MacTech
Member
Both coconuts shot at 50 yards
17 grain VMAX results
The cartridge used was the 17 grain Hornady V-Max ballistic tip cartridge, this shot seems to be all surface damage, I could not find any evidence of the round penetrating the shell of the coconut, it transferred all it's energy to the surface of the 'nut, I would have to rate the 17 grain bullet as "marginal" on hard surfaces, all surface damage, no real penetration to speak of, a .22LR or .22WMR cartridge would at least penetrate the front of the 'nut
20 grain results
The cartridge used was the 20 grain Hornady XTP hollow point cartridge
This shot definitely punched through both sides of the 'nut, the exit hole was slightly larger than the entrance hole, I was expecting a larger exit wound, I'd imagine that the tiny hollow point cavity filled up with either fragments of coconut shell and/or meat and since a coconut is hollow inside, didn't have anything to expand into, in this case, the hollow-point 20 grainer acted much like a solid point bullet, it clearly did much more damage than the 17 grainer though, I would have to rate the 20 grain bullet as "acceptable" against hard surfaces, it *did* punch through the 'nut completely, but did not appear to expand
17 grain VMAX results
The cartridge used was the 17 grain Hornady V-Max ballistic tip cartridge, this shot seems to be all surface damage, I could not find any evidence of the round penetrating the shell of the coconut, it transferred all it's energy to the surface of the 'nut, I would have to rate the 17 grain bullet as "marginal" on hard surfaces, all surface damage, no real penetration to speak of, a .22LR or .22WMR cartridge would at least penetrate the front of the 'nut
20 grain results
The cartridge used was the 20 grain Hornady XTP hollow point cartridge
This shot definitely punched through both sides of the 'nut, the exit hole was slightly larger than the entrance hole, I was expecting a larger exit wound, I'd imagine that the tiny hollow point cavity filled up with either fragments of coconut shell and/or meat and since a coconut is hollow inside, didn't have anything to expand into, in this case, the hollow-point 20 grainer acted much like a solid point bullet, it clearly did much more damage than the 17 grainer though, I would have to rate the 20 grain bullet as "acceptable" against hard surfaces, it *did* punch through the 'nut completely, but did not appear to expand
Last edited:
