Perspective on Bullet Performance

[Dutchboy]

Oww, Denton, now you are just teasing and getting me worked up....

I have used GS customs on antelope and elk, and I like them a lot. However, if you shoot an elk in the brisket instead of in the heart, you still end up with a mile plus tracking job, even with the latest super duper wonder bullet. I found that out the hard way.

A fellow that used to be the GScustom distributor in the US had the habit of using a 224 TTH (IIRC) and 40 gr. GScustoms hrough hogs, and just absolutely flattened them. We're talking 4,000 plus (PLUS!) fps impact velocity, with a 40 gr. bullet! And, speaking of Denton's burro's, his former "neighbor", P.O. Ackley did quite a bit of experimenting, including shooting the Swift on burro's for varmint control. He was a champion for using extreme speed varmint cartridges (and varmint bullets) on medium big game.

What I do not like about the varmint bullet concept is due to my faith in Murphy. Sooner or later, especially with my shooting, I'm going to nail the shoulder, rather than the ribs. When that happens a frangible bullet will not get to the vitals. A mono-metal bullet, even a light weight one at warp 9, will just keep on trucking. Perhaps penetration will be a little less, but it will keep going long after that frangible bullet has cratered.

Heretofore, the only way you could get through that shoulder and into the pumphouse was by using a high SD bullet at slow to medium speed, which is why the 7x57, 6.5x55 are so highly regarded. They shot super long bullets through just about anything. In the moose study I mentioned, they could not find a statistically significant difference between the 6.5x55 and the 375 H&H. On MOOSE.

So, in my opinion, yes, you can turn a 243Win into a 7x57 by using an 85 gr. TSX. The end result is the same: a big enough hole all the way through. The antelope I mentioned was flattened by a 6ppc and a 68 gr. GSHV. Through and through, bang, flop. There are some benefits associated with the mono-metals, the most important to me are reduced wind drift and retained energy on target, and reduced bloodshot meat. FWIW, Dutch.