Recovered bullets

[X13]

12ga Hornady SST pulled out of a nilgai antelope in South Texas

 

[Mallardsx2]

308
Whitetail Deer
168 grain nosler ballistic tip hunting.

 

[appmtnhntr]

Federal bor-lock .50 cal 270 grain.

 

[Indianajoe]

180 gn 350 legend. my son's first buck this year.

 

[3855WIN]

7mm-08 recovered from the off side of a 135 pound whitetail doe. 139 Hornady SST

 

[Jbotto]

A follow-up shot on a cow elk that didn’t go as planned. Broadside shot that I didn’t lead her on. Absolutely shattered a femur and was found under the off-side femur in the roast when I was butchering. 200 yards, 150gr Nosler Etip shot from a .30-06.

 

[beaglegun]

Hornady Superperformance GMX
.30-06, 150 gr, 150 yards, whitetail doe, against opposite side hide


Remington Core-locks
.308, 150 gr, 150 yards and .223, 55 gr, 150 yards, whitetail does, both against opposite side hides



Hornady Precision Hunter
6.5 PRC, 143 gr ELDX, 512 yards, young bull elk, against opposite side hide

 

[Wild Bill]

Barnes 50 cal T-EZ 250 grain. Quartering away shot. Through the vitals and hindquarter and recovered next to hide.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

130g Nosler ballistic tip hunting bullet from my .270. Shot an antelope at ~120 yards. Antelope was quartering to me and I hit him a little high and far back. Looked like the bullet traveled under the spine, but broke it (maybe actually hit it?), went through the top of the stomach and lodged under the off side skin. Traveled maybe 12" total. I was surprised at how fragmented the bullet was...figured it would have stayed together a bit better? Definitely don't feel comfortable using it on elk now, maybe not even my sheep. A lot of damage though and antelope didn't go anywhere except down.

 

[Wolfshead]

I would go with the Accubond then.
I can’t say from experience, but I’ve heard they shoot the same as the ballistic tips, plus they hold together well.
This is a 150 grain Accubond that traveled the length of a whitetail buck. 65% weight retention.

 

[44hunter45]

I have a drawer full around here somewhere. I have had elk stop more bullets under the hide than pass through. Most of my elk have been shot with a .30-06 and lead core bullets. Most were Speer Hot-Cor, a few were premiums. The Hot-Cor performs surprisingly well on elk. My .30-06 loads used to push 2900fps for a 180 grain. I finally realized that if you want a magnum, you should buy a magnum. A couple elk and many deer were killed with a 264 Win Mag and Sierra GK. Those frag and the most you ever find is a jacket if you are lucky.

I ate tag soup this year on elk, I'm really hoping to find out if a 358 Norma Mag passes through a moose or I recover a bullet.

Long callback on an old thread. Found a box with these while looking for something else.
I didn't keep good records, this is the best I can recall.

Still haven't answered .358 Norma vs moose question. This year's cow elk was a pass through.

 

[PoleX]

Federal terminal ascent 155 grain 7 rem mag. 350 yards on an elk. View attachment 346983View attachment 346984

Another one. Federal terminal ascent 155gr 7mm rem mag. 260 yards on an elk. In just in front of the right should, held up just inside the hide behind the offside shoulder.

 

[Potsie]

125 gr HHT that got caught against the off side hide after a quartering away shot on a cow elk.

Started its journey at 3150 fps.

Did its job with boring regularity.

 

[Valley1320]

130 grain nosler accubond 270
Shot my pronghorn in the chest found the bullet just under the hide in front of a hindquarter. 68% retention

 

[Elktrack]

View attachment 388793

125 gr HHT that got caught against the off side hide after a quartering away shot on a cow elk.

Started its journey at 3150 fps.

Did its job with boring regularity.

Was that a close shot distance? Do they always shed the petals in your experience?

 

[mevertsen]

Was that a close shot distance? Do they always shed the petals in your experience?

Hammers are designed to shed petals.

 

[Elktrack]

Hammers are designed to shed petals.

Copy that.
I guess my mind thinks all copper bullets are similar to the Barnes design.

 

[Potsie]

Was that a close shot distance? Do they always shed the petals in your experience?

Distance was 185, and the design intent of Hammers is to shed those petals and let them do their thing on the damage side.

This was the third elk I’ve shot with those bullets, but other two were basically ear holing a bedded elk after being sneaky. No bullet recovered on either.

 

[Elktrack]

Distance was 185, and the design intent of Hammers is to shed those petals and let them do their thing on the damage side.

This was the third elk I’ve shot with those bullets, but other two were basically ear holing a bedded elk after being sneaky. No bullet recovered on either.

Right on. I think I’m heading down the Hammer path. (Just what I need, building another best thing ever load).
A friend gave me a bunch to try in my 8mm mag. He shoots a 325 wsm and swears by these bullets.

 

[Potsie]

Right on. I think I’m heading down the Hammer path. (Just what I need, building another best thing ever load).
A friend gave me a bunch to try in my 8mm mag. He shoots a 325 wsm and swears by these bullets.

I’ve also shot elk with the 199 HH (before the tipped version came out) and it left a blood trail that looked like it had gone down with a paint roller.

Walked by the same spot 3 days later and you could see the blood trail from 800 yards away with the naked eye.

I know, trend line of 1/small sample size etc, but I’m a fan.