Bullet failures

[FEENIX]

it is nice to keep it civil there was a lot to be learned by all. we dont need the bomb throwers and off colored remarks because that helps nobody

Amen!

 

[Numbinthenuts]

Not a complete failure but an FYI on the Sierra Gamechanger 6.5mm 130 grain. Hit scapula on a whitetail and pretty much blew the left shoulder to pieces. Deer dropped in its tracks but as I walked up there was literally a 6 foot squared area completely covered in deer fur. I have harvested well over 75 deer and never had seen this. The shoulder had an area larger than a pie plate missing down to the scapula, the base did enter the chest and get both lungs. This seems in my series of 1 to be a very explosive bullet.
2830 FPS, (muzzle)
range 105 yards

All the research i did on that 130 all said the same thing it's explosive on contract, and not good for big game

 

[daka]

I've had a whole bad box of Barnes TSX in 270 WSM 140gr. Lost one animal from the same box of ammo. Rest would either had to be shot second time or I found lungs with hole in them which was never the case before. In one mulie I found two out of three bullets that I had to put in him and they were opened only a bit on the tip. I figured that whole box was just bad batch. Before and still used and using Barnes for over ten years. Only one animal I had to shoot second time and it was a bad shot placement (my mistake) in the past. I guess it just happens sometime.

 

[daka]

Report this to Barnes?
I was thinking about it but would have to find an actual paper box with SKU code. I've got so many of these boxes with empty shells but I have to figure it out which was it.
Does anyone think Barnes would actually do anything about it? Like contact sellers that purchased the same batch or production line of that time?

 

[WildRose]

Report this to Barnes?
I was thinking about it but would have to find an actual paper box with SKU code. I've got so many of these boxes with empty shells but I have to figure it out which was it.
Does anyone think Barnes would actually do anything about it? Like contact sellers that purchased the same batch or production line of that time?

I would be pretty sure that they would if there was a bad lot that could be identified with a bunch of problems. They won't know unless people report them.

 

[daka]

Will try to find the box and let them know.
Thanks.

 

[Ol' Red]

Report this to Barnes?
I was thinking about it but would have to find an actual paper box with SKU code. I've got so many of these boxes with empty shells but I have to figure it out which was it.
Does anyone think Barnes would actually do anything about it? Like contact sellers that purchased the same batch or production line of that time?

They probably will do something. I mentioned in post #4 on this thread that I had a box of bullets that did not expand. I sent them back to the company ( I did not mention the name ) and they replaced them. No company is perfect, and mistakes can be made. Always give them a chance to correct the issue if possible.

 

[skipglo]

They probably will do something. I mentioned in post #4 on this thread that I had a box of bullets that did not expand. I sent them back to the company ( I did not mention the name ) and they replaced them. No company is perfect, and mistakes can be made. Always give them a chance to correct the issue if possible.

They aren't like those little sponges that you drop into a glass of water .....and they expand into Animals Red! Bullets you shoot into the animal first....then they expand! You were looking too early!

 

[Ol' Red]

They aren't like those little sponges that you drop into a glass of water .....and they expand into Animals Red! Bullets you shoot into the animal first....then they expand! You were looking too early!

OH! OK, Ill try that next time.

 

[Teri Anne]

The physiology of a relaxed deer vs one surging with adrenaline is vastly different, from taught muscles to a racing heart, etc. a few years ago I shot a big bodied Muley at 50yards, center punched his chest with a 115ballistic tip from a 257wby, in the past I'd had quite a few quick drops from this combo, this deer ran a 100yards missing part of his lungs and heart. This past fall my wife used my 7rem mag and the 180hybrid to drop a mule deer at 832yards, right where he was standing, his legs folded and I didn't even see a kick. The internal damage on the 50 yards muley was vastly more, but I spooked him and I shot as he was jumping up to run and sometimes the will to live exceeds all our expectations as hunters. These are not bullet failures.
In my experience, I don't look for an exit wound, I look inside to see how much damage there is. The more internal damage the greater the chance that animal is dying quickly, I don't want to bleed them out I want to shut down enough organs or nerves they drop in shock and quickly expire. When shooting long range I always factor wind into my shot placement to give me the greatest margin of error. With the slower bullets I want something frangible but a long enough bullet even if ur on top of the shoulder blade that bullet will still drive through and get into the important parts. I don't need the bullet to go through the animal, just reach better than halfway.

