Medium Range Wildcat Bullet Results...

[Fiftydriver]

This week is the last week of the general big game season here in Montana and as many of you probably know I have been working on developing three new rounds for the deer hunter which will work in the 500-600 yard range in sporter weight rifles and out to 1000 in heavies.

Well I wanted to get a little more field results using the Wildcat Bullets which will be the bullets used in my rounds to really increase performance at longer ranges.

I had a whitetail doe tag to fill yet so for this last week, every morning and evening I have been watching the big hay and oat fields around my house hoping to get a decent range shot on a big whtetail doe for some solid bullet testing.

I was using the 130 gr Wildcat Bonded Core FBHP out of a 30" #6 Lilja barrel driven to 3500 fps. THis bullet has a B.C. of .550 and an S.D. of .281.

Basically the equvilent of a 160 gr 7mm or a 225 gr 338 with basically the same B.C. as well. Only much faster then these bullets can be practically driven today without some very exotic wildcats.

Anyway, nothing had been moving Monday or Tuesday. It was warm and very windy, and the deer were just not moving.

I got up Wednesday morning and headed out to my spotting location and at first light I saw three deer at the far end of a neighbors oat field where I had permission to hunt.

The deer were about 1100 yards from my location which was to far for this rifle. I wanted something in the 400-600 range as this is what this rifle design will be intended for.

I could not tell what the deer were in the light but since they were the only deer I had seen all week I figured I better get in position when it was light enough to legally shoot.

I crawled into a concrete irrigation cannal that was nearby and took about 500 yards off the distance. I came to a headgate in the canal and stood up and the deer were still there. It was just legal shooting time now so I took a range and got two distance, one was in the 495 yard range and the other was about 625 yards. I figured the longer one was from some round hay bails behind the deer.

I crawled out of the cannal and set up the bipod in the big 257 and got things level for the shot. I adjusted the Weaver 4.5-14 Tactical to 12x and andjusted the AO to 500 yards.

Through this great scope I could clearly see that there was a doe and fawn as well as another mature doe by herself. This is what I was looking for, a big dry doe.

I checked teh wind which was pretty much right in my face, just barely coming from my left to right. The drop chart on the scope gave 11" of drop at 500 yards so I settled into the thumbhole of the big 25 and settled the cross hairs on the doe.

She was walking away for a few steps and then turned perfectly broadside with her head to the left.

I gave about 4" over the line of her back and 5" of windage into the wind and tickled the 2 lb trigger.

There was just barely a noticable difference from when the rifle barked to when I saw the bullet land true. There is nothing better then seeing that bullet land from a high velocity, low recoiling rifle(brake installed of course).

The time it takes for this round to cover 500 yards always amazes me.

At the impact the doe was literally knocked off her feet but she instantly regained her feet, ran about 30 yards and fell over dead.

I went back to the house and got the truck which had the deer cart in it and drove up to the location I had taken the shot from.

When I got out to her I could see that the impact was nearly perfectly placed in the hollow of her shoulder, I was very happy with the performance of the rifle adn bullet so far as I have been all season.

I found where she was standing at the shot and took three range measurements with the Leica 1200 to the truck. They were 511, 510 and 511. The trucj was about 8 to 9 yards behind where I shot from.

When I dressed the doe out and got to the chect cavity, the 130 gr WIldcat had slipped between two ribs leaving only about a 30 cal hole on the inside of the chest cavity coming in.

This is generally the toughest test for a premium bullet as there is no resistance to open the bullet before it reaches the vitals.

No matter in this case though, the lungs were gone as was 2/3 the heart with only the bottom 1/3 even recognizable.

On the offside, there was a 4" hole ripped in the rib cage which I was concerned was from bullet blow up but the exit on the hide was a perfect 3/4" round hole.

Obviously the Wildcat Bullet had fully expanded but retained plenty of weight to maintain high energy levels through out the deer when it landed on a rib on the off side making the large hole nad then exiting.

I was very impressed with the performance of this bullet this season as will as the 100 gr version which my wife used on her pronghorn buck.

The 257 STW performed great as well and with the extra 150 fps at least that my Allen Magnums will provide, the performance will only get better, especially with the heavier bullet we will be using such as a 150 and 160 gr .257" Bonded Core FBHP.

For ultra long range there may be better rounds but for 500 to 600 yard deer hunting with a rifle in the 9 lb range, I feel these rounds will be very hard to beat and the best thing is youwill be able to spot every shot you take without the need for a spotter.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Len Backus]

Don't you just love it when all the elements of a good plan come together.

 

[Shawn Carlock]

Kirby,
I just ordered some of the Wildcat bullets in the .338" 300 gr rebated boattail design for my 338 EDGE. They should go around 2900-2950 like the 300 gr SMK but they claim the bc is running .850-.860 on the hunting version and higher on the match design. What are the accuracy levels of the bullets you are using? Do they weigh out to be fairly consistant? The game terminal performance sounds great. Are you happy with them overall or are you still deep in the testing phase?

