now that's my kind of failure!!!

Great dinner!

The best kind of failure.

.243 WSSM, 95 grain Ballistic Tip at 3250 fps, 250 yards.

The bullet failed, both of them

First shot behind right shoulder, the deer went 10 yards and stopped. Sent another to the same place and he staggered into the trees downhill 20 more yards.

Found him DOA.

Upon performing the autopsy, found both entrance wounds right next to each other within 2". No exit wounds.

During disembowelment, found both bullet jackets/solid bases along with jacket and lead shrapnel in the wound channel very much like the pic posted on the other thread.

There are better choices in cartridge and bullet combinations for even smallish big game.

Impact velocity should be paramount in bullet choice and game size/toughness paramount in cartridge choice.

For me the 6 mm maxes out at coyotes from now on regardless of bullet construction even though it will work for big game when everything is perfect.

Why push it when there are better choices?

so, by definition, that was bullet failure. What if the only shot you had was frontal or facing away? That bullet would have been incapable of sufficient penetration.

Thats just w a y too graphic! Should be rated XXX!

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cline:
so, by definition, that was bullet failure. What if the only shot you had was frontal or facing away? That bullet would have been incapable of sufficient penetration.

Facing away? Are you talking about ass shooting a deer?

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cline:
so, by definition, that was bullet failure. What if the only shot you had was frontal or facing away? That bullet would have been incapable of sufficient penetration.

quote:

Facing away? Are you talking about ass shooting a deer?

You'd be amazed Scott


I'm not sure what the definition of bullet failure is. If it is disintegration, then I guess so. But it did its job, so did it "fail"?

There's no way I would have used this combo on anything but a broadside shot. The frontal shot is the only one of the two you mention that I would take, but under different bullet/cartridge combos.

With the .243 WSSM and a bonded Swift, Partition etc. or with a larger caliber with even a standard bullet.

I've had some good luck with the 115 BT from my 257 Roberts. Shot through both shoulders of a 120 pound hog at 40 yards. Velocity was around 2800 at muzzle. This year I'm tinkering with the 120 Interlock HP.

quote:

Originally posted by rcamulia:

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cline:
so, by definition, that was bullet failure. What if the only shot you had was frontal or facing away? That bullet would have been incapable of sufficient penetration.

quote:

Facing away? Are you talking about ass shooting a deer?

You'd be amazed Scott


I'm not sure what the definition of bullet failure is. If it is disintegration, then I guess so. But it did its job, so did it "fail"?

There's no way I would have used this combo on anything but a broadside shot. The frontal shot is the only one of the two you mention that I would take, but under different bullet/cartridge combos.

With the .243 WSSM and a bonded Swift, Partition etc. or with a larger caliber with even a standard bullet.

With a 550 magnum you can take the ass-on shot with confidence, too. But field dressing is a stinkin' bitch.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
With a 550 magnum you can take the ass-on shot with confidence, too. But field dressing is a stinkin' bitch.

Heck, the 550 Mag does the field dressing FOR you

quote:

Originally posted by rcamulia:

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
With a 550 magnum you can take the ass-on shot with confidence, too. But field dressing is a stinkin' bitch.

Heck, the 550 Mag does the field dressing FOR you

why would anyone even want to?

If you shot the deer in Dade county the steaks would be in Monroe county!

I wouldn't hesitate to take a frontal or rear shot with a .243 with 80 grain TTSX bullets, or the same bullet in any other caliber that I use.

Broadside shots are ideal, but there are times when those are not possible.

Just shot a large doe in September on a very strange angle with a 25-06AI and 100 grain TTSX. It was about two seconds before she would have bolted, so any other shot was not possible. Hit the near shoulder, went through everything, and exited the center of the rear leg. It was a mess of a field dressing job, but not much meat was damaged. Just had to cut a little chunk out on the shoulder and the rear leg.

I used an early Model 7 in 243 a lot several years ago. My favorite bullet turned out to be the 95 gr. Ballistic Tip and it performed superbly. The last deer I shot with it was angling away a bit and I hit it right on the third rib from the back and the bullet hit the shoulder blade on the far side making a 1 inch hole thru it then exited the 150 pound buck. Range 80 yards. Starting velocity close to 2800 fps. This rifle seemed to always get deeper penetration than the 6MM Remington I have now that pushes the same bullet to 3150 fps, especially at ranges under 150 yards. However deer seem to die pretty quick if hit in the right place.

I've had good luck with the 115 NBT in the 257 Roberts. Impact velocity was probably around 2600 fps. Shot through both shoulders on two 120lb hogs. Limited sampling but I generally go heavy for caliber on BTs and keep them at or under 2800 fps muzzle. This year I've loaded up my Roberts with 120 Interlock HPs.