{"id":13042,"date":"2016-03-03T17:57:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T17:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/?p=13042"},"modified":"2016-03-03T17:57:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T17:57:57","slug":"ballistic-bull-tough-bullets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/ballistic-bull-tough-bullets\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballistic Bull – Tough Bullets"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"H-1\"<\/a>
This Hornady ELD bullet is not very pretty and shed a good bit of weight while expanding inside a mule deer. What you cannot see by looking at it is how fast the buck hit the ground. It never took a step.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hunters have been the victim of the communication of bad information based on conjecture and good marketing. Possibly classifiable as unintentional deception, ballistic bullshit has been thrust upon hunters, online and in print.\u00a0I doubt a gun writer exists\u00a0who is not guilty – at one time or another – of this sin, myself included. It takes lots of dead animals, made that way by lots of different bullets, to learn the truth. Finn Aagaard, because he did not start writing until he had amassed lots of field experience, might be the only exception.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the time line of reporting on the terminal performance of hunting bullets, it became trendy to espouse the importance of a bullet’s ability to hold together and retain all its weight. The accepted<\/em> fact is that\u00a0bullets doing\u00a0this kill better.<\/p>\n

\"R-1\"<\/a>
By photo journalistic standards, this recovered Remington Core Lokt bullet, fired from a Managed Recoil load, is ugly. It deformed into an almost unrecognizable shape and shed most of its weight. What you cannot see by looking at it is how well it put down a whitetail buck.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The truth\u00a0is the only thing that can be gleaned from a bullet that holds together and retains all of its weight is that the bullet held together and retained all of its weight. Photos of recovered bullets tell very little about how well the bullet killed. In fact, a photo of a bullet pulled from a dead animal really only tells you the animal stopped the bullet and eventually died.<\/p>\n

Hunters have become addicted to bullets that appear to be tough because that seems to suggest they are better. A preponderance of evidence suggests tough bullets do not<\/em> put animals down as fast as bullets\u00a0that shed weight during penetration.\u00a0I\u2019ve seen this proven numerous times. During a whitetail cull hunt I found it impossible to drop a whitetail deer with anything other than a spine shot, while using 168-grain Barnes Triple Shock bullets out of a .308 Winchester. Other hunters, frustrated with the all-copper projectiles, switched to Hornady Zombi Max ammo and started\u00a0pounding deer to the ground.<\/p>\n

Why did the shallower penetrating\u00a0more fragile\u00a0bullets put deer down faster? Because, they created more internal disruption, over a shorter period of time.\u00a0Don\u2019t misconstrue my ramblings as that I’m suggesting there is no place for tough bullets or that they are bad; I recovered 13 of the 14 deer hit\u00a0with those Triple Shocks. (As for the lost\u00a0deer, the only legitimate assumption is that I made a bad shot.) I have however\u00a0put many\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0and much larger<\/em>\u00a0game down faster with less robust\u00a0bullets.<\/p>\n

Point being, the recovered bullet photos you see here and elsewhere, while cool to look at, tell us very little about what really matters. Don’t base the selection of your big game bullet on pretty pictures and the erroneous assumption that 100% weight retention is the Holy Grail of terminal performance. In many cases, the recovered bullets that look the worst, kill the best.<\/p>\n

To know the truth, you’ve to get a lot<\/em> of blood on your hands.<\/p>\n

\"Z-1\"<\/a>
Another myth often presented to\u00a0hunters, by those who either fail to understand terminal performance or who are looking for an excuse to explain their bad shooting, is the idea that African animals are harder to kill. That’s a topic for another time.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Hunters have been the victim of the communication of bad information based on conjecture and good marketing. Possibly classifiable as unintentional deception, ballistic bullshit has been thrust upon hunters, online and in print.\u00a0I doubt a gun writer exists\u00a0who is not guilty – at one time or another – of this sin, myself included. It takes lots of dead animals, made that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2579,2522,1],"tags":[2603,218,2139],"class_list":["post-13042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","category-hunt","category-uncategorized","tag-hornady-eld-x-remington-core-lokt","tag-hunting-bullets","tag-terminal-bullet-performance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5hujZ-3om","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13808,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/four-degrees-of-freedom-from-hornady\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":0},"title":"Four Degrees of Freedom from Hornady","author":"gunwriter","date":"August 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"For years shooters have relied on ballistic coefficient (BC) to help them hit at long-range. The thing is, BC is nothing more than an educated guess. It\u2019s a good guess; its just not a perfect guess. By using Doppler radar and actually shooting bullets at long-range, Hornady has essentially taken\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DEFENSE"","block_context":{"text":"DEFENSE","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/defense\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HH-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/HH-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/HH-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/HH-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/HH-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12160,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/bullet-biographies\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":1},"title":"Bullet Biographies","author":"gunwriter","date":"September 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been fascinated with the terminal performance of bullets ever since I shot my first whitetail deer. I realized early on that you cannot reach definitive conclusions about bullet performance by looking at the exit wounds or the recovered bullets. To know what really happens you have to shoot lots\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "HUNTING"","block_context":{"text":"HUNTING","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/hunt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bullet-3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Bullet-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Bullet-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Bullet-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Bullet-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13191,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/steyr-scout-meets-hornady-eld-x\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":2},"title":"Steyr Scout meets Hornady ELD-X","author":"gunwriter","date":"April 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hunts with scout rifles continue. Few will argue there is a more perfect scout rifle than the Stery Scout but as I have learned - at least for me - fixed, low power scout scopes can limit hunting opportunities. There are some scientific reasons for this and I will detail\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "HUNTING"","block_context":{"text":"HUNTING","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/hunt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/image2-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/image2-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/image2-1024x768.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/image2-1024x768.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13482,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/lever-action-maximization\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":3},"title":"Lever Action Maximization","author":"gunwriter","date":"June 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A lever-action rifle makes for a fine general purpose, hunting, or defensive firearm. There are also some accessories you can attach to make it even better. Maybe one of the most important is ammunition. After all, the only thing hunters carry to the timber, that actually comes into contact with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DEFENSE"","block_context":{"text":"DEFENSE","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/defense\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"LRVER-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/LRVER-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/LRVER-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/LRVER-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/LRVER-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13451,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/one-cartridge-for-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":4},"title":"One Cartridge for the World","author":"gunwriter","date":"June 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you were going to create one big game cartridge for the world\u00a0how would you codify the creation? Well, how about this? The cartridge should be able to push a bullet fast and flat enough to limit trajectory as much as possible. The bullet should provide enough penetration to pass\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "HUNTING"","block_context":{"text":"HUNTING","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/hunt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"308-5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/308-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/308-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/308-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/308-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7474,"url":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/ballistic-surprises\/","url_meta":{"origin":13042,"position":5},"title":"Ballistic Surprises","author":"gunwriter","date":"August 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I was at Gunsite testing some rifle bullets from a .308 Winchester. We tested two loads; Winchester's new 150 gr. Razorback and their 150 gr. Ballistic Silvertip. The Razorback is a new bullet Winchester is marketing for hog hunting. It is a monolithic bullet, meaning; it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "HUNTING"","block_context":{"text":"HUNTING","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/category\/hunt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rifle Bullets Test","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Rifle-Bullets-Test-1024x746.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Rifle-Bullets-Test-1024x746.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Rifle-Bullets-Test-1024x746.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Rifle-Bullets-Test-1024x746.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13042"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13051,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13042\/revisions\/13051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}