Hi Guys

A question for you more ballistically minded chaps.

I have been using the 150gr Super Hammerheads this season. what I have found is that with deer I shot close up (less than 50yds), thhe bullet didn't exit.

Everything I have shot beyond that upto 150ish yds has a hole right through it.

All the deer I talking about are mature Fallow bucks between 120-150lbs dressed out. Does anybody have a theory as to why this might happen? We're looking at a sample of about 7 shots so I accept it is not extensive.

In defense of the bullet, all shhots fired have resulted in very dead deer. The only downside being that there was a lot of bruising on entry ands exit.

FB

hi,
it sounds like your bullets are expanding violently at the high velocity at which they are travelling at close range. as they get further out, and velocity drops a little, the bullet is more able to maintain it"s shape, and is then giving a "through and through" shot.
have you recovered any bullets from the beasts? i would expect that the bullets are so fragmented that you might only find peices of jacket along the wound channel.
also, what calibre are you shooting? is it something fast? (25.06/any of the ackleys/wsm"s)
i was surprised at the same results in my .308, when using federal factory. at high velocity, plain old lead soft points come apart very easily!
for red deer, esp stags, i changed to remington core loct, and i started getting exit wounds again. any of the bonded bullets, and some of the tougher ballistic tips will penetrate better than soft points.
if meat damage is"nt an issue, and you can afford to be picky about shot placement, i"d rather see a deer fall in it"s tracks than shoot a neat hole in it and spend the rest of the day looking for the carcase!

Hi FB

Its Mark again.I agree with Brass Thief. I use the same Sako ammo in .308 to manage a local fallow herd and have had only one bullet not exit . This was on a quartering away trophy buck . The bullet had lodged under the shoulder but overexpanded rather than fragmented. I have also used 165 gn swift A-frame and that passed straight through a pricket at 30 m without expanding at all. From my African experiences I am developing a load in .308 based on a 180gn round nosed SP at moderate veloity for woodland stalking ie 2500 rather than 2800fps

Regards

Mark

I was using the 308 with Sako 150gr factory loads. I recovered the bullets fromo teh non exiters, and they were mushroomed rright ddown to the core. I'lll tery and post some photos of them if I remember when I get home tonight.

In fact one of the bullets had a "core" peice that falls out oof the middle.

Like I said, the deer all dropped quite rapidly.

Either way I am switching to 165gr Barnes-X for Africa so will be changing this weekend, as I haven't had a chance to check they shoot the same during the season.

Rgds,
FB

I believe a bullet penetrates best while at least 1/2 of the shank remains behind the mushroom.
This is consistent with my experiences, where recovered bullets tend to look like a ball of ice cream dropped on the ground w/little shank.
I suppose it explains why failsafe and x bullets keep a solid shank.