Badlands Precision Bullets thread - From BC to terminal ballistics

[Huntnful]

This is an awesome video. Very large Bull. The Moose was hit twice on the Lt side with the first shot looking like it hit a bit back of the left shoulder but clearly disabling the left leg. The second shot also hit on the left shoulder but at more of a broad side angle. Both 195 gr BD2 bullets exited on the right side with the first one exiting further back from the second and penetrating a considerable distance from the second because the angle of the shot was so quartering. Hard to know the exact penetration distances as they weren't measured, but given the size of the Moose both were significant. Graphic demonstration of the penetrating power of those bullets. These guys have their act down. Packing out such a large animal along with everything else they harvested is remarkable. I definitely will follow their channel.

You're absolutely right. That first shot is an unreal penetration testament. To crush the front shoulder and still take a direct line all the way out to the rear right leg is pretty significant. That has to be dang near 40" of penetration.

 

[BillLarson]

VERY GOOD WELL WRITTEN WELL DOCUMENTED ARTICLE........ THANK YOU......
GOOD PICS TOO.....

 

[SheepShapeAK]

You can clearly see the bullet trace in literal slow motion coming from the left side of the camera frame (an even more direct line shot on the bull than the camera man) and brushing along his left shoulder running lengthwise down his body coming out in front of the right leg. I video all my kill shots and can analyze them quite well lol. I can see exactly what happened and where it impacted. No need to try and justify it differently, we all make a shot placement mistake here and there, and it's not even a big deal dude. I was just curious if you would have placed it differently given the opportunity again. Second shot looks like it was money based on the pictures and I'm glad you got to test out those bigger Badlands bullets and killed a great bull!

I wouldn't have placed it differently. Did just fine where I aimed it. Ripped through a bunch of the vitals on the way through.

I try telling people to ditch their bonded bullets and switch to solids. Maybe seeing the penetration on that moose will persuade them a little more.

 

[nralifer]

You're absolutely right. That first shot is an unreal penetration testament. To crush the front shoulder and still take a direct line all the way out to the rear right leg is pretty significant. That has to be dang near 40" of penetration.

That's what it seemed like to me.

 

[Huntnful]

I wouldn't have placed it differently. Did just fine where I aimed it. Ripped through a bunch of the vitals on the way through.

I try telling people to ditch their bonded bullets and switch to solids. Maybe seeing the penetration on that moose will persuade them a little more.

Oh for sure. If penetration is your main goal that is. And on a moose it definitely is!

On an antelope, blacktail or mule deer... not so much. I like shooting both personally. And if I was going on a moose hunt, I would more than likely load up a big mono bullet like you did!

I don't see the .308 190's available on the site? Highest they go is 175 currently?

 

[nralifer]

Oh for sure. If penetration is your main goal that is. And on a moose it definitely is!

On an antelope, blacktail or mule deer... not so much. I like shooting both personally. And if I was going on a moose hunt, I would more than likely load up a big mono bullet like you did!

I don't see the .308 190's available on the site? Highest they go is 175 currently?

I should be on page 2 of the Bulldozer 2 page, and it's a 195 gr bullet. I'll check to see if the site is working right today

 

[Huntnful]

I should be on page 2 of the Bulldozer 2 page, and it's a 195 gr bullet. I'll check to see if the site is working right today

Oh okay, yeah it said "page doesn't exist" when I tried to go to page 2

 

[nralifer]

Oh okay, yeah it said "page doesn't exist" when I tried to go to page 2

We are calling the wed hosting Co. To get it fixed. Hopefully it will be working soon. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[cbuck516]

Not really. People like heavier bullets and the 6.8 Western will push that bullet considerably faster and with a better BC than the Berger 170 gr out of the commercially available twist barrels. Penetration on game with either the 140 or 150 bullet should be much better than the Berger especially at high impact velocities.

What cartridge did you use in your simulation and what muzzle velocity did you predict for the 150? My guess from the 6.8 W a 3200fps should be achievable. The 140 from a 270 Win should be around 2900-3050 fps. Depends on the powder a lot. Superformance is quite good in the 270Win.

I am looking to build a 270 WSM with a 20" barrel as I will hunt with it suppressed. My 300 PRC does that no problem, but the recoil is not trivial. I also really love the nostalgia of the 277 bullet as my family has been shooting 270's since at least as far back as 1954. Using my personal N570 powder profile, the 270 WSM looks to be capable of producing around 3,100fps in the 140gr and around 3,020fps for the 150 gr. If someone were willing to go with a 26" barrel those velocities would increase to 3,350fps for the 140gr and 3,260fps for the 150gr.
Not having either the 140gr or 150gr in my hands, I had to make some assumptions about the dimensions of the boat tail, but set up both loads to be seated 0.020" above the neck/shoulder junction in the case. That being said, these 270 WSM are at a COAL of 3.12" and 3.20" for the 140gr and 150gr, respectively. For that reason this will definitely be going in a long action.

