC to buck wind, but not if I'm looking at 2700fps or less. I got 181 Hammer Hunters up to 3090fps before I saw pressure signs. Thank you!
i would think H4350 is going to pressure out too soon with the 195. I'd be looking at H1000 or N570, RL26 would be another good choice. I've got the 195's going 3050 ish in a 24" barrel 300 PRC with N570, and I believe this to be a slower barrel. I would think 2900 would be possible in a 20" barrel, maybe more in a fast barrel.

Comparing a 10 mph wind drift of the 181 Hammer at 3090 vs the 195 Bulldozer at only 2900, at 500 yards the hammer drifts 14.3 inches vs the bulldozer at 12 inches. Obviously the difference grows at greater distance. I think your choice should be based on how you intend to use them. I love how the hammers perform terminally and the speeds you can get out of them (for 500 yards and in, the lighter, faster Hammers are my choice due to terminal performance) but can't ignore the high bc of the bulldozers (verified by shot drops at 600 yards) when shooting long range in windy Western states.
 

Recent Posts

Top