RockyMtnMT
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My daughter Kelsey was drawn for an early season game damage hunt this last weekend. The opportunity was for 5 does. Sounded like a great time to test a new bullet design. We have been working on a line of bullets that we call Dead Blow Hammers. The idea behind this bullet is for a 40% weight retention bullet. This bullet would be for the hunter that likes a more dramatic impact. At 40% retention the retained weight will usually be enough to continue through the animal for a full length wound channel with an exit. Testing in media has shown the Dead Blow Hammer to shed the nose in 4 petals and leave the nice flat front retained shank to track through the animal.
These pics are from testing in media with 150g 30cal. Left to right...High vel impact at 3400fps, low vel impact at under 1800fps and medium vel impact at 2500fps.
Rifle used for this trip was a Remington Long Range in 300wm that we had bedded, installed a Jewel trigger and a small Pain Killer brake (cerekoted gray to match the webbing in the stock). Rifle was topped with a Schmidt & Bender scope that I am writing a review for. Loaded with 179g Dead Blow Hammers at 3160fps.
Like all hunting trips it was not quite as easy as we thought it was going to be. Kelsey was called late to the game after there had been other hunters in for a week. We had a tough time finding any nice big does and wound up taking 3 young deer. First one totally tricked us. We had a few deer on a hillside that were bedded down at 239y. Two were easy to see and one looked relatively larger than the other. We had about a 5mph wind left to right with the body of the deer toward us. I had Kelsey set up with a front rest and rear bag so she was very steady. Told her to hold left edge of the neck and send it. Dead centered the neck, one and done. Not much to show here other than entrance was caliber and the exit was quarter sized showing expansion in the little bitty neck. What I thought was a 6" neck turned out to be a 3" neck. Nice shot!
Next deer was that eve in an alfalfa field right at 200y. A little fawn had come out into the field then followed by a larger deer that we assumed was the momma. Turned out to be a little button buck. Oh well good eats. She hit this one back about 2-3" from her aim point along with the deer was quartering toward her more than she thought. Turned out to be a good bullet test as it was a square on liver shot. I did not get any pics of this one as she shot it just as it was getting dark. The impressive part was that this deer dropped like hit by lightning showing the impact trauma of the Dead Blow Hammer creating massive shock. Usually a liver shot results in a bit of a run. The liver was in pieces and the impact pushed some of the stomach contents into the lung cavity. Entrance was caliber and exit was fist size.
The next morning we set out hoping to find a long shot and hoping for a full grown deer. Morning was perfect with no wind and cool sunshine. We wound up on top of a ridge looking down into the badlands. Mother Nature was yelling at me so I left Kels to glass the open country looking for a good deer. Just as I was finishing my business....BOOOM! Kels is in the sitting position and racking another shell. I hike over to her and she says "I shot one!". While she was glassing out at distance and not seeing anything, she pulled down the binos to see three deer looking at her at 110y out. So much for a long shot. She did shoot this doe through both shoulders as I had told her I wanted to see bullet performance on bone. She hit low in the main leg bone through the front of the chest and out the other main leg bone. Took out bottom half of one lung and put a hole in the heart. Interesting is the exit shows 5 separate holes in the hide. Retained bullet and 4 petals. I have generally avoided posting the blood and guts photos because I do not like them. I know guys want to see them so I will post them this year.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/at...5/?temp_hash=7dd70632702ea75a702b8e472fe29ff0
Steve
These pics are from testing in media with 150g 30cal. Left to right...High vel impact at 3400fps, low vel impact at under 1800fps and medium vel impact at 2500fps.
Rifle used for this trip was a Remington Long Range in 300wm that we had bedded, installed a Jewel trigger and a small Pain Killer brake (cerekoted gray to match the webbing in the stock). Rifle was topped with a Schmidt & Bender scope that I am writing a review for. Loaded with 179g Dead Blow Hammers at 3160fps.
Like all hunting trips it was not quite as easy as we thought it was going to be. Kelsey was called late to the game after there had been other hunters in for a week. We had a tough time finding any nice big does and wound up taking 3 young deer. First one totally tricked us. We had a few deer on a hillside that were bedded down at 239y. Two were easy to see and one looked relatively larger than the other. We had about a 5mph wind left to right with the body of the deer toward us. I had Kelsey set up with a front rest and rear bag so she was very steady. Told her to hold left edge of the neck and send it. Dead centered the neck, one and done. Not much to show here other than entrance was caliber and the exit was quarter sized showing expansion in the little bitty neck. What I thought was a 6" neck turned out to be a 3" neck. Nice shot!
Next deer was that eve in an alfalfa field right at 200y. A little fawn had come out into the field then followed by a larger deer that we assumed was the momma. Turned out to be a little button buck. Oh well good eats. She hit this one back about 2-3" from her aim point along with the deer was quartering toward her more than she thought. Turned out to be a good bullet test as it was a square on liver shot. I did not get any pics of this one as she shot it just as it was getting dark. The impressive part was that this deer dropped like hit by lightning showing the impact trauma of the Dead Blow Hammer creating massive shock. Usually a liver shot results in a bit of a run. The liver was in pieces and the impact pushed some of the stomach contents into the lung cavity. Entrance was caliber and exit was fist size.
The next morning we set out hoping to find a long shot and hoping for a full grown deer. Morning was perfect with no wind and cool sunshine. We wound up on top of a ridge looking down into the badlands. Mother Nature was yelling at me so I left Kels to glass the open country looking for a good deer. Just as I was finishing my business....BOOOM! Kels is in the sitting position and racking another shell. I hike over to her and she says "I shot one!". While she was glassing out at distance and not seeing anything, she pulled down the binos to see three deer looking at her at 110y out. So much for a long shot. She did shoot this doe through both shoulders as I had told her I wanted to see bullet performance on bone. She hit low in the main leg bone through the front of the chest and out the other main leg bone. Took out bottom half of one lung and put a hole in the heart. Interesting is the exit shows 5 separate holes in the hide. Retained bullet and 4 petals. I have generally avoided posting the blood and guts photos because I do not like them. I know guys want to see them so I will post them this year.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/at...5/?temp_hash=7dd70632702ea75a702b8e472fe29ff0
Steve
