exploding bullets on impact...is this real or are people guessing?

[73driver]

The worst splash wound I have seen was a 200 grain sst fired from a 45 cal smokeless muzzle loader. Guy hit a whitetail deer in the shoulder 10 yards away and peeled most of the meat right off the shoulder. They chased the deer around nearly the entire day before someone was able to put it down. No fragments entered the chest cavity. To me this proves that foot pounds of energy have nothing to do with lethality. Had that bullet been fired 500 fps slower the deer would have died. Wound channels kill game. Bullets are designed to perform at an intended velocity. Step out of the impact velocity window don't blame the bullet for the poor results.

I have shot several deer with a 54 cal 220gr round ball at 1000fps and trying to get my mind around how fast this projectile needs to be to totally splatter on contact with a deer hide. I wonder if some of the bullets are a bit on the brittle side and fragment very easily. Recently had a conversation with a high power silhouette shooter that mentioned some bullets start to fracture on contact with the rams and fracture enough that they fail to knock down the rams. this shooter believed that better constructed bullets same weight, caliber and MV will knock down the rams. Very fascinating and educational thread.

 

[FEENIX]

Indeed, Humans are the wimps of the animal world. If we had to absorb 350ft/lbs of felt recoil, there would be very few, if any rifle hunters - imagine shooting a 700 nitro in each hand simultaneously. big OUCH

350 vs 3500 FT-LBS is a huge difference. The example of Hand Skills' recoil energy and muzzle energy of a .30-06 further explains it. I do not think even a 700 Nitro or a 20MM Anzio can generate 350 or 3500 FT-LBS of recoil energy. I would be a wimp too.

 

[thwatson2]

I think you should watch a long range sharps competition. Probably one on YouTube if none in your area. When a 45 cal 540 grain lead bullet hits steel, a shower Of lead sprays out and down. Basically it's energy dissipated. Same concept happens when a ballistic tip fragments (not explodes). You loose energy quickly and therefore less of shock to animals system. Not sure this helps but explosion is an increase of destruction from an energy source, fragmentation is a loss of energy from an already depleting source. Depending on animal we have choices of bullets to prevent such fragmentation but most everything has a flaw or so

 

[Tony Formicola]

I have read many threads over the years about bullets blowing up on impact and not being a lethal hit with game such as a deer. My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone ever witnessed a bullet actually blow up on impact with a deer, and not kill the deer? and what I mean by this is you were able to get a second shot on the deer and actually see the first shot in autopsy to confirm and not guess what happened.

2. If your answer to 1 is YES, I just do not get the physics of this so maybe someone can explain it to me. I just don't understand how a 140+ grain object going 2800+FPS can explode, even on bone, and the fragments do not still penetrate to the vitals.

I have used ballistic tips in the past in excess of 3000fps and while they definitely "blew up" inside the deer, they still took the deer out no problem. Ive yet to have one blow up on a shoulder and not had fragments penetrate to lungs

 

[Tony Formicola]

I have read many threads over the years about bullets blowing up on impact and not being a lethal hit with game such as a deer. My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone ever witnessed a bullet actually blow up on impact with a deer, and not kill the deer? and what I mean by this is you were able to get a second shot on the deer and actually see the first shot in autopsy to confirm and not guess what happened.

2. If your answer to 1 is YES, I just do not get the physics of this so maybe someone can explain it to me. I just don't understand how a 140+ grain object going 2800+FPS can explode, even on bone, and the fragments do not still penetrate to the vitals.

I have used ballistic tips in the past in excess of 3000fps and while they definitely "blew up" inside the deer, they still took the deer out no problem. Ive yet to have one blow up on a shoulder and not had fragments penetrate to lungs and heart.

Answer to 1 is yes...I believe I related this before. A 130 ballistic tip launched at 3000fps from a 30-06 hit a front shoulder on a slightly quartering to shot at 40 yards did not penetrate to the vitals. It did slow him down enough for me to finish the job and perform the autopsy.

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

In all my years (55+) and shooting a lot of deer I've only ever had one bullet "blow up" as you put it on impact. Fragment is a better term. Way back in my early hunting years I had a Savage 110 in .243. I always used Hornady Interlock 100 gr RN bullets in this rifle because they shot great and dropped deer like the hammer of Thor. I always aimed for behind the shoulder for a heart/lung hit.
I had a heavy bodied deer come out of the laurel about 50 yards away. At the shot the buck started running full speed in front of me. Chambering another round my second shot caught him in the right shoulder and he somersaulted flipping butt over nose!
When I skinned him I found that because of the angle he was initially standing my first shot had caught the back edge of the front leg/shoulder and the bullet fragmented running all they way down between the skin and the rib cage. There was no exit and the entire right side of the ribs were blood shot and embedded with small pieces of copper. I never did fine the core.
This was the ONLY bullet out of the hundreds of that type, or any type, that ever did that. I've heard a few times of Noslers doing it but I've never experienced that.

