Badlands Precision Bullets thread - From BC to terminal ballistics

[LiveToHunt7]

Ya it came together pretty easy for me. I did a seating depth test, every .015" from .005 out to .105" off, and there was only a very slight variance, all were acceptable, shot best for me at .050" off though. In talking with George, the owner, he said most people end up from .020 to .030 off. I honestly think accuracy would have been acceptable anywhere as far as seating goes. Shooting around 1" at 300 yards for me.

For comparison, I loaded up the 285 Hammers in this same gun, and as far as finding accuracy, The Badlands were just as easy. Went with these because of the .407 or so BC vs the .355 for the 285 Hammers, and I was topped out around 2785 with the hammers, and got up to 2875 or so with the Badlands.

Cody,

For accuracy testing, did you shoot cup n core previously? If you did, did you do that full bore barrel cleaning prior to shooting the monos?

Have read mixed reports on if it's necessary to reach great accuracy switching from cup n core to monos.

 

[codyadams]

Cody,

For accuracy testing, did you shoot cup n core previously? If you did, did you do that full bore barrel cleaning prior to shooting the monos?

Have read mixed reports on if it's necessary to reach great accuracy switching from cup n core to monos.

I tested the 300 Berger, the 265 ABLR, the 285 Hammer, and this 270 SBD, I did a basic break in cleaning procedure, then after 100 rounds of the Bergers, Noslers, and a few of the Hammers, I cleaned it really well again and HBN coated some of the badlands and some of the Bergers, shot them for about 100 rounds, then I cleaned it well again and now I'm just running the badlands naked. Never had any strange issues when switching. This has been with Retumbo, H1000, RL26, IMR7828SSC, and VV N570. As always, YMMV.

 

[pheerles]

Subscribing.

I typically go light-for-cal because I'm just a fan of MV, coming from 210gr TTSX. I have quite a bit of N560 and RL-25.

Any experience with the 240gr SBDs?

 

[codyadams]

Subscribing.

I typically go light-for-cal because I'm just a fan of MV, coming from 210gr TTSX. I have quite a bit of N560 and RL-25.

Any experience with the 240gr SBDs?

Not from me, I jumped for the 270 because of the wide open spaces that typically encompass Wyoming hunting, I prefer to mitigate wind drift as much as possible ha ha. If I was for sure keeping shots under 800, the 240 would certainly be appealing!

 

[Pdvdh]

They are 1.450". Side by side the bearing surface looks real close to the same with a 162 ELDX and the 155 CE.
I am at 5500 asl and can push them 3450 fps or better. I have a new NX8 coming this week so I will try them by early next week. If they don't fly they can go on the shelf with many more LOL

My .284 145gr BD bullets are 1.455" long. I purchased them a couple years ago... So if yours are a new re-designed bullet, they are the same length as mine. Cause me to doubt you have the newer .284 bullet with the higher BC rating.

 

[Axl]

My .284 145gr BD bullets are 1.455" long. I purchased them a couple years ago... So if yours are a new re-designed bullet, they are the same length as mine. Cause me to doubt you have the newer .284 bullet with the higher BC rating.

When I ordered by phone I asked for the redesigned .62 bc .284 145 grain bullets on 8/19/20. I was told all bullets were made to order and that I would get the new design because they are not making the "low" bc ones any more. My box of bullets was made 8/20/20. I can't tell the bc by looking at them or by measuring them only by shooting them. So I am going to go with the guy who made them until i can shoot them to know for sure.

 

[Pdvdh]

Let us know how they cut through the atmosphere.

 

[Corvalliscory]

I ordered some of the newer ones too with the .620 bc. He's just fine tuning them again and they'll be done around the end of the year/around SHOT show is what he told me on the phone. But he said no drastic changes for the "new" ones coming out. The ones on the site are the gen 1, the ones he's making and shipping now are gen 2 and the ones coming out later will be the gen 3. Atleast this is how I understood it.

cory

 

[codyadams]

My .284 145gr BD bullets are 1.455" long. I purchased them a couple years ago... So if yours are a new re-designed bullet, they are the same length as mine. Cause me to doubt you have the newer .284 bullet with the higher BC rating.

Come to think of it, when I talked to George, he said the version with increased bc was with modifications that he made to the boat tail, ogive, and maybe the pressure rings. He actually didn't mention anything about OAL, and he said that the redesigned 270 sbd would still work fine with a 9 twist, so I don't think OAL is necessarily coming into play a whole lot with the increased bc version.

