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I posted this in the old forum back in 2000, but it disappeared when Beartooth changed servers. (Beartooth changed because inactive threads were deleted, so it would have disappeared anyhow.)
The bullets were tested in wetpack (soaked newspaper). Wetpack is one of the better test mediums, but it's not meat, so your mileage will vary.
Bullets were the Hornady 200 grain Round Nose, Remington 200 gr. Core-Lokt, Sierra 200 gr. Round Nose and Speer 180 grain Flat Nose. The 200 gr. bullets were tested with 36.0 gr of 3031 for a muzzle velocity of 1975 fps. This is Max in Hornady #4 and Sierra #4, but under IMR's Max. The Speers had a warm load of 3031 for 2185 fps.
All bullets expanded nicely and retained their cores at 25 yards. The Core-Lokt was the only bullet that expanded every time at 200 yards. Some Speers did, but some were hitting high and just cut the top of the wetpack. The Speer does shoot flatter and I should shoot them again. It folds back more than the Core-Lokt so it has a smaller expanded diameter.
The Sierra expanded slightly at 150 yards so it looked like a wadcutter. It expanded nicely at 100 yards. This was an old California lot so new production may do better, but Sierra doesn't recommend using it beyond 150 yards.
The Hornady did not expand at 100 yards. This was a 1996 lot without the nose slits. Mr. Gates tested a 2000 lot with the nose slits and got the same results. Shells I load with them go into a box labelled "NOT FOR DEER".
Bye
Jack
The bullets were tested in wetpack (soaked newspaper). Wetpack is one of the better test mediums, but it's not meat, so your mileage will vary.
Bullets were the Hornady 200 grain Round Nose, Remington 200 gr. Core-Lokt, Sierra 200 gr. Round Nose and Speer 180 grain Flat Nose. The 200 gr. bullets were tested with 36.0 gr of 3031 for a muzzle velocity of 1975 fps. This is Max in Hornady #4 and Sierra #4, but under IMR's Max. The Speers had a warm load of 3031 for 2185 fps.
All bullets expanded nicely and retained their cores at 25 yards. The Core-Lokt was the only bullet that expanded every time at 200 yards. Some Speers did, but some were hitting high and just cut the top of the wetpack. The Speer does shoot flatter and I should shoot them again. It folds back more than the Core-Lokt so it has a smaller expanded diameter.
The Sierra expanded slightly at 150 yards so it looked like a wadcutter. It expanded nicely at 100 yards. This was an old California lot so new production may do better, but Sierra doesn't recommend using it beyond 150 yards.
The Hornady did not expand at 100 yards. This was a 1996 lot without the nose slits. Mr. Gates tested a 2000 lot with the nose slits and got the same results. Shells I load with them go into a box labelled "NOT FOR DEER".
Bye
Jack