Bullet Performance Database

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

SSTs are an interesting bullet. They kill quickly but there is no perfectly mushroomed bullet to take a picture of. I’ve shot SSTs, 140s in a 270, 165s in an 06 and 154s in a 7 mag for deer and pronghorn antelope for 25 years. Animal is either DRT or gives a hop and takes a few steps and goes down.

This bullet is what’s left of a 154 SST from a 7 mag on a pronghorn antelope. Quartering shot was at 200 yards so impact velocity was about 2700 FPS. Bullet hit the shoulder and exited behind the offside shoulder. I saw the pass through impact in the field behind the animal. What I actually saw was the bullet core because the bullet jacket was caught in a rib in the exit wound. Antelope was DRT so I can’t say the bullet failed. They work well on deer and pronghorn. I load Nosler accubond or partitions for bigger game.
View attachment 705792

@DG870

150gn 308 cal SST from my sons rifle.
80kg pig 150yds retrieved from just under the skin in the off side shoulder. Retained weight 117gn. What's not to love.
Bob

 

[Crishuntbrasil]

I've always been terrified of unbonded bullets, but they're always very accurate and work well on small, thin-skinned animals. I've used the Hornady LDX 143-grain 6.5 Creedmoor a lot on impala, blesbock, bushpig, jackal, warthog, and even lechwe in Africa. And I'll tell you, to be honest, I've never seen anything so deadly. The bullet hits the "engine room" and fragments like a grenade. The internal damage is enormous, and the animals die quickly. On zebra, wildebeest, and oryx, they didn't work well and gave me a lot of trouble. For larger animals, I prefer bonded bullets in more suitable calibers (30.06 and 300) and heavier bullets (180 grains).

 

[Luederitz]

28 Nosler
175 gr Hornady ELD-X
Game: Riedbock

Next time I try e.g. Accubond, Partition or North Fork

 

[dchum]

28 Nosler
175 gr Hornady ELD-X
Game: Riedbock

Next time I try e.g. Accubond, Partition or North Fork

View attachment 706612

how far was the shot? What was the angle of the animal?
Surprised it did not exit.

I guess this just really shows that when soft bullets are exposed to Hot-Rod speed like a 28 nosler ; you don’t get much penetration due to rapid bullet deformation

I’m sure it was very deadly on the reedbuck!

 

[skelleywag]

Type of bullet: Barnes LRX
Bullet speed: 3,030 FPS
Distance of shot: 318 or 380yds - he was shot twice, not sure which bullet this is.
Original weight: 145GR
Recovered weight: 144.4GR
Calibre: .280 Ackley Improved
Species: Kudu
Shot placement: Broadside, top of the crease for the first shot. Second shot he was quartering away, behind the shoulder.

 

[Mawzer308]

45-70
400gr Speer FNSP
MV 1860fps
103yds Frontal quartering towards, Sika hind
Impact velocity 1551fps

 

[Longwalker]

Bull elk, .375 H&H, 250gr. Trophy Bonded Federal factory load. Range approx 170M. Broadside presentation. Bullet entered shoulder, broke humerus into multiple pieces, passed through both lungs and ribs on both sides as it deflected a little lower and stopped in the skin of the opposite "armpit". Expansion was more than double, retained weight 205 gr. ( over 80%) I was expecting an exit, but looking at the bone damage I was pleased.

 

[AckleyHunter]

Hornady 6mm 109 gr eldm
6 GT Rem Mod 7 18 inch barrel
190 yrds impact vel ~2500 fps
Broadside

Bull went about 20 yards after impact. Time from impact to dead about 5-10 secs.
Bullet entered point of the shoulder and passed through the femur/scapula joint. Broke ribs on both sides of the rib cage. Destroyed the lungs and made it into the offside shoulder. Lots of meat damage to both shoulders.

