Gday Micheal
Thanks for the information below & just got through the other stuff & that’s going to take a bit to sink in as a lot in it but very enlightening thankyou
No, I doubt it. We tested in 500 NE and I am sure those were slow twist rates. I have tested and shot 1000s of Raptors and I never seen one tumble above 458 caliber ever. Whether in live tissue or test medium. I don't have a clue as to what you experienced.
My thoughts are on that 475 .510 pill it would’ve turned in a critter also but do the stars align for that to occur is one I can’t say as most likely on most critters it’s already exited so somewhat upto Murphy or as mark @ apex tells people “I’m a bullet companies worst nightmare but in a good way “ he said as then you can work on what occurred & potentially fix it which he has from the stage 1 he produced to his stage 3 now is pretty darn impressive . yes I seem to find a pill’s weakness & once I do that I’ll exploit it with numerous critters on those shots to find out where it’s @ from Amore reliable % than saying I saw it once so it’s no good yes repartition needed
Here’s one of the 375 raptors from the field
I’ve got a couple more but man it’s a extremely low % it occurs @ & once again not saying raptors are bad it’s they can potentially be improved as they are the best in plus 375 cal without a doubt I’ve seen so please don’t take offence to that as if you’ve seen & probably have by your numbers I’ve seen a few of your posts with the rate of failures or less than ideal results of other styles vrs raptors for which you’ll hopefully understand I’m not picking on raptors I’m praising how reliable they’ve been but improvement I do believe can occur to the likes of the above results becoming even less
Now I have seen the 416s turn sideways at the very end of penetration, at 1;14, at 1;12 they were stable to the end.
Got no idea myself I’ll test again once my hand somewhat heals as impaled a metal spike in my hand mostly through it yesterday so maybe sometime before I can handle the Jeffery again
Nor would I be too upset with it either. This is not meant to be a Flat Nose Solid, it is a trauma inflicting bullet, we want those ragged sharp edges, we don't want a smooth flat meplat. I certainly would not put time into trying to get a straight across shear.
That is where we somewhat differ yet no right nor wrong as individually we may require a different outcome due to areas we hunt or what we hunt & combinations of those let alone what types of shots we will ea take on the critter
I’ll keep my numbers of critters out of the equation as Ive gotten serious pushback on them in other places ( I’ll see how it’s taken here before I divulge some of those numbers) for which it ends up derailing the intended subject & it’s overly one I don’t like but they are high numbers over the years gone by but today I just can’t do it as my body is shutting down so I’m resorting to test media & thought wet news papers would be the best ( but I like those magazines as a addition) since my initial days of wet phone books some 35 odd years ago occurred & showed promise of how a pill behaves & critters then took it up a notch eg angles , hide, bones & various tissue density plus the dreaded paunch ( watch a raptor get through that but here’s where your flat meplat shines on bigger wounds from what I’ve witnessed & more importantly the wound channel into lungs after this shot goes to the flat nose or cup faced solids or shanks of this style have shown to also produce but add petals for the “added benefit “ is one I like & this also can be somewhat the speed of the pill in the critter I believe eg the broken bottle has more friction slowing it down ( also bigger meplat when it’s relatively flat meplat form is created ) where the FN dosent decelerate as quickly hence greater speed in the critter & penetration is the outcome along with better wounds get petals through that & a better outcome occurs here’s a paunch shot on a scrubbie & look @ the wound in the lungs & heart from a 375 pill
& the 375 raptor doesn’t get this level of damage , penetration yes but not damage & ultimately impact to tip of the critter is different between the 2 both superior to a c&c bonded or not
Overall I want the best I can get & maybe my pea brain but after reading the 8 factors I’m a little more on the front foot of it will improve things but I reserve the right to say yep I’m wrong as I go & re read & tick on it a bit more
Basically I like to know if my theories hold water or leak like a sieve & not worried if I’m wrong as I’ve been many times before but also when it comes together my track record on that is also pretty good with companies pills
I’ll report it whatever way it goes & crow I don’t mind eating
This is what our test looked like here with the 535 .510 Raptors.
