Flat Nose vs. round nose

[dougk]

Something has been bothering me concerning  a situation yesterday.  It took severl well placed head shots to euthanize a deer.  I was using FMJ which are round nose.

My questions is will round nose bullets follw the bone vs. flat nose that will break through the bone of the game being taken?

Does anyone hunt with round nose bullets?  Or do you use flat nose buttles?

Thanks,
Doug

Here is the link to the original post http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=64130

[Gallahad]

What were ya using?  sounds like a semi auto pistol. IF that was the case, I dont think even a 45 acp SHOULD be used, although I know a lot of guys choose to hunt with them.  I think the most humane chioce would be anything the equivilent of a 30-30 or higher powered. bullet chioce shoulden't be much of a problem. 100 grains or better will do the trick out of a high powered rifle, although fmj wouldent be my first choice.

[southern utah]

It is my understanding that the SWC flat nose works like a paper punch while FMJs make a wound channel that stretches and returns to a smaller than bullet diameter hole.

[Bug]

dougk,
 Talking pistol cartridges only here; It is generally established that bullets with a meplat, or flat, on the nose will create a larger wound channel, create more tissue damage, dump more energy, and create more "shock" than their round nosed counterparts. Add to that, the bullets with a meplat tend to "dig in" rather than slide around obstacles, and the flat nosed projectile makes for a better hunting bullet. Probably, the full wadcutter bullet would make a great hunting bullet, but they have stability issues at extended range, plus their near-nonexistent ballistic coefficient makes them unsuitable for general hunting. A meplat around 70% has been proposed as near ideal. Most hunters use a SWC design, followed by the various soft point/flat point designs (this includes the H/P), or the RNFP, as in the traditional .45 Colt rounds. The truncated cone flat points, like used in your 9mm, are also pretty good performers. You just happened to discover first-hand why RN - especially FMJ - projectiles make poor hunting bullets. As far as I am concerned, they are also poor defense rounds, too. They do function well, esp. if a pistol's reliability is borderline. It shouldn't be too big a deal to find a better bullet to use in a carry situation, they just won't be quite as cheap! JMHO,,,,,,,,,Bug.

[Mikey]

dougk:  You were using the fmj bullet, which would normally follow the curve of the skull beneath the hide, if the shot was not placed square at one of the flat surfaces of a whitetail's skull.  A round nosed cast bullet will do the same thing (it's amazing how many people wake up after a suicide attempt with a 38 spl rn slug from a snubbie with the barrel placed at an angle to the temple, complaining of a headache of all the darn things, with a hole going in and a hole going out of their heads but not straight through).  

Bug has added some pertinent detail to this discussion and I agree with his comments - however, if you reload there is a truncated nose cast slug for the 9mm that would work better if you plan to stay with that caliber.  I believe it is a 125 gn slug.  Has a small flat metplat which would give you a better advantage in that situation.  

Also, depending on your particular 9mm and how well it handles cast slugs, there are a number of cast offerings available for the 9mm/38/357 that would work well.  I would recommend you access the websites of some cast bullet makers to view their offerings and see what may appeal to you.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Catfish]

I have always used JHP bullets for deer hunting with handguns. If I were to use a cast bullet it would be a Keith style. There is no way that I would use full jacketed bullets. They are to wound not kill.

[Hooker]

Actually I prefer a spine shot for finishing one off. If the animal is down a shot between the shoulders has always took the wiggle out of them for me. On the other hand I've seen deer with their brains half shot out still running.
The round nose vs flat nose bullet may never be a cut and dried thing.
This last deer season I packed the wrong bullets for camp they were the same weight and powder charge as my hunting round accept they were roundnose bullets.158 gr round nose 357 hardcast. Both loads are very accurate and point of impact is so close it's next to nothing.
As it turned out I took a nice doe with this round at 70yrds. She was almost straight on just a very slight angle. The bullet entered the chest just to the inside of the left shoulder and exited the middle of the rib cage on the right. She dropped in less than 10 yrds.
Is this a good deer round or just a well placed shot? I think both. Is it the best round for this purpose IMO no. Flat nose bullets have shown to have an advantage they deliver more shock leave bigger wound channels, and punch thru bone more readily. I think at handgun velocities the flatnose has an even bigger advantage. And this advantage grows larger when using nonexpanding fmj bullets.

Pat

[dougk]

Guys,
thanks for the info.  I am using the FMJ as practice rounds and going with a 147 gr JHP for home defense and the .357 with JSP for the ranch pistol, until the wild pigs arive then I will use the .44 mag.

Doug