I was looking around on Ebay and noticed an auction for something called the deer bullet.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Muzzleloading-Deer-Bullets_W0QQitemZ330069297427QQihZ014QQcategoryZ71 113QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This bullet is of an unusual design that seems to have some interesting characteristics. What do you all think about this concept?

kind of a slug and hollow point bullet combined. I always wondered if someone could use something other then lead or copper. I heard of one guy that would reload his slug shells with steel ball bearings. They said he would shoot right thru both shoulders. Not sure if that story is true or not, same guy told me about using an aluminum arrow in a 410 single shot with the slug removed from the shell.

I'm not sure I would like using this bullet. First off, the smaller pieces would have less chance of exiting and exit wounds would be smaller. Smaller or non-existent exit wounds leave smaller and non-existent blood trails. Second, the force of the bullet going through the vital organs and the shockwave it produces within the body does as much to put the animal down as the bullet wound itself. A bullet that seperates on impact will do more physical damage but produce less shock than a normal bullet. Less shock means a deer that runs farther possibly not leaking blood, see point 1. Now the upside would be, a deer hit with this bullet is more than likely a dead deer. It is doubtful that you could hit a deer at an angle that wouldn't cause quite a bit of internal damage.

I just don't know if you could find it.

Now this is a first. I've heard of controlled expansion, but controlled separation? Personally, I am not fond of the concept, though I'm sure lots of damage can result from it and deer would probably go down quickly. If scapula is hit, a disadvantage would be designed into the bullet. I prefer a well expanded bullet going through the vitals. Every other bullet is desiged to do that, expand well at its appropriate range of velocities.That concept works so well, I think Iwould stick with it.

But as you said, it is interesting.

If they are pure lead then the velocity will be limited. Pure lead starts distorting enough to affect accuracy @ about 1500fps. Lee

For raw killing, with a rib shot it will do the job. What about a shoulder hit or would it break the shoulder blade? 3/4" plywood is pretty strong, but how much energy would be left to hit a lung? I would also worry about a blood trail, maybe that is not an issue with these since there would appear to be a lot of shock with the bullet and the animal would go immediately down.
Chap Gleason Va

I'm not sure I'm crazy about this bullet either, just thought I would get some other opinions beforestating it. My feeling is it has the potential to put game down quick but also has the potential to do a lot of meat damage.Seems to melike a shotgun slug that turns into buckshot at impact, i.e. easy to aim but more wound channels than a slug. I got the impression from the ad that they expect the bullet to expend all its energy in the animal and not neccessarily exit, I don't like that myself for the same reasons mentioned. They don't mention the exact "alloy" used but I would guess it is lead + something else. It could make a nice varmit bullet though.

The same company has a solid version (apparently) with a non HP nose, same 300gr weight, they specify for bear and such. That one seems to be designed to not expand much if any but instead punch a hole right through. While I like some mushrooming for wound size, this is more in line with how I want a bullet to perform. Good penetration with little meat damage and good blood trail if needed.

I would like to see some real world results from these bullets before I commit to spending half a dollar + each. I know this is cheaper than a PowerBelt but it's more than a lot of other bullets I know will work the way I want.

Can't say I'd have a whole bunch of confidence in a bullet that comes apartlike that. A bullet shedding that much weightcan't be good on those shots that don't turn out to beperfect rib only shots.