Pass through or Expended in Target?

[Son of a Gun!]

I've been of the pass through camp, but last year I built a new rifle in 6mm ARC and the only bullets I could get to shoot real well were the Berger 105gr. VLD Hunter! I had said I would never use the Berger bullets as I considered them a target bullet! Anyway I used them on an Antelope hunt and shot an Antelope at a ranged 419 yds.! I hit him right in the boiler room and he dropped like a bag of rocks! Made a quarter size hole going in no exit and the lungs looked like mush! When we got back to camp and started skinning I found where the bullet had made it to the far side hide and there were small holes in the hide and shrapnel! Guess you could say it did exactly what it was suppose to do! Well an Antelope is a pretty small animal! I found some Hornady ELD X 103gr. bullets and loaded them for Deer unfortunately I got too picky and didn't kill a deer with them hopefully I can try them on a hog or javalina in Texas this winter!

 

[Mike Matteson]

Shot placement for me

But then again--- this is all personal preference, which is why people argue over the same thing time after time.

Because they like to argue. That why we have so many different calibers and case designs. Some good and not so good. Some people wear their heart on there sleeve, and it gets hurt.

 

[bengineer]

I am a die-hard believer in softer bullets on game. That is a relative term, of course. A soft bullet in a bull elk or nilgai isnt necessarily a soft bullet in a hippo or a pronghorn.
I prefer a wide enough wound to bleed freely, as I am not a dedicated spine shooter, but not so wide as to prevent penetration nor to create such wide wounding that clotting occurs.
In a 243, I use a ballistic tip, partition or 100 interlock. In 25-06, the 100 game king. 162 sst or eld (either m or x) in 280ai. 165 interlock in 308. Hawk in 375. You may see the pattern.
The extreme of this is to use real varmint bullets on game. It can work, Ive seen it. But penetration is so limited that any margin of error is eliminated. If you neck shoot, this bullet type can work nearly always. Body shots, not so much. And they are super angle dependent.
Solids are the extreme the other way. A round or pointy nose non-deforming bullet can be a cruel wounder, unless bones are broken and vitals are damaged. A pencil hole in a heart can plug and just wound. A flat nosed solid (or equivalent) generally makes a wide for caliber wound and promotes bleeding out both sides. But those wounds often don't compare to those from a weight-shedding expander.
I am a chronic bullet finder. I dig em from backstops. I even dig em from a paunch if I think they are in there (I do have limited smell).
Even with all that said, two holes please.

 

[5.56×250]

My daughter shot her first deer this season and the bullet evaporated in the animal . 6.5 Grendel 123gr Hornady sst . I was very impressed with the performance of the round and the bullet. It was LATE LATE. But still legal shooting light by Ga law. We had waited on the shot because a buck was behind the group of doe deer. It was a doe day and we had agreed dhrvwould shoot her first deer that evening. We waited to the last minute and she took a doe. Because it was so late, she was having issues telling if the doe was full broadside and she had decided she wouldn't waste meat on a shoulder shot. Well, the doe was angling towards us slightly and she hit it at the second rib from the back, dreaded liver shot !. The bullet exploded and turned the liver to a liquid and even though yhrr bullet was angling towards the rear and hit back, it still blood shot both shoulders! . The deer went 40 yds and expired quickly. If the bullet had stayed together, my daughter would have had a terrible experience for her first shot on game. I vote the bullet stays in the animal and sheds itself for maximum damage.

 

[Bill Van Horn]

I want an exit, but not just falling out. Bullets create shock ONLY when they are going fast enough to create that pressure and force in the tissue. When a little expanding Bullet hits flesh, it immediately Slows down. Most deer caliber bullets cant even create a wide shock path longer than a few inches. Try some ballistics gel and see it. It's a short length of shock, then a pencil thin hole the rest of the way out. Sure that's normally enough to make the kill, but I want 6" diameter+ shock cavity the entire length of the wound channel, regardless of point of impact. Big bores, heavy flat nose bullets, high bullet speed from entry to exit with large frontal area makes fast kills and covers for a lot of my human error at the shot. I use expanding bullets for longer range, but I still pick a bigger gun than most so I can use a sturdier bullet with softer nose to create the same effect. At least that's my experience.

I generally agree. After more than 100 bison and nearly that many elk all of which were for meat this is my opinion. The Faster the animal loses concious (not necessisarly death) the less adrenalin and the better the meat. A double lung shot (which allows for some impact variation) that expands and blows up both lungs and exits allows for rapid hemorage which results in death. Well bled out meat is significantly better tasting. Avoid heart and brain/upper spinal shots that shut down the heart which powers the bleed out. I have used a variety of calibers and have settled on a .338 Norma suppressed ,.225 Hornady and prefer ranges of +/- 200 yds. from cover. Animals usually drop and don't attempt getting up. There is little disturbance and if the stalk is proper multiple animals can be taken (the old time buffalo hunters would some times get a "stand" and shoot up to 100 animals with out getting up). The only meat damage is to the ribs.

