Brinell Hardness for hunting non-dangerous game.

[KansasTrapper77]

I’m going to start out with I wasn’t sure whether to post this in reloading or hunting forum but I’m looking more for a technical answer so I came to you gentlemen.

I purchased at an estate auction for a good price Missouri Bullet Company 500ct .452 255gr SWC Hi-Tek coated bullets. Box claims 18 Brinell hardness.

I’m still developing a 45 Colt load, but it will be roughly 1100 FPS or a little less depending on accuracy trial and error. Is 18 brinell hardness too hard for use on thin skinned game?

I’ve searched the forum and the internet and naturally there is quite alot of discussion about Brinell hardness but most of it is related to barrel leading and hard cast for dangerous game. I’m looking for a rule of thumb on hunting with a pistol cartridges with a velocity of less than say 1300 FPS.

Thank you all for answering an age old question for the new kid.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

We just wrapped a thread like that @savagelover started: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/im-confused.909438/

Bottom line: Any hardness from 9-to-18 is good for deer (TLSG) but it's that first shot that counts so go with what you and your gun agree can give you 99.995% bang-flop accuracy not bang-bang-bang-bang-dang! and lost blood trails. I've hunted with Linotype in the past and learned a valuable lesson the hard way: bone's are hard and some overly hard alloys shatter on them instead of punching through.

I think the bullet you have will be fine. It has a wide meplat and that's real important but most important is that your load with that bullet can deliver a cold barrel, first-shot, POA=POI hole every single time. Never mind 5-shot groups - you won't get 5 shots to drop a deer - from the carry position to a hole in one. That's what counts and if that MBC can deliver it - you're golden!

 

[EricBu]

I’m going to start out with I wasn’t sure whether to post this in reloading or hunting forum but I’m looking more for a technical answer so I came to you gentlemen.

I purchased at an estate auction for a good price Missouri Bullet Company 500ct .452 255gr SWC Hi-Tek coated bullets. Box claims 18 Brinell hardness.

I’m still developing a 45 Colt load, but it will be roughly 1100 FPS or a little less depending on accuracy trial and error. Is 18 brinell hardness too hard for use on thin skinned game?

I’ve searched the forum and the internet and naturally there is quite alot of discussion about Brinell hardness but most of it is related to barrel leading and hard cast for dangerous game. I’m looking for a rule of thumb on hunting with a pistol cartridges with a velocity of less than say 1300 FPS.

Thank you all for answering an age old question for the new kid.

I've killed deer and Elk with that very bullet. Elk don't really qualify as thin skinned, but deer certainly do. Neither seemed to care about the BHN. I wouldn't push them any less than a 1000 fps. The bullet will do the job, if you do yours. For Elk I was driving them hard with Ruger Only loads out of a Winchester 94, for deer it was around 1200 fps out of same gun.

 

[AJC1]

With standard cast or stuff you buy, shattering is probably off the table. I can't prove it, but I believe this came about with heat treated high antimony bullets. Think 454 casuell or 460. If there is a way to screw something up rest assured someone has already done it.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

We just wrapped a thread like that @savagelover started: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/im-confused.909438/

I will go read the thread thank you!

 

[KansasTrapper77]

This load I’m developing comes from Hand-loader magazine Pet Loads for medium frame 45 Colts.

Last year I took a fawn with my Ruger Security 6 180gr XTP just shy of 1100FPS at about 15 yards. And I was severely disappointed in the bullet performance. It simply penciled straight through. I thought I had missed. No hair or blood at all. I was simply doing my due diligence when I found her piled up about 50 yards away in the brush. So I’m changing bullets in the .357 Mag but I would like to avoid that problem in my new (to me) Ruger 45 Colt.

 

[.38 Special]

18 BHN is harder than I like for most purposes, but not because of terminal ballistics. It's just more likely to lead your gun.

I will say that if you are expecting significant expansion from that bullet, at 1000-1100 FPS, you'll probably be disappointed. They likely will act like solids. That's fine, though - a .45 caliber hole is big enough.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

Hmmm. I’m not sure I’m comfortable hunting with solids in a handgun yet. As you mentioned though a .45 inch hole is decently larger than a .35 inch hole for sure.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Hmmm. I’m not sure I’m comfortable hunting with solids in a handgun yet. As you mentioned though a .45 inch hole is decently larger than a .35 inch hole for sure.

If this is the bullet you're going to use: https://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=210&category=5&secondary=14&keywords=
Don't worry. You want a through-n-through. That thing will drag half the deer's innards out with it. Expansion is fine for SD to prevent possibly injuring an innocent by-stander but when you're hunting, you want the punch of a wide nose and a (hopefully very short) blood trail. I think you've got a good bullet there and ought to just go for it with a load that your gun likes when cold and clean.

 

[.38 Special]

Hmmm. I’m not sure I’m comfortable hunting with solids in a handgun yet. As you mentioned though a .45 inch hole is decently larger than a .35 inch hole for sure.

The idea can take some getting used to, for people brought up on expanding jacketed bullets. But a big flat nose smacks game animals pretty hard, and countless big game animals have fallen to the big Colt.

 

[KansasTrapper77]

If this is the bullet you're going to use: https://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=210&category=5&secondary=14&keywords=

Thats the one! So far it has been very easy to load. Last (limited) chrono data showed a max spread of 21fps.

The idea can take some getting used to, for people brought up on expanding jacketed bullets. But a big flat nose smacks game animals pretty hard, and countless big game animals have fallen to the big Colt.

If funny you mentioned that because that’s exactly where I’m coming from. 2 years ago I had an 45-70 Hornady FTX turn a deers boiler room into soup and was a little taken aback at the carnage. Last year I had a Hornady XTP .357 fail to expand at all.

So with my new 45 Colt I figured I’d try lead bullets as maybe a happy medium. And I knew that the bear loads are often in the 20+ range on brinell hardness, just wasn’t sure where 18 landed on that scale.

Thanks for the advice fellas.