Hoot wrote:Well, as promised, here's some expansion examples and the velocities they occurred at. Plug them into your favorite ballistics calculator, for a given muzzle velocity and see at what distances they occur.
This is the one I use.
Here is an example screen shot:
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http://i55.tinypic.com/2el8nsg.jpg ]
If you're looking for reliable expansion in soft tissue without bone hits, figure on less than 200 yards of operational range because here's what you get in milk jugs of water:
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http://i51.tinypic.com/10i8300.jpg ]
Wish I had better news. I you're considering conditions that present you with longer shots and prefer a jacketed bullet that expands, then consider one of the Hornady FTX bullets. They expand down to at least 1000 fps and they cost less than half as much as the Barnes XPB's do. Otherwise, there's always the 160gr XPB. Also, the world is not lost if you don't get any expansion. Even the slowest load split open the first couple of jugs. If it was me and I was looking through the scope at a once in a lifetime trophy buck, I'd rather have a
copper claw going through them than a pointy solid copper behaving round. To each his own...
Hoot
Edit: They'll be going even slower (=shorter expansion range) if it's 30 degrees out and at sea level.
I myself, don't really care so much about expansion, as I have written, our 45cal is already larger in diameter than a 30cal gets after expansion and as Hoot so amply shows, eight jugs is a ton of penetration and water is far more difficult a barrier than tissue. That's a true statement, even though it seemingly flies in the face of conventional wisdom. These bullets will penetrate much more tissue than water, because there are far different tissue types, over the total path OAL of the bullet, in say a moose, whereas, water stays constant for the length of the path, for the most part.
For you newer guys, notice the Hoots work shows that as expansion increases, penetration goes down. If the bullet doesn't get into or better yet through the Boiler-Room, chances are the animal most likely will get away. What the Hoots work is showing here, relative to my suggestion, is that there is going to be much more tissue disruption and penetration, with this 200gr Barnes, than a 180gr 300mag will do, that is in my experience anyways.
I've seen lung shot deer, with our cartridge and non-expanding bullets, that spit out tons of lung material on the far side 15-20 feet and some 10 feet into the surrounding trees.
In other words, I dig all that Penetration, in this caliber!
Great, Great Work, 'Ol Man..
..t