OK same one gallon milk jug tests as before from about 15 yards so here goes.


Might as well start with the 45/70.
This bullet my friend Rem721 on the forum here cast him self with a RCBS mold I think. At any rate It started out a 425grain GC cast boolit with no alloy, so its pretty soft, and I was not sure what to expect. You will see results below, pretty cool. This one wasn't a super penatraitor, but the nose mashed out like a wall in front of the shank, any how here are the specs.

45/70
425gr. soft lead
MV 1700ft./sec
Expanded to avg. .930"
Retained weight of 419gr.
Stoped in 5th Jug


Next up is the weatherby stuff. I think some of you .30 cal guys might find this interesting for what ever cartridge your fireing them from. I was kind of suprised at the results my self. All three of the tests were Weatherby loaded ammo, shot one over the cronograph for MV and then slamed the jugs. Here it is.

300Wby
180 Nosler Partition
MV 3170 ft./sec.
Expanded to avg. .65"
Retained weight of 119gr.
Stoped in 6th Jug

300Wby
180 Nosler Accubond
MV 3173 ft./sec.
Expanded to avg. .72"
Retained weight of 115gr.
Stoped in the 5th Jug

300Wby
165 Barns tripple shock X-bullet
MV 3244 ft./sec.
Expanded to avg. .71"
Retained weight of 164 gr.
Stoped in the 8th Jug


Pics from left to right partition, accubond, xbullet, and the lead cast.





So what do ya make of this?

That's really cool. good post. love the look of that 425g, but it doesn't look like a good bear stopper. make 'em pretty mad I bet. but then again I think the buffalo were killed with a bullet similar to that. maybe it's the hot new old deal?

Remember that 405g bullet from my redhawk? I know a guy who loaded it to 1030 fps and it went clean thru 9 jugs and buried itself in the berm. Those bullets don't expand so they can chug along pretty good.

Kind of funny that a subsonic .44 can throw a bullet farther thru water than the weatherby. Haven't I been saying? .50 BMG also stops short in water according to the myth breakers.

Glad you're still keeping the jug population under control!

Best,

Grizz

Great photos!

Impressive performance by all the bullets in my opinion - that big ol' soft lead slug looks good! If cast harder it wouldn't have expanded so much and would have penetrated deeper - but I'll bet it hunts great just as cast.

Interesting that the Barnes bullet has the mark on the bottom - I'm thinking they must stamp the "W" on the base for all of 'em they intend to go to Weatherby factory loaded cartridges? Just a guess. Barnes makes one heck of a rifle bullet for penetration... Dang, Weatherby doesn't mess around with velocity from their factory ammo do they?

Thanks for the test!

Hey Udy

remember the 405g .44 load? A guy in AR is working on that load and has that bullet leaving his 5.5" redhawk at 1020 fps. He just did the jug test and it stopped in jug number THIRTEEN! Yup, it went into the 13th jug. That's as far as my slow-motion 525g 45/70 load goes!! How's that grab ya? Are you shooting it?

How's that make the weatherby feel?

Regards,

Grizz

Grizz,
Thats pretty cool. Got a link I would like to see the thread. And no I haven't got any of marshals 405's like I intended to. I ended up buying some 340 grainers from Jae-Bok Young, I have had good luck with his Craters and was ordering lots more so I just added his .44 heavy weight to try out insted instead on the same order. I still haven't even gotten around to loading any of them yet either. Not quite a 405, but I think they will get the job done to.

M700,
Yes I was supprised at the barnes bullet, also supprised no one else has mentioned it. I figured it would make a debate or discusion at least. I really wasn't expecting the 165gr. barnes to out penetrate the 180 partition. I expected the accubond to penetrate less than the partion though just because they open so violently, almost a mirror image of my 180 interbonds. I took my elk this year with the 180 partition, and thats all I really intended to use in it, but it makes a guy wonder if the 165 x-bullet can hold together at those velocities and still out penetrate the 180 partion what do I need the heavier bullet for? I know it is only one test but still. Coyote Hunter likes them copper bullets alot I think. These are the first ones I have ever shot. I was thinking they would be a good long range antelope round, but maybe they figured out a way to make a big game round out of the light bullets? Interesting stuff.

Oh yeah, I'm convinced that the Barnes TSX is one heck of a good bullet for big game hunting.

When that little 100 gr .25 cal bullet at 3340 fps did such a fine job on two mule deer bucks and a couple of different penetration tests for me, I am convinced. Since then I've done a lot of reading on it, and there's a lot of hunters who've seen some very impressive penetration from them.

I've loaded the 168 gr Barnes TSX in the .308, .30-06, and the .300 WSM but haven't taken a shot at game with any of the .30 cals yet. Originally I bought a box of 'em to try in my .300 Rem Ultra Mag....

Also have a few of them for my 7mm mag, and some 270 grain TSX's for the .375 H&H. That oughta work.

For long range/light game I think there are better choices, but for slamming through hide, muscle and bone, they seem great!

I just know I wouldn't want to get shot with any of those

Great stuff Brent. I use the Barnes TXS bullet in my .405 Win. for elk and other big critters. It is a great choice.

Went and killed some more jugs today with the 425 gr. bullet (with gas check and lube, closer to 435). Difference was I water dropped the bullets this time. Same lead, same powder, same charge weight, same primer, similar conditions if my memory serves.

About 6 weeks elapsed from casting to testing.

Penetrated 10 jugs with almost no expansion or weight loss (15gr). I was not expecting that much difference in performance with just simply quenching the bullets out of the mold.

How do I now come up with a bullet that performs in the middle ground between the two? Does this mean I now need a degree in metallurgy? I ain't got enough active brain cells to try that route.