30-30 Premium bullet test Part 2

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86er
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Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 2:58 pm
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30-30 Premium bullet test Part 2

Post by 86er »

Testing penetration required some thought on how to mimic the most exteme uses for the ammo as advertised. Buffalo Bore actually mentions defensive use on bears - that's pretty extreme. With that in mind, an interior Grizzly or a coastal Brown Bear is going to weigh 1000 pounds give or take. A defensive shot is likely to be a frontal shot as an animal comes at you. That means a head shot or one that hits somewhere under the chin. At the right angel, that would put the neck area of spine behind the head too. Personally, I'd let a charging animal get close, probably 15 feet or less but I figured most people would feel the intentional forward motion of a threat at 25 yards would be encroaching on their personal space and the trigger pulling would begin. Here's the best representation of that I could come up with - cow weighing near 1000 pounds. The animals were positioned on the belly with the legs tucked in. The chin was positioned on the ground with the head tilted downward and forward. This brought the flat part of the forehead in line with the rest of the body. It also put the neck bone behind the head. Shots were fired from a prone position so they were straight on and would have to go into the whole body. The shots were at 22 yards. The first four, one of each cartridge were aimed right at the flat square of the head. We then cut the head off, peeled back the hide and began cutting 1" thick layers of meat with an electric saw until we saw a wound channel or bullet. The distance from the entry hole was measured and recorded and the wound channel was photographed. First - the PENETRATION.

Hornady 160 gr LE - 12.5"
Grizzly 170 gr - 14.0"
Buffalo Bore 190 gr - 18.25"
Speer 170 gr - 20.25"

"WHAT"? You proclaim. Yes, the Speer load with 2134 fps average MV penetrated a little more than the buffalo bore. All these bullet penetrated the front and back skull and several inches of meat.

I didn't believe it either, so I blew another $150 and set up another cow the same way. This time I fired the Speer first aiming at the inside corner of the left eye. This was followed by the Buffalo Bore aimed at the inside corner of the right eye. Upon examination, each bullet stayed in it's respective half and encountered the same things. The results were consistent with the first try:

Buffalo Bore - 18.5"
Speer - 20"

What about the expansion? Well here it is all measured at the widest point:
Hornady - .542
Grizzly - .807
Buffalo Bore - .495
Buffalo Bore - .650
Speer - .318
Speer - .496

How about the weight?

Hornday - 125.3 gr both pieces combined Total jacket/core seperation
Grizzly - 159.1 gr both pieces combined Total jacket/core seperation
Buffalo Bore - 184.8 gr long shank and good mushroom bent to one side
Buffalo Bore - 180.5 gr long shank and good mushroom bent to one side
Speer - 159.4 gr - short shank and round mushroom
Speer - 164.6 - long shank and very little frontal expansion

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GRIZZLY -
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HORNADY -
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SPEER
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SPEER
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BUFFALO BORE
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BUFFALO BORE
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Old Savage
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Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:43 pm
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Re: 30-30 Premium bullet test Part 2

Post by Old Savage »

Very interesting Joe. Your conclusions on which you would want?
In the High Desert of Southern Calif. ..."on the cutting edge of going back in time"...

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