 

[Pdvdh]

Hi Cody,
Could be..., but I'd be surprised. Any significant gain in BC will usually be proportional to overall bullet length. Changing the ogive and boat tail would likely change bullet length. Pressure rings maybe not...

Maybe George can comment, if the modifications have resulted in bullet length increasing. Straight from the manufacturer's mouth

Thanks for posting your antelope pics. Never seen that kind of exit damage, but your bullet is so large and the 'lope so small, perhaps the nose of the bullet was unfolding when it was near the offside exit on the animal's shoulder.
A cannon ball on a mouse? Kidding a bit here. Hard to be overpowered on the ribs, but maybe so on the shoulder. Still little meat damage, by your account, even on the offside that looked pretty bad. With one popular lead jacketed bullet, that shoulder wouldn't have remained attached to the 'lope. And lead spray would have been deposited throughout the perimeter of the bomb blast.

Shot a caribou with my 197gr .308 BD about 2 weeks ago. Bullet hit rib on a completely broadside shot, richocheted off that rib and exited thru the offside rear ham! About half the liver was missing. So the bullet was causing maximum internal damage about 8-10" from location of entrance. About the width of your 'lope. Couldn't believe it when I saw the exit wound on rear ham on the offside. Say what??? Bullets sometimes do very strange things. Second time I've seen a bullet seriously deflect upon contact on the entry side. Other bullet was a Nosler ballistic tip about 15yrs ago on a dall ram. Deflection on that ram was so severe after it connected with the large tendon just above a leg joint adjacent to the chest cavity, that the bullet barely caught the outer edge of the onside lung. This again on a completely broadside shot! How a bullet can deflect in such an extreme manner is beyond my imagination, but it can, and does happen. My barrel has 9.25 twist rate, so bullet should have been plenty stable with sufficient rotational rpms.

Caribou was 285yds distant. Virtually no meat damage at entry or exit. Caribou stood on his feet longer than he should have. Not knowing what was wrong, but that something seemed amiss, I brained him with a second shot that clipped the skull plate just behind the antler bases. Found the aluminum tip while skinning around the antlers. If George would increase the diameter of his aluminum tips at the base end where they butt up against the copper nose, his bullets would likely expand reliably down to a lower velocity than with the current Al tips. They're kinda small as is, but his call. All in all, continue to be pleased with the bullets so far...

 

[codyadams]

Hi Cody,
Could be..., but I'd be surprised. Any significant gain in BC will usually be proportional to overall bullet length. Changing the ogive and boat tail would likely change bullet length. Pressure rings maybe not...

Maybe George can comment, if the modifications have resulted in bullet length increasing. Straight from the manufacturer's mouth

Thanks for posting your antelope pics. Never seen that kind of exit damage, but your bullet is so large and the 'lope so small, perhaps the nose of the bullet was unfolding when it was near the offside exit on the animal's shoulder.
A cannon ball on a mouse? Kidding a bit here. Hard to be overpowered on the ribs, but maybe so on the shoulder. Still little meat damage, by your account, even on the offside that looked pretty bad. With one popular lead jacketed bullet, that shoulder wouldn't have remained attached to the 'lope. And lead spray would have been deposited throughout the perimeter of the bomb blast.

Shot a caribou with my 197gr .308 BD about 2 weeks ago. Bullet hit rib on a completely broadside shot, richocheted off that rib and exited thru the offside rear ham! About half the liver was missing. So the bullet was causing maximum internal damage about 8-10" from location of entrance. About the width of your 'lope. Couldn't believe it when I saw the exit wound on rear ham on the offside. Say what??? Bullets sometimes do very strange things. Second time I've seen a bullet seriously deflect upon contact on the entry side. Other bullet was a Nosler ballistic tip about 15yrs ago on a dall ram. Deflection on that ram was so severe after it connected with the large tendon just above a leg joint adjacent to the chest cavity, that the bullet barely caught the outer edge of the onside lung. This again on a completely broadside shot! How a bullet can deflect in such an extreme manner is beyond my imagination, but it can, and does happen. My barrel has 9.25 twist rate, so bullet should have been plenty stable with sufficient rotational rpms.

Caribou was 285yds distant. Virtually no meat damage at entry or exit. Caribou stood on his feet longer than he should have. Not knowing what was wrong, but that something seemed amiss, I brained him with a second shot that clipped the skull plate just behind the antler bases. Found the aluminum tip while skinning around the antlers. If George would increase the diameter of his aluminum tips at the base end where they butt up against the copper nose, his bullets would likely expand reliably down to a lower velocity than with the current Al tips. They're kinda small as is, but his call. All in all, continue to be pleased with the bullets so far...