 

[jasent]

I've been running the 205gr super bulldozer 2's and they are best of both wolds for me. Shot my buck this last fall at 652 yards. Full pass through and vitals were shredded. Very little blood shot and quarter size exit

 

[Rob L.]

I've had it both ways, bullet remaining in the body and also exiting, with animals DRT and also having to track.
I prefer the bullet exits so I don't end up eating it or any part of it.

 

[wonderman4]

My daughter shot her first deer this season and the bullet evaporated in the animal . 6.5 Grendel 123gr Hornady sst . I was very impressed with the performance of the round and the bullet. It was LATE LATE. But still legal shooting light by Ga law. We had waited on the shot because a buck was behind the group of doe deer. It was a doe day and we had agreed dhrvwould shoot her first deer that evening. We waited to the last minute and she took a doe. Because it was so late, she was having issues telling if the doe was full broadside and she had decided she wouldn't waste meat on a shoulder shot. Well, the doe was angling towards us slightly and she hit it at the second rib from the back, dreaded liver shot !. The bullet exploded and turned the liver to a liquid and even though yhrr bullet was angling towards the rear and hit back, it still blood shot both shoulders! . The deer went 40 yds and expired quickly. If the bullet had stayed together, my daughter would have had a terrible experience for her first shot on game. I vote the bullet stays in the animal and sheds itself for maximum damage.

My experience with the SST, in any caliber, is they are way too thin jackets for my use. I only delegate them to target usage.

I have been hunting since the winter of 1964. Of all the animals I have killed, NEVER have I failed to get a pass thru shot.

I have been lucky enough that none of the animals required a second or third shot. Every one of them have been one shot kills and only one ran, but he still required no follow up shot.

Also, Congratulations to your daughter on her first hunt. Glad she had the experience and may she have many more seasons to look forward to.

 

[5.56×250]

My experience with the SST, in any caliber, is they are way too thin jackets for my use. I only delegate them to target usage.

I have been hunting since the winter of 1964. Of all the animals I have killed, NEVER have I failed to get a pass thru shot.

Also, Congratulations to your daughter on her first hunt. Glad she had the experience and may she have many more seasons to look forward to.

You have been hunting about 14 more years than I have . I was born winter of 1964, lol. I've killed my share of game and had pass throughs and bullets that stayed in the animal. My daughters story aside, for me, pass through or not, really doesn't matter. Animals die either way and quite quickly . Shot placement is key. In my story above, I learned that a thin jacketed bullet can save the day for shots that are marginal and in my daughters situation in that day, saved her from a bad experience . If I had been behind the rifle that day, I would have chosen a different shot . I was proud of her for choosing not to waste meat , but I look at percentages of a good outcome when I pull the trigger and would have either passed on the shot or broke the shoulders down, probably the first option .

 

[D2wing]

By any means am I a perfect shot, far from it, and in my experience I've had both pass thru's and non-pass thru's, animals were recovered either way. The non-pass thru's didn't go any farther than the pass thru's. I've also had DRT results both ways. I know this is boring to hear, but bullet placement is everything, so is practice, and more practice. Honing one's skills is a huge factor.

This. Heart shot every time. I agree the ideal is max energy in the target, pass through is ok too. Any high energy expanding bullet that destroys the vitals is great. But you must put the bullet in the right place. Even with a pass through heart shot I have had to track in heavy cover for a short distance. Blood trails are great but you should be able to track as well. Not every shot is perfect. Out of a hundred or more deer I have lost 2 both using a 20 guage slug gun. Both I missed the heart and pass through didn't help as they escaped into a wet swamp.

 

[newtonian]

Some of you might want to try full metal jacket for guaranteed pass through. Pass through with a blood trail is a big thing with archery though.

 

[newtonian]

Maybe some of you should use full metal jacket, you get all the velocity and guaranteed pass through. Pass through and better chance of a good blood trail is very important... in archery.

 

[5.56×250]

Some of you might want to try full metal jacket for guaranteed pass through. Pass through with a blood trail is a big thing with archery though.

Not really. Same debate goes on in archery world too, lol. One crew says pass through for blood trailing, other crew says the arrow staying in the animal allows the broadhead to continue to cut as the animal runs. I've killed more game with archery gear than with a rifle , and feel exactly the same way I do with a rifle. Shot placement is key and animals die quickly either way. Some of my best blood trails came from shots that didn't pass through. On others, if I had not had a pass through , I might have had a lot of trouble finding the animal . My biggest bow kill whitetail was 10ft from the base of my tree. If the arrow had not punched through the brisket, I'd have had no blood at all. Even though I vented the heart and had a hole directly under it, blood was pretty scarce . That 12pt broke into a dead hard flatout sprint for 200yds ! He died on a dead run and buried his left antler in the ground as he slide to a stop.

 

[esshup]

Pass thru. A lot of my shots are from above the animal, and a non-pass thru doesn't leave a good blood trail if they aren't DRT.

I had one using a NBT that wasn't a pass thru, luckily I saw the deer fall. No blood trail for almost 90 yds, only the last 10 yds had blood.