I am always suspicious by nature of the new and different but got a chance to use the North Fork FPS in the 470 NE on a small ele this past month.

It was a raking shot at about 75 yards and the solid penetrated about 1.4 m (4.6 ft), entering just behind the ribs and stopping just under the skin centrally in the chest, between its legs.

There have been many extolling the penetration of the FPS's including JPK, 500 grs., etc.

It is only one result but the straight line penetration was fanatastic compared to other results I have witnessed. I'm sold!

Here is the recovered bullet, with no distortion, compared to a new 500 gr. bullet. The picture shows the rotational slip of the bullet until about half of the bands have engaged the rifling, which Mike Brady says is good performance. (The width of the rifling is wider at the front of the bullet and then is a uniform width from about half way to the back of the bullet).



Though irrelevant to the performance of the FPS compared to round nose solids, they shoot very accurately in my Krieghoff.

Look at the penetration I got on rhino with the .416 flat nose solid. I have the picture in my hunting report. MUFASA

that bullet is a proud trophy you could wear around your neck with pride.

awesome post!

I tried the 450 grain NF solids for the first time in my Lott. They are absolute tack drivers on paper. I dug some out of the dirt bank I use as a back stop. They were in great shape still. The copper fouling was almost nil compared to my TSX bullets as well.

Thanks for sharing your experiance with them. I don't know when I will get to hunt something big enough to use them but it is nice to know they will work when I do.

It's always good to see this kind of info. Whose experience was this as you were hunting with a different gun?

quote:

Originally posted by Will:

There have been many extolling the penetration of the FPS's including JPK, 500 grs., etc.

Aaaaaaah, someone was listening!

Now if only you could get a 2nd trigger installed on that Krieghoff double.

Now i dont know if this a fair comparison, but i got complete pass through (8 ft penetration) in a bull in 2005: Load; 505 gibbs, with GS custom 500 gr @2400 fps.

Just for comparison, here is a GS FPS next to a loaded NF FPS in 9.3x74R. Hoping to get Roscoe help me load some of the GS. The NF 286gr load got 2325 fps w/67gr H4831SC in the Chapuis double.

I think its only fair to mention that 500 Grains sold me on the flat points and as a result of his testing and urging I tried them and became a believer and a vocal advocate. But it was 500 Grains test before mine that convinced me.

Indlovu,

I have achieved six feet and more with the North Fork 450gr flat point solids in elephant with the "lowly" 458wm and 2190fps. I find them hard to recover becuase the have the strong tendency to exit.

JPK

Yep. Them FNS slugs are tops. A round nosed solid would have bounced off.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
Yep. Them FNS slugs are tops. A round nosed solid would have bounced off.

The research has been done many times and shows...that a round ball is so simple it doesn't know how to tumble...whereas round nose bullets are susceptible to tumbling and misdirection (at times)...whereas bullets with a flat nose profile or meplat track straighter and that is why the penetration increases over other designs.

This was the research that resulted in the bullet I recently used on elephant which achieved full exits on brain and shoulder shots while moving at less than 2000 fps.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
The research has been done many times and shows...that a round ball is so simple it doesn't know how to tumble...whereas round nose bullets are susceptible to tumbling and misdirection (at times)...whereas bullets with a flat nose profile or meplat track straighter and that is why the penetration increases over other designs.

This was the research that resulted in the bullet I recently used on elephant which achieved full exits on brain and shoulder shots while moving at less than 2000 fps.

i am a fan of belt mountain punch bullets...

what cal? what weight? what cart? what gun? thanks!!!

ah! found it...awesome!!!

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=560100986#560100986

50 alaskan...thats what i thought!

Well, that was easy since you answered your own questions. We could run these bullets faster but the gun would turn into Jekyll and Hyde...screws would back out (mag tube screws would snap) and the gun would really torque...so we backed down about 150 fps and the gun settled down and we lost little to no penetration. The end result of this project was 458 win mag type ballistics but with .50 caliber diameter bullets...and the bullets were the key.

I have noticed this type of Jekyll and Hyde reaction in many guns and calibers as you approach redline. Often backing off just a bit does wonders and results in no tangible loss.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Well, that was easy since you answered your own questions. We could run these bullets faster but the gun would turn into Jekyll and Hyde...screws would back out (mag tube screws would snap) and the gun would really torque...so we backed down about 150 fps and the gun settled down and we lost little to no penetration. The end result of this project was 458 win mag type ballistics but with .50 caliber diameter bullets...and the bullets were the key.

I have noticed this type of Jekyll and Hyde reaction in many guns and calibers as you approach redline. Often backing off just a bit does wonders and results in no tangible loss.

dave clay was working on the 50 texan...a 2.3" case that he modifies the marlin pretty good. that extra .2" would work wonders...i floated the idea of the 45-80 the 2.3" version of the 45-70 and he liked the idea since you get to keep the barrel and can use factory 45-70 ammo. and cut down on the smithing and cost of a barrel.

he is the best marlin smith there is i think.

he could tighten up your gun and lengthen the oal if you wanted. his goal was to run hunting loads at 47,000 psi and push a 500 grain bullet to dg velocities.

I am glad we agree on the flat points; another interesting fact about flagt point solids is that they perform best at higher velocities; the higher the velocity, the greater the cavitation effect; in esence, friction is minimized because the bullet travels in a cloud of vaporized water and tissue fluids. The US navy has explored this effect and uses supercavitiation torpedoes to increase the speed throught the water. The science behind this concept has been well proven. For more info try www.gscustom.co.za

quote:

Originally posted by JPK:
I think its only fair to mention that 500 Grains sold me on the flat points and as a result of his testing and urging I tried them and became a believer and a vocal advocate. But it was 500 Grains test before mine that convinced me.

Indlovu,

I have achieved six feet and more with the North Fork 450gr flat point solids in elephant with the "lowly" 458wm and 2190fps. I find them hard to recover becuase the have the strong tendency to exit.

JPK

JPK
My feelings are hurt.

I thought I was the one that told you to use the 450 North Fork FP in your 458.

NE 450 No2,

You are correct. But 500 Grains' vocal advocacy of flat points predates your excellent advice to try the North Forks.

Prior to your wise counsel, I was looking to try Bridger Bullets, which were unavailable due to the illness of the proprietor, or GS Custom, which had at the time a spotty record for timely delivery.

Foretunately, you advised me to try the North Forks and I'm never going back!

Thanks again for your excellent advice!

JPK