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

[JarHeadTim]

Again, I don't have time to read all the posts but we have witnessed both extremes of this scenario many times. We shoot a crap ton of pigs in Texas. This past weekend killing 6 over 300 pounds 2-3 of them approaching 400 pounds. 4 with a 18" AR platform in 6.5 Grendel using 120 BT's. All 4 were hammered, 2 DRT, 1 ran 75 yards and died, 1 unrecovered in heavy brush, (which ended up being easier than the 200 drag out of the cotton field, they screw up the strippers I am told)

the one that ran 75 was a quartering away shot so shot placement to split the front legs had to enter mid pig in the side at the front of the stomach, bullet entered, fragmented and got enough penetration to touch the vitals but not a pass through in any way. So while it died and it was a perfect shot, it wasn't DRT by any means.

We have also experienced the other side of the Phenomenon, 127 Gr. all copper 6.5 CM bullets going 3,000 that ZIP right through a whitetail that have actually never moved on impact, and 3-5 seconds later bolting leaving no blood trail only to be found dead 150 yards later. Extreme velocity and fragile Bullets are a recipe for shallow wounds. More rugged bullets that perform well on tougher body mass often leave a caliber size hole in thin skinned small to medium size game.

the one constant is shoot'em in the head, they all fall, let the taxidermist figure it out...

S/F

 

[jimirwin]

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.

I have seen this not once but twice.
Once I shot a 65 lb button buck with a hot 30-06 load with 168 grn SMK. Hit the neck...bullet exploded giving a horrendous wound but did not penetrate halfway thru the little deer's neck. He did not go anywhere.
Friend shot a so Texas doe in shoulder. Bullet exploded and took out teh shoulder joint, but did not penetrate into the chest cavity (270 Win Federal promo ammo ca 1987) She walked away as if untouched.

 

[emp1953]

I had the opposite happen on a black bear. 30-06 180gr Speer Grand Slams. Shot the bear twice. From it's reaction I was sure that I missed. A guy in our party 150yds away shot it with an ancient Winchester 30-30 and ammo from 1955. ONE shot. When we opened it up the Grand Slams hit right where I was aiming but made a pencil sized entry and exit hole. Some people swear by em, I switched to Nosler Partitions, 165gr and have never had an experience like that again. Most shots anchor the critter right where it was standing.

 

[Greta06]

Even the TTSX will do this if you start it fast enough and hit a shoulder

Never seen a barnes explode, shot a bear with 300 rum, 1- 180 barnes ttsx and 2 180 accubonds at real close range, several feet, was wounded and coming at me. The accubonds exploded on impact, fist sized entrance and no penetration, couldnt find any large pieces to recover. The ttsx drove through the entire bear and almost exited, the bullet looked just like they advertise upon impact, perfect mushroom. I dont use anything else but barnes now. I have seen them shed a petal when busting through heavy bone, but never lacking penetration.

 

[DSheetz]

The only time I've had anything close to this was with a 17 Remington using factory loads of 25 gr.hp bullets running 4200 fps mv . during a snow storm I shot a coyote at around 100 feet in the shoulder knocked it down it got up so I hit it again . the first hit was about an inch long by 1/2 inch wide not penetrating through the hide with no fur left in that area . The second hit was in the ribs and jelled the insides .

 

[ROB WHALLEY]

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.

 

[ROB WHALLEY]

This exploding on the hide has more often happened on mud encrusted shoulders of wild pigs.

 

[Jared2700]

This may fall outside of your question only because you are noting bullets of 140gr and up. In my case yes, I have seen it. I have done it. About 20 years ago I had loaded some .257 Weatherby 87gr Sierra Blitz King bullets for an Antelope hunt in Wyo. (I don't remember the recipe) about 3700FPS
On a 300yrd heart/lung shot. Bullet blows up on the ribcage leaving and external mess. The bullets lead core made it between the ribs doing some internal damage. The Antelope traveled about 200yrds going from a high speed run to a slow walk and then fell over. After close examination, a tiny piece of lead hit a large vein in the lung and it bled out on the run. This was the result a poor bullet selection and not understanding bullet construction.

O definitely agree with what you posted here. Soft lead and thin jackets are the way most target bullets are made. Which makes them more forgiving than a harder core with thicker jackets. The reason why you have blood shot meat is because your lead bullet is spraying tons of tiny particles of lead everywhere. Barnes bullets are the way to go. Less blood shot meat because the bullets stays together with 100 percent weight retention. Way better in my opinion, a animal dead on bullets arrival. Plus you can shoot small bullets at close to 4000 fps with clean pass through. Shot a elk at 430 and my 110gr. Barnes blew thru both shoulders and kept going. The bullet out of a standard 30-06 was traveling 3780fps. What more can you ask for, the elk never knew what hit him DOA.

