A bit of an update:
Unfortunately my schedule hasn't allowed me to go get the last bit of loss development done yet, but I'm confident that no matter what, I'll get some loaded up for testing on deer soon.
In the meantime, I've been extremely interested in the internals with this bullet and the mechanisms in how it works (or at least the evidence presented). So I put this bullet at the top of the list on my dissections and got it done Friday. Here are the pictures:
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So my initial thoughts are:
- I really like what I see and it's exactly what I was hoping to see, and also what I anticipated based on the results I've seen so far on the terminal performance/behavior.
- The cavity length is almost half the length of the entire bullet (minus the tip), which is great, and needed, for weakening that entire area sufficiently to allow reliable expansion/deformation, especially at lower impact velocities.
- The cavity overall is pretty wide, which is a good thing, for the same reasons as above. It allows for pressure to build quickly and greatly, internally, to force the material outward. That in turn also allows for better performance regarding terminal stability. The nose will come apart with less overall effort/force/pressure required, and cleanly, and keep the remaining shank running true as it continues to penetrate.
- The cavity varies in width. It's wider where the tip is inserted due to the broaching and the mouth of the cavity has also been beveled. The broaching does not extent the entire length of the cavity.
- There is indeed broaching done to the cavity that essentially increases cavity diameter, but more importantly creates multiple weakened areas that will be where the copper splits during expansion/deformation and thus results in very deliberate, reliable, and consistent formation of petals, as well as ensures it occurs reliably still at lower impact velocities. Like I said before, this helps lower pressure/force required and produces very fast and uniform separation of the petals as well as it ensures terminal stability is not compromised.
- The material cut very easily and did not actually appear very hard at all. It was actually one of the easier bullets I've cut so far. My assumption would be that this would also have a significant effect on expansion/deformation rate, reliability, consistency, and at both high and low extremes of impact velocity.
Excellent work here, Mark (
@mcdil)! I'm really excited to get these tested on a whitetail or two and see just how it goes.
