Bullet Performance on a Cougar

[rainshadow1]

I wouldn't condemn your round immediately, Gramps.

I think the fragmentation may have had alot to do with the range and velocity. The bullet was going as fast as it was going to go, hit a rib, the rest is history. Disappointing that it fragemented, sure, but I don't blame it, that's alot of stress.

As to Cougars. They're not "tough" as in, like a cape buffalo. They're actually thin skinned and pretty easy to punch through. But they're very very VERY hard to shut off. They're electric. They're very adrenalin driven, and can run for a long time on fumes. Doesn't surprise me at all that it kept going for awhile.

Look at the stories on my Call-in page. VERY FEW Cougars fell down on the spot. They got good and tore up, even from 223's and the like, but almost none of them fell down. LongTat shot one in the face with a slug... well duh! And I shot one in the throat with a 243wssm doing 3800 +, duh again. But otherwise, they go for a while, even stone dead they run for a ways!

[C-Money]

I have shot many deer and a Elk with the 150 interlock from my 30-06. I usually find the bullet pushing threw on the other side, intact. My family has used the 100gr interlock from our .243 to drop deer in their tracks. We have had good luck with the Interlock holding together. I would not count it out so easily. Once again, great Cat!

[gramps]

Thank you all for the comments.  This has been interesting.  Several of you mentioned the close range...I think that was as much as anything.  This is the closest I have every shot anything.  There is a possiblity that there was a branch or brush in the line of fire.  I will check that next week.
I am gonna stick with the interlocks for a couple reasons even tho' I think the bonded ammo is better from a techinical point of view.   However, with the interlocks, I have had two one shot kill strings of 7 animals and 6 animals and the cat make 3 on a new string and I have a modest supply on hand.  We won't get into any of the 'Oh wait, I need to reload'  ordeals...but I have had several.

[carpsniperg2]

like said, for light game yotes/cats that is still fine i don't like the horn's for that when i tried some that is what i did not like about them they always seem to frag.

[snag_point]

I'm going to bite the bullet and put in my 2 cents.  When I shot "Grandma cougar" last year, I didn't own a cal that I would consider good for cats,and other predators. (I now hunt with a savage 16flss in 243 and shoot a 85grn Barnes TSX BT with 45 grns of IMR4831 at 3200 fps.)  I used a gun I call my "Screamer." It's a left handed 7mmSTW Rem BDL on a Brown precision stock. I built it up soon after Layne Simpson" article about the 7mmSTW appeared in the 1989 May issue of Shooting Times.  I have used Nosler Partitions, Ballistic Tip, Barnes X, X Boat-tales, moly-coated Triple-Shock X bullets, and now 140 grn Triple-Shock boat-tail shooting at 3400 fps. it is a given that a top end bullet must be used at these speeds. It's a must.  Even the improved Nosler Ballistic Tip could not hold up. (moly-coated Ballistic-tipped did shoot flatter and 100fps faster)

I shot the cougar at 25 yrds. Straight on, missing the front of the chest and hitting the shoulder. My entry wound was the size of the bullet, The bullet then blew through heavy shoulder bone and the exit hole was the size of a dime. The bullet did just as needed. "Grandma" used up whatever nine lives she had left in a 75 to 100 yards plunge down a very steep side hill.

Lessons learned: Go with top end bullets, you hunt a life time for that 1 shot 1 chance that may never come your way again.

Snag Point

[MtnMuley]

Very ironic snag point.  I saved that same article and used it when putting together my 7stw years ago.   Back then, researching a caliber was a lot more difficult than it is now days.

[snag_point]

Hey MtnMuley,
That is interesting. Had to neck down 8mm rem brass too, all part of the fun of shooting such a overbore setup. But wow can it shoot. Now the WSM's shoot almost as fast, and the cartridge is not 3 3/4 inches long.
Snag Point

[Intruder]

Never shot a cougar so I can't really comment on them directly.  I have shot a lot of interlocks and am not a big fan.  Have had similiar results with bullets exploding.  Have been in 2 situations where friends have shot animals (elk and mule deer) and had the interlocks not do the job.  Good shot placement just bad terminal performance.  Overall I would almost always prefer to have a bonded or a solid that can break bone, penetrate through vitals and exit.  2 holes IMO is always preferable.... entry 2x caliber and exit bout the size of a handball.  Lots of blood.

Bullet performance is where the rubber meets the road.  I really don't want anything (varmnits excluded) where I can't punch through a shoulder w/ a quartering toward me shot and still know the bullet will plow through the vitals.

[bearpaw]

I have seen hundreds of cougars taken, from .22 rimfires to .300 Ultramags, muzzleloaders, pistols, you name it.

The only thing that couldn't get the job done was an old bow that shot so slow with arrows that were so dull that the arrows were bouncing off the cat, no joking, true story. 

Fortunately I had another archer along who had killed his cat a few days before, he loaned his recurve bow to the now rattled hunter who practiced on a stump and then killed the cat with one good arrow.

In my experience cougar are relatively easy to kill with about any weapon. Like any other animal, the shot needs to be placed correctly.

I lean heavily in favor of the Barnes triple shock for anything, except varnmints which are funner with an exploding bullet.