bullet reports Berger ,Remington, TTSX, for those intrested

[khh]

Thought id report on some recent bullet performances on Whitetails

1. 165 gr. Rem corlok Factory load. Deer was 1/4ing toward shot hit the shoulder knuckle entrance hole , sorry no pic, was 4" blew the leg completely off the deer bullet then appeared to turn up and broke the backbone and was found up there in that mess. weighed 97 grs.







2. 115 Berger vld hunting 257 Weatherby Max load Retumbo , the deer (spike) was 75 yards away shot was a neck shot broadside , the bullet didn't exit , but it did break the neck. entrance hole was barley discernible . I found a small piece of bullet but lost it , no pic (sorry) , what was left was about the size of a watch battery about 3/8" round and 1/8" thick . since this is 1 result the jury is still out on this bullet but so far I'm not to impressed. My Bee is a Vanguard 2 shoots great but doesn't shoot the Berger's to well groups run around 1" . I'm told it may be because of the free bore of the Bee and the short bearing surface of the Berger.

3. 100 TTSX max load 257 Weatherby this load is extremely accurate . The deer ( heavy body 8pt. ) was 1/4ing away. range was 40 yards. bullet went in near the back of the ribcage , clipped the liver , thru the lungs , broke the off front shoulder knuckle , before exiting in front of the off shoulder. The deer managed to run 40 yds. The exit in the hide was small about 3/8". internal damage was extensive. so there you go good hunting KH.

Can't seem to get the pics right side up but hopefully there not to bad.

 

[DrMike]

Sounds as if you've done some fine necropsy on these animals. The damage sounds extensive, if only because of higher velocities. Good observations. Thanks for posting.

 

[Guy Miner]

KHH - good post, thanks for the bullet performance reports!

1. .300 Win mag factory load with the 165 bullet. You blew the leg off? I've seen that with a .300 Win mag and 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips that I loaded for a friend quite some years ago. Awesome killer when placed in the chest, but yes, it blew the entire leg off a buck... Lots of horsepower and lots of destruction. Actually the bullet you recovered looks pretty good considering.

2. 115 Berger VLD from the .257 Weatherby. That's about what I'd expect. Tiny entrance hole, lots of destruction and quick death, but no exit and not much bullet left. That's what they do. Plant one in the chest cavity and the destruction of heart, lungs & major blood vessels is actually kind of scary. Dang deer just stop. But if it doesn't shoot well from your rifle, why bother?

3. 100 gr TTSX - I've often thought that once Barnes put the tip on the TSX, they may well have come up with the perfect high velocity .257 bullet... Performance you cite mirrors what I saw with the open-point TSX from my .25-06 in 2005 & 2007, tremendous internal destruction, complete penetration and I was rewarded with instant kills with both of my shots.

You list one kill at 40 yards, one at about 75 yards, and I didn't notice a range for the .300 mag shot. Using some real high velocity rifles for modest range shooting! Why not I suppose? I've done the same a few times.

Regards, Guy

 

[khh]

Guy , The 300 win kill was my brother's , yes it blew the leg right off , the range was around 50 yards . I think the bullet probably hit to the inside of the shoulder knuckle/joint and blew the bones out thru the hide on the entrance side , detaching the leg and deflecting the bullet up into the spine. This would account for the gaping entrance hole well the bullet remain for the most part intact.

1" from the VLD's in the Bee isn't that bad but Hornady 100gr. and 100 gr. TTSX regularly go into 1/2 to 3/4 " groups . I haven't tested the VLD's at long range they may do better farther out. I too really like the TTSX bullets. I've shot a couple animals with them now and they've performed very well. I'm thinking of trying the 100 gr. partion in it too. I love Partions but when I order them a lot of times the noses are damaged. They also get damaged in transit to some hunts , that doesn't happen with Accubonds or TTSX's. My experience with Accubonds ( started in the 3100 to 3300 fps range ) has been that at close range they over expand which retards penetration , but they always hold together , past 150 yards or so there great. This doesn't happen with the Partion and TTSX since most my shots are fairly short I tend to stay with the latter 2. KH

 

[SJB358]

Great report. Thank you for posting all that up.. Great information

 

[FOTIS]

Thank you for the insight.

 

[Elkman]

KWH, excellent write up. I am curious as to what damage the partitions are getting that you feel (apparently) makes them unusable. I am a very long time user of the PT in various rifles, and never noticed a problem. Tip deformation in the magazine is common, but does not harm the performance of the bullet.

 

[SJB358]

Same here, they get a little bunged up sometimes, but I haven't noted any performance issues yet. I imagine way down range they might start to shot, but I haven't found anything wrong out to 600 yards.

 

[khh]

SJB358 and Elkman , I hope I didn't make it sound like I think there unusable that's not the case, I hunt with them a lot . Over the last few years I have received several boxes that had bullets with badly damaged noses , big chips/gouges or flattened to the point I just shoot them , I wont even sight in with them. I have a target at 250 yards that's where I normally sight in. I have the same issue's with the lead tipped Hornady and Serria bullets I use . While I doubt small dings and nicks hurt the accuracy I don't think they help. In transit I have at least 3 times , with Partions , arrived at a destination only to find I have badly flattened points later when I checked them with a bullet comparator only 1 time have the bullets actually moved . That was on a flight from Michigan to Kansas I could visibly see some where pushed down. Of course when that happens it doesn't matter what bullet you use they will be damaged. I now ship them on there side, Generally in a one of my boots , in Plastic shell holders with paper towel in the plastic top contacting the bullet tips and the top and bottom duct taped so the cant move at all.

Of all the boxes of Accubonds I have had the occasional bent plastic tip i think only 1 ever broken off.

TTSX I have had bullets with tips that are broken off , bent , not seated all the way down or just plain missing as with the damaged partions I just shoot them goofing.

I have yet to have TTSX or Accubonds show any sign of damage during transit but I do take the same precautions.

 

[Elkman]

Truly I can't imagine what kind of abuse they are going thru to get that beat up. I have carried ammo and rifles in planes, and of course vehicles to Alaska, and a couple of western states and have never seen that kind of damage. Thanks for the followup.

 

[DIXIE]

Not sure the Berger blowing up in a deer neck would be successful on a hard quartering shoulder shot on a bigger animal


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