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Bullet description:
Replacing the cone point of the Impala LWHV with a cylindrical part that ends in a flattened round nose gives you an Impala KO bullet. The diameter of the meplat is approximately 60% of the bullet diameter, depending on caliber.

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Instant Stopping Power
Massive Destruction of Vital Organs by radial shock waves
Minimum Meat Damage

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Do IMPALA bullets wear the barrel excessively?

Solid bullets are harder than jacketed bullets. The IMPALA’s grooves however, reduce its bearing surface over 40% and its diameter, which is 1/1000†undersized, further reduces barrel friction. Tests have shown that IMPALA brass bullets give higher velocities with pressures 300-500 bar lower than solids made from softer copper alloys.

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How does the IMPALA bullet work?

THAT it works excellent on all kinds of game it has proven thousands of times. HOW it really works we can try to explain theoretically, as there is no experiment that 100% simulates a shot on life game. Here is an explaintation that sounds logical to me:

The IMPALA, like all hunting bullets, has to transform its kinetic energy by compressing the body liquids (the tissue consists of 90% water). This results in pressure waves which build a wound cavity, responsible for shock and tissue distruction. This hydrodynamic force is the least with streamlined (military) FMJ bullets.Even conventional hunting bullets, as they are, give only mediocre performance. Only after they increase their frontal area by mushrooming or get cylindrical shape after frgmentation of the frontal part they are able to transform enough energy.This deformation not only consumes a part of the bullets cinetic energy but to take place it requires adequte impact velocity as well as enough body resistance of the life target( otherwise the result is a “FMJ effect†and the animal runs a long way before it dies).

In game tissue the IMPALA, unlike a pointed FMJ bullet, travels straight for about 15-20cm(6-8 inches), super cavitation could be the reason for this stability. The wounding capability of the cone point in combination with the sharp cutting edge( creating the shock waves) is superior to the cylindrical bullet rest of a partial fragmentin copper solid. Lacking the splitters the latter crates, the IMPALA gives less meat destruction as well as less blood shot meat. Therefore IMPALA bullets are first choice for cleanly taking small game like hare, fox roe deer or game birds, even with larger calibres.

Completely different is the IMPALA’S performance on larger game.

Conventional hunting bullets stbilice when they are decelerated in tissue by mushrooming.
This makes the bullet shorter, moves the center of gravity forward and decreases the rotation speed. The non deforming IMPALA solid after 15-20cm starts wobbling and can, in some cases, even completely turn , because the center of gravity remains in the rear half of the bullet. If this happens and the animals body is large enough, the IMPALA stabilizes itself again and travels base forward, the flat base giving the ideal cylindrical shape for inducing shock waves. But also when ist is turning, the IMPALA is capable to create a wound cavity comparable to a deforming bullet. The oval shped exit holes sometimes encountered shows of the bullets wobbling or turning when it left the body. The IMPALA solid increases its frontal diameter by tumbling rather than by deformation. Therefoer the bullets performance is widely unaffected by impact velocity and target resistance and, as the chart shows, the maximum energy transfer is between 20 and 40cm (8-16 inch) . At this satge of penetration all expanding bullets transfer only little energy because their remaining velocity is low and the shape of the mushroomed bullet is again more streamlined, lacking an sharp, geometrical cutting edge. This explains the IMPALA’S outstanding performance on large game, even of comparatively light bullets in small calibers. Nevertheless penetration of IMPALA bullets comes close to round nose FMJ’s and solids. The 65gr (4,2g) 6mm IMPALA out of a .243Win. has proven to completely penetrate and knock down Kudu and Oryx on broadside shots. Penetration lengthwise happened also on Blue Wildebeest with the 6,5X55(90gr Impala), on Cape Buffalo with the .458Win.(300gr Impala) and regular on Red Deer with various 7mm and .30 calibres.

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Why gives the IMPALA bullet such little meat damage?

Apart from bone fragments all expanding bullets cause massive tissue destruction by countless fragments of core and jacket material( and also meat contamination with lead with jacketed bullets). This can be avoided by using deformation only bullets (copper or soft copper alloys). While the tissue damage of the mushroomed bullet is a bit higher than with IMPALA’s, it’s knock down capability is sowewhat less because it lacks the IPALA’s sharp cutting edge to create shock waves. Also the sharp point of the IMPALA displaces the tissue and reduces the hematomes (Tissue displacement rather than tissue destruction).

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Is the IMPALAS wounding capability velocity related?

Up to a high degree not. Tests have shown that it creates shock waves even at subsonic speeds. Of course higher velocity results in flatter trajectory, more retained energy and more penetration.