Hunting big game with ultra high velocity loads

1899

1899

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Are any of you hunting big game with "ultra" high velocity loads? I don't know if there is a definition of what I mean by "ultra" high, but by way of example I have taken a few head of game with a .257 Wby and the old 75gr X bullet. The loads were chronographed at just shy of 4000fps out of a 26" barrel. The effect on game was very satisfactory indeed. Bruising and bloodshot meat was nothing out of the ordinary and game dropped dead pretty quick. I shot a whitetail at about 150 yards or so - maybe less - and the bullet made a very interesting wound channel. It was almost as if a plug of tissue had been removed from the lungs.

There are some pretty high velocity loads listed on Barnes' web site - 80gr TTSX out of a .25-06 at 3800fps, .240 Wby with 80gr TTSX should be around 3600fps, .270 Win with 85gr TSX at 3900 fps or 95gr TTSX at 3700fps and the various 110gr, 120gr and 130gr Barnes bullets out of 7mm and .308" chamberings.

Do we have any "speed freaks" here? Have you used any of these loads? What were the results? Any pictures?
 
Not ultra-high velocity but still stepping out there.

100 grain Swift Sirocco launched at 3300 fps. The "lump" on the front shoulder is the bullet under the skin. My daughter shot it from under 100 yards as the doe was quartering away. She hit it on the last rib on the left side and the bullet quartered across both lungs and took out the heavy arteries on the top of the heart. The second photo shows the exit wound which only has moderate blood-shot.

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swift_entry_2.JPG

2011_gillian_doe-3.JPG
 
GS Custom Bullets has an article on their web page on the subject of terminal performance from ultra high velocity bullets, in the realm of 5000 fps from a .22X64. The South Africans have an advantage of being able to go out and knock down a few dozen head of game to support or dispute a theory, and in this case bullet wounds on numerous medium sized antelope was said to be similar to what might be expected from a .243 loaded with 100 gr lead core bullets, and they actually claim significantly less meat damage from the .22. I think the point of the article was to show that regardless of the impact velocity, GSC's HV bullet would produce text book terminal performance. It does have me wondering about effects on bullet performance, accuracy, and throat erosion as we near the velocity limit of our current powders, and this is where mono-metal bullets seem to have a real edge over their lead core bothers.

http://www.gsgroup.co.za/22x64.html
 
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I've taken a few deer with the 22-250, results were satisfactory, and since I was recently given a 22-250, I've bought some 45 grain TSX's for use on coyotes during deer season.
 
MiG25 said:
I've taken a few deer with the 22-250, results were satisfactory, and since I was recently given a 22-250, I've bought some 45 grain TSX's for use on coyotes during deer season.
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Nosler is building their Patriot rifles in .22-250 with a 1:9 twist. It should be a pretty good one. The .22-250 AI should approach the performance of the .22x64 in the article noted in Boomer's post. That is a neat article by the way, an oldie but a good one.
 
Took a couple of white tails with a 120gr. 7mm Nosler Ballistic tip out of the 7 STW. Travelling around 3650, both died instantly, to much meat loss for my liking....
 
1899 said:
Are any of you hunting big game with "ultra" high velocity loads? I don't know if there is a definition of what I mean by "ultra" high, but by way of example I have taken a few head of game with a .257 Wby and the old 75gr X bullet. The loads were chronographed at just shy of 4000fps out of a 26" barrel. The effect on game was very satisfactory indeed. Bruising and bloodshot meat was nothing out of the ordinary and game dropped dead pretty quick. I shot a whitetail at about 150 yards or so - maybe less - and the bullet made a very interesting wound channel. It was almost as if a plug of tissue had been removed from the lungs.

There are some pretty high velocity loads listed on Barnes' web site - 80gr TTSX out of a .25-06 at 3800fps, .240 Wby with 80gr TTSX should be around 3600fps, .270 Win with 85gr TSX at 3900 fps or 95gr TTSX at 3700fps and the various 110gr, 120gr and 130gr Barnes bullets out of 7mm and .308" chamberings.

Do we have any "speed freaks" here? Have you used any of these loads? What were the results? Any pictures?
Click to expand...
I had a custom make Remington which I recently sold to a good friend where I harvested several whitetail. The Remington was built with a 28 inch Ted Gallard barrel chambered for the 257 Weatherby where I primarily shot 100 grain Nosler ballistic tips, at over 3,700 fps. All bucks that I killed, the bullet went straight through them at distances between 125 to 200 yards. I really don't care for the Barnes bullets, I tried them once on whitetail and almost lost a big buck.............the entry and exit wound was the diameter of the bullet where it left no blood trail, only tiny speck here and there. This rifle was a 1/4 inch shooter.

 
No surprise on the small exit hole.....a .25cal bullet would make a .5 inch exit hole with 2x expansion. It's the devastation inside that matters....with a properly placed bullet of course.
 
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