MTMilitiaman
Member
Yes, and no.
When it works, shock can produce magnificent results. But it isn't as reliable as other wounding mechanisms.
Our family has had the opposite experience as yours. My dad loaded 165 gr Gamekings in his .30-06. At the velocities he was loading them, they came apart inside 100 yards. Typically, if there was an exit wound, it was just what remained of the core as all of the jacket and most of the core was found fragmented inside the chest cavity. But the animals still ran incredible distances before expiring. He switched to the 180 gr Gamekings, which stuck together and penetrate better, while still maintaining good expansion, and not only did the animals cover less ground after being hit, but exit wounds meant better blood trails in recovering them.
When I got my 7mm Rem Mag, my first deer was shot at a distance of about 30 feet, broadside, right behind the shoulder. The slightly compressed load of Hodgens 870 propelled the 160 gr Nosler Partition at over 3000 fps. At that velocity, the bullet fragmented and only the rear core fully penetrated the animal. Shock forces were immense. It looked like a grenade went off inside the animal's chest. Jacket fragments were found in the backstrap, as well as in meat between ribs near the brisket. The heart was blown out of its protective membrane and bruised. The lungs were blown to chunks, much of which was sprayed across the forest behind the exit wound, along with hair and bone. The animal still ran almost 30 yards before collapsing.
Then this last hunting season, my dad was packing a custom .338 Remington Ultra Mag. With a 30 inch Lilja barrel, this rifle was shooting 250 gr Matchkings over a chrono at over 3100 fps. He shot a smallish doe in the last minutes of shooting light. The deer turned slightly as the trigger broke and the quartering on shot missed the onside shoulder, penetrated diagonally across the chest cavity, and exited about 3 inches behind the last offside rib. The exit wound looked like a ragged 8 inch long slash or tear. At least a liter of blood along with chunks of lung and much of the liver was blown out of the exit wound. The deer reeled and covered over 90 yards, losing much of its entrails in the process, before succumbing to its wounds.
In all of these cases, the animal sustained far more shock forces than any .22 caliber centerfire is capable of producing, but the animals still covered amazing distances. My theory is that these shock forces can trigger the animal's instinctive flight drive more acutely than impacts which impart less of these shock forces. With these survival drives triggered, the animal's blood stream is flooded with adrenaline and endorphins which dull pain perception and allow the animal to sustain incredible damage while still covering seemingly impossible distances. It is the same reason why bows remain relatively effective within their range parameters as a high powered rifle--they are quieter, which is less alarming to the animal. It doesn't detect as much harm or danger as the sharp crack and boom of a high powered rifle, so it doesn't run as far before blood loss takes it toll.
There are two reliable stopping mechanisms for living beings. Neither of them is shock forces as related to so-called "hydro-static" shock. The first is to destroy the Central Nervous System with either a shot to the brain, or the spinal cord. The second is depriving vital organs of oxygen, usually through the destruction of critical cardio-respiratory structures. In this case, the animal goes into shock, but this shock is due to blood loss and occurs late enough that by the time it takes effect, the animal is unlikely to continue fighting/fleeing for any significant time period. At that point, death in imminent without immediate medical attention.
My experience shooting living things has taught me never to rely on shock forces imparted by a projectile to debilitate a living creature. I've seen it fail too many times.
), and your final answer is...neither? :banghead:
