450 Bushmaster Bullet Question

[T-Rex]

Good morning all

I have a bullet performance question.

Last weekend I shot a buck at close range (25 feet), he was walking straight at me and I shot him through the thoracic cavity (no bone contact). When I started to field dress him I was expecting to be dealing with a pretty messy job as you can imagine, but what I ran into was the bullet literally stopped in the heart. Obviously the deer didn't go to far, 45 yards ish.

I found the bullet in the heart and there was just copper jacket left, it looks like it just exploded.

Bullet
Hornady 250 gr. FTX Custom
2200 FPS Muzzle
2687 FT/LB muzzle
Sectional density .175
Ballistic Coefficient .210 (G1)
I have no idea what those last two even mean but that's what it on their website

I have shot several deer with this round and have always had great luck with it, and penetration has never been an issue.

My question is, was the bullet just traveling to "fast" at the distance of 20-25 feet that caused the lack of penetration and the bullet to just explode.

I understand arrow/broadhead performance much better than I understand bullet science.

Thanks for you thoughts and have a great rest of your season

Rich

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I don’t think the “bullet was traveling too fast.” That bullet wasn’t going “fast” by any stretch of the imagination.

All you found was the copper jacket, right? That means you had a “core-jacket separation.” That happens sometimes.

There was no exit wound? That means the rest of the bullet - the lead core - was somewhere inside the animal, you just may not have found it.

Personally, I’ve never cared what a bullet from a dead animal looked like.

 

[Bluefish]

As speed increases penetration can decrease, so not an unusual result. Looks like it still worked well enough.
Sectional density is simply length vs diameter. Since it’s low, the bullet is short for length. People like to be above .3 for better penetration. Typical for a large bore with a lighter for caliber bullet. Same with BC which is a measure of drag. Higher number is less drag, but big bore, light for caliber is low, so lots of drag. Slows down fast and more wind deflection.

 

[T-Rex]

I don’t think the “bullet was traveling too fast.” That bullet wasn’t going “fast” by any stretch of the imagination.

All you found was the copper jacket, right? That means you had a “core-jacket separation.” That happens sometimes.

There was no exit wound? That means the rest of the bullet - the lead core - was somewhere inside the animal, you just may not have found it.

Personally, I’ve never cared what a bullet from a dead animal looked like.

I am happy with the results for sure. He was a buck I have been chasing for 3 years.

Also the bullet never made it all the way through the heart, the lungs were still fully intact and only the entry wound on the heart with lead fragments remaining. I did not dissect the heart to see if the core actually held together.

Thanks

 

[T-Rex]

As speed increases penetration can decrease, so not an unusual result. Looks like it still worked well enough.
Sectional density is simply length vs diameter. Since it’s low, the bullet is short for length. People like to be above .3 for better penetration. Typical for a large bore with a lighter for caliber bullet. Same with BC which is a measure of drag. Higher number is less drag, but big bore, light for caliber is low, so lots of drag. Slows down fast and more wind deflection.

Thanks for the explanation

 

[Billy Goat]

I spoke with Hornady about minimum expansion on some of their bullets, mainly for muzzleloader use, but that .450 kinda falls into that category. I have one, really like it in some circumstances.

I think you might have been pushing the impact velocity, that bullet I think will work to 1200 fps or lower, to expect a bullet that will open at close to subsonic velocity to not come unglued at 2200 is asking a lot.

I dont see it as a problem except for knowing how to place it at close range. Dont expect too much penetration.