Michael Eichele
Well-Known Member
I know that moose and brown bears are not made of steel but I thought the results of a simple test today were interesting.
I set up a 48" x 12" x 0.5" steel plate up at 300 meters today and tested the barnes 180 TSX and the Hornaday 190 BTSP. NOT the 190 match, rather the hunting version. Both were fired from my 300 RUM at near the same velocities.
1: 88.5 grains of RL-25 with the 190 BTSP. Average velocity of 3250. Both shots blew completely through the steel. In one of the holes most of the jacket was left in the hole and was recovered. Impact velocity is in the ball park of 2550 FPS.
2: 84.0 grains of RL-25 with the 180 TSX. Average velocity of 3216. Both shots stopped cold. Both bullets were pryed out with a screwdriver. There was about .3" raised dent on the back side of the steel. Impact velocities were around 2475.
The test done here was not to bash any one bullet over another or prove a superiority. In all reality it proves nothing usefull for a hunting scenario. It does illustrate however that my theories are not always right. My theory was that the jacketed lead bullets would make a divot and fragment into oblivion and the the solid copper bullet would pass through like a hot knife through butter. Obviously, the lead core held up better than I expected and passed right on through where the solid copper bullet expended 100% of its available energy. 2 very different results much to my suprise.
I also talked with the tech department at Barnes today. Their claim was that the 30 cal 180 TSX and TTSX would expand as low as 1800 FPS. They stated that the test medium they use is water and that his opinion was that tissue and bone would help expansion concluding that they would open on game at even lower velocities than 1800 FPS.
Happy shooting!!
I set up a 48" x 12" x 0.5" steel plate up at 300 meters today and tested the barnes 180 TSX and the Hornaday 190 BTSP. NOT the 190 match, rather the hunting version. Both were fired from my 300 RUM at near the same velocities.
1: 88.5 grains of RL-25 with the 190 BTSP. Average velocity of 3250. Both shots blew completely through the steel. In one of the holes most of the jacket was left in the hole and was recovered. Impact velocity is in the ball park of 2550 FPS.
2: 84.0 grains of RL-25 with the 180 TSX. Average velocity of 3216. Both shots stopped cold. Both bullets were pryed out with a screwdriver. There was about .3" raised dent on the back side of the steel. Impact velocities were around 2475.
The test done here was not to bash any one bullet over another or prove a superiority. In all reality it proves nothing usefull for a hunting scenario. It does illustrate however that my theories are not always right. My theory was that the jacketed lead bullets would make a divot and fragment into oblivion and the the solid copper bullet would pass through like a hot knife through butter. Obviously, the lead core held up better than I expected and passed right on through where the solid copper bullet expended 100% of its available energy. 2 very different results much to my suprise.
I also talked with the tech department at Barnes today. Their claim was that the 30 cal 180 TSX and TTSX would expand as low as 1800 FPS. They stated that the test medium they use is water and that his opinion was that tissue and bone would help expansion concluding that they would open on game at even lower velocities than 1800 FPS.
Happy shooting!!