Not direct tests at higher velocities, to be perfectly honest, they got their test on buffalo and that was good enough for me. I don't shoot .510 caliber or never hunted with it, my rifles are .500 caliber. So I did not have a tremendous amount of incentive and Sam was satisfied with the buffalo tests. We did test for Low Velocity Shear Point in my 51 Alaskan (.510 caliber Alaskan)
Thankyou definitely cool to see those low level impact working but one I highly doubt I’ll get but everything is always good to know it will work if it is potentially needed yes I’ve learned better to know where limits are than hoping
A mix of wet news print and a 1.5-2 inch layer of magazine/catalogs every 10 inches of medium. Soaked and throughly wet.
You are correct, I don't know what I was recalling when I stated 6-9 gr blade weight? I opened up the 535 .510 Raptor tests and weighed those blades and they cam in between 17-19.5 grs each.
I must have been recalling a smaller caliber and it stuck in my brain.
All cool on above & thanks one thing I have noticed on media testing vrs critters but mainly smaller calibers is angles play a huge role in if a pill works or not ( this is also a individual thing & can depend on the level one expects ) as advertised & while I’ve never used it I saw all these good gel tests & thought why dosent every pill do that in a critter re no mechanical broadhead of a pill ( yes critters are my gel ) & end up passing a comment of should whack the gel on a angle face & hey presto things changed the preformance of the pill that my mate did from a square on flat impact but still flaws in gel
Next was our understanding of what the wet media was giving some pills the advantage of as reality to the field showed variations some real bad
you’ll get reliable moisture in the hp from the wet testing process like yours & the hammerboys do milk jugs filled with water & dry news paper after that on the ones they do
now you’ve got some pills that are immune or don’t need moisture to work ( mechanical pills don’t hydraulic do ) those mechanical being raptors & apex to a lesser extent McGuire hp variety & lastly the likes of the OEP BB or like tip /plunger pills which have other issues
Some need that moisture more than others & without a doubt that’s hammer needing it the most & definitely more of the tips they use now in the hht aht & hbc as original tip was the hydraulic medium so they were good but things have changed now also hh& ah & lessor as hp size increases but still hydraulic medium is needed for these pills to work as design & dictates it but the tsx or ttsx , maximus , atomic plus many others .
including the cup & core also exhibits that trait so people don’t go all these monos have issues as watch the others do it also so user beware or @ a minimum if one understands it they are better equipped to apply a Band-Aid to help elevate it but it’s still there & one I’m still learning a lot on
That’s why the raptors & apex are so reliable as they don’t have this one weakness others have of needing the hydraulics to get the pill to work & mud encrusted critters , scar tissue or impacting areas on critters that have less moisture @ impact spot on critter .
That’s Where they mess the non mechanical pills up to varying degrees from slightly to bigtime especially the likes of the softer alloys
I don't think they are riding in a bubble per say like a Flat Nose Solid creates. To begin with the larger caliber blades begin to move away from center at about 2-3 inches after shear point, they are no longer being influenced by the center bullet. I think the the center bullet is too ragged to develop any sort of even bubble, and even if it could after shear, the blades have moved away from center. I have shot lesser animals with big bores, .458-.500 with Raptors and blades exit the far side 8-10 inches from the center bullet. Big bore blades do not stay in the center, they radiate away from center.