I guess I need to stick my nose into this one if only, "Just Because," I can't remember when I have ever had a bullet failure. There have been a few that didn't exactly do what I wanted them to do, but that was my fault for choosing a bullet that was unsuited for what I was doing, or I as a hunter did not place the proper bullet in the proper place. It's easy to blame the equipment, the bullet or the weather but not so easy to own up to the fact that, "I just screwed up!" A well placed bullet will in fact kill an unsuspecting, or even a spooked animal simply because when it tears through the boiler room it will destroy essential organs that are required to sustain life. Even a badly chosen bullet placed with a good shot will kill. The best of bullets that miss the mark will cause you to have to follow a blood trail. Complaining that the bullet did not go out the other side and blow a big hole simply means that either it was a poor shot or poor bullet selection. A well placed shot with a properly selected bullet will drop the animal in it's tracks and there is no need to have to follow a blood trail. Just Sayin.

 

[WildRose]

I guess I need to stick my nose into this one if only, "Just Because," I can't remember when I have ever had a bullet failure. There have been a few that didn't exactly do what I wanted them to do, but that was my fault for choosing a bullet that was unsuited for what I was doing, or I as a hunter did not place the proper bullet in the proper place. It's easy to blame the equipment, the bullet or the weather but not so easy to own up to the fact that, "I just screwed up!" A well placed bullet will in fact kill an unsuspecting, or even a spooked animal simply because when it tears through the boiler room it will destroy essential organs that are required to sustain life. Even a badly chosen bullet placed with a good shot will kill. The best of bullets that miss the mark will cause you to have to follow a blood trail. Complaining that the bullet did not go out the other side and blow a big hole simply means that either it was a poor shot or poor bullet selection. A well placed shot with a properly selected bullet will drop the animal in it's tracks and there is no need to have to follow a blood trail. Just Sayin.

For the most part you are right but it's certainly not entirely true. Many of us have documented the failures over the years by examining wound tracks and recovering the bullets that failed.

In my considerable experience shooting hundreds of animals a year with a slew of different bullets they are very rare however with only a few particular makes of bullets having any kind of substantial number of failures.

 

[Teri Anne]

For the most part you are right but it's certainly not entirely true. Many of us have documented the failures over the years by examining wound tracks and recovering the bullets that failed.

In my considerable experience shooting hundreds of animals a year with a slew of different bullets they are very rare however with only a few particular makes of bullets having any kind of substantial number of failures.

Well Wild Rose I will bow to your multitude of animals killed but examining wound tracks in the field is hap hazard at most. Not to denigrate your experiences, but in less than a full necropsy laboratory I would find it hard to do any kind of a determination relating to a supposed bullet failure out in the woods or fields instead of a lab. Our thoughts do not necessarily revert to facts until proven scientifically.

 

[LVJ76]

A well placed shot with a properly selected bullet will drop the animal in it's tracks and there is no need to have to follow a blood trail. Just Sayin.

I guess you haven't seen a coues take off with both front shoulders broken and lungs destroyed, he ran almost 100 yds. 270 Win with a 130gr Partition just over 200 yds.

Did not need to track it and no follow up shot either, knew where he landed. The bullet did its job as expected and designed. Some animals simply will not drop in their tracks even with well placed shots and with the right bullet for the occasion.

 

[Ross1147]

You know, we talk about bullet failures all the time and how so and so lost a deer because the bullet penciled through and so on. What about bad shots where bullet performance lead to a dead animal? Maybe this should be a different thread?
I shot an 8 pt Whitetail a few years back and by all intensive purposes I should have never recovered the deer. Bad shot, far back, deer should have never been found. It was straight up gut shot. Center punched in the stomach. I backed out, came back in next morning and found the deer 250yds or so from where I shot him. The 115grb Berger jellied his insides. If I would have been shooting a less explosive bullet I don't think I would have found him? In this situation I feel the bullet over performed!