Preferred impact velocity?

[FEENIX]

Energy on impact would probably be a better comparison. I have shot them with everything from a 204 Ruger to .375 Ruger, 260 Remington to 300 Rum.

The ideal velocity for a the .204 is close to twice what I desire out of the 6.5's, 7's, and .30's, and 3x the ideal for the 45-70, .41RM and .44mag.

There's also a great deal of variation depending on bullet type.

Agreed! Game and bullet min expansion velocity and energy on impact is always a consideration for me. For instance, my .300 WSM with 215 Berger VLD on a elk/deer at 800 yards (max distance limitation), 1808 FPS and 1561 FT-LBS. While there still plenty of energy left for deer, it might not expand properly due to the minimum velocity expansion threshold of ~1800 FPS (1610 FPS/1239 FT-LBS at 1K yards).

 

[FEENIX]

Who is this in reference to ?

My comment about only for reloaders is for Steve. Sorry for the confusion.

This is why I always reply quoting the message I am responding to so there is no confusion. ​

 

[FEENIX]

And FYI, you'll definitely push some buttons here and there but we get over it, its all about learning and having fun.

Agreed!

 

[WildRose]

I guess what I am looking for is what your perfect velocity is for the bullet you shoot.

For example, J E Custom's favorite .284 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip impact velocity is 2800.

The more frangible the bullet the lower the velocity on impact I desire. Shooting the Peregrine Mono's I like to run them fast and hard at the upper end of whatever velocity still provides me acceptable accuracy.

It also depends greatly on the minimum velocity required for a bullet to expand reliably while still avoiding bullet breakup.

I tend towards mono's and bonded bullets hence I lean towards the max end, hunting or target vld's, much slower.

 

[Edd]

I am curious to hear what everyone's perfect impact velocity is on whitetails.

If you could pick the impact velocity what would it be? Please list specific bullet with weight and caliber (not cartridge).

Steve

100 gr 25 caliber Nosler Partition @ 2500 fps

 

[J E Custom]

I guess what I am looking for is what your perfect velocity is for the bullet you shoot.

For example, J E Custom's favorite .284 120 Nosler Ballistic Tip impact velocity is 2800.

I guess you have been reading my mail

This load is for the 7/08 and the muzzle velocity is 3000 ft/sec so impact velocity at normal distance is +/- 2800 ft/sec. My 7 RUM and STW however has a higher muzzle velocity and bullet weight in order to extend my distance beyond 1000 yards. So they would still fall into this Maximum impact velocity of 2800 ft/sec but is usable to 1800 ft/sec. In fact.

I have two different loads for each of these rifles, One load is good for 100 to 400 yards where velocities can exceed 3700 ft/sec at the muzzle and require a well made bullet with controlled expansion and one expanding type bullet like the Ballistic Tip for expansion at long distances where some bullets would not expand dependably because of lower impact velocities.

So My favorite impact velocity depends on many things but if I had to say what impact velocity I prefer, It would vary from game to game and distance to distance starting with the muzzle velocity potential of the cartridge and bullet used and the design of the bullet.

I wish it was simple, but it's not.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Parker Formicola]

I am curious to hear what everyone's perfect impact velocity is on whitetails.

If you could pick the impact velocity what would it be? Please list specific bullet with weight and caliber (not cartridge).

I don't want this to be about cartridge or distance, as those specifics get threads side tracked.

Think this will be an informative bullet performance topic.

Steve

I have talked about it with a few friends and we have agreed it isn't about velocity but more so about foot pounds of energy. Right around 1100 foot pounds of energy is ethical for deer. I think how hard it hits is essential so I go off that.

 

[AZShooter]

There are five of us that use the 257 weatherby for coues wt. Does this tiny deer qualify for this thread? A large dressed deer will weigh a bit over 100 lbs.

We use the 115 Berger VLD exclusively. Impact velocities for the 25 deer we have killed has been 3300 fps to 2700 fps. The Berger typically goes in for a few inches then begins to expand. In these deer it always exits. I remember one buck that got shot so the bullet exited the body and went cleanly through the elbow of the front leg.

 

[Edd]

I have talked about it with a few friends and we have agreed it isn't about velocity but more so about foot pounds of energy. Right around 1100 foot pounds of energy is ethical for deer. I think how hard it hits is essential so I go off that.

How do you calculate the energy if you don't consider the bullet weight and velocity?

 

[Don A Parsons]

The whole thing is messed up since a person can reach into the magicians hat and pull out a Rabbits or buffalo depending on how big the hat is...

Fast, slow, quick expanding or semi solid,,, arrow tapper boolit or partly rounded for frontal impacts...

