Well guys, I have read several post on the 300 Whiper with sonic loads for deer but have never read any on subsonic rounds. So I tought I would share the experience of Doc Roger's aka The Hit Man. For those of you who don't know about Doc, he belongs to JD Jones, HHI (Handgun Hunters International) and writes great articles in the SIXGUNNER. Doc has shot 9000 groundhogs and 1000 deer with handguns. Doc lives in W.VA and has a sign up sheet in his office for deer meat and people call him with crop damage permits. During 2002 Doc shot 151 deer. For the record he cleaned every deer and the meat was given to people to eat. Here is Doc's article from the April 2003 SIXGUNNER.
300 Whisper (12-2002) (33-2001), total 45)
Let's get this out of the way. Yeah, you've read about the .300 Screamer (.300 Whisper with 125 grain whatever at a gazillion fps.) Well , that's not a true Whisper. The real deal is a 240 grain Sierra Match HPBT less than 100 fps ( speed of sound) , with a "can",
mil -dot scope, etc.
In other words , a fully tricked out SSK masterpiece that is QUITE.
Here's the deal : 16" SSK barrel, the "can" T/C folding stock , 221 Fireball case necked to .308 Sierra 240 grain Match HPBT, 8.1 grains of WW296 (1050 fps) BSA mil-dot lighted reticle, 4-16 power. A work of art and a deer's worst night-mare.
How does a slow, nonexpanding Match HP kill? It tumbles end over end, creating some weird holes in muscles and skin. The typical response in a Whispered deer is to stand or walk slowly after being hit if it doesn't see the shooter. Internal bleeding begins immediately and in 30-60 seconds the deer looses enough blood to shut down all the internal processes.
An alerted deer usually runs until it runs out of blood, i.e. speed x time # distance run. The maximum I've seen is about 250 yards. The key is not to alert the deer.
I've taken a lot of broadside shots in which the deer runs 30-80 yards before dying. A shoulder blade hit usually results in knock down. About half get up and run a little.
A straight on shot is good if kept very low or very high. The low hits rip the heart causing heavy bleeding and runs of less that 50 yards. The high hits get the spine causing in instant knock downs.
I've done about six Texas heart shots. They walk real funny for 10-20 yards, then drop. The bullet stays in the chest cavity. Bleeding is usually very heavy from the aorta being hit.
J.D. gave me some old 250 grain Match Kings, no longer made. They are VERY long. Although I don't have absolute proof, I thing they do a little better due to the increased tearing activity.
I've take deer with these two bullets from 40-206 yards. The latter was instant knockdown and death from a spine hit. I had to hold four dots above the crosshair. Using a range finder with this gun is mandatory.
I asked J.D. about using other bullets. HE didn't think they would work since all shorter and probably would not tumble. I had to try.
I shot a doe coming out of the corn with a 220 grain Sierra HPBT at 140 yards. She keep feeding. I figured I'd missed, so I just waited. Another doe came out at 50 yards. I shot behind the shoulder. She kept feeding Now I was screwed up in the head. I figured I'd lost it and couldn't shoot anymore. While I was berating myself doe #2 dropped dead. I search a long time before I could find the pinpoint hole over the lungs. Autopsy showed a double lung hit, very little tissue damage, but a chest full of blood.
After cleaning this doe I went back to doe #2 . She was lying there dead. Same results. This 220 grain bullet is not LONG enough to get unstable to tumble. The deer didn't even realize they were hit. Strange.
I got rid of these bullets, had one more idea. How about a 220 grain Sierra round nose? The blunt nose should make the yaw and tumble. The round nose and flat base should create a good bit of tissue damage.
Instant success!!! You can hear and see this bullet hit. About a third of the hits are knockdowns. The rest run less than 100 yards on good lung hits or less that 300 yards on marginal hits. Straight on cheat hits are usually instant killers.
This round nose bullet holds trajectory very well. It's very close to the MatchKing . The longest shot was 180 yards. Exit holes were jagged. Bleeding is usually heavier than with the 240 HP. Deer seem to run less and die faster with the round nose.
There is one big problem with the Whisper. I can't get it out of people hands once they shoot it. One farmer shot four deer in 45 seconds. He wanted to do more. The deer were just milling around. I had to take the gun from him and remind him HE had four deer to clean.
