Higginsons offering 230 grain 303 hunting bullet

[none]

Why not shoot theminto some medium, check expansion?

If they expand nicely, bbring one along fo rhte F&G guys on the rare occasion that they check.

No CO has ever checked my rifle ammo, ever.

I have had a CO check the ammo in my win 94 30/30 .
He said he was checking for full metal jacket bullets.I was trying to call a bear in and was dressed in camo so i could have just sat there but i was curious and went out to talk to him.Actually don't see them very often.

 

[Lefty Dick]

Thanks for the bullets Josquin.
All 6 arrived in what looks like perfect condition.
I sectioned one bullet, and I took a few (30-40) swipes at one with a bastard file, did the same to one with the belt sander.
I have the unique opportunity that the F&W officers are using our range this week for qualifying, so getting a good cross section of opinions as to the legalities of said bullets in the un touched form will be possible.
As you can see in the picture these bullets are not copper washed, the thickness of the copper at the bullet tip is approx. 0.025".
Range test of 2 un touched and the two filed/ ground bullets to follow.

 

[Andy]

Great pics - thanks. Yea, I think that qualifies as FMJ (CMJ actually). Their purpose seems dubious: not a solid, and not in a chambering typically recommended for dangerous game; not a target profile and not much demand for 0.311" target bullets anyways; and not a great hunting bullet IMO, even if they were legal.

I'd like to see what happens when they hit wetted newspaper or gelatin, both as is, and modified as you have done - which I don't recommend for reasons of consistency (and hence accuracy) and concerns over jacket separation (albeit small, as the base is enclosed).

 

[josquin]

Most interesting. I'd had these sitting around for some time and hadn't really bothered with them. If I ever get some spare time I should load some up myself and get to the range with a box of wet newspaper.

Andy's comment seems appropriate, at least for this calibre. Frontier claim "straight-line penetration" and of course if they don't expand, that would be quite likely.

I can see that, in the medium and big calibres, such as the .375 and .458, the wide meplat, plus a tough jacket, might be useful- sort of a "semi-soft." It wil be interesting to see the results when shot into a suitable medium. My guess is that they will expand, but very little.

FWIW, here's the blurb from Frontier's website:

The development of Game Ranger bullets for hunting was born from local demand. South Africa is a hunter's paradise, and locals who do not hunt for trophies, hunt for meat; it is popular for South African hunters to fill their fridges during the winter months with game.

The designs were based on the principle that maximum straight-line penetration is reached by the use of very heavy bullet shot at slower velocities. The flat metplate of the bullet is designed to cause maximum trauma.

The bullet was designed a heavy-duty big stopper. The first bullet in the range was .458,600gr for the Winchester Magnum. Improving the stopping power of this cartridge tremendously. Almost two years of testing went into the project before the team was happy with what the bullet could do.

From the 600gr 458 CS Game Ranger, the other bullets followed in 416, 375, 9, 3, 30 Cal, 303 and late in 2004 the three bullets for the 454 Casull/460 S&W were introduced.

Stuart

 

[Lefty Dick]

Here's the straight goods from 15 or so Fish Cops as to what they would call the frontier .303 bullets. Unanimous Non Expanding (Alberta). They said that with the misconceptions as discussed (never mentioned CGN) they will certainly be watching for non expanding ammo a lot closer than the usually do.
Range test is waiting on Ma Nature to smartin up.

 

[Workin Man]

What did they say regarding the bullets you had filed the jacket off of to expose the lead?

 

[Lefty Dick]

I never took the "filed bullets" I simply showed them the un touched one I had left and the sectioned bullet.
The discussion as I took it was whether the un touched bullets were considered expanding or NOT.
The filed bullets would without question be considered of the expanding variety, but their performance as a game bullet is another thing yet to be evaluated.