www.gun-tests.com/
go to Tools & Techniques, then Ammo. There is a comparision of premium bullets in the .30-06 cal.
Barnes X/Fail Safe/Nosler/A-Frame.

Interesting test but I think it should have been done @ 100yds for something more relavent. Few of us shoot big game @ the muzzle. Also interesting, I have tested bullets in wet phone books & have never had a NP turn around. Maybe this was do to the lack of stability @ the muzzle (hence testing @ 100yds instead).

Just doing a test to see which bullet is the "toughest", means nothing.

Each bullet has it's own special design.

Just because the Barnes X or Fail Safe is the toughest, does not mean it is the best bullet.

Personally,I feel the Fail Safe is too tough.

I would base my decision on results of actual kills.

I suscribed to Gun Tests for a year and thought it stunk.

Thanks for posting the link.
My personal favorite is the failsafe, and it is still the first bullet I try. I shy away from the Barnes X because they tended to be more inaccurate than the other (Although I haven't shot them in years).

a sledgehammer solid, for example, would have proved itself tougher and I dare not use it on deer.

regarding penetration, you may definetely have too much of a good thing.

montero

So much of the determining factor of choosing the proper bullet depends upon the game to be hunted. That is the beauty of being able to reload. Before a plains game hunt I did similar testing into wet newpaper at 50 yards and choose the Barne X because it held together better then other bullets tested.(For 35 Whelen, Nosler Partition, Sierra Game Kings, Nosler Ballistic tip, Speer Grand Slams, Speer Spitzers, Hornady Interlock) I thought this was important for an all-around load for the hunt for impala, red hartebeest, oryx and zebra. After the hunt, I thought the choice a good one.

But if I was tailoring a load strictly for whitetail or pronghorn, a bullet that expanded a bit quicker(softer) would be preferable, in my opinion.

BigBullet

I'm a great cynic when it comes to bullets, and I have a great mistrust of institutional-type bullet tests. As an example, I remember the glowing, professionally-conducted test reports that surrounded the Speer Grand Slam bullet when it was first introduced in the late '70s. Despite all the hype, the first time I used the Grand Slam on game resulted in a complete jacket/core separation, and this from a simple broadside lung shot on a mule deer at about 100 yards.

The only test that means anything to me comes from actual performance on game in the field, and I don't feel as though I have any real understanding of any bullet's terminal performance capabilities until I've taken at least a score of animals with it, including elk and some of the bigger African stuff.

The good news is, there are so many truly great premium bullets available today that you can experiment until you find the one that shoots best in your rifle and then simply go hunting. I've had such great results with Nosler Partition, Trophy Bonded, Swift A-Frame, and Winchester Fail-Safe bullets, amoung others, that I'd be happy to hunt with any of these for just about anything.

As an example, when I first started breaking in my current .300 Winchester, I found that 180 gr. Nosler Partition Protected Points gave me consistent, tiny groups at all ranges, consistent chronograph readings, and high velocities at reasonable pressure levels under all weather conditions. Better yet, everything I've taken with that rifle, from Damaraland dik dik to Cape eland, has go down quickly, cleanly, predicably, and with fuss. I don't need another load for that rifle, plain and simple.

Typically, what these soberly-conducted, white coat and rubber gloves-type tests don't tell you is how the bullet in question performs on game. They also don't tell you how the bullet will perform in your individual rifle (and not just on paper). What good is the most perfectly constructed bullet in the world if it only provides you with erratic 6" groups?

Nor do they take into account the fact that manufacturers often change the profile of a certain bullet, and the new rendition may no longer shoot well for you, and you'll have to look to another projectile. A case in point is my old .300 Win. Mag. It shot like a house o' fire with the original Winchester 180 gr. Fail-Safe bullet, and I shot a slew of game with it. Later, this bullet was changed and it didn't shoot nearly as well for me as the first version.

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[ 07-24-2003, 17:29: Message edited by: allen day ]

Many, many people who post here have shot a bigger variety of animals than I ever will but I have never hunted an animal where I didn't feel comfortable using a Nosler Partition and this includes the one and only shot I used on my one and only Cape Buffalo. There may be better bullets for specific applications but the Partition has to be the all-around champ....and the pricing isn't bad either.

If penetration and toughness were the last word in a bullets performance then why not just use solids?

This is clearly a test concieved to produce a preferential result. Ive seen gelatin test results on these and more bullets and the "big winner" in this one produced very long but pathetically narrow wound channels in the other tests. Not what I consider good performance from a hunting bullet.. If I were to opt for "MORE PENETRATION" with my hunting loads then it would only be deeper into the side of the hill beyond the exit hole. Screw that, Ill take the extra tissue damage..

[ 07-24-2003, 22:18: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]

Hatcher's Notebook has a bit on penetration. Penetration of oak at 200 yds with 30-06 150gr fmj @ 2700fps was 32 1/2". Penetration @ 50ft (same load) was 11 1/4". According to Hatcher @ 200yds " the range was long enough so that the bullet was sufficiently stabilzed to continue point first and thus give good penetration...at short range the bullet had not settled down to a stable flight, and when it encountered the resistance of the oak it yawed badly, and rapidly gave up all its energy."

I could be wrong, but I think his explanation holds true for all bullets, premium or not.

I would go with the Partition. I have never killed anything bigger than Elk with it but it has never failed me.

Losthwy --- The test seems to be good, however they did not test the best, and most accurate premium hunting bullet, the North Fork. Good shooting.