Shockwaves NEED bonding?

[AndyHass]

I just saw the bonded Shockwaves at Cabela's, and I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to switch over to them.
   I shot a big fat doe last night at 180-200 yards.  For once, I was able to recover the bullet as it hit the off-side shoulder.  I recovered the jacket under the skin, where it stopped before penetrating the last 1/8 inch of muscle.  The jacket was expanded nicely, but was completely devoid of any of the lead core.  The only trace was a few small fragments in the wound and a bruise on the skin that it failed to penetrate.
   I've never had the bullet fail to take a deer down, but I'd think at that range it shouldn't separate from its core...

[RangeMaster]

Greetings Andy.

I'm thinking the TC SW Bonded bullet would only give you a pass through with little or no expansion. With a lung shot it wouldn't matter what the bullet did.
My buddy shoots the TC ShockWave 200 gr. He took a doe at 45 yards last week. He reported an exit wound channel the size of a pool ball. The deer ran 30 yards and was done.

regards,
JP

[Redhawk1]

If you recovered the deer as you stated, I would say the bullet did it's job. But like you I expect certain things from my bullet performance. The thing is try the bonded Shockwaves, and see if they are more to your liking.  

[flintlock]

Dang Andy....How much powder are you using... :grin:
We have killed 9 or 10 with that bullet...using 90 grains of Pryodex RS
or 90 grs Triple Seven....all pass throughs...I was actully thinking the bullet  was a little hard....Ranges have been from 10 steps to 143 yards...Of course these are our smaller southern whitetails...

[sabotloader]

AndyHass,

I think the new bonded bullets might be a plus on occasions.  The bonding should prevent the lead from separating from the copper.  At the ranges you are shooting bonding probably would not have any effect but at the closer ranges and high velocities - IT could.  It doesn't happen very often but when it does it can be a bummer.  The bonding part is one of the reasons I am testing the new .452 Speer Gold Dots.  That and the BC on the 300 grain, I know Speer has inflated it some but when you run the ballistic on it - IT is really good and at the upper end velocities it should help it hold together ( a poor man's Nosler Partician - not really buttt.

[Critter]

I read an article on this and I got the impression that they wanted the bonded bullets for larger game and hogs.  In fact they were using wild pigs for the test subjects.  In the article they said that with thes bullets the expansion takes place 3 to 4 inches inside the animal.  They also mentioned weight retention up to 93%, the chart they have in the article ranges from 86.4% to 93.1% weight retention over various ranges from 11 feet to 200 yards.  They are also claiming that the bonding process makes for a more accurate bullet.  I'm not sure how that works but I'm sure someone could explain it to me.

[AndyHass]

I shoot 110gr 777 for a MV of 2100 fps.  I haven't calculated what velocity at 180-200yds would have been.
  I have shot probably 8-10 deer over the last two years with the bullet.  Like I said, this was the first non-pass-thru.  Only complaint is the deer seem to run further, on average, than they did with Dead Centers.  I attributed this to less expansion with the jacket (I once recovered a 195 gr DC that looked like a nickel after 18 inches of frontal penetration).  I shoot the SWs because they are half the price and I can't push DCs over 2000 fps accurately.
   Sounds like the bonded ones are not ideal for whitetails if they test them on hogs...
   Yep, if the deer is down the bullet did its job.  I just worry about future shots (like quartering away angles) where the bullet might have to penetrate more body to reach the lungs and a shed core could lead to a lost animal.

[DEPUTY]

Andy i have been using the bonded this season with great resultsa at very extended ranges on whitetails.....  they will really shine this year in africa i belive  for our crew and out west  on elk and mulies