Lets talk bullets

[Broz]

I have been shooting large game since the 70's and have to agree that the wound channels are definatly larger for the calibers. Especially the 7mm's. There are simply way more offerings of heavier bullets sending more lead. I always lean toward the heavier bullets for a caliber and will take them over velocity any day for killing game. For my taste the larger offerings of the fragmenting bullets are the most deadly I have ever seen. They offer fragments to most vital organs, destroy the ones close to the wound channel and there is still enough base lead to pass through. The longer the shot the more the bulet will hold together and the smaller the exit will be but there are still fragments. These type bullet are top preformers for accuracy and wind defiance at distances of 1000 yards or more with the best possible chance to open and expand at all of what is out there today. I agree shot placement is of top order, but if any bullet will cover your butt that the wind just kicked it will be a fragmenting VLD.

Jeff

 

[Jordan Smith]

I always lean toward the heavier bullets for a caliber and will take them over velocity any day for killing game. For my taste the larger offerings of the fragmenting bullets are the most deadly I have ever seen. They offer fragments to most vital organs, destroy the ones close to the wound channel and there is still enough base lead to pass through. The longer the shot the more the bulet will hold together and the smaller the exit will be but there are still fragments. These type bullet are top preformers for accuracy and wind defiance at distances of 1000 yards or more with the best possible chance to open and expand at all of what is out there today. I agree shot placement is of top order, but if any bullet will cover your butt that the wind just kicked it will be a fragmenting VLD.

Jeff

+1

The heavy-for-caliber VLD/A-Max bullets do a bunch of damage compared to the NP and some of the more toughly-constructed bullets that were mainstream 30-40 years ago.

I've also found plastic tips to initiate expansion more violently than hp designs.

 

[elkaholic]

The more complication you bring in to the construction of a bullet the more accuracy is potentially lost bringing it back to a shorter range bullet anyway .
There is different ways to bond a bullet not all bullets are done the same way .
Once you start tipping a bullet to reduce meplat diameter and increase BC you end up making it slower to expand than a normal open meplat on softer targets .
Bond the core and tip the bullet to a small meplat and you have a bullet that may not expand at all at long range due to velocity drop off if it hits a soft target . There is no such thing as the perfect bullet for all situations , as the situations , shot placement and potential targets vary so much . The best we can do is have the best bullet for the job at hand . If we try for the one bullet fits all approach there is going to be some horrible miss match some place along the line .

I have not found that tipping is a disadvantage to expansion over a non tipped bullet. In In fact, I have often found the opposite affect. The most critical piece of the puzzle is (how wide is the meplat at the jacket mouth) whether it has a tip or not. Other than that,I agree with your comments......Rich

 

[elkaholic]

Rich,

Hot very good at this type of discussion....but I haven't let that hold me back in the past.

BTW, bigngeen's dad, I think it was, was shooting a 6.5 Sherman today. Sweet!!!

Searching for the "right" bullet has been a quest of my for many years.

Regarding the 270 Win - the 90 gr Sierra HP was top notch of chucks and yotes out to only a little over 400 yards. With an MV of 3400 they were flawless, though not LR.

The 130 offerings in that caliber ruined the entire front half of a deer if shot at less than 200 yards. Thus all shots were taken at greater than 250 if at all possible.

Hornady Interbonds in 277 are the hardiest, toughest jackets around. They hold together when most other's dust at extreme velocities. But terminally perform flawless terminally in my experience. However their bc is the pits and the lead tip deforms. That gives me the vapors.

Nosler Accubond and ballistic tips have tough jackets, holding up well to the riggers of 3 groove 8 twist bores. They are accurate as a bullet needs to be and perform very well terminally. Even when hitting a deer sized animal at under a hundred yards.

