[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Guys:
   I did a little bullet testing this evening and I thought you'd find the results interesting.

   The bullets were fired into water filled herbicide jugs at 20 yards with a Remington 700 with a 22" barrel. The jugs are 6 1/2 - 7" wide.  All bullets blew up the first jug, split the second open and stopped in the third jug, except the 165 gr. Partition, which stopped in the fourth jug. All lost cores were in the third jug.

Factory Hornady 180 gr. Spire Point - Retained core in jacket, weighed 132.7 gr.

Factory Federal 180 gr. Hy-Shok - Lost core, jacket + core weighed 76.7 gr.

Factory Hornady 165 gr. Boat-tail Spire Point - Lost core, jacket + core weighed 105.8 gr.

Warm handloaded Remington 165 gr. Pointed Soft Point - Lost core, jacket + core weighed 102.7 gr. Another time a bullet from the same lot retained it's core, barely. I pryed it out with my finger nails.

Max handloaded Nosler 165 gr. Partition - Retained front core, weighed 117.2 gr. The rear core was retained, of course.  

   The 180 gr. results are in rough agreement with Gary Sciuchetti's (Handloader # 193, June 1998) although his bullets stood up to another 200 fps in wet phonebooks.

Bye
Jack



<!--EDIT|Jack Monteith|June 02 2002,20:26-->

 

[Chief RID]

Man I love that real data. Thanks Jack.

I will try to shoot some like that next week. I have a little veriety loaded. I'll start saving milk jugs again.

 

[MikeG]

Good stuff, Jack.

Ever try this with any Ballistic Tips?

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
  Yup, this morning. A 125 gr. Ballistic Tip, warm handload, blew up 1st jug, split second jug, stayed in 2nd jug. Lost core, jacket + core weighted 48.5 grains.

Bye
Jack

 

[Jack Monteith]

A couple more bullets

Warm handloaded Hornady 165 gr. Spire Point (not the boat-tail) - Jugs were spaced 1" apart, because the fourth jug often split open in the previous tests, even though it wasn't penetrated.
Result- Core lost, jacket + core weighted 60.5 gr., 50.7 jacket + 9.8 core in the third jug.   OK, try another with the jugs touching.
Result- Core lost, jacket + core weighted 113.5 gr.

   Since all three conventional 165 gr. bullets retained between 62-69% of their weight when tested under similar conditions, and a single bullet test is not statistically valid, I'll call it a draw for now.

Warm handloaded Speer 168 gr. hpbt Gold Match - The bullet defected and went out the back of the second jug at the bottom and went under the third jug.   Since another bullet might defect up and go I know not where, I quit.  There was a piece of jacket about 1/4 x 5/16" and bits of lead in the second jug.  

Question: Would the spaced jug test simulate lung tissue?

  I've seen round balls deflect in jugs too, so they're tested in wetpack only.

Bye
Jack

 

[BCstocker]

Jack: The Hornady 180 has been my bullet of choice for my /06 for over 40 years. It has always done what was needed on moose, bear, whatever. It also happens to be the most accurate bullet I've tested in my rifle. Core/jacket separation was the rule when I first started using it although it usually occured against the hide on the far side of the animal with the jacket being left imbedded in the hide and the core passing through. Was the bullet you tested an Interlock?  Not sure if the current production is a bit tougher to separate than the old ones or not but I have to give Hornady an A for this bullet as far as game killing goes. besto.

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, BC:
   They're lot 95-133, #3070 Interlock.  I've found the accuracy goes up with the bullet weight too.  125 & 130 gr. bullets seldom get under an 1 1/2", while 165s average 1 1/4" and the only well under MOA group I've got with this rifle was with the 180s. Of course, my bench is old and shaky and so am I !

Bye
Jack

 

[Chief RID]

I shot the 165 gr SP last year but my velocity was low. It was very accurate but I was disappointed with the performance. I have gone to the 150 gr SST this year but I have upped the velocity to near max. I'll let you know how it does at seasons end.

I am sure the performance issue with the 165 gr was due to the low velocity and bullet placement but it was my first year to hunt with my reloads so I'm learning.

 

[Will]

Hey guys,

I don't get over here on the rifle pages that much anymore but here I am.
The most amazing thing about that 1998 Handloader #193 article is that the toughest bullet, aside form the solids, was the Remington 180 grain Round nose. It is the only one that didn't shed its jacket at any velocity. All the others lost there jacket, it seemd to me between 1800 and 2200 fps, but it has been a while since I read that article. Maybe I will go dig it out and look at those resulst again.

Will