Ft-per seconds to Ft-lbs,,, SD to tissue dragging,,, hydroshock,,, staticshock...

And these are only a few of the 100's of ideas that bring down critters,,, of course the critter decided how well the package is delivered. Ha...

Sometime the huge fall fast as the lighter critters bolt,,, there's nothing written in stone since things keep changing...

I have no claim to fame to find out since everything in my hunting world is working,,, add to the caution of era and get at it,,, that's what really counts...

As I mentioned in my above post,,, what works for me might not work for others,,, one thing most of us can agree on,,, when we drop the hammer,,, something is going to happen...

Hopefully it pans out with all the effort we put into it,,, the more we add to a certain point better benefits us,,, or we need to change things to incress these odds...

Cheers from the North

 

[J Doss]

I am curious to hear what everyone's perfect impact velocity is on whitetails.

If you could pick the impact velocity what would it be? Please list specific bullet with weight and caliber (not cartridge).

I don't want this to be about cartridge or distance, as those specifics get threads side tracked.

Think this will be an informative bullet performance topic.

Steve

It kind of depends on where one is hunting at.
Central Texas 100 pounders or Kansas and Montana 300lb bruisers.
Overall, my preferred round is a 150gr Accubond for 7mm Rem Mag with 2000fps terminal velocity.
My backup is 150gr Accubond in 30-06 with TV about 1900fps.
For smaller Central Texas deer, I hunt with a 130gr Accubond in a 270 with TV at 1800fps.
I know, old school calibers. They have worked for years and with the continued developments in bullet design and more consistent powders, they are still there in the top of the list.
I hunt for meat. Higher TVs mean more damaged meat, so I stay away from the super fast rounds. I have a load for a 120gr 7mm RM that is wicked fast but will nearly blow the backside out of my local 100lb whitetails. There just isn't a lot of meat there to start with so blowing 20% of it away is not a realistic option for me.

 

[LVJ76]

There are five of us that use the 257 weatherby for coues wt. Does this tiny deer qualify for this thread? A large dressed deer will weigh a bit over 100 lbs.

We use the 115 Berger VLD exclusively. Impact velocities for the 25 deer we have killed has been 3300 fps to 2700 fps. The Berger typically goes in for a few inches then begins to expand. In these deer it always exits. I remember one buck that got shot so the bullet exited the body and went cleanly through the elbow of the front leg.

Agreed. I've hunted coues deer all my life with soft bullets, at both high and low velocities and have had zero issues, with exit holes past 400+ yards. They aren't tough animals so you don't need an bonded or partitioned bullet. Old game kings, prohunters, ballistic tips, SST's, interlocks, core lokt's, etc, will work great on a coues.

 

[Parker Formicola]

How do you calculate the energy if you don't consider the bullet weight and velocity?

You do definitely need both those variables. I read your original post in context of hunting which I probably shouldn't have. For my 6.5 prc I was looking at a 147 grain bullet with an average muzzle velocity of 2975 having a velocity of 1802 and 1080 foot pounds of energy at 1000 yards. For steel I don't think there is a needed velocity to hit it at. And as a disclaimer I am not comfortable shooting passed 700 yet for Target and 500 for animal yet.

 

[J E Custom]

I have talked about it with a few friends and we have agreed it isn't about velocity but more so about foot pounds of energy. Right around 1100 foot pounds of energy is ethical for deer. I think how hard it hits is essential so I go off that.

The down side to using Ft/lbs of energy is that If the bullet does not perform as designed It may/will not deliver the energy it should.

Example ; If we chose a solid and jacketed bullet of the same weight and velocity the two bullets would perform differently on the same game. The solid would show up with the same energy potential and possibly pass through and not deliver the energy that you were relying on. The jacketed bullet may however expand and deliver all of it's energy to the game.

So if you use the impact energy, the bullet must deliver that energy to be effective.

As stated, there is no one perfect impact velocity unless the right bullet weight, design And delivered energy are correct for the game hunted.

I saw this first hand, when I shot a bull Elk using a 200 grain partitioned bullet in a 30/378 at 3400 ft/sec and saw him stand there like he wasn't even hit. (I thought I had missed until he started to wobble and eventually fell down. The shot was a complete pass through with the exit wound the same size as the entrance wound. it killed him, but did not deliver the energy it had.

Some/many believe that a bullet should end up just under the skin on the opposite side to deliver all of its energy. I personally don't mind the bullet exiting as long as it's energy is spent on the animal.

So use the energy but also use the designed impact velocity plus the right bullet for the game and with good shot placement, it's hard to go wrong.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM