Best Bullet Question.

[jpsmith1]

As I've been selected for a cow elk tag, I'm working on a good hunting load.  I've got it narrowed down to 2 bullets, the 325gr LFN from Cast Performance and a 300gr SSK style bullet from Penn Bullets.  Both are quality bullets and both loadings shoot very well from my gun.

Is there any REAL difference between the bullets and their performance on game? 

I know that the LFN/WFN bullet is kind of considered the 'gold standard' by which all other bullets are measured, but J.D. Jones is a legend in his own right and probably knows a thing or two about what works in a bullet.

[chazgin]

Jp, what caliber are you shooting? I have a cow tog also starting Nov 4 and can't decide between my 445 Supermag Dan Wesson or TC Contender in 45/70. The 445 has 300 gr hornady hollowpoints and the 45/70 has 300, 350, and 400 gr flatpoints. Both guns shooting in the 1500 fps range. I can go higher in the 45/70 but it sure is harder on the gun and me! Interested in seeing responses to your post.

[jpsmith1]

  OOPS!  I'm shooting a Ruger Bisley in .45 Colt.  I haven't Chronographed the loads, but I'm running just a bit short of max charges of H-110, say about 22 grains, without looking at my logbook.

[safetysheriff]

i'd go with the heavier bullet in such a large caliber.    the 300 gr' bullet is certainly enough in a .45 for a cow elk.   but the extra sectional density of the 325 gr' would be appealing to me if i had to take a quartering-away shot at a big cow.

that's my opinion, anyway.

good hunting and shooting to you,

ss'   

[fowler]

I am carrying my 45 colt Bisley stoked with 332 gr (just how my LBT mold throws the bullet with wheel weights and is then water dropped) over 22 gr of W296 or H110 for my bull tag starting saturday. I have chronographed these loads at a smidge under 1300fps and they shoot 3-5 inch groups at 50 yards consistantly. I have a great deal of respect for J.D. Jones but I don't care for his lead bullets and at least one person I know that has killed truck loads of game with handguns says the LBT in a LFN oir WFN design is a much superior bullet on game. According to him (he was a professional hunter in Africa for 10 years) the LBT cuts a much wider wound channel and the bullets track much straighter, JD's bullets tends to "wander" and occationally tumble as their meplat is not as large or sharp cornered.

As far as having a cow tag instead of a bull tag, I feel they are just a tough to kill as a bull and demand the best you can give them. The only way a cow is easier is that there are more of them allowing for eaiser shot selection at times, but I have been amazed at their toughness in their own right. A 300 grain bullet is certainly enough but as Safetysheriff said use the heavier bullet if you can. I used to use the Cast Performance bullet in a 335gr LFNGC design and really liked it but went away from them when I started casting bullets in earnest, I would like to say I make a much better bullet but that would be very hard to do (but I do think I can match theirs ).

So go heavy in bullet and shoot strait. Good luck and safe hunting.

[Lloyd Smale]

fowles is on to something. We pentration tested alot of bullets and ive found that the turnacate nosed ssk bullets do tend to dive more then an lfn in  tough penetration testes. Now i dont know if they would in live game or not and to be honest they still do a hell of a job. At the last linebaugh seminar i was at i shot a 330 ssk .44 bullet out of my accusport at 1200 fps. (no i wont post the load as it was a stiff one) It was in the top 5 percent of all the loads tested but one of them did dive after it penetrated over 30 inches. Now thats almost three feet of penentration and that was through a shoulder nuckle bone of a cow and then through wet news print and that is alot tougher then most animals to penetrate. So i could hardly call it a failure. Couple guys comented that the tn bullet do that alot but like i told them there aint to many animals on this planet that you cant reach the vitals on with 3 feet of penetration!!

[jpsmith1]

Thanks, guys.  This will work out very well for me.  I've got a good sized box of the SSK bullets and I will load them up to practice with and save my extremely limited supply of LFNs for the hunt.  Very few locals sell Cast Performance Bullets.

WOW!  3 feet of penetration!  Does that translate into the ability to INTENTIONALLY break bones on a larger animal such as an elk?  What I'm asking is should I aim for the shoulder bones and rake the shot through the vitals intent on physically stopping the animal from leaving or should I limit myself to a vital zone shot and a pass-through?

[hunter3040]

I prefer the pass thru shot.  Two reasons.  I like two holes providing a blood trail.  Secondly, and more importantnly in my book, I don't like to shoot game in the meatest portions.  I would rather trim around holes thru the ribs than toss most of a shoulder filled with blood shot meat.  Admittedly, the problem of blood shot meat not as bad at handgun velocities, byt why risk it at all.  There is a reason God put the vitals in the middle, to give the biggest target and margin for error.  My 2 cents, others may vary.

Good luck on the hunt.  I will be out on 11/4 for cow elk with a 358 jdj.