With that 20" barrel the recoil is calculated to be 20ft#-21ft# for the 140gr and 150gr. That is a big recoil reduction from my current 300 PRC load which is at 34ft# of recoil.

I will be picking up some other powders at the local gun show next weekend and hope to profile N565, N560, N555, and N550. I would also like to profile Retumbo and Magnum.

 

[codyadams]

Oh for sure. If penetration is your main goal that is. And on a moose it definitely is!

On an antelope, blacktail or mule deer... not so much. I like shooting both personally. And if I was going on a moose hunt, I would more than likely load up a big mono bullet like you did!

I don't see the .308 190's available on the site? Highest they go is 175 currently?

I have to respectfully disagree on the smaller game performance. From what I have personally seen on a lot of pronghorn (our family and friends we hunt with harvests around 20-30 a year), I am actually liking these monos better on pronghorn too. Here is the shoulder of a doe pronghorn hit with a 270 grain .338 that was going around 2900 fps, this is the exit side. Far less meat damage than we see with Bergers, and they kill them just as quickly. The 6.5 156 Berger, .30 cal 208 lrht, .270 170, 7mm 180 vld, and many other bullets we have used, while they still put the animals down as good, they cause way more meat damage, and that matters when you only get 35-45 lbs of meat off the animal in the first place. I still use the bergers in some of my guns because they are cheaper, however I try to put my hits behind the shoulder.

Square through the shoulder with a big .338, at 180 yards, and still good meat right up to the massive exit hole.

On the contrary, exit hole from a .308 208 LRHT at 90 yards, even though it hit this far forward (entrance was same place on the other side) it was so violent that it ruptured the diaphragm and blew guts out the exit hole, as you can see along her side, and throughout the shoulder, along with heavy blood shot, and I lost almost the entire shoulder. Both very similar impacts, both very quick kills, one I lost maybe a couple lbs of meat, the other I lost almost the entire shoulder. As I stated, we harvest 20-30 pronghorn a year, and these results are consistent, from the 140 .270 mono up to the 270 .338. I like the price and how effective the Bergers kill these smaller game, but shoulder impacts are very often ugly.

 

[codyadams]

While I absolutely agree that the huge amount of penetration certainly isn't necessary on an animal that is only 6" deep, they seem to be opening up even on these ultra light critters enough to do plenty of damage, yet not destroy a ton of meat, and also work well on bigger animals where the penetration is necessary. My only complaint is, I don't want to spend the money on the Badlands bullets for a gun like my .260ai that I shoot a bunch, so I just use my 156 bergers in it and try to hit behind the shoulder.

 

[264MHC]

Awesome thread. Definitely has me considering the 125 BD2 for my 21" barreled 7.5 twist 6.5x55 Improved. It is shooting 156 Bergers at 2820 with RL 26, but if I could get these to 3100 or so, they would win in every metric save energy. I'm thinking I might like the extra velocity in this shorter barreled gun. I am at Sea level so I think the 135s are out with my twist.

Could Someone measure the Base to ogive of the 125 6.5mm bullet? Preferably with a Hornady comparator. Also what is the length of the boattail? This gun is thoated for the 156s so just trying to figure out if I'll have enough shank in the neck with these 125's seated close to the lands. On a Tikka LA so mag length is not a concern. Thanks

 

[codyadams]

You can clearly see the bullet trace in literal slow motion coming from the left side of the camera frame (an even more direct line shot on the bull than the camera man) and brushing along his left shoulder running lengthwise down his body coming out in front of the right leg. I video all my kill shots and can analyze them quite well lol. I can see exactly what happened and where it impacted. No need to try and justify it differently, we all make a shot placement mistake here and there, and it's not even a big deal dude. I was just curious if you would have placed it differently given the opportunity again. Second shot looks like it was money based on the pictures and I'm glad you got to test out those bigger Badlands bullets and killed a great bull!

I Don't think he was trying to justify anything? He only answered your question, and said that it was quartered enough away that it should come out the other side. Let's please not try to be confrontational, I don't want this thread turning into some of the other mono bullet threads, please and thank you!!

 

[Huntnful]

I Don't think he was trying to justify anything? He only answered your question, and said that it was quartered enough away that it should come out the other side. Let's please not try to be confrontational, I don't want this thread turning into some of the other mono bullet threads, please and thank you!!

For sure. That was mostly directed to him saying he had more broadside angle to the bull than the camera man. When that was clearly not the case because you can see it quite plainly in the video. It just wasn't a necessary statement to make is all.