Thanks to Nickudu for scanning and hosting this article which provides some field data about how bullet nose shape (flat nose versus round nose) influences penetration depth. For the unbelievers out there, let me be the first to admit that the sample space of my data is not large enough to be statistically reliable. Preferably, 10 or 20 elephants would be shot with each caliber and nose shape of bullet, but as finances preclude that experiment at present, I did what I could.

Thanks for looking!

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1519019

Note: Originally published in African Hunter Magazine. http://www.africanhuntermagazines.com

hats off to you danny boy

a lot of great info and well put together

p.s.

who the hell is that in the avatar???????????????

quote:

For the unbelievers out there, let me be the first to admit that the sample space of my data is not large enough to be statistically reliable.

Hello Dan,

Nice article and pictures.

If I had ventured to publish the same, I know of someone that would have attacked me for not meeting a 99% statistical confidence level. I have no such quarm with you, as the trend demonstrated is indicative and of practical value and in line with Norbert's findings. We except that the numbers can change with a few inches either way, as no 2 shots are alike.

FN solids are superior over the traditional RN Solids, such as those from Barnes-X. The GS custom solid is indeed a fine bullet as I have said before. But one thing is for sure, it does not create a larger wound channel than an expanding bullet such as the Rhino Solid Shank, but this debate has hopefully been settled now between me and Gerard after months of deliberation. Truth be told, they should never have been compared in the first place, as their intended applications differ.

Take care
Chris


Good work chom.
Chris

Nice work, Dan! It's nice to see a test in a medium more relevant to hunting -- not a criticism to other types of testing as an opportunity such as this doesn't present itself to everyone (such as me!).

Dan,
You had me convinced a long time ago, but it was still interesting to read.

But......... Heck, I hate the look of those flatnoses!

500GRAINS, I noticed you hunted with Peter Wood, I had a great time hunting Buff with him in May 2002{real funny guy}.I also left him a packet of Woodliegh 458 solids.
What year did you hunt with him and was he still using them?
Cheers,
Adam.

Dan,
sending you a PM....

jeffe

Ozhunter,

I hunted with Pete in 2001 and 2004. He uses the Woodleigh .458 480 grain solid. Once a year or so he visits RSA and there is a place there that stocks that bullet so he picks up a box when he runs low. Although he tries to conserve them, I suspect he has used up the 2002 bullets already.

500grains,
I figured that might be the case after finding out the PH I had last year uses over fifty rounds a year.
I asked this year's PH how many Bullets he carries on him during a hunt, his awnser was that normally he would carry twenty on his belt, but this late in the season he only had nine plus three in his old push feed 458 left.
As my baggage was over weight this year {Australian flights= 20kg's only} I found it easy to off load my left over 9.3 and 470 ammo, the guy's over there really appreciate it.

Yes, indeed, Dan, the beginnings of a good sample. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the information. I never knew the theory behind flat nosed bullets.

Excellent article, thanks for taking the time and effort.

quote:

The Barnes solids penetrated the shallowest of any bullet tested.

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Maybe that is why Barnes changed the shape of the New Barnes Banded Solids to a more flat-nosed design.