by Bmt85 » Wed Jan 16, 2019 3:44 pm
I have ran the 200 XPB at max book load of Lilgun with a stab crimp, so it should be running around 2400fps, maybe a bit more. Took a button buck at 25ish yds. Damage was extensive, actually damaged about 1/4 of the heart, when shot placement wasn't really near it (went in behind rear shoulder and exited last rib, or second to last). I had some bloodshot meat, but not a lot.
Took a cow elk (50ish yds) and black bear (25ish yds) with the 275 TSX loaded long, and a stout load of Lilgun. No idea what velocity, but seeing other numbers from people with similar builds and loads, i'm guessing 2300-2400fps. Didn't get to see the internal damage on the elk, but when I flipped it over to load it on the cart, it was dumping out blood from the exit wound (about 2"+) like someone turned on a hose. Because of the angle of the shot, I decided to go through the lower rear part of the shoulder. Had 2 giant wounds in the arm pit, where the bullet went from the shoulder to the chest. Had a bit of bloodshot meat in shoulder and chest where the bullet entered. With the black bear, because of the angle, I put the shot at the high rear part of the shoulder, it exited just behind the offside shoulder, near the arm pit. Damage was ridiculous, quite a bit of damage to left lung and heart, even though I wasn't really close to them. Partially severed the trachea, did extensive damage to right lung, exit wound the size of a cue ball, and it started to pull the lung out the exit wound. Ended up with a lot of bloodshot meat in the shoulder, so we threw it in with the carcasses.
So to me, using the Barnes bullets in this cartridge at moderate speeds (compared to other cartridges) will give you more bloodshot meat, especially going through an arm or shoulder (more meat than ribcage). I try not to go through the shoulders, because of that, but take what I can get. I actually would have taken the button buck through the shoulder, if he was bigger, but it still did the job just fine. Could've went for the front chest, but would've exited the off side shoulder. So for me, I'll take the best shot I can, and just deal with losing some meat. I'm sure if speeds are slowed down on these, you'll lose less meat, but then your also getting less internal damage.