Bone penetration

[Lwestover]

Is there a bullet available to reload that can penetrate a deer shoulder blade, perhaps a cast bullet? This season I shot a doe at 100yrds, unfortunately it hit her square in the shoulder. She limped off 200 yrds through a cut bean field and into a no hunting area I couldn't access. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

[MiHunter]

Were you using a factory ftx load? I would think the hornady 300gr xtp mag would go through no problem. I dont have experience with 450bm and cast bullets yet so no help there. I would think a 300gr sierra or the 240gr xtp mag would penetrate as well. Most of my experience deer hunting is with a 44 mag rifle. Ive shot deer with 180, 225, 240, 270, 280 and 300gr bullets from 20yds to 140yds and ive not had one fail full penetration. The 240s have smashed through double shoulder shots, 280 cast and 300xtp have all went through when ive hit bone. My most recent was a shot facing me, in the chest and out the rump at 30yds. 300xtp. I guess what im getting at is my little 44 can do all that. With a heavily built bullet the 450 should have no problem passing through at any angle on deer.

[Lwestover]

I was shooting the 250 grain ftx Hornady customs. Don't know if it was a fluke or what, but I saw blood on the shoulder and her leg messed up. But kept right on going.

[KenMI]

It's no surprise. Countless stories of the FTX bullets failing or doing less than acceptable. And that is just from one forum here in Michigan. Sometimes they blow up, shed a bunch of weight and don't penetrate. But other times they drill right through, don't expand, and don't leave squat for blood trails. Pretty pathetic when a 45 caliber bullet of 250 grains won't penetrate or perform well.

The Barnes 200 grain XPB or certainly the 275 grain would blast right through both shoulders, I'd almost bet. Certainly through the near shoulder, and through the vitals. Weight retention will be 95%+, usually closer to 99%+
I shoot the 250 grain Barnes T-EZ muzzleloader bullets in mine. So, a few solid choice right there.

[Hoot]

My money's on a fluke. That 250 FTX will punch through 5 or more plastic milk jugs. "But they're just water" you say. That's correct but those jug walls, cumulatively are a pretty hard barrier. Take a stick and sharpen it like the point of an FTX and try stabbing through just one of those jug walls as its collapsing from the impact. Multiply it by 10. I've seen a 30-30 round nose soft point, blow through a near side shoulder joint square on and travel through the thorax to the other side of the deer. They're very soft to accommodate the low velocity that the 30-30 propels a bullet. Monolithic copper bullets will fare better but no way I'd expect that 250 FTX not to make it past at least the near side shoulder. Maybe the deer was on a high calcium diet.

Happy New Year everyone.

Hoot

[LeaderOfThePack]

I wouldn't compare plastic and bone as same. Would like to see someone trying ceramic wall tile or plaster construction sheet between first and second jug.

[MOOSE EARS]

If the bullet hit the very end of the upper leg bone where it connects to the shoulder blade, it could easily be a non-penetration shot. That's a hard piece of bone. The blade itself, not so much. Perfectly placed imperfect shot!

[Al in Mi]

Is there a bullet available to reload that can penetrate a deer shoulder blade, perhaps a cast bullet? This season I shot a doe at 100yrds, unfortunately it hit her square in the shoulder. She limped off 200 yrds through a cut bean field and into a no hunting area I couldn't access. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

welcome and sorry for your misfortunes, trust me, it's not the 450's fault.

275gr Barnes will take care of anything it meets in a whitetail or probably any other critter for that matter. If you don't reload, Federal has a new offering that should be a winner and Black Butterfly has some decent loads with the Banes and Maker bullets, not cheap, but premium ammo never is.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

hm

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Lots of folks get a bit defensive when I suggest this but could it just be it was
A poor shot? Because from all of my experiments if you properly hit a doe in the shoulder
She’s gonna lose her front end suspension and that limp is more like a drop down to rear wheel drive only.
Don’t get defensive now. We’ve all made crap shots on deer. It feels bad.
But let’s face it, a 250 grain bullet hitting a deer properly in the shoulders even at 45 ACP velocities is going to knock a deer down and it’s not going to get back up easily.

[Lwestover]

Sheepdog,it was a bad shot, I was aiming at the heart, shoulder blade is never my intention, but would like to have a bullet that would get the job done if I misjudged a little. Thanks for everyone's input.