 

[AckleyHunter]

Hornady 109 gr eldm
6 Arc Howa Mini 20 inch barrel
70 yrds impact velocity ~2600 fps
Hard quatering toward
Bull

Bullet entered the point of the shoulder. Bull stumbled forward trying to find his feet before collapsing. Traveled about 50 yards from where he was shot. Time to death from impact less than 20 seconds. Bullet went through the scapula before destroyinng both lungs. Made it all the way to the stomach because as we rolled him to do the other side, there was the tell tale odor of a stomach rupture. I nicked the peritoneum when removing the inner strap which broke the damn and a 20-30 sec flood of blood poored out. Not as much meat damage as only one shoulder was hit. This was the largest bodied elk we have killed to date. 260lb boned out when loading it into the panniers.

 

[ZG47]

Hornady 6mm 109 gr eldm
6 GT Rem Mod 7 18 inch barrel
190 yrds impact vel ~2500 fps
Broadside

View attachment 716719
Bull went about 20 yards after impact. Time from impact to dead about 5-10 secs.
Bullet entered point of the shoulder and passed through the femur/scapula joint. Broke ribs on both sides of the rib cage. Destroyed the lungs and made it into the offside shoulder. Lots of meat damage to both shoulders.
View attachment 716720
View attachment 716722View attachment 716723View attachment 716724View attachment 716725

Good job.

 

[AckleyHunter]

Update for the first bull. We found the remains of the bullet in the offside flat iron (aka infraspinatus). Total penetration was through the humerus/scapula joint, ribs on both sides and the scapula on the far side. Retained weight was 43.5 grs for about 40% weight retention.

 

[roverandbrew]

7x57
150 Grain Norma Whitetail Factory Load
126 Yards
Blue Wildebeest
Shot was 10" rear of the shoulder joint and bullet was found just under the opposite side under the skin

 

[AckleyHunter]

7x57
150 Grain Norma Whitetail Factory Load
126 Yards
Blue Wildebeest
Shot was 10" rear of the shoulder joint and bullet was found just under the opposite side under the skin

I have been wondering how those "Whitetail" bullets hold together. Better than corelokts.

Congrats on your wildebeest.

 

[farmer_john]

I didn't take it quite that far, but now that you mention it, that would be an effective way to keep cost down. Use less expensive brass and weed out the ones that show to be a flyer.

What I know is that when I first started working with the North Forks, I didn't quite see this issue. It was after I had settled in on a load and built up more to show repeatability that I started to see the flyers. This was with my .300WM and I could see every 3-4 shots there'd be a flyer. I talked to NF about it and they figured it was the brass.

So I tried one more proving session with the .300WM and it was there. Then I moved on to my son's .308 Win and sure enough it showed the same. I then bought some Norma brass for the .300WM and the issue went away. I then bought Lapua brass for the .308 and again the issue went away. From there I've only loaded the NF's with better brass. I'm quite horrible about keeping track of how many shots I've taken with a piece of brass. Just too many calibers now in the armory to be bothered. I shoot it until I see signs the brass is about to let go and throw it away at that point. As such, for hunting trips I only load up new brass.

But you could do what you're getting at. I'll bet it would work, worth a try in either case.

I find the best way is a sharpie and batch it.
Get a couple diff colored sharpies and color the case base after you prime it. Say 200 pieces.
Put in your book
black lot
Blue lot ect.
Load that batch however you want but when your done... goes in the bucket for black or blue brass ect. And when youve loaded up all of them. Tumble and repeat and note that its now black batch 2. Ect.... that way if it takes you a year to get to it or something accidentslly falls in your brass is color coded for use.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I find the best way is a sharpie and batch it.
Get a couple diff colored sharpies and color the case base after you prime it. Say 200 pieces.
Put in your book
black lot
Blue lot ect.
Load that batch however you want but when your done... goes in the bucket for black or blue brass ect. And when youve loaded up all of them. Tumble and repeat and note that its now black batch 2. Ect.... that way if it takes you a year to get to it or something accidentslly falls in your brass is color coded for use.

If only I had the patience.