Recovered Bullets

[Guy]

Recovered bullets, from game, or from test materials, have long fascinated me and I've kept most of the bullets I've recovered over the years. Obviously, the many "pass through" shots weren't recovered. Am hoping that some of you will share your recovered bullet photos & info here too. I'll try to note range, muzzle velocity, animal the bullet was recovered from, expanded diameter and weight:

My standard hunting load: 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, fired from a 30-06 at over 2900 fps. Recovered from a mule deer buck at about 140 yards. Deer was facing me, bullet went into his chest and traveled through much of his body. Buck dropped on the spot. Recovered weight was 106.5 grains and it measured .54" diameter:

165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, fired from a 30-06 at over 2900 fps. Recovered from a black bear at about 325 yards. Bear was quartering away from me. Bullet entered his flank, went through the vitals. Lead core exited, and the bullet jacket was hanging in the off-side hide. Bear went less than ten yards after being hit. Recovered weight is 73 grains, and it measured .574" dia:

I'll share more in time, and hope you will too.

Regards, Guy

 

[Guy]

200 grain Nosler Partition, fired from my 30-06 at 2600 fps. Recovered from a grizzly which I shot at about 30 yards as it was quartering away from me, wounded and moving towards the willows. I shot into the hindquarters, and dropped the bear, keeping it from reaching the willows. The bullet was recovered from the off-side hide. It weighs 144 grains. I'll have to go measure it again to get the expanded diameter.

 

[Guy]

125 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, fired at about 3,000 fps from a 308 Win. Recovered in the off-side hide of a fat whitetail buck taken at about 120 yards. The bullet had gone through both scapula and is quite flattened but a bit of bullet shank remains. Recovered weight is 71.5 grains and it measures about .56" diameter. I came up with this load to help a new hunter dealing with a very lightweight rifle and was with her when she dropped the buck instantly:

 

[Guy]

260 gr Nosler Accubond, fired from my 375 H&H at about 2650 fps mv. Recovered from a black bear shot at about 15 feet. Yes, feet. I was following up a bear in the brush, that had been wounded by another hunter. Came upon it at rather close range. Recovered the bullet from the off-side hide. I had to admit that I was surprised to find the bullet, as I'd shot a couple of other bears with this same combo, and the bullets had passed through. I believe that the short range/high impact velocity may have made the bullet expand more, and hang-up in the off-side hide. Recovered weight is 212 grains and expanded diameter is .73"

 

[madtom]

180 gr Federal trophy bonded tips fired from a .308 at elk and mule deer between 175 and 250 yards. Retained weights range from 152 to 172 gr.

 

[deer_shooter]

A couple 120 grain Barnes TTSX fired from a 7Mag at around 3250fps.

 

[brockel]

Recovered bullets have always interested me.

One of these is a 160 grain accubond shot out of a 7mm mashburn at 3200fps, one is a 168 grain LRAB shot out of a 280 Ackley at 2850fps, and one is a 140 grain berger shot out of a 6.5-06 at 2825fps. All three went through elk and were found just against the offside hide. All three were broadside shots. The 140 and 168 were within 25 yards of each other and the 160 grain was another 50 yards farther. All three elk stumbled 30 or so yards and fell over. Which bullet is which?

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Bullet on the right is a 232gr Norma Oryx from my 9.3x62, muzzle velocity of around 2600fps. Recovered from my bull elk shot at about 150 yards, broad side. Recovered under the skin on the off shoulder. Weighed 223 grains.

Bullet on the left is the same bullet, shot into a ballistic tank at about point blank range. Weighed 206.5 grains.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Very cool thread. I’ll try to figure out where I put the tin that has my recovered bullets. Quite a few 150g hornady SSTs from my .270 on KY white tails. Nearly always on the offside near the skin. It’s my go to for those deer if I’m hunting a boundary. Dumps everything it has in a fairly short amount of time usually ending in a DRT. Very interested in this year’s results from my Nosler switch to 150g Nosler partitions for my CO hunt and 150g Nosler Ballistic tips for KY white tails.

 

[belshawelk]

180 Gr Accubond from Black Bear. Shot in chest at 75 yards, bullet traveled through whole body. Rrecovered under hide at rump

 

[Scott85]

Only round I’ve ever recovered. It’s from a 50 cal muzzleloader 240 grain hornady xtp sabot.

 

[Foxtrot1]

1. 7mm barnes tsx fired from a 7mm Rem Mag. 2950 fps @ the muzzle. 160 gr original. 145.5 retained. .565" diameter. 2 petals peeled off. Recovered from a blesbok shot head on at 75 yds. Bullet was under the skin on the back leg.

2. 250 gr nosler accubond fired from a 93.x62 mauser @2550 fps at the muzzle. 171.3 gr. .872" across. Big bodied bull elk took it thru both shoulders @ 40 yds. Bullet was under the hide on the far side.

