premium bullet rant (read at your own risk)

[colorado]

Congrats Tanks!

 

[B9.3]

That's not a rant that is very well written OP. +1
My mantra for years has been the same. Premium bullets are a product of marketing.
If your a hobbiest then fine, no problem from me. BUT, a conventional 175 grain from a 7x57 still works on plains game in Africa (and around the world) just as it has for the last one hundred+ years.

Yep, that is correct because the velocity is not high enough to warrant a Premium Bullet. If that 7mm was a 7mm Weatherby used on the same game , then a Premium Bullet should be used.
There is a big difference, but it depends on the cartridge, bullet weight & velocity & the quarry.

 

[B9.3]

phoenix phil, the Woodleigh hydrostatic solid runs around $4 a piece for the 416 caliber.

im a fan of the Swift A-frame. they aren't the cheap but they aren't silly expensive either and ive yet to see or hear of a failure. when it comes to solids, I like the idea of the CEB Safari Solid (haven't tried them on game yet). again not cheap but not super expensive either.

-matt

The A-Frame is a splendid bullet. A few may equal it, but I doubt any other is better. I use the 270 & 300gr in my 375 Weatherby.

 

[colorado]

Yep, that is correct because the velocity is not high enough to warrant a Premium Bullet. If that 7mm was a 7mm Weatherby used on the same game , then a Premium Bullet should be used.
There is a big difference, but it depends on the cartridge, bullet weight & velocity & the quarry.

Exactly, before WWII, most folks were using slower non-magnum cartridges. With the advent of the Weatherby's, and even the 270 Win's increase in popularity the need for expansion at longer ranges, but not fragmenting on shoulder shots at close ranges drove the need for the Nosler Partitions, Bitteroots, and all of the follow on premium bullets. If you're jump shooting elk in the black timber, a 30-06 shooting 220g CoreLokt's or a 270 Win shooting 150g CoreLokt's are all that you need. For that matter a 30-30 Winchester shooting 170g CoreLokt's is still good elk medicine at close range in the timber.

 

[JTEX]

Corelokts are good medicine on most things!


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[Bert the Turtle]

Buffybr, I totally misread that- when you said of 36 animals you shot with the Barnes, you only recovered 6 I thought you were talking about the animals!! I was going to suggest that perhaps bullets aren't the problem.

Anyway, that is exactly my experience with the TTSX. Occasionally a bullet is found, but usually a pass through. Exactly what I want.

And although I am a big fan of the TTSX, I in some ways agree with the OP and in some ways disagree. I agree that a bullet that worked 100 years ago will still work as well: animals haven't upgraded their armor. On the other hand, in the past, quotas were larger, duration of hunts was longer, and in the days before telescopic sights were common, a lot of animals at range were written off as a miss when in fact they were wounded.

A premium bullet is by no means necessary. It does open the envelope up for success. A 30-06 on impala standing broadside doesn't require and probably doesn't benefit from a premium bullet. On the other hand, a 243 (where legal, etc, etc) with a TTSX will cleanly kill a zebra.

In my opinion, (and frankly only moderate experience involving perhaps 20-30 animals) the notorious toughness of African animals as it regards plains game is a myth perpetuated to protect the ego of paying customers. I have no first-hand experience regards dangerous game. Yes, a 2000 pound eland is going to take more punishment than a whitetail deer, but I'm not convinced it will take pound for pound significantly more punishment. A bullet through the vitals will kill it, period. It will take longer to bleed to death from a small hole than a smaller animal will. The only toughness I've seen on African game relates directly to it being tough to kill an animal quickly with a bullet in its ass or guts. Hit something important and African animals die the same as any others.