I shot a groundhog last week with a Remington factory round, 50 grain accutip boat tail rated at 2995fps, from a Remington 700 Classic; range was under a hundred yards, the groundhog collapsed dead when it was hit behind the shoulder.

Couldn't find the entrance wound, the exit wound was about 3/8" in diameter, a small amount of blood strung out on the ground for maybe 4-5 feet downrange.

Ignoring the fact that the shot killed the groundhog instantly, what kind of bullet performance does the above indicate?

You'd have to look inside the groundhog to know exactly how the bullet performed.

The bullet could have dumped most of its energy inside & wreaked havoc with th vitals, thus resulting in the small exit. Or, it oculd have behaved more like a big-game bullet and plowed on through. But no one can answer your question with any degree of certainty without a basic field autopsy.

I forgot to add: I do not keep up with factory ammo and am not certain if it's Hornady or Nosler that now provides the bullets for these Remington loads (ammo makers switch vendors as fast as some politicians change their minds... )

But if it's a Ballistic Tip with Remington's Accu-Tip billing, keep in mind that at more sedate velocities like your Fireball provides, the BT is actually a pretty decent penetrator, thanks in part to the solid base construction.

quote:

a small amount of blood strung out on the ground for maybe 4-5 feet downrange

From your description of the groundhog's instant collapse, I'd say that the bullet pretty much came apart inside him. What pentrated was the solid base of guilding metal from the Ballistic Tip (Accutip). A spray of blood for 5 feet is a pretty good indicator that the ghog was churned up pretty well inside.

Had you been shooting a prairie dog one-third the chuck's size, then you would have likely found the back half of the dog gone.

responses appreciated, thank you.