Author Topic: Hunting with Paper Patched Bullets (Read 1688 times)

Saujäger · « **on:** June 19, 2003, 08:14:28 PM »

HI from Germany ,

I am relatively new to patching Bullets ,but I´m really impressed by the results I get .
I can shoot very soft bullets at around 1900fps out of my 45-70 Marlin
without leading at all and with good accuracy ( 2in. at 100m ) .
But now to my question , may I use these soft-lead bullets (3% tin) for hunting or should I use something harder , for example wheelweights with 2% tin added or so ?
The main aplication for the bullet would be wild boar up to 300 pounds or even heavier .
Until now I used a 405gr LFPGC cast from lymans no.2 alloy with good results , it just lacked a bit expasion sometimes , so I would like to have something softer , but it still left some leading in the bore ,so thats why I started experimenting with paper-patching.

HWooldridge · « **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2003, 03:47:43 AM »

A softer bullet is better for expansion so don't change if you have good accuracy with your current alloy.

Cottonwood · « **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2003, 06:22:11 AM »

Here is a post that I did on the Shiloh board concerning my shooting a doe with a 530-gr ppb.

A buddy of mine who owns a game farm asked if I would like to see what I could do with a doe that he said was needin to be put down for testing. He told me just don't shoot it in the head, I agreed because I am not a head shooter anyways. I jumped at the chance to use the 45-90 with the 530-gr pp bullets. I left the front globe on using the post/ball insert, used the rear Lee Shaver Soule Sight. You should have seen his face when I showed up with my Sharps and dressed in my prairie bib shirt and all.

The doe was standing about 125 yards, this was not a hunt so I do not count this one for my hunting with a Sharps. The bullet found it's mark right where I aimed. The doe jumped and then fell 5 yards from where she was hit. This was an open pasture shot encircled by 12' high fence, but if I had been going into the woods to hunt, I would have changed out the front globe sight for the front blade sight and removed the soule sight.

I was able to examin the body after to see just what damage if any a 530-gr bullet would do. The shot was thru and thru, and the exit hole was just a tad bigger than the enterance. Little if any blood shot.

Brent Danielson who has a website about paper patching bullets hunts elk with his 45-100 and yes we use pure lead bullets. You get much better expansion and energy transfer when doing so. With harder bullets the tend to exit out the other side of the game and therefor energy is lost, unlike when soft lead bullets are used.

Kragman71 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 20, 2003, 03:45:06 PM »

Saujaeger,
With a properly applied paper jacket,you can get upto 2200 feet per second without any leading in the bore,with a pure lead bullet.
In my case,I'm getting 2150 FPS,and no leading,in a 30 caliber rifle.
Frank

Castaway · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2003, 10:07:23 AM »

Personally, I think softer is better when using a 45-70 and a bullet at or over 400 grains. Although the bullet will expand, there is still enough mass to get excellent penetration. I drove one length wise through a Alabama deer, rear to front, breaking the pelvis and it still went over 1.25 meters, stopping under the skin at the left shoulder.

Saujäger · « **Reply #5 on:** June 26, 2003, 01:02:33 AM »

Thank you guys for your replys ,

I think I´ll stay with my alloy and will try it on game soon.

By the way , my load consists of a soft 420gr. Flatpoint bullet , cast in a Rapine no. 460405 mould , patched with 30g/m² tracing paper , lubed and sized to .459 dia , in front of 50gr. H 4198 and 0.3 cc PU-filler in a Remington case with a WLR-primer.
The load is according to No.27 Hodgdon-manual near max. with a jacketed bullet , so I think it´s OK with a PP too . Pressure is high , but no overpressure as far as I can see .
Accurracy is 2in. at 100m . As it goes for velocity , I cronographed to my big surprise an average of 2470fps some 3m from the muzzle of my mod. 1895 SS Marlin .

I´ll let you know how it performs on game .

HWooldridge · « **Reply #6 on:** June 26, 2003, 03:26:21 AM »

That load will kill anything in Europe and most of what lives in Africa! Good luck...H

Castaway · « **Reply #7 on:** June 26, 2003, 01:16:04 PM »

Can't ask for much more. It ought to be a "thumper." Let us knwo how it works.

Saujäger · « **Reply #8 on:** August 14, 2003, 11:15:51 PM »

Hi again,

I haven´t tried it on game until now but I have to correct my measured velocity for that load. I´ve cronographed it twice since my last post and I found it going with 1940fps. instead of 2470fps. That seems to me more realistic. I don´t know what I did wrong the first time but something must have been terribly wrong. Sorry for that missinformation. :oops:

rdnck · « **Reply #9 on:** August 15, 2003, 02:51:39 AM »

Saujager--I hunt with Sharps rifles using black powder and paper patch bullets. In a 45-90 using 88 grains of 2f and a .440 diameter bullet that weighs 530 grains cast from pure lead, I have shot completely through every deer I have ever shot, including one from shoulder to ham, and have never recovered a bullet. I have shot completely through every hog I have ever shot with this load, again never recovering the bullet, although I have never shot a hog from end to end with the 45-90.

Using my 50-90, I have shot a hog from end to end, shooting at the animal as it went away from me at about 75 yards. The load was 100 grains of 2f and a 520 grain pure lead paper patch bullet. The bullet hit the left ham and came out between the shoulder blades, then punched a sharp, clean, perfectly round hole in the hogs' right ear. All four feet went straight out, and the hog went down instantly. The penetration was measured at 42 inches with a tape measure.

My experience is that with these longer bullets, soft lead is the way to go. The greater sectional density of the longer bullets keeps them from coming apart or deforming too badly, at least in the 1250-1325 fps range, and they have given me outstanding penetration. I have never shot an elk or buffalo, but some of my acquaintances have, and none of them have recovered a similar bullet from these animals on a side to side shot.

Shoot straight, rdnck

JDL · « **Reply #10 on:** August 17, 2003, 02:37:07 PM »

Hi Folks,
I just joined up and hope you don't mind if I jump into the middle of this discussion.
I have used ppb's in my .45-70 for deer and elk with excellent results! I use as soft as lead as I can find, usually plumber's lead and use 310 grain bullets for deer and 510 grain for elk. These slugs are swaged to final shape and then paper patched.
The deer load is traveling 1940 fps at the muzzle and the heavier one 1650 fps. The bullet in deer always exits but I have recovered the 510 grain in 2 elk that I've taken, always just under the skin on the far side. They have been perfectly expanded to a frontal diameter of .9" and still retained 95 to 98% of original weight.
Game taken have not gone past 40 yards and left a blood trail even the rankest amature could follow. I have never had to take more than one shot per customer and ,IMHO, this is probably the best combination for woods hunting to ever come down the pike!-JDL