Frangible vs pass through

[marksman1941]

Yep makes sense. Let the record reflect! As I am not recommending true powdered metal or varmint bullets for big game hunting, neither am I implying that match bullets don't go through walls!

Just out of pure curiosity, what bullet do you load in the 556 for that purpose that doesn't penetrate walls or ceilings, and have you actually verified that these bullets won't? That's pretty impressive when I think about it, a full power load that doesn't endanger people on the other side of an ordinary wall! The barnes varmint grenade immediately comes to mind, but I'm curious if anyone has done any actual testing on drywall with a target behind it or something?

this video should be required viewing before choosing home defense ammo

Also, to my knowledge the Glaser safety slug is the only effective self defense round that didn't penetrate drywall. Looks like they made a 45gr 5.56, but sold it in packs of 6? Which is an odd choice

 

[asd9055]

I have different load for home, then the "famous" Houston neighborhoods. Even differend firearms.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I have gone down this rabbit hole multiple times and have tried a myriad of different bullets on just about every game animal east of the Mississippi.
What I do now with any new rifle is buy a sample of many different bullets, find the load that that rifle likes and then buy a "lifetime supply" of those components and that is what that rifle is fed until I either sell it or I die. If it happens to be a cup and core bullet, so be it. If it is a bonded or mono-metal. No problem. I then choose the rifle for the intended game and hunt with it. Bullets matter more than headstamps and shot placement trumps everything when shooting at living beings.

 

[Salmonhead]

In my situation, I prefer high velocity cartridges and have not shot critters past 650 yards, so my impact velocities are generally on the high end of what a bullet can handle. I also hunt in Michigan a lot, and in some of the western states on public property. I prefer bonded bullets most of the time. I am more concerned with a bullet holding together at high velocity so it penetrates all the way through vs not opening enough at low velocity because I don't normally shoot far enough for low velocity impacts to be a thing. I also prefer at least one broken shoulder and an exit hole. If an animal is not dropped, and manages to squirm off, I want it incapacitated in the mobility department as well as the organs. It just limits how far they can get before they expire. I don't want to ruin my neighbors hunt while I'm tracking an animal if I can help it. On public land in Colorado, I also don't want an elk to get over the next hill and get finished by someone else. So I attempt to take out the top of the heart/ front of the lungs, aiming for the Aorta and pulmonary arteries, and typically get one or both shoulder sockets in the process. I also want to be able to get to the good stuff from any angle, whether or not there are shoulders in the way.
Where we hunt in Wyoming for antelope matters not. One tree on 9,000 acres of land. Soft bullets work well there, and if they run off, you can watch them until they drop.
For guys shooting long range, low impact velocity and velocity retention are a bigger factor and the softer, high BC bullets make the most sense for them.
Then there is always personal preference. I have had many customers state they will never use XYZ bullet again, and the next customer states the opposite. So like the OP stated, good thing we have choices!
I enjoy hearing everyone's personal preference and why.

 

[Joefrazell]

Frangible for me. eldm's and bergers. Let's make no mistake about it, I'm there to kill the animal as quickly and as humanely as possible. Frangible bullets do more damage in my experience. Penetration is way overrated also imo. I've shot animals with bonded bullets and they always passed through and the animal would run off, never have been able to convince myself to hunt with a mono even after getting them to shoot decent out of one particular rifle haha. Where I hunt long shots are common. I'm not going to cripple my rifle's performance with a mono, or even a bonded bullet. Frangible cup/core style bullets shoot better generally, anre slicker and are less money(small side advantage) than the others. I like to shoot a lot. Now, with this being said I'd still potentially shoot a bonded/mono for a moose hunt. Or just fling the 245 eol haha.

There are a few things I don't like about frangibles

1)I don't like lead in my meat( not that I'm worried about lead ingestion, I just don't like biting into a taco and crunching down on a piece of lead.

2)I don't like the amount of trauma that can happen with higher impact velocity shots. I once shot a buck with a 147 eldm at 90 yards and the blood shot area was about 24" all over the place on that side. Buck didn't take a step though. He should stood there and shook for a few seconds and tipped over. On a side not he was one of the best tasting mule deer we've taken.

My fix for both of these problems is to make sure I'm getting a a good 6-9" behind the shoulder when shooting within 300 yards. If it's a boomer of an animal this goes out the window and I take the first shot presented and just deal with the meat loss.

I also generally shoot my eldm's at around 2750 fps from the muzzle. 147's in 6.5 and 180's in 7saum. Bergers are the same but i feel I can speed them up just a bit over the eldm's