25/06

I was wondering about penetration of the same bullet with different weights. For example, if you have a 200 grain and a 300 grain Barnes Bullet and shoot them with the same amount of powder with the same gun, which would give the best penetration. It seems the 200 grain might have more velocity but the 300 grain might have more inertia? That may not be the right word, but you may get my drift. Thanks for any input. The reason I'm asking is that I want the best of both worlds when it comes to hunting deer. Penetration with good expansion.

MountainDevil54

the 300gr bullet would have more Energy behind it, therefore offering better penetration.

Go back to your growing up days. Those BB's used to sting like heck when they'd bounce back off a wall and hit you. The Pellet with heavier weight would get nasty and actually penetrate skin while the BB left a little red mark.

Semisane

Sounds like the title of an article in Playgirl Magazine.

Given equal bullet construction (i.e. the same degree of expansion at the same impact velocity) the heavier bullet is of course going to penetrate farther. Throw in different impact velocities and all bets are off.

The thing is, now that everyone has agreed on which muzzle loader is the absolute best (and we all know which one that is), the only thing we have left to argue about is bullets.

sabotloader

25/06

I believe the depth of penetration is detirmined by the energy the bullet carries and how, when, and how much expansion occurs. If the bullet hits and pancakes it will not penetrate as far.

Bullets that retain weight and have controlled expansion will normally penetrate and create more hydrostatic shock that fast expanding and over expanding bullets.

I normally shoot Nosler Partition bullets that can only expand to certain diameter and are designed to retain most of their weight. Barnes do the same thing but are almost certain to retain near 100% weight retention. Even know that I still prefer Nosler. These are expensive premium bullets.... Speer makes a line of bullets call Gold Dots - they are a boned bullet, so they retain most of their weight and they have a contolled expansion technique but are far less expensive.

Here is a pic of a recovered Nosler....

Semisane

That's not necessarily the case Devil, because 25/06 included the possibility of
the lighter bullet having more velocity. Part of the problem is - it's going to be different with different bullets depending on construction.

For example, Barnes bullets are very consistent as to degree of expansion over a very wide range of velocities. Shoot a 250 grain Barnes into a test medium at 1900 fps and its going to expand to the bottom of the hollow point cavity, not shear the petals off, and retain about all of its weight. Shoot a 300 grain Barns into the same medium at 1500 fps and it going to do exactly the same thing. The 250 grain one might penetrate just as far (or farther) because of the higher velocity. BUT, do the same thing with another brand of bullet (Powerbelts? XTPs? Sabertooths?) and you may get entirely different results if the lighter bullet at higher velocity expands more rapidly than the heavier one.

25/06

I used Barnes 250 for years with good results. The only thing was sometimes I didnt get pass thru's. The bullet would stop under the skin on the exit side. Still found the deer though. Well, I changed to ShockWaves 250. I have a pass thru every time but they seem to have a small exit and a scarce blood trail. But again, I still find them. I am probably going back to Barnes. Was just trying to get that bullet all the way thru. Thanks again!

nchawkeye

25/06...If your gun likes the 300 Branes, you will get pass throughs...For some reason my Knight prefers the 300 over the 250...I shot several with that before moving to the Shockwaves and they always exited...

I've picked up some Hornady .429 XTPs in 240 and 300gr and plan to see how they do this spring...I've got an idea that 300gr is going to exit as well, it's a long for caliber bullet and has a high ballistic coefficient which should help flatten out the trajectory...

The Hornady .452 XTP 300gr also has a reputation for exits but the dang things don't group well in my gun...

Some of these guys shoot the Gold Dots and Noslers, in the 260-300grs I'll bet they exit as well...

Breechplug

I shot the 300gr .45cal,.452"dia.XTP Mags for one Hunting Season and I found them to be exceptional up to certain yardages. I had complete pass throughs at ranges up to 100yds, but as they got further they lost energy and peetered out faster, by the time they got to 150yds pass throughs were a 50/50 chance.
I switched to the 240gr 45cal,.452"dia. XTP Mags for the next season and not only did they fly straighter (of course)but at distances over 150yds pass throughs were 90%.
The heavier bullet will only preform better up to a certain yardage befor the lighter bullet wich retains more energy will out preform it at the longer distances. You have to pic the weight of the bullet to fit your (happy medium) range depending on your what most of your shots will be.
(BP)

spaniel

I missed something...why is the lighter bullet retaining more energy? For two bullets of the same caliber, this will not usually be the case. Not only does the heavier bullet start out with more energy (unless you start it too slow) but if also similar shape it will retain energy better due to improved BC.

I've never had a problem with pass-thrus on whitetails. I think I've only had 2-3 total on dozens and dozens of deer 150yds or under. I need to shoot 200+ yds with 200gr bullets to have them stop in the deer with any frequency (10-20% of the time). This on broadside or quartering shots, it's easy to stop a 300gr bullet if you shoot them lengthwise through the front...

sabotloader

Breechplug

You might want to re-read your statement I think you might have it just backwards... Normally the lighter bullets will not carry the enrgy as far out as does a heavier bullet unless the velocities at the start are really far apart or the BC of the bullets are severly mis-matched. Again assuming that they are close in diameter.

This might serve as a comparison...