3. 285 gr prvi partisan soft point fired from a 9.3x62 mauser @2450 fps at the muzzle. 173.2 gr recovered, 1.055" across. Jacket separated from the core. Both pieces found together. 305lb wild boar, heavy quartering away shot. Bullet entered behind shoulder, smashed inside leg and went down the vertebra to stop at the base of the offside skull, below the ear.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

1. 7mm barnes tsx fired from a 7mm Rem Mag. 2950 fps @ the muzzle. 160 gr original. 145.5 retained. .565" diameter. 2 petals peeled off. Recovered from a blesbok shot head on at 75 yds. Bullet was under the skin on the back leg.

2. 250 gr nosler accubond fired from a 93.x62 mauser @2550 fps at the muzzle. 171.3 gr. .872" across. Big bodied bull elk took it thru both shoulders @ 40 yds. Bullet was under the hide on the far side.

3. 285 gr prvi partisan soft point fired from a 9.3x62 mauser @2450 fps at the muzzle. 173.2 gr recovered, 1.055" across. Jacket separated from the core. Both pieces found together. 305lb wild boar, heavy quartering away shot. Bullet entered behind shoulder, smashed inside leg and went down the vertebra to stop at the base of the offside skull, below the ear.

I've been tempted to try those prvis out my 9.3 on elk. Little concerned about how they hold together, which it sounds like they don't. But I'm guessing that pig didn't go far? Not sure about your rifle, but they actually shoot pretty good out of mine.

 

[Foxtrot1]

I've been tempted to try those prvis out my 9.3 on elk. Little concerned about how they hold together, which it sounds like they don't. But I'm guessing that pig didn't go far? Not sure about your rifle, but they actually shoot pretty good out of mine.

They shoot great in my rifle. And it's tough to beat them for the $$$. I don't think they would be a problem for up to about 300lbs or so. That was a heavy raking shot thru a shield, shoulder bone, and a couple of vertebrae. Guessing it penetrated 20-24". I bet if you slowed them down a little they would hold together better. The loads I shot the boar with were pretty hot. I have a 9.3x57 I want to test them in.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I don't have any pics. I shoot Lightfield Hybred Magnum 20 gauge for IA deer. It is a 100% soft lead slug, so deforms very quickly, and all the energy transfers to the animal. 3 of 3 deer I've shot with it I found what was left of the slug, which looked nothing like the original, just a thin, twisted flake of metal about 2" long. 2 were spine shots, and one lodged in the opposite scapula (heart shot). When hunting in MN I used Remington Core Lokt 150 grain .30-06 and all rounds (maybe 10?) were pass throughs

 

[BAKPAKR]

This is a Swift 300 gr 44 cal A-Frame shot out of 50 caliber muzzleloader. It pretty much went end to end on a frontal shot on a decent sized bull elk.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

They shoot great in my rifle. And it's tough to beat them for the $$$. I don't think they would be a problem for up to about 300lbs or so. That was a heavy raking shot thru a shield, shoulder bone, and a couple of vertebrae. Guessing it penetrated 20-24". I bet if you slowed them down a little they would hold together better. The loads I shot the boar with were pretty hot. I have a 9.3x57 I want to test them in.

Yes the price is attractive for sure. I'd be using factory ammo as I don't reload, but I think they shoot fairly slow, around 2300fps. Maybe I will try them on antelope and deer this year and see how they do.

 

[buffybr]

I usually don't spend a lot of time trying to find bullets in animals, but I do have a small box of the ones that I have recovered. I've long forgotten what bullet came out of what animal, but here's a few that I do recall...
I've shot two black bears, both one shot kills on spot and stalk DIY solo hunts with pistols.

For many years, my favorite elk rifle was my .30 Gibbs shooting 180 grain Nosler Partitions. Many times I would find the bullet just under the hide on the opposite side of the animal. Here's a few...

The first time I hunted with Barnes bullets was in Zimbabwe. Here's the bullet that I killed the Cape Buffalo in my avatar with...

On another African hunt I recovered these Barnes bullets from a Kudu bull that I shot with them...

And here's some of my recovered 168 grain Barnes TTSX bullets...

 

[Guy]

Pretty cool there Buffybr - what did you think of the 45 ACP with cast bullets for the black bear?

A buddy of mine got charged by a black bear in his camp, whipped out his 45 ACP and killed it pretty danged dead, pretty fast. He was using whatever 230 gr JHP bullets the Sheriff's Office was issuing then. Winchester I think. Said it worked real well, but... He didn't want to do it again. Apparently it had been a problem animal, false-charging backpackers. They'd drop their packs and run, and the bear would eat the food in their packs. Ran into the wrong backpacker... My buddy was packing in for a black bear hunt!

Guy

 

[buffybr]

It was abut a 20 yard broadside shot just behind the shoulder. Bear turned to bite the entrance wound then ran 30 or so yards and fell dead. About the same reaction with the .44 mag shot, although I don't remember if he turned to bite the wound.