Yes I agree to a point that they radiate out the bubble needs to be formed correctly or the shapecharge of it needs to be right to get the added effect of bigger wound channels both in diameter & length ( this is where drone photography of the impacts of these different pills shows us what a pill is actually doing in relationships to that shapecharge & bubble I’ll post those up as we go & might as well put a few c&c in also to level the playing field lol ( I already know what’s best & it’s not a c&c lol sub 375 on drone ) but also the blades or petals might be getting pushed along or “free ride” as I call it due to the stretching out of the TWC or even sucked along but agree that’s more the petals traits as they are closer the TWC aloud a easier path I guess I’m saying but depending on amount of stretch you get is the type of PWC that’s produced
Let’s look @ this raptor kill it shows the difference of these 2 types of wounds in the one pill
So you have 2 distinct wound styles in the above critter ( this deer wasn’t big @103lbs )
The raptor definitely cuts & slices but those wounds while efficient on giving a consistent kill & as I’ve said previously I don’t think I’ve lost a critter with a raptor, it’s one that has shown not to be the quickest killing but still good ( think broadhead like kills as bleeding out not knocked out occurs ( velocity impact is important to understand here but just a high velocity impact is not going to kill quickly on its own take impala bullets as a great example) & can see it in the lungs above due to the blood filling them up & I’ll show other systems later that are more aggressive in the mush but this is already getting way long so I’ll not add anymore pictures of those to this post sorry) once numbers of critters are gathered & put into graphs like this of about 100 plus deer ea year
although these were with a few brands but break those down individually one gets a very good pattern of how quickly pills kill that’s off my hunting property & once I add deer culled off other properties & add to these in a individual pill the patterns are easily seen
I’ve done the same with bovines of all shapes & sizes & got some great charts a mate done up for me on a pretty big cull I done over about 3 weeks that was to have every bovine off this property yep totally devoid of bovines , mustering was done first but couldn’t get these guys out so we took everything out after that & I took advantage of gathering data on the smallest ones , got some on the big bovines but only so many of the big ones I could autopsy & without the help of my son & a very good mate I wouldn’t have got that data but I’ll leave those sheets for another post also as yep this is going to take enough time to read & I don’t want to overload everyone
Copper Gen 1 bullets such as the Hammer, Lehigh, and Maximus from CEB, the "Petals" shear at different points of Terminal penetration and they tend to stay closer to the center wound channel, this is also very destructive in and of itself. These petals can be found as deep as 12-15 inches in my test medium, and are definitely extremely destructive in animal tissue. Personally, having used both in the field fairly extensively I lean towards the Raptor being more destructive, but I will say that it is a close run for the money. And, Either and Both are far far ahead of any conventional expanding bullet, by leaps and bounds when Terminals are concerned. Conventional can't even be in the ball park when it comes to the massive destruction of tissue.
This above is not the full case on some of this part you’ve wrote ( total respect to you ) & why critter tests simply have no peers & goes back to my above part of the hydraulic medium needed in certain pill designs
Remember raptors & apex don’t need it & put these in critters like this
the raptor or apex will still preform ( remember reliability) where as the likes of the hammer, Barnes & the maximus etc do require it
Simple way to see this is recovered pills
Here’s one of es of those ea that I could quickly find
Yet all 3 ( I have many more ) are above the minimum velocity workings of the pill set by the company
A lot in this & one I’ve spent a lot of time on only really putting it all together around 12 months ago ( still more to learn though)!& done a huge amount on hammers trying to help them but the way they went was not upto me which is cool but I’ll not sugar coat it those pills today have gone backwards in terminal performance / reliability & in 50 cal are a total ( hate to say it ) joke as DG are no joking matter imo ( yes got a lot of evidence on that or I just expect to much but highly doubt that with their 50 cal pills @ the minimum as are totally crap & sadly they even seen it with their own eyes when I had the hammerboys in Aussie but another time on that )
So much on these shedding monos that need to be designed correctly or it’s a bingo raffle on when/where your numbers up & in the DG world the only plus 375 pills that I’ve tested or been present on doing autopsies with that I can say has the reliability & terminals to match is the raptor but I do believe it can be improved & time will tell on that & would love to continue the conversation on what could possibly help & I think the knowledge you’ve gained over the years & some of those 8 factors might be the one that gets the raptor to the next level but that’s also upto you & ultimately ceb as if you or they don’t I’m cool with that also
Thanks for taking the time replying & reading this & the long winded waffle I do lol
Cheers