recovered bullets

[Hornseeker]

So, the barnes on the left is from a bull 3 years ago. It traveled through ribs and vitals and through the far shoulder but stopped in the hide... It weighs 164 grains..it started out at 168.

The two on the right are Hornady Interlocs. The Middle one went broadside through a muley buck and lodged in the muscle, not through the scapula... it weighs 49 grains...it is basically JUST the copper jacket...

The right bullet went into a doe head on and lodged in her hide about 1/2 way back the rib cage. It weighs 109 grains. Nice mushroom on it!

I am not impressed with the penetration of the middle bullet. I'd like to have seen it blow through that little buck...BUT...it worked in that application. On a tough angled shot on a bull elk... it just may have failed to do the job....

[GUHunter]

I love posts like this. I'll admit that I am obsessed with ballistics. The barnes appears to have performed like they seem to perform consistently.

[SCRUBS]

Pretty much typical for Barnes bullets

[HUNT]

Looks just like the barnes I shoot when you recover them....

[h20hunter]

I also really like this kind of thread. What happens when the metal meets the meat is very interesting. I shoot the barnes in my .270 and have only taken one animal with that rifle. Complete pass thru and no bullet to recover.

[lokidog]

Shot a muley doe with a 165 gr corlokt this year (65 yards, 30-06), hit the top piece of one vertebra and 10 inches of backstrap....  the lead and copper were still together but not attached to each other.  I didn't have a scale but would guess that there was only 1/3 to 1/2 of original weight left.  I was not impressed.  Need to get back to reloading.  Sorry no pic, I think it is in my truck on the mainland.

I like the look of those Barnes bullets.

[demontang]

Ill have to put up the pics of my accubonds and BT Ive recovered. the accubounds have done there jobs very well and the BT did pretty well to but I was pushing them way to hard for the range I shot the deer at.

[Craig]

Here is my 180 grain Accubond from my .300 Ultra Mag. 310 yards on a mule deer buck.

[Jekemi]

Thanks Hornseeker. This information is great and very useful.
My .270 went right through my buck, at an angle entering just behind the rib cage on the right side and exiting in front of the rib cage on the left. The exit hole was about 1.5 inches. No wonder he dropped on the spot. I used handloaded Winchester brass, 52 grains of IMR 4350, CCI primer, and Sierra 150 grain BT Gameking bullet. I would love to have seen the recovered bullet. Who know how far it travelled after exiting. I wonder if anyone has studied the average distance bullets travel upon exiting a deer/elk, taking into account all the variables.

[demontang]

Here are the two 200 gr .338 noslers


left bt right accubond

[Hornseeker]

Those look great Tang!!

Jek, there are too many variables. Some bullets probably leave the animal almost completely spent, others are probably still going 2000 fps when they leave (big gun on a lung shot, no bones)... Type of bullet, size of bullet, size of gun, etc... just too many variables.

Barnes has some great video of bullets going through ballistic gel and measuring the energy and such. Check out their website!

[demontang]

Im looking for my .225 accubond from my bear it got lost in the move. Both of the 200gr bullets went through bone and travled almost the full lenght of a mule deer and where just under the hide.

[h20hunter]

Here is an interesting little tid bit. My father shot his muley with a 130 gr Nosler Partition. He does handload but sticks fairly close to book load data. His bullet entered between the last two ribs and exited the far shoulder. The deer was quartering fairly hard and away. The bullet took out pretty much liver, lung, heart, and then far lung in that order. We looked for the slug and couldn't find it anywhere in the animal. After skinning we found a perfectly round hole on the far shoulder where the bullet exited clean. The exit hole was the exact size of the bullet diameter. I emailed Nosler pics of the animal and wound description. they were glad to hear of the hunt and told me the bullet was designed to completely expand and fragment (not mushroom) leaving quite a bit of mass inside the animal. If the velocity was great enough only the solid base of the bullet was designed to stay together and keep on trucking. The results were a devasting inpact with a huge entry wound. If needed the tiny exit wound would have resulted in that much more blood loss and that much more of a blood trail. Maybe a long winded explanation of our experience but I find that stuff to be interesting. Needless to say, the old man is now sold on the Nosler Partition.

