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Rifle: BRNO ZKK 601 .308W.
Bullet: 150 gr Hornady Interbond.
Muzz.Velocity: 2,800 ft/sec.
Distance: 262 metres (290 yards).
Impact Vel.: +- 2,250 ft/sec.
The bullet demolished the first shoulder, passed through a rib, passed through an opposite rib and stopped in the opposite shoulder. The bull flung itself around in a tight circle and fell down dead close to where it was shot.
83% Weight retention.
Perfect impact velocity for best penetration. A successful one shot kill as the lungs around the heart were severely damaged and the top of the heart was cut.
Critical Review: The low impact velocity ensured that the released kinetic energy into the carrier of the KE (the bullet) was low enough to not allow catastrophic deformation of the 150 gr mass. Had the bull been 160 yards closer, impact velocity would have been 2,580 ft/sec, expansion would have been considerably more, weight loss would have been more and penetration measurably less - still a high probability of going into the heart but not through an opposite rib and into the opposite shoulder as one would like to have.
This was good performance but shows the limit of a 150 gr. bullet on big game - higher impact velocity would have resulted in more weight loss and less penetration. The hunter knows the trajectory of his rifle and these bullets very well - which was the reason for his choice. I would develop the same confidence with a 168-180 gr bullet.
Good day Andries. So nice to talk to you. I would say that I personally have never notice the Barnes TSX that tumbled. Doesn't mean it never happened to me but for sure never noticed. About the closest shot I can recall on an elk was about 75 to 80 yds. Both the elk & me surprised each other. I froze & he froze. He froze a few seconds to long. Since I have never recovered a TSX from an elk I can't comment if the petals fused back. They have just always worked. The ones I have recovered from the dirt bank behind my 100td range show a nicely rounded mushroom. When dug out of the dirt they still weigh 99 to 100% of their original weight. My primary reason for hunting big game like you
is the meat first so if I noticed excess meat damage I would be concerned.
You will see here a buck we harvested this last November along with a picture of the bullet entrance hole. The range was about 185yds. The shot was taken with a Ruger 243 I bought new back in 1967, the first year of production. Still has a beautiful bore & still a tack driver. The bullet used was a common C&C 100gr style. No need for expensive copper bullets here. If you notice I listed a picture of him in full velvet this last summer. He had vanished for three or so months & then at very first light one morning he showed. I guess he had gone nocturnal. We call him the the "Salad Tong" buck.
Howdy Dom,
Indeed, the monolithics are superior over even the best of the bonded cores (the best of the latter being the Fusion from Federal which I believe uses what was the Speer Deep Curl, and of which I have about 70 x 160gr 7mm in Colorado).
Most of our big game is shot at 70-150 yards and experience here is that the TTSX at impact faster than 2,600 ft/sec gets the petals fused back onto the shank causing the shank to tumble and making a large wound channel through the low shoulders and cause lots of meat damage. Of course the killing ability is perfect.
We are just fastidious about any meat damage which is why the Peregrine and GS Custom bullets are so popular here as well as for hunters in the USA who know of them and order directly from the US agents. In fact GS Custom now has a factory in the US too.
The advantage of the Peregrine expanding series is that they have no petals but expand in a consistent round mushroom fashion from 1,700 ft/sec impact velocity to more than 3,000 ft/sec. This ensures that the shank stays free of side contact so no tumbling occurs and exit wounds are never larger than maybe 2x calibre.
I use nothing else anymore - and may even decide to stick to the VRG-2 solids as the flat nose causes a 4x calibre wound channel so no expansion is needed. This hydraulic shockwave induced wound channel is virtually free of blood vessel bursting so meat spoilage is almost non-existent. This means I can use a 140 gr bullet from my .303 Brit at 2,900 ft/sec even on a 2,000 lb eland at 200 yards.
