Phone book test. 338, 7mm, 6.5

kman300

kman300

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Finally got around to testing a few bullets in some wet phone books. I taped 3 of them together and then let them soak over night. They were very tightly packed as the tape prevented them from ballooning up and getting really fat.

I shot them at ~15m.

L to R .338 210gr ttsx, .338 200gr sst, .284 160gr accubond, .284 195gr barnes original, .264 155gr lapua mega

IMG_0578.jpg


IMG_0579.jpg


IMG_0580.jpg


Details:

210gr ttsx
Weight retention 209.3gr (99%)
Muzzle velocity 2815fps
.780" expanded diameter
15.5" penetration

200gr sst
Weight retention 114.8gr (57.4%)
Muzzle velocity 2994fps
.735" expanded diameter
13.5" penetration

160gr accubond
Weight retention 101.1gr (63.1%)
Muzzle velocity 2926fps
.502" expanded diameter
14.5" penetration

195gr barnes original (this bullet shed its core and then wrapped it self around the core against the shank)
Weight retention 129.1gr (66.2%)
Muzzle velocity 2645fps
.647" expanded diameter
16.25" penetration

155gr lapua mega
Weight retention 115.2gr (74.3%)
Muzzle velocity 2515fps
.540" expanded diameter
15.5" penetration

I thought for sure the 210gr ttsx would penetrate further but with the huge expansion diameter I'm not surprised it didn't. Wasn't really impressed with the accubond. The barnes original I tested just for fun, only have 12 of them left and they don't make them anymore. I have heard from other people they tend to shed their cores and it looks like they do. Other people have said numerous times that the little lapua mega bullets act like partitions for half the price. I completely agree. Outstanding bullet. The 200gr sst surprised me the most though. It's a light weight cup and core and I thought for sure at almost 3000fps it would not penetrate far at all. It expanded to the interlock ring, core did not separate and had a massive would channel. Cheap too!

I know full well these are not "valid" tests and do not represent how bullets will act on animals. I did have some beef bones in the freezer I was almost able to sneak out until my better half caught me and told me they are for making soup. Figures.

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers
 
I did a similar test a few years back with my 7mm mag. I was using 150 grain Sierra Game Kings and 62.3 grains of RL 22. I did the same with 5 books taped together and soaked over night. I shot them at 100 yrds. I do not recall being able to recover any of the bullets. It was fun.
 
Woulda been neat to see you put some solids in there too, or the sierra target stuff.

Thanks for posting those pics up, its always cool to see how different projectiles compare.
 
Just to rain on your parade, but what is the purpose of these expansion tests when 99% of shooters aren't hunting phone books but animals?

I have a sad memory of a lost antelope that I punched through and through with a Barnes X in a 300 Win Mag. I needed expansion in light resistence not solid consistent resistence.
 
kman300 said:
Finally got around to testing a few bullets in some wet phone books. I taped 3 of them together and then let them soak over night. They were very tightly packed as the tape prevented them from ballooning up and getting really fat.

I shot them at ~15m.

L to R .338 210gr ttsx, .338 200gr sst, .284 160gr accubond, .284 195gr barnes original, .264 155gr lapua mega

IMG_0578.jpg


IMG_0579.jpg


IMG_0580.jpg


Details:

210gr ttsx
Weight retention 209.3gr (99%)
Muzzle velocity 2815fps
.780" expanded diameter
15.5" penetration

200gr sst
Weight retention 114.8gr (57.4%)
Muzzle velocity 2994fps
.735" expanded diameter
13.5" penetration

160gr accubond
Weight retention 101.1gr (63.1%)
Muzzle velocity 2926fps
.502" expanded diameter
14.5" penetration

195gr barnes original (this bullet shed its core and then wrapped it self around the core against the shank)
Weight retention 129.1gr (66.2%)
Muzzle velocity 2645fps
.647" expanded diameter
16.25" penetration

155gr lapua mega
Weight retention 115.2gr (74.3%)
Muzzle velocity 2515fps
.540" expanded diameter
15.5" penetration

I thought for sure the 210gr ttsx would penetrate further but with the huge expansion diameter I'm not surprised it didn't. Wasn't really impressed with the accubond. The barnes original I tested just for fun, only have 12 of them left and they don't make them anymore. I have heard from other people they tend to shed their cores and it looks like they do. Other people have said numerous times that the little lapua mega bullets act like partitions for half the price. I completely agree. Outstanding bullet. The 200gr sst surprised me the most though. It's a light weight cup and core and I thought for sure at almost 3000fps it would not penetrate far at all. It expanded to the interlock ring, core did not separate and had a massive would channel. Cheap too!

I know full well these are not "valid" tests and do not represent how bullets will act on animals. I did have some beef bones in the freezer I was almost able to sneak out until my better half caught me and told me they are for making soup. Figures.

