Trophy Bonded Bear Claws...

[IronKnees]

Just curious... have any of you guys tried Trophy Bonded Bear Claws on boar, or any other heavy bodied big game for that matter...

[denvas]

I have used Trophy Bonded Bear Claws for a number of years and really like them on thick skinned or hard to kill game animals. I was fortunate enough to have known Jack Carter back when he still owned Trophy bonded Bullets. His office was here in Houston and we met through the Houston Safari Club. Back in the early 80’s when we met I was looking for a tough bullet for a trip to Alaska. As our friendship grew I was allowed to test various new calibers for him before he introduced them to the market. The Bear Claws are similar in performance to the original Nosler partition design. The rear end stays intact and pushes the expanded front portion of the bullet through the animal to achieve a larger, deeper wound channel. Over the years my kids and I have used them to harvest whitetails, fallow deer, axis deer, feral hogs, gemsbok, scimitar horned Oryx, elk, moose, black bear, grizzly bear, caribou, eland, giraffe, sable, roan, sika deer, red stag, wart hog and several other types of animals. I don’t think you can go wrong with them. My only reservation would be that as with the Swift A Frame, Nosler partition and other similarly constructed bullets, you don’t really need them for thin skinned animals under 400 pounds.

[IronKnees]

Denvas... Thanks a bunch for the reply. Do you know the "stats" on them. For instance, the MINIMUM expansion velocity etc. Also, I notice you mention not only heavy boned/bodied animals, but also thin skin animals such as the smaller deer species etc. At normal velocities, say from .30-06 etc., I would think there would be a tendency for them to zip through without much expansion... Am I all wet on this?

[denvas]

As far as the performance characteristics on thin skinned animals you are pretty much on the mark. That is why I suggested a suggested a body weight of around 400 lbs are larger. Every deer that we shot with these bullets had through and through penetration, even when bones were encountered on the way through. The offside exit wound was normally about 2 to 2 ½ time caliber size, unless a bone was hit and then it depended upon the size of the chunk of bone blew out the opposite side, not much expansion when compared to a Ballistic tip or Grand Slam of the same caliber. However, with that having been said, we never lost any of the animals that we shot with these bullets. That can not always be said for Ballistic Tips, Core-Locks or some of the other quicker expanding bullets that blew up against a shoulder bone or rib bone and expanded to maximum capacity without penetrating into the vitals area, thus expending it’s destructive energies without the proper effect on the game animal shot.

When used properly these bullets will expand within normal velocity ranges, however, as I mentioned earlier, they do expand better the more resistance they meet, i.e. bigger and heavier animals. I would load them like you normally load for the caliber in question and then enjoy my hunting knowing that these bullets are more than capable of taking anything that the caliber is intended for.

[Rusty]

I have used these (once hunting) on my 30 06, and they are a "premium bullet".  They worked well (165 grain), in the first 100 yards on the deer used it on.  
I have read various articles on them, and according to the articles (Shooting Times and Gun Tests), they are very comparable to Swift A-Frames (bonded premium bullets primarily for tough game, or magnum calibers) for retained weight on terminal performance, however they are not rated as accurate as the A-Frames.  I think I read an article somewhere that blount (CCI Speer) was going to work on the slightly reworking the Trophy Bonded bullets to make them more accurate.

[buster folly]

I have used these 165 gr bullets in my 30-06 with the Federal Premium and High Energy loadings for our small coastal SC deer.  I have never recovered a bullet as they all passed through the deer; however I have not lost a deer with these rounds.  What really impressed me was the fact that they opened up very quickly on whitetail sized animals even at relatively close range (say 50 yards).  After shooting a nice sized doe and upon dressing the animal, the entry wound channel had broken two ribs with a hole that appeared 2" in diameter.  That is fast expansion!
This round will hold 1" groups out of my Ruger M77. Hope this helps!
I have switched to the Swift Scirroco and the Hornady Interbond as the TBBC is a bit of overkill for our smaller framed deer.