A 55 grain bullet from a .22-250 would have bowled them right over. No offence Catfish, but it looks like another .204 shooter learns the hard way. Velocity (or worse yet, Kinetic energy), does not equal killing power.
I once shot a coyote 3 times with a 25-06 using 90gr Sierra HP's (dunno if
they even make that bullet these days). He finally expired on the last shot.
I later discovered those bullets weren't meant for anything much larger
than a prairie dog.
Bullet construction can have much more to do with "killing power" than
caliber (or even weight) alone.
One of the best bullets made for 20 calibers, Hornady's 33gr V-Max was
discontinued. WHY?? I have the ballistic twin to the Ruger .204, the
Tactical 20, 1/12 twist which is dead on with the loads turning out 4100fps.
The biggest complaint I ever heard about them was making horrific exit
wounds on coyotes if shot nearer than 100yds. Perhaps that's why
Hornady went to 32gr.............but accuracy is not there in my rifle. :cry:
There are some 35gr custom bullets in my arsenal that shoot well, but
that guy no longer makes them, and I believe the barrel would need to
be 1/9 to get the 40gr bullets to shoot accurately. BUMMER!!