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Very cool. I shoot a 338 win with 200 grain SSTs and am switching to 210 gr patitions. I would really like to see how they handle those soup bones. You'll have to sneak some out and see. The other thing I would like to see is the barnes at a lower velocity to see how well they expand.

G
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Just to rain on your parade, but what is the purpose of these expansion tests when 99% of shooters aren't hunting phone books but animals?

I have a sad memory of a lost antelope that I punched through and through with a Barnes X in a 300 Win Mag. I needed expansion in light resistence not solid consistent resistence.
Click to expand...


That would not be a particularly good use of an X bullet, pretty much totally unnecessary. Barnes are built to be driven hard at large animals and they work great for that purpose, kind of overkill for a 100 pound animal with light bones and very thin skin.
 
martinbns said:
That would not be a particularly good use of an X bullet, pretty much totally unnecessary. Barnes are built to be driven hard at large animals and they work great for that purpose, kind of overkill for a 100 pound animal with light bones and very thin skin.
Click to expand...

Or underkill, I suspect it didnt open enough for a kill if that was the case with the antelope. Perhaps something with way less weight retention would open up better on the smaller animal (antelope) like the sst or barnes original would have been better. Ah well, you live you learn. Maybe the TTSX will be better (open fully)for bison elk or moose for a more effective projectile in that situation. Youd think that the TTSX opening up fully like that in the pictures, without losing any weight would create the biggest wound channel and carry through the other side to allow it to bleed out, but I guess there's already enough debates/threads for and against that subject.
 
I have now seen a couple of these Barnes "failure to expand" scenarios.
AAMOF, I have a 30 cal 168 grain TTSX, on my reloading bench.
It was recovered from an animal that required a second shot to anchor.

The first bullet was recovered.

The only thing different from an unused 168 TTSX is the rifling grooves
in it and the missing blue plastic tip.

The rifle was a 30-06 and the range about 75 yards, so should have been sufficient velocity to expand.

Makes one slightly uneasy. :eek:
Eagleye.
 
Eagleye said:
I have now seen a couple of these Barnes "failure to expand" scenarios.
AAMOF, I have a 30 cal 168 grain TTSX, on my reloading bench.
It was recovered from an animal that required a second shot to anchor.

The first bullet was recovered.

The only thing different from an unused 168 TTSX is the rifling grooves
in it and the missing blue plastic tip.

The rifle was a 30-06 and the range about 75 yards, so should have been sufficient velocity to expand.

Makes one slightly uneasy. :eek:
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

Huh, first I heard of that but good to know. I was thinking of trying reloads with the 168 TTSX's but perhaps Ill stick with the interbonds, they make nice tight groups anyways.
 
Eagleye said:
I have now seen a couple of these Barnes "failure to expand" scenarios.
AAMOF, I have a 30 cal 168 grain TTSX, on my reloading bench.
It was recovered from an animal that required a second shot to anchor.

The first bullet was recovered.

The only thing different from an unused 168 TTSX is the rifling grooves
in it and the missing blue plastic tip.

The rifle was a 30-06 and the range about 75 yards, so should have been sufficient velocity to expand.

Makes one slightly uneasy. :eek:
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

Just reloaded some 358 win for a buddy. He brought me 225 grain barnes tsx and 250 gr partition. The barnes are leaving the barrel at about 2300 fps. this is a bush gun so not expecting that he will be shooting out past 100 yards. That being said this bullet traveling at its low end of its effective envelope (2000-4000 fps). I may recomend that he use them for target practice and use the Partitions for hunting.

G
 
Eagleye said:
I have now seen a couple of these Barnes "failure to expand" scenarios.
AAMOF, I have a 30 cal 168 grain TTSX, on my reloading bench.
It was recovered from an animal that required a second shot to anchor.

The first bullet was recovered.

The only thing different from an unused 168 TTSX is the rifling grooves
in it and the missing blue plastic tip.

The rifle was a 30-06 and the range about 75 yards, so should have been sufficient velocity to expand.

Makes one slightly uneasy. :eek:
Eagleye.
Click to expand...

It just goes to show that virtually every bullet design can fail under the right (or rather, wrong) set of circumstances.

Still, I have to say that the 168 grain TSX remains my "go-to / shoot everything" bullet in my 30-06. If memory services, I've used it to shoot 31 animals in the last few years, with sizes ranging from about 30 lbs on the low end to 600 lbs. on the high end. Everything died pretty much as it was supposed to...
 
I've had terrific results from TSX bullets, I generally only use them on bigger animals or in magnum rifles that drive them hard. In those circumstances they are just about perfect.

When I hunt deer (antelope would be the same) I use cup and core bullets from moderate cartridges like a 308 or 6.5 swede. Animals from Mule Deer down are easy to kill and don't require anything other than decent shot placement, just about bullet/cartridge combination will work.

No need to pay $1+ a bullet to kill little critters.
 
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