Well, first tests in the books. I picked off two doe Monday night with the 135gr Afterburner. First one was about 70 yards right out of my blind. Impact velocity would have been right at 2838fps. She managed about 10 yards and piled up, and that was mostly from a big jump she took upon impact.
The second one was as I was walking back to get my truck. She was across the field but kept stopping to look back at me. At first, I wasn't going to even try taking a shot at her because she was already on to me. I figured she was going to take off at any moment, but as I kept walking she would only take a few steps and continued looking back at me in curiosity. I got to a crest in the field, so I got down prone to see if I could actually get a shot on her. She was still heavy quartering away, looking back at me over her left shoulder (as I later figured out). I went ahead and took a shot, aiming for what should have been her shoulder. It was close to last light at this point and I was also looking through corn stalks.
She dropped on the spot. When I got to her, I discovered I had actually neck-shot her, so she was turned a bit different than I thought, looking through the scope. I'm glad it still worked out well at least. She was still pouring out a lot of blood from the wound when I got to her.
In the heat of the moment, I completely forgot to turn on my Tactacam, so I didn't get the shot footage. I tried to document most everything after the shot though, which is all in the YouTube video.
At the beginning of the clip, as I initially started field dressing the first doe, I misspoke about which was the entry and exit hole. Since these bullets expand, shed their petals, and then are left with just the shank to exit, the terminal performance tends to be a bit backwards from my norm with a traditional expanding bullet. It made me initially miscall the entry hole into the chest cavity as the exit and I called the small hole the entry lol. As I thought more, and recalled how she was presented when I took the shot, I realized I had it backwards.
So what occurred was that the shoulder initiated the expansion upon impact and the petals must have still been peeling back as it went through the ribcage, and that's why that entry hole was so large. It destroyed the onside lung, the top of the heart, and most of the offside lung as well (the whole rear lobe). By the time it got through all that, it was down to just the shank as it exited.
So with all that said, it's pretty safe to say the bullet worked exactly as advertised. Definitely a great result, and if I'm honest I haven't had any better performance from TMKs, ELDMs, AMAXs, or any other bullet under the same scenario and conditions. It was like strawberry purée in that chest cavity, which is exactly what I like to see. She was dead on her feet. She made a huge jump on impact and that momentum is what carried her to where she piled up.
The next big test would be to try a lower impact velocity shot. I'd also like to increase my sample size at typical impact velocities too though, so I'll be doing whatever I can. Just like I don't like to take one or two poor results as a conclusive result, I also don't want to take one or two good results as conclusive either, but first impressions are definitely good. Confidence has definitely been instilled.
The second one was as I was walking back to get my truck. She was across the field but kept stopping to look back at me. At first, I wasn't going to even try taking a shot at her because she was already on to me. I figured she was going to take off at any moment, but as I kept walking she would only take a few steps and continued looking back at me in curiosity. I got to a crest in the field, so I got down prone to see if I could actually get a shot on her. She was still heavy quartering away, looking back at me over her left shoulder (as I later figured out). I went ahead and took a shot, aiming for what should have been her shoulder. It was close to last light at this point and I was also looking through corn stalks.
She dropped on the spot. When I got to her, I discovered I had actually neck-shot her, so she was turned a bit different than I thought, looking through the scope. I'm glad it still worked out well at least. She was still pouring out a lot of blood from the wound when I got to her.
In the heat of the moment, I completely forgot to turn on my Tactacam, so I didn't get the shot footage. I tried to document most everything after the shot though, which is all in the YouTube video.
At the beginning of the clip, as I initially started field dressing the first doe, I misspoke about which was the entry and exit hole. Since these bullets expand, shed their petals, and then are left with just the shank to exit, the terminal performance tends to be a bit backwards from my norm with a traditional expanding bullet. It made me initially miscall the entry hole into the chest cavity as the exit and I called the small hole the entry lol. As I thought more, and recalled how she was presented when I took the shot, I realized I had it backwards.
So what occurred was that the shoulder initiated the expansion upon impact and the petals must have still been peeling back as it went through the ribcage, and that's why that entry hole was so large. It destroyed the onside lung, the top of the heart, and most of the offside lung as well (the whole rear lobe). By the time it got through all that, it was down to just the shank as it exited.
So with all that said, it's pretty safe to say the bullet worked exactly as advertised. Definitely a great result, and if I'm honest I haven't had any better performance from TMKs, ELDMs, AMAXs, or any other bullet under the same scenario and conditions. It was like strawberry purée in that chest cavity, which is exactly what I like to see. She was dead on her feet. She made a huge jump on impact and that momentum is what carried her to where she piled up.
The next big test would be to try a lower impact velocity shot. I'd also like to increase my sample size at typical impact velocities too though, so I'll be doing whatever I can. Just like I don't like to take one or two poor results as a conclusive result, I also don't want to take one or two good results as conclusive either, but first impressions are definitely good. Confidence has definitely been instilled.
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