OutdoorMissouri.com

Well most of you that have known me on here for any amount of time understand my favoritism for Ballistic Tip bullets. I?ve preached about them for years.



Well, being the constant experimenter, I had to switch teams this year and try something different. So I did the unthinkable and loaded up a mix of fast burning H4895 behind a new 150grain Barnes Triple shock bullet. I wanted that powder because I?m shooting an ultralight 300WSM with a 20-inch barrel.



Here are the results for you all to ponder.



I shot a doe the opening weekend with this combo and was less than impressed. I watched her walk into my field and she came to within about 20 yards. I was in a treestand shooting downward and she was quartering to me a slight bit more than I accounted for, I was aiming for heart. I shot, saw the bullet shock right where I wanted it. She jumped and ran. I was astounded. That?s the first deer of my life that didn?t pile up within just a few feet of the shot. She made it nearly 200 yards before she cut into the timber. I waited 30 minutes got down and trailed her. The blood was poor and spotty. Then I found stomach matter. I was worried to say the least. I tracked another 100 yards into the timber finding spotty lung blood, but she was at the end of the trail.



I field dressed her to find the damage and understand the stomach matter. I misjudged the quartering angle slightly. The bullet passed about 3 inches behind the heart taking out the bottom third of the left lung, clipping the liver and stomach, and then exiting the bottom of the midsection. I went back and dug the bullet out of the dirt and measured more than a foot of penetration into the moist, but hard-packed black soil.



The second deer was a 2.5 year old buck I killed the second Sunday of season. I was still hunting thru some river bottoms and saw this deer cut across a field into the timber. I moved slowly from tree to tree, and then caught another glimpse of deer about 80 yards out. I moved slowly to another tree and he was moving towards me. I had a clear shot at about 50 yards, but let him get a touch closer before I pulled the trigger at 40 steps. I put the crosshairs between his right shoulder and neck base on a very severe quartering to me shot. This deer dropped stone cold. I rolled him over and looked for exit wound, but found a lump under his left hindquarter skin. I cut the bullet out and kept it. The bullet hit perfectly and traveled through the right inside lung, heart ventricles, liver then above the stomach and rolled around the skin to the opposite hind quarter.



I?m still not sure about the stick-together bullet theory for whitetails. I think the doe wouldn?t have taken a step with a Ballistic tip and the buck wouldn?t have fared any different.



The buck field dressed at 150 and the doe was much bigger coming from the northern part of the state and probably had 30 pounds on him. I?ve decided that Barnes, or partition type bullets are meant to be shot into the shoulder, and ballistic tips for the lungs. I?m not a fan of shoulder shooting deer because of the damage, but dead is dead.



Neither of these bullets lost a grain of weight after expansion.

Your something freaking else, I tell you what. 3006 with Federal premium 165 Boat tail blows an exit wound hole I could shove my fist through. Dead deer. Done. Why all the aforementioned nonsence ?

Brilliant disertation TT but you is one ugly mofo

2B... you have not yet aquired the artforms of killing deer. Don't be such a brute. But I can show you big exit wounds with some special handloads from a 7 mag.



MoCraig, I normally only shoot broadside lung shots with BTs. There is no meat damage. Those bullets go in and liquify organs and do nothing else. These barnes bullets do little to destroy soft tissue such as lungs. It does provide plenty of Hydraulic shock but I wouldn't depend on it anchoring a deer unless you went for breaking down the shoulder. The muscle tissue damage from the barnes is adequate to say the least. But a BT would be worse if shot into the chest.

It's hard to be 6' 7" and weigh 225 and not be wirey... But I could still kick your donkey, take a picture and write a dissertation about the finer art of it.

MoCraig, if you shoot em in the boiler room. No meat damage. I don't care about all this poopoo. Give me a Muzzy, Carbon express's, and a mathews. Now were talking.

Otherwise, rifle, bullit, dead deer. Nuff said.

Is it a Savage and how does the rifle print with that short tube?

I'm looking at the 16FSS in 300 WSM

I said... nuff said. Now you all just stfu. Did I mention I hate rifle season ?

Marsh, It's a Savage Sierra 10 FM. It prints like a champ. Off a vice I was shooting 1/2" three bullet groups.

2B, It's ok to not understand such things. Buy your over the counter stuff and keep wacking your deer.

MoCraig, There you go again. I will flat shut that mouth of your's one day and the only poopoo your mouth will be spewing is teeth.

TT, thanks. I will.

TT - I shoot 180 grain Barnes-X Weatherby factory ammo out of my Weatherby 30-378 and I absolutely love them. I did shoot factory 165 grain Ballistics and I destroyed way too much meat with them when I shot a deer in the boiler room. I don't have that problem with the Barnes-X bullets.

Hey, MOCraig, if you are able to catch him, he has to grant you a wish. He's not too hard to catch, since he spends most of his time guarding the pot o'gold at the end of the rainbow. You can usually lure him in with a box of Lucky Charms.

Now that there is funny, I don't care who you are.



MoCraig, one crack to the ribs and you will be on the ground. Then my lucky brand boot print will be forever imprinted on your head. I hope you like four leaf clovers.

Dammmmmm MoCraig... a 30-378 Forkin A.... 3400FPS on a 180 grain bullet... Possibly the most over horsed midline rifle cartridge out there... Case capacity of 120 grains of powder... Over 3200 foot pounds of energy at 100 yards...You just got cooler in my oppinion.

BTW, handloading is cool. I don't do it, but would if I was doing more shooting. It's adding an extra bit of satisfaction to the sport knowing that you're taking a more scientific and hands-on approach. Kudos to TTTN. I'm sure subsequent experimenting will result in the perfect round for MO whitetails, with research branching out to elk (wapiti), moose, Dall sheep, and elephants (pachyderms).

Two Tall the Neanderthal said:
Dammmmmm MoCraig... a 30-378 Forkin A.... 3400FPS on a 180 grain bullet... Possibly the most over horsed midline rifle cartridge out there... Case capacity of 120 grains of powder... Over 3200 foot pounds of energy at 100 yards...You just got cooler in my oppinion.

Uhhh, TT, that was Snowflake to whom you are referring. So MOCraig's still a jackass.