recovering bullets from game you shoot hornady FTX softpoint or prvi

[3006softpoint]

I really like recovering the bullets out of deer if possible....Yes most people will say they go clean through but once in a while you get lucky...I have recovered  rem core lokts I will say they mushroom well and stay together....hornady FTX ( hornady lever evolution) mushroom  well but seperate  outer jacket from inner lead core...Kind of a lead mess but hit like a sledge hammer.... The hornady btsp mushroom real well..... Real courious on the V max bullets? Also the PRVI line of bullets btsp's? Your thoughts on recovered bullets from game ,and thoughts on performance or lack there of.....Dale

[shot1]

It depends on the game you are shooting. For varmints the Hornady V-max and most Sierra varmint bullets really come apart as they should for quick kills. For deer I have learned after 42 years with 15 of those years helping as a control hunter on a huge farm in NC where me and my buddy had to take 100 deer a year off of a few things about bullets for deer. I like a bullet that will dump all it's energy inside a deer but will make it to the off side. The jacket may be the only thing that is found under the hide on the offside. Sierra makes a great deer killing bullet in most calibers in their mid weights. So do most of the cup and core bullets from other makers. Nosler ballistic tips work really well also if you keep them within the velocity range they are designed to work at, under 3000 fps impact velocity. It is really more of where you place a bullet as to how it is constructed when it comes to killing game. On deer if you place one going in or on an angle that will hit the offside shoulder you usually don't have to track them. They drop on the spot. For those that shoot behind the shoulder for a traditional heart/lung shot a bullet that will expand and exit is a good idea because a deer will usually run off a ways and two holes leak more blood than one and you will need that blood trail for tracking it up. Mag rifles benefit from bullets like the Nosler Partition and Accubond because you can get those close in shots and you need a bullet that will expand but hold together and these bullets will do just that. For a one bullet do most everything for the man that has just one rifle and whats to shoot everything from a mouse to a moose it is hard to beat the old Nosler Partition and the Accubond runs a very close second in my experience. I have never tried the mono material bullets because I am one that believes if it ain't broke don't try to fix it. I use mostly Sierra, Nosler BT and Accubond bullets for rifle calibers and Hornady XTP and Speer Gold Dots in pistols. For deer in 30 cal. the 125 Nosler ballistic tip if kept below 3000 fps is a BANG FLOP deer kill bullet. I shoot it in every one of my 30 cals.

[cwlongshot]

I am just the opposite, I do not want to find a bullet after I fire it.... Sure I have and when I do too many times I look for the reasons why. Vel too lo, bullet too tough or too heavy resulting in lower vel....
If you recover a varmint bullet taht bullet failed as varmint bullets are designed to rapidly expand to minimize pelt damage, Minimize ricochet dangers and anchor the critter quickly.
 
Most big game bullets are designed to expand. In an effort to disrupt as much tissue as required to quickly and humanely dispatch the game animal. Should it not be a DRT, TWO holes are better for leaking... Leaking leads you to the critter. In short, bullet mushrooms look good in bullet ads, they help sell bullets. But when I recover one I look for another bullet....
 
CW

[cjrjck]

For medium and big game, I like two holes also. I have used the Barnes all copper bullets since about the time they came out and have not recovered a bullet yet. Years ago, to make a bullet tougher or penetrate farther, typically they made the jackets thicker, especially at the base. That led to instances where bullets did not expand properly under certain conditions. The Nosler Patition was one of the first to overcome this problem and it is still one of the best bullets out there. It acts like a normal cup and core bullet until the going gets tough. Modern bonded bullets perform well using a different approach. With the new and inexpensive Speer Deepcurl bullets using the "Fusion" tested electro-chemical bonding process, you can get modern bonded bullet performance for the cost of a traditional cup and core bullet.

[Darrell Davis]

Yes, a bullet found in a critter is interesting, and I'll take em when I get em just cause their cool.
 
However, it is not what I want, and I also don't want typical "Cup and Core" type proformance.  Been there and done that!
 
To find a bullet jacket, minus it's core in a critter means the bullet greatly lacks integrity.
 
Yes, If I found the coreless jacket, the bullet killed the critter.  However, I come down on relyability and when push comes to shove, a bullet short on integrity - one that comes apart - is likely to leave you wanting and chasing a wounded critter where a better bullet would have put the critter down in short order.
 
SURE, I know that properly hit, a deer goes down as if struck by lightning when hit with a .223, 22-250, 220 Swift, but even the finest bullets in .224dia. with the greatest possible amount of integrity do not justify themselves as "deer" bullets.  Again, when push comes to shove they don't have what it takes to get the job done.
 
