ORIGINAL: Buckshot
Ive only shot one deer with this load and it went a total of 75 yards, the first 60 without a drop of blood, after that the blood was spotty at best. I found the deer bedded down looking at me, so I shot it in the neck. Now Im not saying that barnes bullets wont kill deer, however I am saying that the 7mm 140gr XLC isnt disigned to expand on whitetail deer. HAd the conditions been different (no snow) I may have had a very tough time finding this deer.
I shoot the 160 gr XLC out of my 7mm REM Mag and I have never had any of the 33 deer shot with that combo even take a step... they have all been bang...FLOP!I did recover one of the bullets after it had passed through a fine 9 piont and gone 8 inches into an old hickory tree. I cut down the tree the following spring ( it was dying anyway) to find It has lost its petals after going about 3 inches into the tree but the remaining "core" continued to drive another 5 inches. going back through my reloading records I see that I have harvested a total of 61 deer with the X in .223, .243, .270, 7mm REM Mag, and .308. Never once have I had on fail to expand. All had very impressive wound channels.