Shawn

 

[Fiftydriver]

Len,

I agree, but I also enjoy a bit of luck as well.

Not that I feel the shot was a lucky shot but those deer need to be in front of you to get a shot and that is always got something to do with luck as everyone on thos board knows.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Fiftydriver]

Shawn,

I have been reading alot of posts about your 338 EDGE and from one long range gunsmith to another I am very impressed with your products!

I tested some of the 300 gr Wildcat ULD Rebated Boattails(hunting version) in my 338 Kahn and was very impressed with the accruacy and consistancy of that batch of bullets.

I was only able to test at 100 and 500 yards before the big game season rush hit but at both ranges they out shot the best averages the 300 SMK printed at the same range. Not by a huge margin, at 500 yards the SMK averaged 1.433" for three shot groups and the Wildcat bullets averaged 1.015" for the same number of three shot groups averaged.

Also, comparing bullet drop between 100 and 500 yards, I would say the B.C. given for these bullets are pretty close to right on. They shot measureably flatter then the SMK at 500 yards.

The batch I had were .3385" in diameter and my I cut my throat to .3383" so they are a little fat for my barrel. Richard Graves agreed to make some true .3380" bullets of the same models in both hunting and match. He has the reducing die and says the consistancy of this die is flat out amazing. He had some problems with the nose forming die I believe so that is the hold up at this time.

I have just had my 338 Kahn waiting in the wings for his bullets. He is also building the 350 gr version with a B.C. expected to be in the .930 range!!!

My Kahn drives the 300 gr versions to 3100 fps so I am hopign for 2800 fps with the 350's. If they stabilize in my 1-9 twist(???) I will throat my Kahn for use with this extremely heavy 350 gr bullet. If not I will stick to the 300 gr version and be totally satisfied.

In the smaller calibers I have tested the 100 and 130 gr .257 Bonded Core FBHPs extensively in teh 257 STW as a warm up to my Allen Magnum round in 257.

The 100 gr pill would be a perfect premium bullet for the 25-06 out to 400 yards which I feel is about max for deer size game with this bullet weight.

My wife used this bullet driven to 4000 fps for her pronghorn and at the range she shot her goat the impact velocity was still in the 3700 fps level, basically the 257 Wby at the muzzle. The bullet did not exit but it did make it to the off side of the pronghorn and did damage like I had never seen before.

They are consistant in weight and diameter as well.

I would say the Wildcat Match style bullets have an edge in weight and diameter consistancy but that should be obvious. still the bonded Core FBHP bullets are very quality and accurate.

In teh 257 STW, the 100 gr pill shoots into the .3's at 100 yards and in the 1 3/4" range at 500 yards for three shot hunting groups.

The 130 gr version holds groups in the high .2's at 100 yards and groups in the 1 1/4" range at 500 yards. This is out of a #6, 30" barrel.

The only thing that may cause some problems is that the Wildcat hunting bullets tend to have a little variance in noe length which is common with all bullets except the tipped design.

If you measure off the ogive of the bullet instead of the nose liek you should there is no problem setting your over all length. If you take the OAL from base to nose, there will be problems.

Again I have not seen this in the match bullets.

Other things about the bullets I have found is that when starting load developement, they tend to not shoot well at all. Especially in the larger calibers or in any caliber that is using the heavy big game jackets.

I have talked with Richard and we both believe this is because the thick jackets run much better at high pressure. In fact from what I have seen, the harder they are pushed the better they shoot!

We feel this is because the thick jackets need a harder kick in the rear to bump up the jackets to get a good gas seal.

For instance I was testing the 190 gr Rebated Boat tail ULD hunting bullet in my 300 RUM. Initial starting loads were terrible, in the 4" range at 100 yards but with every load up I tested the groups tightened up until I was getting groups around the 1/2" range with just shy of 3300 fps. This is a factory rifle as well so I would expect groups of half that size in one of our full custom rigs.

I really have yet to find anything wrong with these bullets and the features they offer are exceptional in B.C. as well as S.D.

I will know vastly more here in a couple months once we get the other heavies tested in actual rifles but I have no worries in the least.

SO to answer your question about if I am happy with them, the only bullets I will be testing and using in my Allen Magnum rounds will be Wildcat Bullets. SImply because they will take these three rounds to levels I could not come close to with conventional facoty bullets.

I like them well enough to stake my rounds and rifle performance on.

Let me know how those big 300's shoot for you in your Kahn.

Richard is working on some very interesting ideas for the big 338s, if your interested drop me an e-mail or better yet drop him one and ask him about his new ideas in the 338 bullet selection, could be very interesting stuff!!

Good Shooting!!

By the way, what kind of price we looking at to come hunt whitetails with you???

I am a whitetail hunting fanatic would be interested about information about your hunts as I am just over the hills in central Montana.

Thanks for the information, happy Thanksgiving!

Kirby Allen(50)