TARGET BULLETS ARE NOT HUNTING BULLETS!

I shoot things game with bullets and they die. Was I supposed to read the bullet box? Oh my...

Lengthwise through a whitetail doe at 500 yards. Lapua 155 g Silver Scenar started at 2850 fps. My son found it on the ground behind her, and within two feet.

I suspect that the size of the game plays a factor as well as shot placement, bones, etc.

one thing stands out here, and i'm not picking and choosing when i say this, but, inconsistency is a RED flag for Me.
A bad "lot" of bullets recognized by the manufacturer is one thing, bad shot placement sure, but no measure of consistency is another entirely.
That would constitute a "next" with me.

Perhaps a move back to a more proven "hunting" bullet would be a solid first step.
When whatever bullet lands where it needs to, and yet presents with 2 totally different results concerning the way it expands/penetrates I would be OUT.
Too many other choices available.

Phil Rizzo said:

one thing stands out here, and i'm not picking and choosing when i say this, but, inconsistency is a RED flag for Me.
A bad "lot" of bullets recognized by the manufacturer is one thing, bad shot placement sure, but no measure of consistency is another entirely.
That would constitute a "next" with me.

Perhaps a move back to a more proven "hunting" bullet would be a solid first step.
When whatever bullet lands where it needs to, and yet presents with 2 totally different results concerning the way it expands/penetrates I would be OUT.
Too many other choices available.

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Absofricknlutly! This! memtb

Bruce Hanson said:

Lengthwise through a whitetail doe at 500 yards. Lapua 155 g Silver Scenar started at 2850 fps. My son found it on the ground behind her, and within two feet.View attachment 550298

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But, the defenders of target/match bullets will state…..well, it killed the deer didn't it? memtb

The only deer (and antelope) I've had take more than a couple steps in the last 17 years was from a 130 Tipped Game King at 2950fps.
Everything else I've shot was a stop, pop and drop. The bulk of which were with a 115 Dtac, but a few with 180 Hybrids, 135 Hybrids, and a couple with 147 ELDM.

TBell said:

Never under stood one thing if they want you hunting with 'hunting bullets' why don't they duplicate the weight and BC of the target bullet?

You train with a 208gr ELDM in a 300 wm. And dial in your rangefinder and scope, now find ann exact equivalent in an ELDX for a 6-700 yard shoot.

I'm just sayin.

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I couldn't agree with you more.

Roosevelt Elk 685 yards, 338 Lapua, 285 grain ELD-M
Dropped him where he stood.

I think the original point of this thread is to question why when there are about a thousand great bullets for hunting would you choose one the bullet manufacturer says, "not recommended for hunting". Now that said, we can all do what we want, and we all have our respective experiences...sooooo...if it works there you go.

If you must, make it heavy for calibre!

cajun said:

there can be a big difference in bullet performance in certain calibers and weights.

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This is something that I bring up when the weekly subject of bullet performance comes back around. You cannot label bullets together, even if they share the same name. A 7mm 139 gr SST and 225 grain .338 SST only share a name, two different animals. The same thing applies to other bullets, target or not (like Matchkings). I've shot deer with 7mm, .30 & .338 cal Matchkings in a multitude of different scenarios and, while others like them, I didn't like the inconsistent terminal performance I received with all but the .338's. The 300 grain Matchkings have given me excellent performance from close to extremely far on deer and elk, and as stated earlier, it's one of my favorites. A good friend and fellow member (who hasn't posted for quite a while) has used the 250 grainers for many years with the same outcome.
I will say this: the bullet is part of the system, which includes the shooter. Everything else in the system has the job of getting the bullet moving and to point the bullet correctly so it can hit its intended poi. Once the bullet leaves the barrel it does all the work, so match the bullet for the intended outcome. Wrong bullet, can mean wrong outcome…no matter what its name implies.

After 58 years of big game hunting, I've made the following my criterial for bullets and rifles for elk and deer. The bullets should be able to provide and entrance AND exit hole. it should provide a wound channel of at least 3 to 5 inches from start to finish. It should be able to hold together after a shoulder impact on an elk or deer and still penetrate fully. The rifle should provide a starting velocity of at least 3000 fps with the selected bullet. Then I limit the range so that the impact velocity is at least 2250 fps. All with minimal meat loss. After participating with the dressing out of almost 100 elk and a like number of deer, and always asking what bullet manufacturer and style was used, I personally have now only used cup and core bullets for practice. Although they provide spectacular kills, the jello at the wound site, especially a shoulder or ham hit results in too much meat loss for me. Fortunately for me, I've been able drop nearly all the animals I've been after with one shot and have purposely missed the shoulder, hams or backstraps which keeps my freezer full!!!

Mike Matteson said:

If you can't kill the animal @ 50yds, you can't kill them at 1000yds.

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Unless you're using a Nathan Foster frangible bullet that is very effective at 1000 yards but is apt to explode prior to penetration at 50 yards.