Well you can vaguely refer to these hundreds of tests all you want. I believe 100% what I've seen with my own eyes. 69 grain SMKs from a 1:7 twist barrel is by order of magnitude more devastating than a 55 grain bullet from a 1:12 twist barrel. I know this because I've used both on everything from Deer to Groundhogs. Maybe you just need to see it for yourself to believe it.
You gotta stop referencing that article. I read a few of his comparisons there, and he's either cut and pasting from Chuck Hawke, or vice versa.....
Regardless of that, no need to get your thong in a knot. I merely said I was surprised at your results given the volume of shooters out there who have indicated inconsistent results (as has Sierra themselves).
I belong to a few different forums in different countries where shooters kill numbers of game we can't compete with using smallish cartridges, who report similar results. Someone who culls thousands of kangaroos in a year saying he found smk's to be unpredictable (and has the pics to back it up) carries more weight in my opinion than a guy who shot 5 deer and 10 groundhogs.
However you are connecting some of the dots, in that a 1:7 twist has higher rpm, and will initiate much more violent expansion than a 1:12 twist will, REGARDLESS of bullet used. Try your 55 in the 1:7, and I bet you'd have a different result.......
Like I said before, results, conclusions. Not everyone gets them right.
Of course, here I may be doing it myself. Should ask if you purposely built your 1:7 specifically around the 69gr smk? Or did you just settle on that bullet after trying a few different bullets?
