Knuckle Joint Bullet Recovery

[RockyMtnMT]

Figured this is a good time to show this. On our trip to Africa in Sept, my wife took a big trophy golden wildebeest with her 6.5 Creedmoor running the 85g Hammer Hunter at a muzzle vel of 3540 fps. She shot this wildebeest at 150y quartering to directly on the knuckle joint of the shoulder. This put the impact vel at 3120 fps. The little bullet passed through the joint, through the onside lung, and lodged in the offside lung. Totaling about 18" of penetration. The knuckle joint on this animal is about the size of a man's fist. The hole through the big bone was big enough to put your index finger through. This is a tall order for most any bullet, let alone a small caliber from a small cartridge. You will notice in the picture that there is no fracturing of the retained shank. The Hammer did not lose integrity under the extreme task. The impact was actually enough to drop the wildebeest on the impact. He was able to regain his feet, but only made it 75y before bleeding out. It retained 39.7g for 47% weight retention. Right at the same weight retention we would expect from a soft tissue impact at high or low velocity, within a few grains. It squished a bit more but held itself together to put the wildebeest down permanently. You can see in the pic the left front shoulder broken.

 

[Gstew1930]

Nice!!

 

[59FLH]

Softer metal?

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Softer metal?

Yes our copper is quite soft. Not brittle like most.

 

[HARPERC]

Bullets performing at high impact velocities remains important to me.

Prior to finding these, high velocity cartridges weren't that interesting to me.

Not necessarily necessary, but man it sure is fun!

 

[jessej]

Not necessarily necessary, but man it sure is fun!

You got that right!

 

[jessej]

Right now, we are inundated with swine. I've been stickin gold tips through them every time I get to the woods, but I guess it's time to chum them up and run a 151absolute through 3 when they get lined up. Sound like a good test?

Current velocity is 3800 but I'm sure I can squeeze 4k out of it.

 

[fordy]

Gday
those type of results are extremely uncommon but the shot placement is one that's extremely effective if it gets through ( here's the key if & straight line ) & I've had more failures ( true failures that required secondary shots not insurance shots ) than I would like to admit & over quite a few different critters but throughout my life I've learnt what to look for & what to avoid & on avoiding I've tried to avoid certain types of shots with certain pills but either my lack of skills or animal behaviour or climatic conditions I have failed to put the pill exactly where I want & accept it Today & don't get wrapped up to much as if I can get within around 1/2 the vital size of the critter that's then my max range if I need it

So I guess that's why I need pills like yours Steve but more importantly if your pill had of failed you had to sleep beside your wife so now the penny has finally dropped why you make the pills you do cause happy wife happy life

I'll get a selection of my shanks throughout my hammer journey that is so pleasing when your on your knees looking @ the critters not on your knees looking for the critter
It's that simple

Cheers

 

[fordy]

Gday Jessej
That pill is great all the way upto including buff @ those MV I had to back off a touch in the tropics

What chambering are you running those 151 in

& watch the pop these pills do that is also present on pigs & easier to spot on scrubbies ( very difficult on buff but there donkeys it's cool ) & harperc asked me when I first saw it had I ever seen that before & no I haven't & yet to with any other brand & im not going to give away the details to you as be interesting if you see it but it's all part of the thing a few of us call the bubble


Looking forward to your journey
Cheers

 

[jessej]

What chambering are you running those 151 in

Currently a couple 300 rums.
Have a 300/338 lapua that's on my list of things to try it in. Along with the afterburners.

Where I am, bullets are far less critical than your locale.
Broadheads are important to me.
On very seldom occasions I use a rifle for big game hunting.
Swine on the other hand, die by whatever means at hand. And collection is unimportant. Gut shot with a 22LR is just as good as a shoulder shot with a RUM. Dead is dead.
And before any bleeding hearts get upset about that comment, examine your on solutions for vermin/ nuisance/rat control.
Here, swine are considered just that.

No "bubble" for me yet.
I'll be on the look out.

 

[74honker]

Very impressive!

 

[memtb]

Very impressive performance, especially for a light, small caliber bullet….very impressive! A higher percentage of weight loss that I'm comfortable with…..but, still great performance!

Oh, and congrats on a great experience for You and your Wife! memtb

 

[mdmiller]

Good shooting, great looking animal!!

 

[DarryH]

I love seeing recovered bullets and the results. Thanks for sharing,