they failed as a killing bullet. Lost a huge mulie buck with the 140's out of my 270 and had bad luck with 190 in my 300 Win Mag. Shot a small cow elk & only got 8 inches of penetration.
Kirk,
Your results are inconsistent with the vast majority of those who use them. This doesn't mean it didn't happen. The key point for us to focus on is to find out why. We get very few reports of "failures" but we do get them. We are focused on finding the root cause for these reports so that we can eliminate them regardless of the root cause.
Every bullet within every brand will have a story similar to yours that they "failed as a killing bullet." It is our responsibility to find out why and act on this information by either changing our bullets or by informing hunters on best practices to achieve successful results.
I encourage you to contact me directly at
[email protected] so that we can review your situation in greater detail. It will also be
beneficial if we can get the bullets back for testing. I will relay that to date, we have not been able to duplicate the results described (in other reports) using samples we've received. We have some more bullets heading our way which will be tested so I regard the situation as unresolved.
For the sake of others reading this thread I will relay three things that we know are possible causes for poor results. The first is using our Target or Tactical bullets instead of our Hunting bullets. The Target and Tactical bullets are made on thicker jackets which do not expand and fragment as effectively as the Hunting bullets.
The second item is slow impact velocity. It has been found in testing that our bullets will expand and fragment at velocities as low as 1,800 fps. This is slower than most bullets need to expand but having said this, I do not regard 1,800 fps as an acceptable impact velocity. Hunters should plan to have impact velocities above 1,800 fps. Several factors change MV including tempurature and altitude. Also, loads that are not chronographed may be shooting slower than is believed which may result in a lower than effective impact velocity.
The last item is trimming and repointing the bullet tips. Although this is a very effective way to increase BC it can lead to a bullet which pencils through the animal with no expansion or fragmentation. The tip of our Hunting bullets should not be modified. Even if you simply trim the tip you thicken it to the point where you may change expansion characteristics.
I mention these items not because I believe they apply to your situation but rather to help those who are using our bullets to avoid issues that may cause poor performance. Something to keep in mind is that I have never met an active hunters who has never put a second shot into an animal. I'm not saying they don't exist but I believe if they do, they are very few and not overly active.
Animals are at best inconsistent "media" and strange things can happen. It is our goal to provide the hunter with a tool that produces a quick, ethical kill. Using a second bullet to make sure an animal doesn't suffer for longer than necessary is something I do not regard as a failure.
I personally shot a large wild hog in WV at 75 yards. The hog ran straight at me but turned in the last 30 feet. As it charged me I took a second shot but being in a rush I missed. The hog ran another 100 yards before it piled up. When we got to it, the hog was breathing his final breathe so I did not take another shot to end the animals suffering since it had just expired.
We were testing bullets so we opened the animal to see what happened. We found that the shot had torn the bottom half of the hog's heart to shreds along with significant damage to the surrounding tissue. That hog was dead the moment the bullet made impact. It just didn't know it yet. Such situation are more common than one might expect making hunting one of the most challenging and enjoyable activities.
Regards,
Eric
