IronNoggin
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
The Mystery Bullet
Here are a complete set of pictures of the bullet fired from my rifle which we recovered from the back of the moose's neck:
The top cartridge is loaded with a Nosler Partition, the bottom with another "Mystery Projectile"
No apparent visible difference.
Another view of the same, Nosler to the Right.
Only difference is the primer type.
From the top two pictures it is obvious (as was pointed out by a sharp eye on this forum) that it cannot be a Nosler Partition (which I thought it was).
For comparison, here is a picture of a Nosler Partition:
The important thing to note here is that the Partition has NO copper covering the base of the bullet. When viewed from the rear, you will always see the lead center due to the type of construction. That is not the case for the bullet which struck the moose.
Confused over this, I sent off a message to my Father, as we used to handload together for a rather lengthy period of time, and a lot of that was for the 300 Weatherby & 300 H&H magnums. The following is his reply:
"Once upon a time Nosler sold a rather lightly constructed bullet they called a Solid Base Boat Tail. It did have a solid base and an exposed lead tip. Some people may have used them for hunting but I never did. They were a very accurate target bullet however and I used them almost exclusively for initial sighting in. You also shot them a lot when you were engaged in long range competition shooting with the 300 Weatherby.
Later they added a plastic tip to this bullet and changed the box it was sold in only sightly. The words Balistic Tip appeared below the words Solid Base Boat Tail.
Still later they changed the box it was sold in completely. Solid Base Boat Tail was dropped and it became just Ballistic Tip. They may be somewhat more sturdily constructed now as it says on the box that they are hunting bullets. I did shoot an antelope with one of these a couple of years ago. He was facing me at about 100 yards. the bullet hit in mid chest and exited just behind the ribs....never hitting any bone. I still use these for sighting in.
My guess is that your bullet was the Solid Base Boat Tail. Your pictures look like it may have a boat tail although I cant tell for certain the moose was far enough away that the bullet didn't disintegrate. But the extreme mushrooming(pretty as it is) prevented greater penetration.
I still have all of the examples mentioned. I will send pic in due course."
Under a magnifying glass I did determine that the bullet in question was a boat tail. That was distorted due to impact, but some of the angle, and the ring where it goes full diameter are still present. I will post the pictures Dad sends if anyone is interested.
So it turns out that I had several of these in my kit when we went up North. Thought they were Partitions, as that's all I have had on hand for a great many years now. Good thing Dad still has one hell of a memory well into his eighties!! Don't know if I would have ever figured it out without him!
Thankfully the few I have of these were loaded with a different manufacturer's primer, and the color is different from all the rest I have on hand. Carefully set aside now, they will be used for what they were designed for, placing neat little holes in paper!
Had that been what I thought it was, the moose would not have moved another inch.
Lesson Learned!!
Mystery Solved!
Cheers,
Nog
Here are a complete set of pictures of the bullet fired from my rifle which we recovered from the back of the moose's neck:
The top cartridge is loaded with a Nosler Partition, the bottom with another "Mystery Projectile"
No apparent visible difference.
Another view of the same, Nosler to the Right.
Only difference is the primer type.
From the top two pictures it is obvious (as was pointed out by a sharp eye on this forum) that it cannot be a Nosler Partition (which I thought it was).
For comparison, here is a picture of a Nosler Partition:
The important thing to note here is that the Partition has NO copper covering the base of the bullet. When viewed from the rear, you will always see the lead center due to the type of construction. That is not the case for the bullet which struck the moose.
Confused over this, I sent off a message to my Father, as we used to handload together for a rather lengthy period of time, and a lot of that was for the 300 Weatherby & 300 H&H magnums. The following is his reply:
"Once upon a time Nosler sold a rather lightly constructed bullet they called a Solid Base Boat Tail. It did have a solid base and an exposed lead tip. Some people may have used them for hunting but I never did. They were a very accurate target bullet however and I used them almost exclusively for initial sighting in. You also shot them a lot when you were engaged in long range competition shooting with the 300 Weatherby.
Later they added a plastic tip to this bullet and changed the box it was sold in only sightly. The words Balistic Tip appeared below the words Solid Base Boat Tail.
Still later they changed the box it was sold in completely. Solid Base Boat Tail was dropped and it became just Ballistic Tip. They may be somewhat more sturdily constructed now as it says on the box that they are hunting bullets. I did shoot an antelope with one of these a couple of years ago. He was facing me at about 100 yards. the bullet hit in mid chest and exited just behind the ribs....never hitting any bone. I still use these for sighting in.
My guess is that your bullet was the Solid Base Boat Tail. Your pictures look like it may have a boat tail although I cant tell for certain the moose was far enough away that the bullet didn't disintegrate. But the extreme mushrooming(pretty as it is) prevented greater penetration.
I still have all of the examples mentioned. I will send pic in due course."
Under a magnifying glass I did determine that the bullet in question was a boat tail. That was distorted due to impact, but some of the angle, and the ring where it goes full diameter are still present. I will post the pictures Dad sends if anyone is interested.
So it turns out that I had several of these in my kit when we went up North. Thought they were Partitions, as that's all I have had on hand for a great many years now. Good thing Dad still has one hell of a memory well into his eighties!! Don't know if I would have ever figured it out without him!
Thankfully the few I have of these were loaded with a different manufacturer's primer, and the color is different from all the rest I have on hand. Carefully set aside now, they will be used for what they were designed for, placing neat little holes in paper!
Had that been what I thought it was, the moose would not have moved another inch.
Lesson Learned!!
Mystery Solved!
Cheers,
Nog
