- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Not wanting to start ahere!
But I personally don't feel shooting a bullet into wet newspaper, plywood and phone books is a fair test of a bullet. I've never seen an animal built as solid as 15" of wet phone books. Yes you may hit a bone but for the most part an animal's internal organs is much softer.
Here's a test of my theory...
punch your buddy as hard as you can in the belly
now punch 15" of wet phone book & see which one hurts your hand
Years ago I enjoyed water skiing, but would from time to time fall down. Sometimes that would feel like hitting a brick wall, particularly if the boat was executing a tight turn, and I would go skidding off across the surface of the water until I slowed enough to sink.
Now that impact was at 30 mph (44 fps), so how soft is an aqueous medium like live tissue if we increase the velocity at impact to 2045 mph (3000 fps)? The answer is not very soft at all, and the effects of the force at impact is recorded on the metal bullet if we are able to recover it. An expanding bullet that hits a heavy dense animal deforms more than a similar bullet that hits a small light frame animal, but that has much to do with the length of time that the force of impact can work on the bullet.
I like to test bullets. First it's interesting to see how bullets perform in a consistent medium, something that game is not. Secondly, if I can make a bullet fail in my test medium, why would I want to risk using it on a game animal? There are many hunters who believe it is beneficial if a bullet grenades once inside the chest cavity of a game animal, and I readily agree this more often then not results in a lightning fast kill. But not all shots are made broadside, and not all shots are made at long range. If your shot is quartering, or head on, the bullet must maintain its integrity for a longer period of time after moment of impact to get the job done. If the game is wounded with your first shot and you attempt a shot from directly behind to drop it, it's not likely that a fragile bullet impacting at over 3000 fps will work very well, unless you are able to spine the unfortunate critter. These situations are where the bonded solid shank bullets and mono-metal bullets shine.
Traditional cup and core bullets made for big game hunting seem to have optimal performance when they impact at about 2500 fps. When I refer to a bullet's loss of integrity, I'm not talking just about sprued cores, but also when expansion leaves less than 1/3 of the shank length intact. When a bullet expands to the extent that it becomes a flat button, it cannot penetrate in a straight line because to do so requires the bullet to rotates around a linear axis. This matters little on a broadside shot through the ribs and into the lungs, but again, not all shots are broadside. Neither is the game necessarily less than 300 pounds if we have chosen a 180 gr slug in a .300 super mag. When a bullet must penetrate on a quartering shot, it must penetrate in a straight line or it will be spent before it ever gets to the vitals. If you have ever recovered a bullet from a deer killed with a broadside shot, chances are that bullet would fail to get the job done if the shot was quartering.
If you anticipate your bullet is going to have an impact velocity anywhere near 3000 fps, IMHO you are better off with a premium bullet. If the Interlock or a cup and core bullet is your preference, then use a bullet that is heavier so the impact velocity is slower. "The heavy bullet strikes 8" low at 300 instead of 6", you say. I can't make use of 2" at 300 yards with a hunting rifle under field conditions, and chances are neither can you. "The very tough bullet will just pencil through without expanding," you say. That is unlikely with modern premiums provided the impact velocity is in excess of 2000 fps.
The key to all this is to use the appropriate bullet for the job. There is no need to use a traditional bullet in a high velocity rifle when you are hunting. A box of premium bullets will last many years if you are just using them to take game and verify your zero.
