Hunting bullet performance - prefer through or a grenade inside?

[Article 4]

There are varying thoughts on this subject on which is the best way to achieve a clean one shot kill. Some of us believe in the Berger model - grenade inside, and some of us believe in traditional bonded pass through as the way to achieve it.
I don't see this in the history of threads so if it is, point it out to me and if it has been exhausted, I can end this one.

 

[nobody]

I’m never one to complain about a pass through. But I will never forego an internal grenade in the name of an exit. FMJ’s will largely exit, but zero grenade/damage (relative to an ELDM/X or SST or TMK or Berger). I want chunky, soupy insides, and if a projectile happens to exit, so be it. But I won’t trade some terminal damage to get an exit (IE I’ll never trade to a Barnes TTSX to get an exit in lieu of getting the tissue damage from a Hornady ELDX).

EDIT: Clarifying, I don’t need an exit. I don’t care. But if it happens, whoop-de-doo. I’m more concerned with tissue damage. It’s why I use ELDM’s/X’s and not bonded projectiles or monos.

 

[SloppyJ]

Like nobody above, I want both. I think it's crucial to declare what we are hunting though. Most of mine is whitetail. Not hard to find a bullet that upsets well and has a high probability of an exit.

I will always error on the side of some meat damage to limit a tracking job. The conditions and distance of the expected shot determine the projectile.

I've had some really good luck with partitions but equally as successful with bergers. There's always a sigh of relief when they're down in sight. And here in the thick woods, thats normally not much further than 25yds.

 

[Macintosh]

is this asking which we think is better at killing, or which we prefer? Example, I am sold on the grenade killing better, but I still choose the pass thru. How am I supposed to vote?

 

[TaperPin]

I like a pass through, not because the pass through is more effective, it isn’t, but it shows a bullet capable of deeper penetration on less than ideal angles. Double lung a broadside animal with just about anything and it’s toast, but when the angle isn’t the same nice marketing image of a buck just standing there frozen with beams of unicorn glitter shooting out it’s pecker, more penetration is better because it allows angled shots a fragile bullet doesn’t.

The quartering shot taken with the 7 PRC and the poor performance of the factory load that was written up just a few weeks ago is a prime example - the mile the bull went after the shot would have been a monumental task to follow if it wasn’t for the snow. That would have been an easy killing shot with a bullet capable of better penetration and resulted in minimal tracking, but the bull made it a mile.

Of course there are limitations to every philosophy - if a bullet stays together and expands a moderate amount, it still needs to have a decent amount of velocity and weight behind it. A 100 gr 6mm Nosler Partition will kill an elk with a classic broadside double lung shot, but in the case of my 243 the cow went 300-400 yards. Easily tracked down in the open sage, but again, monumental if the tracking happened to be in the timber on hands and knees. Same situation, same elk, same bullet design with a 7 mag and it wouldn’t have gone far.

 

[CorbLand]

I like dead animals. I dont care how it dies, just want it dead.

 

[Article 4]

is this asking which we think is better at killing, or which we prefer? Example, I am sold on the grenade killing better, but I still choose the pass thru. How am I supposed to vote?

Cannot tell you how to vote - it is which do you prefer and why....not which is "better" at killing.

Why not? Dead animal equals 100% outcome, every time.

 

[wytx]

I prefer to find the bullet just under the hide on the opposite side.
Not a pass through but certainly not a grenade.
I do hunt with bonded bullets for this reason.
I like a "double barreled" blood trail if possible, bleeding out both sides.

 

[S-3 ranch]

I like a pass through so the soup can pour out the sides, not really a fan of the explosive stuff with no exit
A happy medium is the goal isn’t it? I like one bullet for everything from pronghorns to kudu/ elk , in my .270 & .308 , usually a norma oryx or federal terminal accent
Eldx or Berger, or anything match imo are not suitable for large NA or African game. Or any thin skin smaller game like pronghorn ( huge explosion just rips them apart) @. -200 meters

Though I did just buy some sierra 140gr game changer for deer and hogs, aoudad, hopefully they are a good option

 

[summs]

I want a bullet that has reliable expansion and retains weight. Ideally it looses all the energy in the animal and barely pokes through the other side and fall to the ground. I want an entry AND exit wound. It doesn't need to be able to shoot through a second object animal after it has already passed through.

Edit - trying my hand at ttxs in 308 and will be switching to trophy copper slugs for next year.

 

[Macintosh]

Cannot tell you how to vote - it is which do you prefer and why....not which is "better" at killing.

Why not? Dead animal equals 100% outcome, every time.

Fair enough, was not asking for direction, just wast clear exactly which question you were asking. Based on that, I have used bonded lead, “economy” lead (corelokt, etc), sst’s and ballistic tips, as well as TTSX, LRX and e-tip monos. I found the sst’s and ballistic tips to kill the fastest, but I prefer the monos because Im mostly using fairly traditional cartridges (3006, 270, 7-08 etc) at close to moderate range, and the fragmenting bullets were damaging too much meat. Ive had what I consider excellent (ie better for me) results with the monos, so I see no reason to change.

 

[prm]

The bullets I prefer produce significant internal damage and also exit. I’ve never needed a blood trail with a rifle, but I guess I want one. Rational or not is debatable.
Edit, recently I’ve used match style bullets that did not exit. Wasn’t an issue. There’s not right answer as long as there is enough damage to a vital component.

 

[Ucsdryder]

A 180 eldm will do both the majority of the time. Pass through with a 3-4” exit hole. Same results over and over and over.

 

[mt100gr.]

I vote YES.

 

[Billy Goat]

I want damage, but I don't let no exit hindrance me.


If I can watch them for a ways, I'll center the lungs. If I want them DRT, we'll I do that.

It ain't hard, we'll, maybe with a Texas heart shot, I don't take that shot.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I like a pass through but also want as much internal damage as possible. Case in point, my only hunting rifle I do not reload for is my .270 BAR. I tried every load imaginable and they all had feeding problems. Plus it is in my buddy's safe 2000 miles from here so load development came to an end about 30 years ago when we moved to WA. I found that it it really likes the tried and true Remington Core-Lokt 150 gr SPs. Had a complete pass through and hit the top of the heart and something happened I have never seen. The heart was completely separated from his body and was just floating around in the goo when I gutted him. He didn't didn't make it far.

 

[wapitibob]

Pass thru or not hasn't made a bit of difference with my rifle or my bow, ever.

 

[MNGrouser]

Big, wide-open, west? I want the grenade so I can watch it drop in the sage flats.

Thick, brushy, country in the midwest? I prefer the pass through.

I've been called in on a couple of tracking jobs made MUCH harder than they needed to be due to lack of an exit wound. I allowed a neighbor kid to hunt my land for the youth season this year. She shot her second deer ever but couldn't find it due to lack of blood and the kid was pretty disheartened. When I finally found her deer, we learned her shot was nearly perfect. Double lunged from an elevated stand. The chest cavity was soup that would have leaked out nicely with a pass through shot.

 

[Choupique]

I want a big hole in a straight line all the way through

 

[Yoder]

I only hunt whitetails. I don't want a bullet that destroys too much meat. Some decent expansion and a pass through usually give a great blood trail and a quick death. I quit using the ballistic tips about 10 years ago. They just destroyed too much meat. I usually buy cheap Federal blue box with round nose or pointed soft points.