[Bob33]

Who know how far it travelled after exiting. I wonder if anyone has studied the average distance bullets travel upon exiting a deer/elk, taking into account all the variables.

Here's a picture of the .30 caliber Barnes I used on an elk earlier this year.  As far as I know, it is still going.
[smg id=10046]

[Jekemi]

h20Hunter: this stuff is very interesting. I wish I had started handloading many years ago and knew a lot more about ballistics. I'm going to check out the Barnes site and watch the balistics gel video. I'd also like to purchase a chronograph so I know exactly how fast my bullets are traveling. There was a thread on chronographs a while ago but I don't recall the best recommendations.

[Bob33]

Partitions and solid bullets like Barnes are designed with different objectives in mind.  As stated, Patitions (and Accubonds) are designed to fragment and lose weight inside the animal.  Barnes bullets are designed to retain nearly all their weight.  Which works better is a topic of constant debate.  Under 95% of all circumstances, both designs work well.  I've used both, and the steaks were just as good from one elk as the other.  I prefer Barnes now.  I've butched some of my own elk, and finding lead scrapnel paths in the meat just doesn't sit well with me.  I know that a Barnes will nearly always exit and create a secondary blood trail.  The Noslers don't always.   Once the front of the partition shreds away the base can be pretty small.  If it doesn't hit anything solid it plows on through, but it is more likely to remain inside against the far side skin.  I tend to believe the Noslers may kill just a bit quicker because of the shrapnel, but the Barnes leaves a more reliable trail to follow if the animal doesn't go down right away.

[high country]

good thing about the barnes also is it does the same exact thing from most common velocities.....99% of the time. I have seen where a bull can soak up a berger that hit bone and walk off , that same bullet in the lungs is arguably the fastest drt bullet available due to massive fragmentation.

I am in the same camp as bob on most of the rounds I hunt with. although I really like the SAF's in bigger bore rifles.

[h20hunter]

All good points so far. I'll mention it now and get it out of the way. Shot placement is paramount. Use a good bullet and send it where it needs to go and you should be fine. I agree with the positive side of the barnes holding together and leaving less, if any, shrapnel in the meat.

Regarding a crony...I have and use a Crony (brand name) and it works easy as anything. Just don't shoot it.

OK, more pics of bullets please!

[high country]

All good points so far. I'll mention it now and get it out of the way. Shot placement is paramount. Use a good bullet and send it where it needs to go and you should be fine. I agree with the positive side of the barnes holding together and leaving less, if any, shrapnel in the meat.

Regarding a crony...I have and use a Crony (brand name) and it works easy as anything. Just don't shoot it.

OK, more pics of bullets please!

they will fix it once for free.....according to my poor shooting friend...lol

[demontang]

The thing with barnes x bullet is not all guns like them, but there are more then one brand of cooper bullets out now too. I like the accubounds myself and most have exited and dumped the animal right there. My elk this year was hit in the shoulder and the bullet exited still, so the accubounds are pretty tough I think at least the 225gr .338 is.

[Hazmat870]

Here is a Silver State Armory 6.8 SPC 110 grain Sierra Pro Hunter Tactical that I pulled out of my whitetail this year. He was quartering away so I got him about four inches behind the left shoulder. The bullet went through the lungs, heart and right shoulder. I found it against the hide on the right side. One piece of the jacket had broken off but was right next to the main part of the bullet. I have no idea how much weight it retained because I have no way to weight it.

[high country]

The thing with barnes x bullet is not all guns like them, but there are more then one brand of cooper bullets out now too. I like the accubounds myself and most have exited and dumped the animal right there. My elk this year was hit in the shoulder and the bullet exited still, so the accubounds are pretty tough I think at least the 225gr .338 is.

I played hell with the old xbt's and xlc's, but I have yet to see a rifle not shoot a tsx reasonably well.

[Gutpile]

6.5mm 130grn accubond that passed through a Muley doe at 244 and lodged into a cutbank. The 3rd and 4th is a 45 cal 230grn XTP out of my 2010 bear. This was the finishing shot for this bear.

I also have a 30 cal 180 grn partition somewhere that I pulled out of a deer several years ago. I'll have to dig it up.