From the bench to the dinner table...

[bang_bang]

So yesterday, opening day of rifle season...my alarm failed to go off so I missed the morning hunt. My girlfriend woke me up at 7:30 asking "Are you gonna go hunting?"

I replied "Yeah.." glanced at the alarm and then said "NO!" We slept til 10:30...

She decided that she wanted to shoot my .22 a little bit, I found a minute to check my zero on my 300 Win Mag. We plinked for a bit and I made a few adjustments to my scope, then started to reload some shells since I only had 2 rounds left that wasn't tracer rounds.



I began to load shells, she got amused. She then started to help me reload a box of shells. I would work the powder thrower while she seated the bullet. 74.4 grains of H4831SC with a 165 gr Sierra GameKing makes for a wicked combination.

She then decided to go with me on an evening hunt to make up for the missed morning hunt. Around 4:30, we approached a doe that I decided to take. She turned broadside at around 50 yards and I squeezed one round into her. She ran approximately 35 yards and expired.



My girlfriend had never really been on a hunting trip or reloaded ammunition before until yesterday. This past month has been hard on her with work, family troubles, and the passing of her beautiful mother.

She had fun!

Now bang_bang has to cook up some bacon-wrapped backstraps and can some delicious deer meat for her... I guess it's even since she did help me reload *and* drag the deer.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Isn't it amazing that that doe ran 35 yards with that football sized hole in her!!! And they say those SGK's are junk!!! Ha!!

 

[brettrow]

If my girlfriend is going to hunt with me, I make sure she shampoos with scent free soap for a week ahead of time. lol, seriously I do this. And no victorias secret lotion either.

 

[Kachok]

a doe at 50 yards, and you shot her with a 300 WIN!! Dang don't you think that is just a little bit of an overkill LOL. You think SGKs tear up some meat my hunting buddy uses 150 gr ballistic tips in his 300 on Mississippi deer!! I always tease him about deer jello, and scraping the meat off the trees LOL.

 

[pat86323]

overkill is seldom too big a problem, underkill can be. At least with that good hit there was no chance of it getting away and it suffered very little.

 

[brettrow]

Overkill is only a problem when someone shoots a caliber that they really cant handle because they think bigger is better (maybe the flinch, maybe they cant handle the recoil). Then the deer gets gut shot, or you miss. Ive never had a deer walk away from a .270.

 

[redneckdan]

Nice. Looks like you have about 1/3 of the eatin' parts turned into blood shot meat.

 

[pat86323]

True a bigger round can be a problem in that way. However that is not the rounds fault, it is the fault of the person who is using a firearm they are not comfortable with. And to the comment about 1/3 of the meat being ruined ive seen some pretty heavy damage from a 243, ive also seen very little damage from my 7mm mag. This year after shooting my elk twice (he got up so i popped him again for good measure) i only really lost about 1.5 lbs of meat on the shoulder. Angle of shot, precice location of the shot, bullet choice ect ect ect can all be deciding factors in how much meat is lost, not just the caliber.

 

[Kachok]

Define underkill, because a bunch of people talk smack about my 6.5x55 and pretty much everything else smaller then a 30-06. I can accuratly shoot large caliber high power rifles, I just see no need to on deer. My 1st deer rifle was a 7mm rem mag, but a 25-06, 270 or 6.5x55 will kill them just as cleanly within 300 yards. I do own a WSM for those over 300 yard occasions but my 6.5x55 is the rifle of chioce.

 

[bang_bang]

This deer was facing my right, quartering into me. I shot her in front of her right shoulder/base of the neck and it exited behind the far shoulder (as pictured).

The bullet clipped a lung and destroyed the heart. I poured the heart on the ground after I dressed her.

I usually like to catch the front shoulder, but did not want to gut shoot her (I didn't feel like throwing up, my gag reflex works too well). I am shocked she ran as far as she did.

I like my Magnums (7mm Rem and 300 Win) when it comes to hunting. No, it's not needed, but I like assurance that if I shoot one in the shoulder at 200 yards, it's going to exit the other side with ease. If it runs, it's easier to track with 2 holes pouring blood opposed to 1.

 

[Kachok]

Not to rain on anyones parade, but magnum speeds increasing penatration is a myth. I have my magnum that I love too, but truth be told I only shoot it for long range shots. Here is a little test, take those same 165 SGKs load one to full magnum power (about 3200 fps for a handloader) and one to 308 speeds (about 2700 FPS) shoot it into any realistic medium (10% Ballistics Gel being the best) and the slower one will always drive deeper!! Why? Because at the higher speeds your bullet will open much faster and shed much more of it's weight increasing the diameter of the wound canal but reducing penatration. That said SGKs are a very well built bullet for magnums so I doubt you will get many that fail to pass through a whitetail. BTW magnum speeds will not reduce the penatration of FMJs since they don't expand, and solid copper bullets don't shed much weight so their penatration is about even at differnet speeds. There are several really good studies about this posted on the web.

 

[bang_bang]

Well...that just ruins my train of thought.

I guess I just like to make a bigger mess....

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I posted yesterday about an 8 point that the bullet did not exit. It was shot at 50 yds. with a .308 150 core loc broadside. The kid thought he needed a bigger gun cause the bullet didn't exit. I told him, "if anything the bullet was going too fast, expanded too soon and failed to exit."

Deer are easy to kill if you are able to put the bullet in the vitals.