 

[dana bodnar]

There's a video on Coues whitetail of a guy shooting an elk with a 210 Berger (I think) at like 150-200 yds. Shot looks perfect. He trails the elk 3ish miles after that. Only proof of a bullet blowing up without killing.

I don't think so

 

[esshup]

yeah I understand...just so hard to believe. Id think there would even be bone fragments which would penetrate to vitals. Elk is a bit different though, they have thicker hides, heavier bones, and longer distance to travel until you hit Vitals. I guess my main concern is deer.

Like what was said earlier, it's all about bullet construction and impact velocity. I've had 175g 7mm Sierra Matchkings explode in the air, about 50 yds past the muzzle of the gun without hitting anything. FPS and barrel twist created too much spin and they ripped apart in the air. So, yes, it can happen.

 

[Deadduck1971]

I've witnessed 2 bullets that "blew up" on a deer. One was probably 25 years ago. A young man was shooting at 25-06 with 85 grain hollow points, basically a varmint bullet. The buck was quartering away if I remember correctly and he hit the near side shoulder. The bullet basically blew the shoulder apart, the leg was hanging by some muscle but bones were broken. The deer bled badly and was killed by the kid's dad while tracking it. The shot angle is what kept bullet and bone fragments from entering the vitals.
The second complete bullet blowup was shot by me in 2003. .270 Win using Hornady Light Magnum 140 grain BTSP Interlock at an advertised velocity of 3100 FPS. 10 point walked out in a food plot right at dark at about 100 yards. My shot hit a little farther back than desired and the buck was angling more toward me than I thought. The buck wheeled around and ran off in a thicket with scant blood trial. Finally found him in a drain he had laid down and died in. Upon skinning, we found the jacket in a rib on the near side. Fragments did go into the lungs and into the stomach and guts. No exit. So while the bullet did kill the buck, it allowed him to run a ways with no real blood trail. I quit using those rounds and it's a shame because my rifle loved them and they worked well on deer at longer ranges.

 

[Lee Goodwin]

I was reading John Nosler's book and he describes how he shot an elk in the shoulder. The elk had been wallowing in mud and as Nosler describes it the bullet blew up or did not penetrate the elk. So, he went home and designed the Partition.
There are much better bullets out there these days, exponentially better than 20 years ago, and, there are some cheap ones where the copper jacket will peel back too easy and that lead they crammed down in there can blow up.

 

[Will Gray]

When I was on the farm we kill sick cows with a 22LR. at times the bullet would "melt" on impact with the skull and not penetrate beyond the hide. I have shot 22-250 rounds with 40g HP bullets in a high twist barrel and have them disintegrate about 30 yards out of the barrel. My 358 Winchester shooting 200g RN Gamekings make a 1" entry hole and a LARGE exit hole in White Tail deer. The entry is caused by the round nose literally boiling the water in the tissue and blowing up part of that tissue along with some of the round nose lead I suppose, but the bullet definitely continues into the body and makes a mess of the organs and then exits leaving a hole maybe 5" in diameter in the ribcage and hide. The really fast bullets with HP or lead tips surely melt on impact.

 

[Far North Hunter]

I have read many threads over the years about bullets blowing up on impact and not being a lethal hit with game such as a deer. My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone ever witnessed a bullet actually blow up on impact with a deer, and not kill the deer? and what I mean by this is you were able to get a second shot on the deer and actually see the first shot in autopsy to confirm and not guess what happened.

2. If your answer to 1 is YES, I just do not get the physics of this so maybe someone can explain it to me. I just don't understand how a 140+ grain object going 2800+FPS can explode, even on bone, and the fragments do not still penetrate to the vitals.

I have used ballistic tips in the past in excess of 3000fps and while they definitely "blew up" inside the deer, they still took the deer out no problem. Ive yet to have one blow up on a shoulder and not had fragments penetrate to lungs and heart.

 

[Gater]

I have read many threads over the years about bullets blowing up on impact and not being a lethal hit with game such as a deer. My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone ever witnessed a bullet actually blow up on impact with a deer, and not kill the deer? and what I mean by this is you were able to get a second shot on the deer and actually see the first shot in autopsy to confirm and not guess what happened.

2. If your answer to 1 is YES, I just do not get the physics of this so maybe someone can explain it to me. I just don't understand how a 140+ grain object going 2800+FPS can explode, even on bone, and the fragments do not still penetrate to the vitals.

I have used ballistic tips in the past in excess of 3000fps and while they definitely "blew up" inside the deer, they still took the deer out no problem. Ive yet to have one blow up on a shoulder and not had fragments penetrate to lungs and heart.

If you take a small or light weight bullet and shoot it out of a rifle with a fast twist you can get bullet failure. This happens with the .223 55gr fmj when shot through a 1-7 twist at high speed now if it does the same with hunting bullets ?

 

[Wedgy]

I've seen bullets come apart in midair without striking anything, just a puff of smoke, and it never hit the target, thin jacket in a hot barrel/long shot string so yes a bullet can "explode" on impact depending on its construction. Pick the right bullet for the job.