Terminal performance of shots fired

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My buddy and I were out a few years back and he popped a muley broadside with a good ole fashioned cup and core 130. Bullet went in the right side, through the blood vessels on top of the heart, and left a two inch exit wound going out through the left side. Range was somewhere between 150 and 200 yards up hill (should say UP mountain). Makes me think we might be getting just a bit fancy with our new expensive bullets.
Here is a bullet that I recovered. It is a 130gr 6.5 Sierra TGK (Game Changer). I hit a yearling doe on the shoulder as it quartered towards me. It was almost dark and she was in high grass so I couldn't really tell how much angle that I had on her. The bullet ruined the shoulder, traveled through the paunch making a mess, then went through the ham and stopped under the skin on the back side of the ham. Penetration was about 28" and the bullet retained 62% of it's weight. Not bad for a cup and core.

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Here is a bullet that I recovered. It is a 130gr 6.5 Sierra TGK (Game Changer). I hit a yearling doe on the shoulder as it quartered towards me. It was almost dark and she was in high grass so I couldn't really tell how much angle that I had on her. The bullet ruined the shoulder, traveled through the paunch making a mess, then went through the ham and stopped under the skin on the back side of the ham. Penetration was about 28" and the bullet retained 62% of it's weight. Not bad for a cup and core.

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I think the main "problem" with cup and core bullets is people trying stupid stuff with them. Broadside deer? Yep. Herd of elephant, or an angry lion? Nope. Pick your shot. Anyway, I think they have some pretty good cup and cores out there. Hornady Interlock and Remington Core-lokt bullets come to mind. I know the bullet companies would love for us all to spend 3 dollars a bullet to kill that 100 pound doe, but come on, let's use a little common sense and save the money. Maybe if I am on a 20,000 dollar once in a lifetime dinosaur hunt, I just might need one of those fancy Plutonium Nyborg bullets, but not for ordinary shooting.
 
If I did it right, this is the recovered ball from the button buck.
 

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I shot a small buck once with a 12 gauge slug broadside at 50 yards. I shot 4 slugs in the lung area and he didn't react, just walked around. I loaded another slug and shot again and he fell over dead. I hit a doe at about the same range, same gun and she dropped right there dead. I blew the heart and both lungs out of a doe once with a 30-06 and she ran leaving a huge blood tail. found her piled up in brush about 120 yards away. Same shot with a .223, big buck leaped and went about 30 yards and died. Bigger and faster bullets are always better, but it's always shot placement more than anything else.
 
A few years ago, I shot a young 3x3 Coues buck at 300 yards with a .243. He was feeding, and I was across a canyon, prone with my rifle across my pack, waiting for him to turn broadside. When he did, I squeezed off the round. When I him back in my scope, he was on his side, one leg twitching in the air for a few seconds.

There was no blood from the entry or exit. The entry ended up being through the top rear of the left shoulder blade, while the exit was just behind the right back ribs. The exit was about 1” across, and had intestine showing. I did a gutless quarter, and did not open the chest to necropsy him.

Bullet was a Hornady 100gr Interlock, BTSP, MV approximately 2850fps.

Wednesday this past week, I shot a spike Coues at 130 yards with my new .270. 110gr Sierra Pro Hunter at approximately 2900fps MV. Lots of blood at the impact site, significant blood blown out on bushes and the ground along his path to the spot where he fell. He ran all of 8 yards, spun out, and was on his back tangled in a deadfall. Impact was tight to the right side shoulder, just below midline, exit was about exactly opposite on the left side but *quite* a bit larger with lung tissue exposed and a *lot* of blood down his side and on the ground.

Necropsy showed a lot of bone fragments through his chest. Liver was partially shredded, heart missing a large chunk, lungs had primary and secondary wound tracks. Chest filled with blood, broken shattered ribs around the entry and exit. Entire exit side rib cage bloodshot and bruised, with enough peripheral damage to the exit side shoulder that I didn’t try to salvage anything from it at midnight when I finished quartering him up in my kitchen.

I chose those bullets because they shoot very well in those two rifles, and are hunting bullets with good reputations. Both performed as expected.
 
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Here is the slug I recovered from a doe I shot this year. I shot it right on the property line so I wanted a DRT. It was a perfectly frontal shot at 30 yds. I was aiming between the eyes but it ended up a bit to the left and hit just right of the deer's right eye (from the deer's perspective). Took a good chunk of brain and skull with it and then exited and reentered into the spine where it plowed a 6" channel through the spinal column where it cam to rest just below the hide.

This is a Federal 20 ga 2 3/4 Trophy Copper 275gr @ 1700 fps.

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260 Remington 120 Nosler ballistic tip. Mule deer buck at 80 yards, standing, quartering away. Shot hit the last couple of ribs on the right side and exploded on contact. Basically ZERO penetration. Luckily, it dynamited the back ribs too. Pieces of rib took out the liver and the deer bled out in short order. That bullet is probably okay after it slows down in a couple of hundred yards, but NOT under a hundred yards.

I've had something like this happen with a similar bullet, 6.5x55, on relatively close range hogs. One I shot almost every package of sausage had bullet fragments in it, will try Federal Fusion next time.

Last week I was very impressed with .30-'06 Remington ammo loaded with 180 gr. Scirocco bullets for cow elk. At 200 yards it went through the top of the heart/lower lungs and broke the far shoulder before exiting. She only went about 10 yards.
 
I shot both my does with 308 150gr Federal MeatEater Trophy Copper bullets.

First shot was 320y quartering towards me. Bullet was a little too far back, holding for wind, but was still a double lung hit. Deer did a circle and went down. Then stood back up, took two steps and went down.

Second deer was shot at 82y, quartering away. Bullet took out both lungs and the top of the heart. She took off like I'd missed. She went 5 yards and collapsed down the side of the hill. Blood was EVERYWHERE. The entrance looked like an exit wound. The exit was not spectacular but the job was done.

Those 150gr Trophy Copper bullets did a fantastic job. I'd not hesitate to use them again.
Those are totally lead free yeah?
 
Three out of three so far, all 150gr Federal Power-Shok bullets out of .308, identical performance: clean entry wound, approximately 2½" exit wound through and through. One hit a rib and fragmented, collapsing the lungs and resulting in DRT. One ran 20 yards, another one 30. Shots at 50-70 yards. All lung or lung/heart shots broadside or at a small angle. None of the bullets were recovered.

They ruin a bit more meat than I'd like but they seem to be effective.
 
Sweet! I’ll have to see if I can find any in .311 for reloading the old Soviet smoke pole.

Doubt you'll find the Federal bullet, but Barnes makes an X in .310 of 123 grains that should do well out of either 7.62x39 or X54R. I'll just stick with the 174 RN from Hornady in Stalin's 2x4. They just plow through leaving dead deer and a good blood trail.
 
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