Yep, I know all about how well your rifle groups and that you can shoot the eye off a fly at 300yds, but we are talking about hunting here and hunting being what hunting is, not every shot hits just where the shooter intends.  The wind gusted, you were breathing too hard, you misjudged the range, the critter moved just as the trigger broke, whatever, it is HUNTING.
 
If it is a fuzzy little ground critter that takes a poor hit or even a miss, not big thing.  If hit it is gone within a short period of time.  BUT for a deer sized or larger critter, we as the hunter have the responsibility, moral and ethical, to go into the hunt properly equiped.
 
So, I pretty much come down with cwlongshot & cjrjck on the issue! 
 
I have what remains of a 465gr WFN cast boolit taken from my very large and barren cow elk during this recent hunting season.  Really cool to look at and talk about, but it wasn't expected and the boolit had the integrity to do a lot of hard work and travel a long ways through hard going before it stopped.  Nothing less would have been exceptable!!!!!!!!!!
 
The Hornady Flex Tip bullet simply would not have made a passing grade, not even close.

 
cjrjck thanks for the tip on the Speer Deep Curl bullets!  I plan to be working up loads for the daughter's 7mm/08 so I'll check it out!
 
Keep em coming!
 
Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[chefjeff]

I have a cup full of recovered 250gr.XTP and 260gr. all lead knight muzzleloader bullets.Some have beautiful mushrooms and most were recovered just under the hair on the off side.Obviously they did their job.Shot straight through the ribs,pass through.Works for me.

[cwlongshot]

I also have some recovered bullets...
 
Here is a 140G Barnes XBullet. Fired from a 14" 7x30 Contender. It was fired into a 325# Boar at about 35Yards. It was found under the skin on the off side.

 
Here is a 12Ga Barnes Expander, fired end to end on a Whitetail at about 80 Yards.

 
Here is another Barnes bullet, This one came out of my 45 Colt Bisley. It was fired into another boar at about 25 Yards, shoulder shot. Found under the skin on the off side.

 
Here is a couple out right failures...
 
This is two 140G Nosler Solid Base's. It came out of my 7mm/08 shot into a whitetail deer.

 
This is another Failure.. This one is a piece of a 180 Hornady SSP fired form a 358 @ 2600 fps into a deer at 40+- yards.

 
This is another 180 SSP bullet. It was out of my Maxi @ about 2200fps but hit the spine of a deer at about 25 yards. Pieces did exit...

 
Here is a 200 Hornady Spitzer out of the Maxi going about 2000fps.

 
This is a 140G Win Silvertip 357Mag, It was from a Marlin Lever and shot into a Whitetail deer at about 75 yrds.


 
This is another spine shot on a deer. It was about 50 yards and started out as a 300G Speer 451Dia fired from a 45Colt. About 1600 fps.

 
I don't consider all failures as a couple did quite well but where stopped or slowed with contact with bigger bones.  ALL game recovered, so ultimately they worked fine as the idea was to fill the freezer with what was shot. To that end it was fine.
I also have a half a doz lead slugs.



 
 
Its all what you want or are willing to accept. I want two holes and not have to worry about where the bullet strikes to get that..
 
CW

[cjrjck]

So that is what recovered Barnes copper bullets look like! Cool. I am still waiting on my first.

This year I killed a buck with a 223 Handi loaded with 45 grain Barnes X bullets (original X). I had a bunch left over and have never taken deer myself with a 223. I know the bullet is light but it is a Barnes X. Muzzle velocity was around 3250 fps. Shot the buck through the shoulder at about 30 yards. He dropped on the spot. Shot him a second time (in the neck) as he raised his head. Both bullets exited so I am still looking for my first recovered Barnes. Probably did not need the second shot but I was not taking an chances with the little 223. Still not a 100% sold on the 223 either for deer even though I know a ton of guys who use them in Texas where I bow hunt.

I did recover a Speer 170 grain flat point shot out of my Topper 30-30 into a good sized doe this year. First standard bullet I have used in a while but the Topper seems to like them. Doe dropped at the shot. Bullet entered behind the near shoulder and into the far shoulder. I recovered pieces of the jacket and core on the far side of the off shoulder. Bullet seems to have held up most of the way through. Tells me that this bullet is designed for the 30-30 and not push it any faster out of another 30 caliber or expect it to penetrate adequately on large game. For deer it works well and no doubt would have exited if it had not hit bone. Question is what would have happened if it had hit the near shoulder first? These 170 grain Speer 30-30 bullets are some of the best but now they make the same bullet as a bonded "Deepcurl"  and I will be trying those for sure. About the same price as the non-bonded version.

[cwlongshot]

Yup!
 
 Here is a top view! 

CW