Bullet Performance Database

[Opposite Pole]

@Opposite Pole
How goes it mate.
We are now experiencing the same primer and projectile problems we spoke about.
Hope you are keeping well.
Bob

Things are all right mate, shit storm next door is a worry and as of today we have 1.5million refugees in the country with the number growing rapidly but we carry on. Ammo shelves in the stores are empty and the situation with reloading components is now such that last week I bought a 10m air pistol - pellets are available still, and cheap. I have a thousand small pistol primers and brass but no powder or projectiles for my 32S&W and the price of decent 22lr ammo is slowly approaching that of nitro cartridges. 500 shots of match quality pellets from air pistol cost as much as 25 match 22lr rounds so I’m looking forward to some cheap training plus I can shoot air pistol at home which is great. It seems others had a similar idea and the prices of air pistols are going up all of a sudden.

Hope you’re not getting flooded mate.

 

[Longwalker]

I also bought them for my 8x68S. How have you found their performance?

Re: RWS EVO. bullets. I used them recently in my .30R Blaser to take one moose and one whitetail deer. Two shots in the moose, Center chest from broadside and quartering towards me, from about 150m. Both exited, so were not recovered. They seemed to show good expansion very deep penetration and a very quick kill.
The deer was a different story. Broadside high double lung shot from approx. 200m. Bullet seemed to open only a little, wound channel was narrow, deer ran 200m before expiring.
From this very limited experience it Seems like the EVO is a tough bullet well suited to large game, but may be too strongly constructed for the medium - small animals.
I have some RWS .30 R ammo with KS cone point dual core 165 grain bullets that I expect will be ideal for deer size animals. However I have not tried them yet.

 

[Opposite Pole]

The deer was a different story. Broadside high double lung shot from approx. 200m. Bullet seemed to open only a little, wound channel was narrow, deer ran 200m before expiring.

Out of curiosity did the bullet hit the ribs on the way?

 

[Longwalker]

I don't think it hit a rib on the way in, but can't remember for sure. It was a shot in the back 1/3 of the lungs, and quite high, so I'm pretty sure if the shooter was a bit more skilled the deer would have died quicker. This is how I found him, bullet entrance hole circled.

 

[davidg8480]

Here is my 10￠... Cape buffalo
Woodleigh .375 300gr. Round nose soft nose hd (the HD is important) .375 hh hand loads moving apx. 2450fps.at muzzle. First shot apx. 80 yds. 20° quarter away was right behind right shoulder double lung/heart shot through opposite shoulder and lodged under skin, which spun him 160 °. Which set me up for a second shot at the exact opposite scenario, and he dropped 50 yards later and both bullets recovered. Final weight retention superb, excellent pentation and perfect bullet formation ...My hats off to Woodleigh bullets!

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

450 Rigby
480 grain RNSN Woodleigh Weldcore
Muzzle Velocity 2240fps
Retained weight 440.4 grains, 92%
Brumby Stallion
Finishing shot between the front legs, recovered under the skin just above the shoulder

 

[mcaustin]

180 gr Barnes TTSX
300 Win Mag
MV: ~2790fps

The bullet on the left was recovered from the right rear hip of my oryx bull, following a slightly quartering frontal shot at around 125-150 yards. The bullet shed all four pedals, and its retained weight was 127.1 grains.

The bullet on the right was recovered just under the far side skin of my red hartebeest, following a quartering-to shot from about 200 yards. The bullet entered just forward of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide about 1/2 to 2/3 down the length of its left side. This bullet also lost all four pedals, and its retained weight was 124.5 grains.

Of the six animals I shot with Kowas, these were the only bullets recovered. I found it odd that both bullets lost all their pedals.

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

 

[ZG47]

180 gr Barnes TTSX
300 Win Mag
MV: ~2790fps

View attachment 468721

The bullet on the left was recovered from the right rear hip of my oryx bull, following a slightly quartering frontal shot at around 125-150 yards. The bullet shed all four pedals, and its retained weight was 127.1 grains.

View attachment 468723

The bullet on the right was recovered just under the far side skin of my red hartebeest, following a quartering-to shot from about 200 yards. The bullet entered just forward of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide about 1/2 to 2/3 down the length of its left side. This bullet also lost all four pedals, and its retained weight was 124.5 grains.

View attachment 468724

Of the six animals I shot with Kowas, these were the only bullets recovered. I found it odd that both bullets lost all their pedals.

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

You cannot argue with success!

 

[Nkawu]

180 gr Barnes TTSX
300 Win Mag
MV: ~2790fps

View attachment 468721

The bullet on the left was recovered from the right rear hip of my oryx bull, following a slightly quartering frontal shot at around 125-150 yards. The bullet shed all four pedals, and its retained weight was 127.1 grains.

View attachment 468723

The bullet on the right was recovered just under the far side skin of my red hartebeest, following a quartering-to shot from about 200 yards. The bullet entered just forward of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide about 1/2 to 2/3 down the length of its left side. This bullet also lost all four pedals, and its retained weight was 124.5 grains.