 

[bang_bang]

Shooting several different weights and types of bullets out of my 7mm and 300 Win Mag I have never had a bullet fail to pass through at ranges from 20-200+. From the cheapest stuff I can find to Winchester Supreme Ballistic tips, every shot has exited the deer.

I have witnessed my .270 shooting 130gr Ballistic tips fail to pass completely through a button-buck at 100 yards or so. I found the bullet when I skinned the deer...it was just underneath the hide on the far side. After I finish this box of ballistic tips (same box actually), I am going to start reloading with Sierra GameKings.

Edit: I also have shot Core Locs out of my 7mm Rem Mag, which I found I did not like. I shot several deer with vital hits and they ran farther after being shot with those bullets than any other I've tried. Definitely not using those again. I really like the Winchester Ballistic tips 150gr in my 7mm. I'll probably reload some type of Nosler after I finish up my 2 boxes of factory ammo.

 

[Justin Holder]

I always thought it was a little funny when people complain about a bullets performance after they pull it from under the skin on the off side of an animal.

Oh, it should have exited, two holes are better than one, blady! blady! bla!

THE ANIMAL IS DEAD IS IT NOT?

 

[HOOfan_1]

I always thought it was a little funny when people complain about a bullets performance after they pull it from under the skin on the off side of an animal.

I've always thought the opposite. I want the bullet to expend 100% of its energy inside the target...and I certainly don't want over penetration even though I am 100% sure of the backdrop.

 

[X-Rap]

after they pull it from under the skin on the off side of an animal.

That is just about perfect in my book. I have found many 165gr 7mm from a 280 just under the skin on the off side of a deer or elk, maybe the best killin machine I know.

 

[brettrow]

IMO, I agree with HOOFan1, 100 percent energy dumped in an animal boiler room is like a grenade going off inside a confined area. You dont need a huge blood trail when the animal expires quickly. Just dont push the animal, give it a few minutes at least and a lung/heart shot is all you need. If you can handle the magnums thats fine, but a lot of people think they can and they cant and wonder why they lose deer. Can you shoot a magnum better than a "smaller" caliber like a .270? If you honestly can shoot groups just as good, great. I was reading a webpage yesterday of a west texas outfitter, they basically said leave the big guns at home as they have seen too many deer lost with them. Deer do not wear kevlar vests. But bigger is always better right...... With my .270 and hornady GMXs, I always get complete penetration and thats fine but I dont know how well the bullet is expanding as I have never found one, and the exit wound varies with distance obviously. And if I get 100% penetration with a .270 and a GMX, why would I want to shoot something bigger if exit wounds was my goal? I also use interlocks, and they expand better. The only reason I use GMXs is I prefer lead free meat. If Im hunting a big buck I use interlocks since they expand better. This rifle argument is timeless, is bigger better??? Maybe, maybe not. It reminds me of the mens razor commercials. THE NEW RAZOR HAS 15 BLADES!!! so it must be a better shave! I prefer my two blade disposable razor and my .270 and maybe a 30.06 for moose.

 

[Kachok]

There is only one problem with the "energy dump" theory. Energy can be dumped into tissues other then the vital organs. A shot into the shoulder with the older BTs would rarly pass through the heart and lungs because they "dumped" most of their energy into the muscle tissue/bone. I think that controled expansion bullets create more consistant kills, while KE dump bullets tend to make spectacular bang flops when they work properly. On a text book quartering shot at 100 yards a well placed SST or BT should drop any deer like lighting 99% of the time, but on the tough angle shots SGKs, Fusions or Partitions are by far a better choice. Yeah you might have to follow a short blood trail, but they won't run far, and there WILL be two holes.

 

[bang_bang]

Can you shoot a magnum better than a "smaller" caliber like a .270?

I've achieved sub-moa at 100 yards with both of my magnums. I've shot right at moa at 300 yards with my 300 Magnum.

I'm starting to be a big fan of SGKs and I'm excited about loading them in my .270. I've taken several deer with them in my 300 Winnie and only 1 took a finishing shot from a pistol. None have ran farther than 35-40 yards.

 

[HOOfan_1]

There is only one problem with the "energy dump" theory. Energy can be dumped into tissues other then the vital organs. A shot into the shoulder with the older BTs would rarly pass through the heart and lungs because they "dumped" most of their energy into the muscle tissue/bone. ...on the tough angle shots SGKs, Fusions or Partitions are by far a better choice. Yeah you might have to follow a short blood trail, but they won't run far, and there WILL be two holes.

I would think if you are using something North of the 6.5x55 and heavy enough bullets then you should be getting plenty of energy dumped through the entire body of a deer.

My dad uses 175 grain Sierra Pro Hunter bullets in his 8x57 and he has found most of them on the far side of the deer he has shot. He has said they went down like they were hit by a Mack truck

 

[Kachok]

I would probably use somthing north of my 6.5 if I had any use for the extra kenetic energy/mass on deer. The 6.5x55 is a stone cold killer and is an absolute joy to shoot. I have a 270 WSM with 150 grain Deep Curls in case I ever need more energy or range. Nothing wrong with a good old 30-06 165gr either Getting a rapid opening and consistent energy delivery throught out the body of you pray is kinna the holy grail of ballistics engineers. I do tend to perfer high SD low fragmentation bullets in case I cannot get that ideal angle on my shot.

 

[Fremmer]

I'm not surprised about the size of the exit hole, you shot it while it was quartering away. The doe went down, which is what matters.

I'd rather have complete penetration (and tissue destruction) than something else that stops. If it hits bone, I want it to go right through and leave 2 holes for it to bleed out of.