 

[Eagleye242]

I, too, have experienced bullet disintegration on a game animal. I was shooting a 270 Winchester, and a 140 grain Hornady interlock (BTSP) handled that graphed 2990 avg mv. I shot a 4x4 Whitetail buck at 80 yards, quartering slightly towards me. Tucked the bullet just into the inside shoulder slightly. You can imagine my surprise when he jumped, then ran about 80 yards. Then he stopped briefly, so I drove another one into his chest. He then obliged by dropping. Autopsy: First shot had hit bone and shattered, with no part entering the vitals. I found pieces of the jacket down in his flank, and the surface wound was the size of a luncheon plate. I have shot well over 100 head of game, from deer to Bison with Nosler Partitions, and have never had one fail to do the job. Dave.

 

[bigngreen]

O definitely agree with what you posted here. Soft lead and thin jackets are the way most target bullets are made. Which makes them more forgiving than a harder core with thicker jackets. The reason why you have blood shot meat is because your lead bullet is spraying tons of tiny particles of lead everywhere. Barnes bullets are the way to go. Less blood shot meat because the bullets stays together with 100 percent weight retention. Way better in my opinion, a animal dead on bullets arrival. Plus you can shoot small bullets at close to 4000 fps with clean pass through. Shot a elk at 430 and my 110gr. Barnes blew thru both shoulders and kept going. The bullet out of a standard 30-06 was traveling 3780fps. What more can you ask for, the elk never knew what hit him DOA.

How do you get blood shot meat with a bow kill, blood shot meat happens for a few reasons not related to what the bullet is made of but the shock wave and how the animal bleeds after words. I've blood shot the heck out of an animal with a mono but it's harder to do because of how they open.
To date I've seen more elk stop a Barnes on the shoulder than any other bullet I've shot, I've shot a pile with a 168 out of large 30 cals for years till I realized how bad they sucked!! Still shoot Barnes for varmints or smaller game but no elk anymore, if I use a mono it's a Hammer which is far more lethal and penetrates in a straight line way better!!

 

[LVJ76]

When the term "Blow Up" is used it does not mean the bullet explodes, it actually fragments.

Varmint bullets are designed to fragment on impact therefore cause shallow wounds on large animals. If no bone is hit like in the case of a behind the shoulder shot and also miss the ribs they might fragment inside the animal and not on the skin.

Some hunting cup and core bullets aren't designed to be pushed at magnum speeds so these work best on medium cartridges. Also the heavier the bullet the tougher it is and holds together better.

Some Match bullets will also fragment without going at magnum speeds, they arent designed for deep penetration like some hunting bullets.

There is no one magic bullet. Solids hold together but at longer ranges can fail to expand, except Hammers. Heavy for caliber hunting bullets are best on magnum velocity cartridges bonded bullets included. Monolithics need to be lighter so they go faster to ensure expansion, and again can still fail to expand at longer ranges.

Partitions are a great bullet for larger game or when you hit bone, otherwise they may fail to expand and pencil through, happened to me 3 timea already on coues deer.

This is the reason why bullet selection is so important and you can provably pick what is the best option for you and maybe still not cover all your needs.

 

[ron jaege]

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.

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.

 

[ron jaege]

I have experienced this using 100 gr sierra sp 243 handloads. The bullet hits the humorous and fragments. The humorous is broke, but deer can go a long ways on 3 legs. Usually shrapnel penetrates the chest cavity, not enuf.

i have shot the same bullet in 270 (130 gr) and 280 (140 gr), with no problems. I suspect these bullets might experience the same type failure if used on elk or moose. I have shot several elk with the 280 using 175 gr hornady interlocks and 175 gr nosler partition. Tough bullets that penetrate with expansion. Deliberately shot shoulder to put them down.

 

[wv270wsm]

The only true exploding bullet I've ever witnessed was out of my 444. It was a 240 gr Hornady shot a big doe at 40 yards hit her on the shoulder. I'll guarantee she would have died without the second shot but I shot her the second time to end the suffering. She'd ran roughly 100 yards bleeding like a stuck hog . The said shoulder was an open wound roughly the size of a dinner plate. Absolutely nasty . The bullet never penetrated through the shoulder just a massive flesh wound . The 444 pushes those bullets to hard to be reliable. In my opinion. I've since stepped up to Speer 270 gr deep curls with better results. A little tougher and more reliable at that speed