I don't think it matters which brand homogeneous copper bullet that is used, they all seem to give superior weight retention & penetration. I can't comment on various African game but can on Colorado mature elk. Years of experience has shown me that 6.5 120gr homogeneous copper bullet will completely penetrate mature elk even thru heavy bone. As I have stated before on a bull I shot last year at about 165yds, a 6.5 120gr Barnes clipped the left shoulder blade going in penetrated thru & excited the right armpit & completely shot off the right leg above the knee joint. The leg bone at this point is almost 3" in dia. I have never recover any of these bullets from elk. They have all exited . I find them far superior on elk size game than the Nosler partition. These all copper bullets have changed the way bullet effectiveness is judged. You can not compare them to C&C bullets . It's like you have to forget every thing you know about C&C bullets & start over. I know I sound like a broken record but they have to be tried to understand. I talk to hunters every year that have never heard of the Barnes or any other type copper bullet. That surprises me since I have been aware of & using them since the early 1980's. I guess I spend to much time shooting, one of my favorite past times.
Welcome to the Forum, Jones!
Thank you for the reports on the bullets from your various rifles - because I also use a .416 Rigby in Mozambique I enjoyed the report on the Barnes. I only use 400gr Peregrine VRG-2 copper solids on everything from duiker to Cape buffalo and am very happy with it. In my .303 Brit I use 168 gr Peregrine VRG-3 which consistently give 1.5x expansion and mostly complete penetration through kudu (and similar) shoulders with almost no meat damage.
The past hunting season I had a client who used 165 Federal Fusion from his 308W with complete penetration through gemsbok shoulders from about 180 yards- breaking the humerus bone on both sides with only a 4x calibre exit wound. The gemsbok acted in almost the same way as did my son's black wildebeest in the first post. Together with the PMP Africa Elite I believe Federal Fusion
is the best factory loaded bonded core ammunition available.
I trust your 2018 hunt will be successful - we should endeavour to meet. Where will you be hunting?
Andries
I just booked my 4th safari in the past six years and I can attest to the fact it is an incurable disease. That said, I find some bullets work perfectly in some of my guns/hunting situations and others don't. So I go w/ what works best. My 7mm mag worked perfectly w/ 160 Sierra gamekings w/ high weight retention and expansion at varying distances on kudu sized animals down to springbok. 160 grain Speer Hot Cors didn't do so good w/ core jacket separations being the rule. In the 270 Win got good performance from Sierra 150s on red hartebeest to mountain reed buck sized animals at distances from 100 to 160 yards w/ good expansion/weight retention. Last year got a 40 and 1/2 inch Cape Buffalo w/ a Barnes 350 grain TTSX BT from my 416 Rigby. Shot was 60 yards quartering away. Caught the second rib from the back, transected both lungs and took out an inch of rib on the far side before burying a half inch into the far side shoulder bone. Expanded bullet was .72 inch in diameter and weighed 349.2 grains. Thought Barnes would be interested in that but they said it happens all the time. For my next hunt in July 2018 I'm working up loads for the 300 Win mag. So far getting good groups from both the 180 grain Barnes TTSX BT and the Berger 180 grain Elite Hunter. Won't know until next spring which will get the nod.
No doubt a monolithic would have passed through. I use only Peregrines because my shooting distances are 150 yards closer and vegetation is dense.
This still is very good performance for a cup&core bullet breaking through all that bone and retaining 83% weight - and the animal dead in 15 yards.
For the walk&stalk shooting distances of 250-300 yards in that area the bullet choice was good - also he knows the trajectory of that bullet and his rifle off by heart out to 400 yards.
From my experience & what I have acct ally seen in the game fields the Barnes 30 cal 130gr TTSX would have give superior performance to the Hornady 150gr bullet. The reason being the Barnes would retain 100% of it's starting weight & would not flatten out like a lead core bullet. I have personally seen the Barnes 130gr TTSX launched from a friends 308 completely penetrate a mature elk. Seeing is believing. Had it been used on this Wildebeest which is much smaller than en elk I truly believe it would have easily penetrated both front shoulders. Try one & see. My humble opinion. Dom