That general statement cannot be made with 2,800fps vel. only. I have found it pays to go with a SD a little above the old rule of thumb of .250,
at least when going beyond 2,800-2,900 the more the vel, the more you should exceed that SD with a softer cup & core & not just a SST or BT, but Sierra & others as well.
…
It goes back to the fact that you need to know when & how to use the bullets. If you don't know it is not the bullets fault.
Nomosendero –
I think you’re on the right track with SD (from your previous post) but I also think initial bullet weight plays a big part as well. With a 180g and heavier bullets, for example, there’s just more to the bullet to begin with and its generally travelling slower than a lighter bullet from the same gun. I’m not so sure good SD in a smaller diameter bullet helps that much. IMO it’s all about balancing the bullet construction and weight, impact velocity, placement and game size and weight. Some of these factors can be controlled more easily than others.
Where I hunt the game might be far off or well inside 100 yards, sometimes within 25 yards. This is equally true for antelope, deer and elk. Regardless of which rifle I use I load for the longer range, practice to 500 or 600 yards depending on the rifle, and work hard for the shorter range. It makes absolutely no sense to me, for my purposes, to choose a bullet that works great at long distance but stands a good chance of blowing up at close range. Nor do I recommend choosing such a bullet to others.
For that reason I refuse to use standard cup-and-core bullets. Speer Grand Slams are a special case and served me well for 20 years, but I quit using them shortly after they stopped using a harder rear core with a softer core on top. (I took a bull and cow with the newer design and was very pleased with the results – about 100 yards for both with a 7mm Rem Mag and 160g Grand Slams driven to 2950fps. Nevertheless I switched to true bonded core bullets the following year.) Given their reasonable cost, Grand Slams and Partitions seem to be sensible insurance when compared to standard cup-and-core bullets. In 25 years of hunting I have never seen either bullet type blow up, regardless of impact velocity.
For those that can afford them, the Trophy Bonded, North Fork and A-frame are as good as it gets with bonded bullets. All three have a mechanical means of positively limiting expansion. The Trophy Bonded and North Fork have a monolithic rear section while the A-Frame has a crossmember like the Partition. My hunting buddy has been using the Trophy Bonded for the last few years while I have been using the North Fork bullets. Although our sample size is still relatively small (4 elk and a mule deer for me and 2 elk and 2 mule deer for Dave since we switched to bonded bullets), we’ve had no blow ups or failures to expand. The North Forks consistently hold together even when hitting the steel gong at 200 yards. – something no cup-and-core bullet I’ve tried comes close to doing. Although I haven’t taken any game at extended range with the North Forks, I do have one recovered from soft dirt at 500 yards and it expanded perfectly.
Like others, I had problems with the ‘X’ type bullets. One experience on antelope was enough to persuade me not to use them again as I didn’t think they expanded. When the TSX bullets were introduced, with the modified hollow point, I was interested enough to try them again, although I have not taken any game with them. The latest crop of Tipped TSX and MRX bullets are, IMHO, excellent bullets. I shot a 180g MRX into water jugs at 3038fps from 15 feet or so, fully expecting it to lose all its petals. It lost one for over 93% weight retention. The tips on these bullets ensure rapid expansion while the monolithic core ensures the bullet will hold together. For those that are interested, the shank grooves allow higher velocity for a given pressure or reduced pressure for a given velocity. In my opinion this makes them more interesting than Nosler’s new E-Tip, especially if reports I’ve heard that Nosler recommends reducing powder charges with the E-Tips are true. Speer’s new Tipped Trophy Bonded has both grooves and a tip. Based on design concepts in lieu of adequate experience with these new bullets I have to think the Tipped TSX, MRX and Tipped Trophy Bonded are the best of the breed. They cost more but they won’t blow up at close range and the tips ensure expansion at longer ranges.
I have no pictures of massive entrance or exit wounds to share – the Grand Slams and North Forks I’ve used for the last 25 years simply haven’t produced any, whether the range was a few feet or 350 yards (my longest big game shot), nor have the Trophy Bonded my buddy has been using. Some people, in defense of cup-and-core bullets, suggest one bullet can’t do it all. Perhaps not, but my experience, which is limited to game up to the size of elk, suggests some bullet designs just perform much more reliably than others.
Like you say, a person needs to “know when & how to use the bullets. If you don't know it is not the bullets fault.” Choosing a bullet with a wider operating envelope just seems to make sense to me.
