of course we wanna hear it
HEH......... OK then............ Off we go, one more time.............
In 2006 I was working close with JD to get some decent .500 caliber bullets, and JD was working with Fricke from Lehigh, this was early Lehigh, and JD was guiding everything going on there, without his ideas and thoughts, then they would not have known anything about bullets....... JD had Fricke do some odd looking bullets and sent some to me to give a go........ JD explained that the purpose in the cuts in the meplat was to "move fluids" away from the bullet, causing pronounced hydrostatic shock, and possibly disrupt tissue around wound channel...... OK, good to me.........
I found in the test work that they did indeed disrupt more than an equal Flat Nose Solid....... What I found was the trauma inflicted, and the depth of penetration was similar to a NF CPS, not the expanding version CPS.......
In 2007 I was ready with several different types of bullets that JD and I had worked up, late season that year I had 5 buffalo on left over quota and two elephants......... I took the only 20 inch 50 B&M version to be built on the bullet testing mission...... I was very excited about this bullet for buffalo, great penetration, good trauma, I thought it might be the Do All For Buffalo bullet ever needed..... Indeed, it was good, it did everything I asked of it, but it was just not DRT in the dirt big reactions and from that hunt and point I more or less left it behind, moved on to other areas of study..........It was good, but it was not just blow you mind freak out great.........
Many years later, after I actually retired from any serious hunting, I discovered the Current Lehigh Extremes in particular for handguns, I was very enthusiastic about the Lehigh Extremes in 45 ACP.....I have to give great credit to someone at Lehigh to take JD's original designs and take them to the EXTREME..... believe me, it was not Fricke, but someone else at Lehigh, someone did really good.
Now what you see next is a 45 ACP test, 8.5 inches of penetration is very good in 45 ACP in this medium, Premium Expanding 45 ACP bullets 200-230 gr penetrates to around 4.5--5.5 inches, so a Lehigh Extreme to 8.5 inches is very good..........
I use these bullets today for a bulk of my 45 ACP ammo, improved the loads substantially, pressure tested and tested in many various types of guns. THis along with the 200 Flat Nose CEB Solids are my favorites for Self Defense, very serious bullets......I also adopted 90 Lehigh and 115 Lehigh for 9mm use, along with the new 115 CEB FN Solids, great for those kind of guns........
Of course this lead to my investigation into other cartridges and calibers, in particular .500 caliber and of course 458 Caliber.............And yes, I started thinking about BUFFALO again, buffalo is never far from my mind when I think about serious bullets....... sorry, just the way it is............I don't sit around thinking about deer bullets...... that is for sure......
Tested 350 gr .500 caliber Lehigh Extremes in 50 B&M and was very impressed with the results......24 inches straight, total of 28, well deep into buffalo penetration ............. Lots of trauma...
Tested again in 50 Super Short, lower velocity, excellent results again..........
Over in .458 Caliber I was not disappointed, tested in both the 458 Super Short a 225 gr Lehigh and even it made the grade for buffalo penetration.... yes, a 225 gr .458 caliber bullet, that is insane.....but the test work does not lie............
Again in the Super Short a 325 Lehigh.........
I am not finding larger cartridge tests in .458, and I honestly don't recall if I did test or not, but I am very well satisfied that these would make some serious Buffalo bullets, the penetration is there. No, I am retired, I have not used them in the field, but I damn sure would if I was on the way to shoot buffalo again.........
Last Fall I had a B&M Long timevFamily Member (folks that have B&M Rifles/Cartridges), he was asking about what rifle to take for Elk hunt and combined with Bison....... He was all over the place on buying something new, and I told him just use your 458 B&M, you are very familiar with it, shoot it great and it will do everything you want for both.......... My guy is not a shooter, I load for him, and help him set up his rifles...... he wanted a new scope on his gun, he found a 2.5 X10 or something such Nikon, so he sent his rifle and scope, and empty brass..........
My first thought was 250 Socom for the Elk, he would be good with that to whatever reasonable range he would encounter.......... Bison? First thinking 325 CEB Solids, but the POI just did not suit me with the 250 Socom sighted in....... Bison would not be more than 50 yards, but I still wanted them close as possible POI at 50........... I fiddled around with several bullets, no great success.....
Then I saw some 250 gr Lehigh Extremes on the self? Hmmmm...... Light bulb time....... So I tried those and I felt like it would work fine........ Sighted in with the 250 Socom at 50 yards, the 250 Lehigh was 3/4-1 inch right, I am thinking at 50 yards Bison, this will work for him, and I of course sent targets and all the info he needed to be successful, I HOPED.......
I honestly was on pins and needles the entire time my guy was on his trip...... I had never sent anyone off on a hunt with the Lehighs, so yes, test work was great, but you always have that nagging feeling that if something can go wrong, it might........
First thing on his return, he is sending photos..... keep in mind, my guy is a hunter, not a shooter gun nut bullet nut, so getting in depth info is just not going to happen, but I saw the photos and from what he said things went extremely well..........
I had no doubts about the 250 Socom, it has proven itself for many many years, I even shot cow buffalo with it, hippo in the brain, probably 50+ other animals, another B&M Family member used it on the biggest moose ever killed and it was DRT on the spot, as were most all others that I had taken, and this Elk was no exception.....
Now, here are some comments made to me about the performance........
Michael- yes I’m very pleased with the rifle. Those in camp had never seen anything like it.
Ek- dropped him w one shot w 250 SOCOM. Put an insurance in to be safe.
Bison- Lehigh one shot. That bullet is lethal.
Both one shot affairs, insurance put into the elk. Bison- 65 yards and elk, 95. Very mountainous area, 7500-8000 elevation.
And that is about as much info as I could get on it........ I was told and deciphered about this much .
the Elk dropped to the shot immediately………. The Bison bucked up, then dropped……..Does not seem the Bison went anywhere, just bucked and dropped…..They did not find an exit, and did not find the bullet in the bison….. so that is unknown. No insurance shots, so it seems the Lehigh was rather lethal as stated........
The Elk he took had to be a left over Prehistoric version..........No Rifle in the damn photos, I had a hell of a time teaching "Rifle Photo Etiquette" to some of these guys...... I swear............
That is about what I have on the Lehigh Extremes......... As mentioned, someone at Lehigh did one hell of a job taking this bullet to the Extreme.... in all test work done, handgun or rifle, the bullet does what it says it can do. It has great penetration, and it disrupts fluids and tissues.
Fricke recently sold Lehigh to Bill Wilson, this is probably a big plus for the bullets I hope. While I have some issues with Wilson concerning 7.62X40, I have found other products great, I exclusively use Wilson 1911 magazines and have for as long as they have been making them, best and most reliable on the market........ I hope they will continue to be more innovative in bullet design, and continue to make these Extremes. I only have this one field experience to back up on, and test work is not as extensive as other bullets have been in the past, however, I have a lot of confidence that one could add this to the tool pouch and have a damn fine bullet to work with. I would not hesitate if I were headed for buffalo country to load these up and give them a try.
I hope some of you guys do so in the future, and report back.............
That is about all I have guys, on Super Non Conventional Trauma Inflicting Bullets..........
I sincerely hope that some of you got something worth while from the efforts, I did when I was in the field, maybe you can too..............
....... You had to point that out didn't you, I will never look at those bullets the same again......... Right, why could I not just made them 369, or something, just not 37 anything........... Thanks a lot pal....... you ruined my damn bullets now.