I'm not sure if he is on this forum or not? Would be interesting, I have been meaning to call him and chat about a few things anyway. As far as the antelope damage, ya it made a big hole ha ha George said that the 338 would likely expand better and at a lower velocity than the other bullets, because of the larger hollow point, frontal area and tip. I don't mind it too much, I actually like how the Bergers generally do, other than lead particles and I would prefer to always have an exit. If these 338's do the internal damage the Bergers do, but always exit, and don't damage meat as much, I'll be a pretty happy guy.

I had the same deflection thing happen with a 147 eld-m on an elk, have it on video even, entered just off the tip of the "elbow" on a slightly forward quarter shot, but the bullet was found back in the flank under the hide, clipped and did minimal damage to the onside lung, rest of the bullet passed through the paunch, doing very little damage. Threw in the towel on them after that one (and a couple other failures).

Edit: George is on the forum I believe, his handle is "copper guy", though I think he has only logged in once.

 

[Pdvdh]

Only game animal I've shot with the 275gr .338 BD was a Kodiak brown bear @ 50yds. Pancaked it, but no bullet recovery. To recover one of the BD bullets requires a lot of travel length inside the animal. Frontal or Texas heart shots. And still may not find a bullet, depending on caliber and weight bullet.

 

[codyadams]

Only game animal I've shot with the 275gr .338 BD was a Kodiak brown bear @ 50yds. Pancaked it, but no bullet recovery. To recover one of the BD bullets requires a lot of travel length inside the animal. Frontal or Texas heart shots. And still may not find a bullet, depending on caliber and weight bullet.

Ya, I'm fairly certain I will likely never recover one of my 270's from any North American game animal.

 

[codyadams]

Update!

Today I took my coworker and his young son out for his first ever big game animal, a doe pronghorn with my Norma. We spotted a good sized herd out in a field we often hunt, and got on top of the farmers hay stack to set up for the shot. The wind was 10 to 25 mph at any given moment, but averaging around 15-18 sustained, moving from a strait on 12 o'clock wind to a 1 o'clock wind. I ranged the group from 650 to 690 yards. While waiting for a doe to present us with a good shot and the herd buck to stop pushing the does around, I had my buddy practice aquiring a target and doing dry fires. About 10 minutes later, once the herd buck stopped pushing them around long enough for us to get a good range, a good wind call and get a doe singled out and 100% identified that the shooter and myself, the spotter, were on the same one, I had him get ready for the shot, and we all put on ear pro. She was facing to the left. I confirmed dope, it was 12.5 MOA up and .5 MOA right, 661 yards and a 16-18 mph wind coming from about 12:30. I told him to go strait up the off side leg, as she was slightly quartered away, and squeeze slow. Shortly after, I heard the report of my rifle, and slightly over three quarters of a second later, I saw the rear end of the doe drop hard with the impact, then a dust cloud come up behind the doe from the bullet passing through, and she made a mad dash. I zoomed out of my spotting scope and watched as she ran flat out for about 10 seconds, then began to slow down, and after another 5 seconds, she tumbled over. Quick video of the shooter taking the shot (notice how little recoil comes from the 9.5 lb .338 Norma mag - thanks MBM!) -



We drove the road out in the field, and spotted her. Pictures can describe most the rest!

Entrance -

Exit -

Internal damage -

This one is very important for terminal ballistics. If you look through the exit, you can see the entrance, it went between two ribs. That means, that at an impact of 2250 fps, the bullet expanded to make roughly a 2"+ exit simply from the thin armpit skin, thin rib meat, the lungs, and top of the heart.

There was some pretty decent meat damage on this doe, the bullet did not clip the shoulder bone on exit, but I think her running approximately 75 yards broke the shoulder bone into fragments and tore up some more of the meat. After cleaning it well, damage was again, less than anticipated. We only lost about 2 lbs of meat, plus whatever blew out the exit hole.

I have to say, I am impressed with the expansion, considering absolutely no bone and only very light tissue on one of the smallest NA big game animals was hit prior to making a 2"+ exit on the off side rib cage. Velocity was still relatively high at 2250 fps, but with a .803 bc, velocity hangs on pretty well ha ha. To reach 1800 fps I would have to shoot 1,250+ yards. I am suprised she ran as far as she did considering the damage done, however that sometimes happens, especially with pronghorn that haven't taken a CNS hit, they just like to run. I am not drawing any solid conclusions at this point, but so far I am very satisfied. We will see if that continues, I hope so!