I've expereienced core seperation 2 diff times, w Remington Accu-tips. Both were under 100yd shots. I called Remington & they said, "well, did you get the deer?". I replied, "yes". "Then whats the problem?" Accu-tips are boat tailed. Didnt think much of it till a buddy told me today that he will not shoot boattails if he's expecting close shots. You guys ever heard this before ?
Boattail core seperation at close range ?
- Thread starter Trigger50
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sweetnectar
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I've never heard that a boat tailed bullet separates from the core more than a non boat tail. I think it can work against you to expect only a certain range shot or shooting situation. In fair chase hunting you get what you get and have to be able to shoot close, far, off hand, prone, laying in grass with cactus sticking in your knee, or with a fly landing on your gun, etc. That said, I'd error on the side of having a bullet that is accurate at long ranges first because it will be accurate at all ranges. Then I'd look at its ability to help kill. That is my 2 cents.
belly-deep
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I'd switch to a bullet with a heavier jacket near the base if you're worried about it. Or a bonded core bullet.
An outdoor writer who's kept extensive notes has reported more core separations with flat based bullets than boattailed. I'd mark it down to stuff happens. If it does bother you just switch to a bullet that either physically or chemically bonds the core to the jacket.
If you don't mind me asking, at what distances were these shots, bullet weight, and cartridge? Just curious. As an Accutip at 50yds is gonna behave differently out of a 308 than a 300 mag...
If you don't mind me asking, at what distances were these shots, bullet weight, and cartridge? Just curious. As an Accutip at 50yds is gonna behave differently out of a 308 than a 300 mag...
belly-deep
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Accutips look a LOT like Hornady SSTs...if that is the case, they are VERY frangible.
Jacket thickness for most bullets differ with caliber and weight. The larger the caliber and/or the heavier the weight, usually, the thicker the jacket. In this day and age, it's hard to understand why anyone who reloads does not use bonded bullets. The difference in cost is negligible if you're worried about core separation. A worry that I don't really share. As the guy from Remington said, if you got the critter, whats the issue? It's a lot like the argument about pass through. If a bullet makes a clean pass through on game, is it not functioning correctly because it did not shed all of it's energy inside the animal? Or was the blood trail too light and hard to follow? Or did the core separate inside the critter and you had to spend an extra 30 minutes pulling out bullet fragments. In all cases you had to take the critter of suffer these indignities. If you took the critter, the bullet did it's job. So, what's the issue?
belly-deep
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That argument is often used. It never made much sense to me. I don't think its ever made sense to anyone who has thought about it much.
genesis273
Well-known member
Years ago I was shooting a Federal Premium BT in my 7mm mag. Those things were tack drivers, but I had shot one doe with it and was finding pieces of bullet throughout parts of the deer when skinning (red streak in the meat with a bullet fragment at the end). I heard some other guys say that they had the same experience, so I switched to a slightly less accurate Nosler Partition bullet....which I love.
As for "the critters dead, so the bullet done it`s job". I rather know that the bullet will most likely hold together and hold most of its energy, than fly apart. Too much of a risk, in my opinion.
As for "the critters dead, so the bullet done it`s job". I rather know that the bullet will most likely hold together and hold most of its energy, than fly apart. Too much of a risk, in my opinion.
sagebrush
Active member
I shoot Hornady SST's out of the .270 and have taken every animal with one shot kills from 50 yards to 425 yards. Yes, the core separates from the jacket at closer ranges, but man does it dump the energy into the target! For thin skinned game, you can't beat the on game performance and accuracy. I have the 200 gr SST in .338 Win Mag and haven't drawn a rifle tag since I started shooting it. I really want to see what this bullet will do on an elk. I've had great on game performance with the 225 gr Nosler Partition, but the accuracy and energy is not what I would like for long range hunting, hence the SST experiment. I am a subscriber to the "How much deader than dead can you get" school of bullet selection.