After witnessing what a 375 cal 350 SMK will do to a darn good sized rock at 600 + yards, I think it was. At that distance the FPE is supposed to be nearly 6000 FtLbs. Seeing as that is the only bullet that I desire to have, I'd say aim for the biggest bone in the shoulder and let'r rip. This is said given the reported, by some, inconsistent "iffy" terminal performance

My experience shows that Aluminum tipped bullets if not constructed properly will shed the tip early on an give a very crooked path resulting in very poor penetration.

I suppose brass tips would do the same but so far the ones I'm working with are located in the media within 4 or so inches of the bulk of the bullet with an 18" penetration.

bc and accuracy are what it's all about. MV isn't that big of a deal when the proper bullet is used for the proper application.

A problem with bullet selection for LRH is that we are so few in numbers. (But growing)

Hi Roy, good to hear from you. Where did you run into Cliff at? (Bigns' dad). Do you guys shoot together?.......Rich

 

[royinidaho]

Rich,

Went to Broz's MT shoot yesterday. 13 shooters. T'was nice to see faces. What an outstanding range!!!!

The 620 yard, I think it was, steel fox was dead meat to the 6.5 Sherman...

Great bunch of guys with tons of experience. I learned a ton.

BnG could shoot my big girl and watch the bullet from muzzle to target. Not the trail but the bullet. I'm gonna have to readjust my shooting position a bit. She broke straight back for him every shot. I can spot the hit but after the recoil event.

 

[elkaholic]

Rich,

Went to Broz's MT shoot yesterday. 13 shooters. T'was nice to see faces. What an outstanding range!!!!

The 620 yard, I think it was, steel fox was dead meat to the 6.5 Sherman...

Great bunch of guys with tons of experience. I learned a ton.

BnG could shoot my big girl and watch the bullet from muzzle to target. Not the trail but the bullet. I'm gonna have to readjust my shooting position a bit. She broke straight back for him every shot. I can spot the hit but after the recoil event.

Man, that would have been fun! Glad you were able to attend. I have been tied up with work and will be for the next month.......Rich

 

[elkaholic]

Man, that would have been fun! Glad you were able to attend. I have been tied up with work and will be for the next month.......Rich

Roy....Is there a .270 Sherman on the horizon You are welcome to use my 6.5 reamer anytime you want. The reamer would clean up a .270 chamber and the original .270 chambering would be long enough to just keep the .270 neck........Rich

 

[sportmuaythai]

Good topic and great discussions for learning LR newb. I regard bullet performance and bullet placement equally more important than caliber. I hunted most intensively in the eighties (<360yds.), so PT was a god send, and TB was much better than PH's recommended solids. BTW I see most elk bang flop more at LR on vid. I wonder if that's because they were not aware of being hunted? I know that elk has great tenacity, particular when it has looked at hunter in the eyes.

 

[HARPERC]

...... IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE THE VERY BEST OF ALL THESE QUALITIES IN ANY ONE BULLET, .....Rich

Most of us say this, but is it correct. It may be more a function of dollars. The dollars in R&D, and how much would we pay for a perfect bullet? You're involved in the process Rich, is it more a function of dollars, than technology?

 

[elkaholic]

Most of us say this, but is it correct. It may be more a function of dollars. The dollars in R&D, and how much would we pay for a perfect bullet? You're involved in the process Rich, is it more a function of dollars, than technology?

Yes it is! You may never reach a "perfect" bullet for everything but we could come a lot closer than we are now...Rich

 

[elkaholic]

Good topic and great discussions for learning LR newb. I regard bullet performance and bullet placement equally more important than caliber. I hunted most intensively in the eighties (<360yds.), so PT was a god send, and TB was much better than PH's recommended solids. BTW I see most elk bang flop more at LR on vid. I wonder if that's because they were not aware of being hunted? I know that elk has great tenacity, particular when it has looked at hunter in the eyes.

There is a lot of truth to elk being more at ease at long range. I have NEVER had one run when shot at long range even if they didn't drop right away. I don't think they have a clue what happened.....Rich