View attachment 468724

Of the six animals I shot with Kowas, these were the only bullets recovered. I found it odd that both bullets lost all their pedals.

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

I would try reduce the MV and see how the terminal performance changes with the petals hopefully opening up at 90 degrees to the bullet shaft. This is based on the studies done by Dr. Ed Ashby.

 

[Paul Homsy]

I would try reduce the MV and see how the terminal performance changes with the petals hopefully opening up at 90 degrees to the bullet shaft. This is based on the studies done by Dr. Ed Ashby.

Don't you think that 2790 fps is already slow enough for a .300 ? It's a 30-06 velocity. I'm very surprised that at that speed both bullets lost all their petals.

 

[Paul Homsy]

Don't you think that 2790 fps is already slow enough for a .300 ? It's a 30-06 velocity. I'm very surprised that at that speed both bullets lost all their petals.

There are many photographs on the internet of perfectly well mushroomed Barnes TTSX bullets on game fired at much higher speed. This is odd...

 

[Nkawu]

It might be worth emailing Barnes and see what they say. My feeling would be to move up to 200 grains.

 

[Rell]

I use 175gr LRX in my 300 Weatherby at around 3300 fps. Recovered 3 or 4 bullets from game and they all look like an advert for the X with all petals attached.

It might just be a batch of bullets that slipped out with a softer alloy?

 

[Paul Homsy]

I use 175gr LRX in my 300 Weatherby at around 3300 fps. Recovered 3 or 4 bullets from game and they all look like an advert for the X with all petals attached.

It might just be a batch of bullets that slipped out with a softer alloy?

I also use the same load you do at the same speed. 300 Wby. Didn't experience failures. I thought of a batch with soft alloy as well.

 

[mcaustin]

I also use the same load you do at the same speed. 300 Wby. Didn't experience failures. I thought of a batch with soft alloy as well.

That's what Jacques at Kowas and I were thinking as a possibility as well. I may reach out to Barnes and see what they say.

That said, they did do their job of successfully taking animals.

 

[Paul Homsy]

Tested but not used in hunting yet but the expansion was as expected. There were several of us, no failures with these or 168 Barnes, at 100 yards in water jugs. Water as a medium facilitates good expansion in general but it can also be destructive. We were expecting the LRX to be softer than the TTSX but we couldn't notice any difference. It's a good idea to contact Barnes.

 

[Paul Homsy]

In our group, a few used them hunting and were very satisfied. expansion an petals retention, when they were able to recover them. Not too many...

 

[Ridgewalker]

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

I’ve had very good luck in my 300 WM with Barnes 165 TTSX on coyote, Texas Dall and elk. Good expansion and always complete pass through. Very accurate! As in under 1/2” at 100 yards. Just make certain you know what is beyond the animal.

 

[quacker attacker]

180 gr Barnes TTSX
300 Win Mag
MV: ~2790fps

View attachment 468721

The bullet on the left was recovered from the right rear hip of my oryx bull, following a slightly quartering frontal shot at around 125-150 yards. The bullet shed all four pedals, and its retained weight was 127.1 grains.

View attachment 468723

The bullet on the right was recovered just under the far side skin of my red hartebeest, following a quartering-to shot from about 200 yards. The bullet entered just forward of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide about 1/2 to 2/3 down the length of its left side. This bullet also lost all four pedals, and its retained weight was 124.5 grains.

View attachment 468724

Of the six animals I shot with Kowas, these were the only bullets recovered. I found it odd that both bullets lost all their pedals.

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

These are 165 GR Barnes bullets loaded in Federal Premium ammo recovered from waterbuck, warthog, and zebra. Only 1 missing petal missing out of 5 bullets. I'm wondering if the higher velocity of the 300 Mag accounts for your missing petals? Center bullet is 375 Ruger 250 Hornady GMX recovered from the skull of my cape buffalo. It lost all 4 petals and about 40% of its original weight.

 

[AfricanEclipse]

180 gr Barnes TTSX
300 Win Mag
MV: ~2790fps

View attachment 468721

The bullet on the left was recovered from the right rear hip of my oryx bull, following a slightly quartering frontal shot at around 125-150 yards. The bullet shed all four pedals, and its retained weight was 127.1 grains.

View attachment 468723

The bullet on the right was recovered just under the far side skin of my red hartebeest, following a quartering-to shot from about 200 yards. The bullet entered just forward of the right shoulder and ended up under the hide about 1/2 to 2/3 down the length of its left side. This bullet also lost all four pedals, and its retained weight was 124.5 grains.

View attachment 468724

Of the six animals I shot with Kowas, these were the only bullets recovered. I found it odd that both bullets lost all their pedals.

I'd use them again, but may also look at the 165gr TTSX bullets in the future as well to see how my rifle shoots them with a higher MV.

The goal is to drop your game. That you did and the bullets worked. Could they have worked better? Yep.
I had excellent success with Federal's Trophy Bonded Tipped, 180's in my 300WM. They held together and mushroomed superbly after going through Impala (end to end), Waterbuck, and Kudu. Wildebeest wasn't an issue either.

Give them a try if you can find them anywhere.

Congrats on your hunt!