Another bullet question.

[EddieWalker]

Gordon,

I tried the Barns X bullets and didn't care for them. I haven't tried the newer versions, but have since changed my view on reloading and premium bullets. My thinking at the time of going with the Barns was based on all the great reviews I was reading in the magazines. It was the hardest hitting, best expanding bullet ever type of stuff. I shot caribou, deer, elk and ten animals in Namibia with those bullets and found that there was absolutely no consitancy in how well they expanded. With a .338 mag shooting 200 grain bullets, I never had them go all the way through anything I shot. Same thing with 150 grain bullets in my .30-06. It took months to come up with a consitant load, but I never liked what they did on animals.

That experience is where I realized that the magazines and "experts" are just selling products. I also don't think there is a big difference between calibers or bullets. It's all about accuracy and what works in your barrel. What works in my rifle might now work in yours. Instead of uncounted hours working up loads and spending time at the range, I bought a box of premium ammo, shot it and went from there.

All this is based on thin skinned, non dangerous game. If and when I ever hunt Cape Buffalo, I'm going to do what my PH recomends and rely on shot placement more then solid or soft tip. Just think of how many elephant where shot with small bore calibers under .30 a hundred years ago!!!

Eddie

 

[nybirdman]

Quote from American Rifleman Nov.2010 John Barness author.Expanding bullets and how they work.
"part of the reason why many bullets are found just under the hide on the far side of big-game animals;fresh animal hide is fairly tough,somewhat elastic,and only lightly connected to the muscle underneath.Most expanded bullets are rounded into the classic mush-room,so they can't cut their way through the hide at vastly reduced velocity.Instead they tend to push the hide away from the muscle until the hide stops streching and snaps back."This all makes sense,and the fact that the bullets were recovered means that they did their job.

 

[gsganzer]

Here's one of the reasons I got turned off from using cup and core or bonded bullets for trophy hunting or meat hunting. This Nosler Accubond was recovered under the skin on the far shoulder of a blackbuck ram, shot perfectly in the shoulder. It was shot at 60 yards with a .257 weatherby and didn't exit. When field dressing the animal, the internals were completely liquified, including the stomach (even though it was shot clean in the shoulder). This resulted in a lot of contaminated and wasted meat. It's certainly not a bullet failure, because the animal dropped in its tracks. But if I was using a monolithic bullet, it would have been just as dead with an exit wound and less wasted meat.

This also proves nybirdmans quote that the rounded bullets are often contained by the elastic skin (which I've seen often with cup and core or bonded bullets). I shot a 125# hog at 10 yards with a .44 mag lever gun and recovered the bullet under the far skin, due to it's large and smooth frontal area after expansion. The monolithic bullets will have sharper petals and typically cut through the elastic skin giving you an exit wound and blood trail.

I don't use monolithics for all my shooting and agree that they're awfully expensive. But if I can get a Barnes or other monolithic bullet to group well in my gun, then that's typically what I'll use for hunting game.

 

[Redbug]

I have several calibers 3006 and up. I have had the best results with the good old Remington Core-Lokt's. I like the 150 grain core-lokt with the 3006.

 

[Tollster]

If I am new to a rifle I will typically purchase various brands (minimum of 3, typically I try 5, then write on the box for reference) of ammunition of the same grain weight, then use what groups best in my gun. I too am a 100 yarder here in the northeast, if I hit what I am aiming at, there's a very good chance its going down, regardless of bullet design.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I reload and use Hornady bullets almost exclusively. Tried some Remingtons, but they were all over the paper, while Hornady had holes kissing or better.

 

[studor]

I have reloaded and used just about every brand of bullet you can probably think of and would agree with others that where it is put is more important than what it is. If you are happy with the performance then that's what counts.
When shotguns only season was first introduced locally I tried all kinds of slugs (tough on the shoulder )and settled on "copper solids" because they were extremely accurate. The first deer I shot with one looked like it had been killed by swallowing a hand grenade!
A lot of times I will develop handloads with a cheaper bullet then use a premium bullet of the same weight to see how it shoots. I find that often the premium bullets are harder to find an accurate loading for.
I do think that a deer hit with a bullet in the heart lung area cannot tell if it was a premium or standard bullet! JMHO