If you bare in mind that hunting before Deutsche Metallpatronenfabrik developed the compound bullet in the early 1880s tended to revolve around lead projectiles, it makes you, or at least me wonder why people freak over the notion of cast lead for hunting.
Historically many hunters used big azz wads of lead, 3-400 grains to down anything from a whitetail deer to elephants. If you consider rounds like the 11mms, the 45 and 50 cals that were in abundance into the early 1920s, and in some cases the 1940s, it begs the question of why people are so sold on core bonded, ballistic tipped, copper solids etc.
Certainly DM showed that a compound bullet, copper jacket etc, would penetrate deeper, but the big wad of 400grs of lead still dropped a lot of game cleanly....like a bulldozer.
Then the crap bullets started coming, with every johnny-come-lately trying to build a super-fast wizbang bullet that would knock a critter down like lightening. And the results were alot of craptacular bullets, and some pretty bad results (note, don't hunt a Lion with a 120gr bullet...
).
Regardless we were left with the goofy arguement of 'big and slow versus light and fast', and that loopy argument is still with us 100 years later.
Anyway that isn't the topic I am interested in. I am interested in knowing wether or not people would still use a solid lead projectile for hunting, be it whitetail, bear or for you Ruark wannabes, Lion or Cape Buff.
Think 3-500 grains, would you use it?
To me its just like a 12ga slug....only bigger...
Historically many hunters used big azz wads of lead, 3-400 grains to down anything from a whitetail deer to elephants. If you consider rounds like the 11mms, the 45 and 50 cals that were in abundance into the early 1920s, and in some cases the 1940s, it begs the question of why people are so sold on core bonded, ballistic tipped, copper solids etc.
Certainly DM showed that a compound bullet, copper jacket etc, would penetrate deeper, but the big wad of 400grs of lead still dropped a lot of game cleanly....like a bulldozer.
Then the crap bullets started coming, with every johnny-come-lately trying to build a super-fast wizbang bullet that would knock a critter down like lightening. And the results were alot of craptacular bullets, and some pretty bad results (note, don't hunt a Lion with a 120gr bullet...
).Regardless we were left with the goofy arguement of 'big and slow versus light and fast', and that loopy argument is still with us 100 years later.
Anyway that isn't the topic I am interested in. I am interested in knowing wether or not people would still use a solid lead projectile for hunting, be it whitetail, bear or for you Ruark wannabes, Lion or Cape Buff.
Think 3-500 grains, would you use it?
To me its just like a 12ga slug....only bigger...
