Originally Posted by
sabotloader
spaniel
My only point is that I have yet to find a Hornady that will not strip itself (I have not shot any bonded Hornady) I shoot them at paper and will continue to shoot them at paper but I feel it is somewhat a crap shoot when using them for hunting. I also believe they are more than 95% effective, but for just myself I would not depend on a bullet that strips the lead from the copper, or sometime expands and sometimes does not. With those unkowns to calculate into the varibles - I would rather shoot an economical bullet that those varibles are not a part of.
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The easy solution if the shape is desired is to use the bonded version.
The game really makes a difference. I shoot the 200SW but most of my friends shoot the 250. After many years and a couple hundred deer between us (generous midwestern bag limits and a crew of meat hunters trying to save their crops) it is obvious a) that the 200 holds together better at any range, and b) even the 250 kills the deer you just find fragments more often.
It really is possible IMHO to use too hard of a bullet on deer. The ones I recovered that stripped do not bother me, it did not make a difference in their ability to put the deer down and was a good sign that I was getting enough expansion.
I agree that the frequency with the 250 is somewhat high. I consider that particular bullet a little frangible which is why I recommend either the 200 or 300 to people.
Personally, I have found my deer to go down quicker with the SW than they did with the HTP/XTP design. Those were/are good bullets respectively, but in my experience hold together a little too well, some more expansion would transfer more energy to the animal.
Like I said, if it's being used on an animal tougher than deer it's another story. Bonded or different bullet for sure.
This brings up a test I want to do this summer assuming my daddy duties leave enough time. I have been saving gallon milk jugs forever and have quite a pile. Unlike newspaper at, water makes a very uniform medium that unlike gel is not temp-sensitive. I plan to shoot a few bullets into lines of jugs at various ranges out to 500 yards or so and see how they perform.