May have just witnessed my first copper bullet failure…

[Glimmerman151]

Back to the all copper doubters, impact velocity does matter. But between my father and I, using 150 or 165 gr TTSX bullets out of a 300 wsm or 300 WM, we have 3 elk, probably 25 bucks, and he has around 40 African plains game fom little springbuck to Eland. I shot a couple whitetail bucks with a 212 ELD-X out if my 300 PRC, They didn't seem to die any faster than all the stuff with a Barnes.

 

[Geewhiz]

There is no way she went 750 yards with a mushroomed bullet through both lungs. One or more of those three things didn’t happen.

You couldn’t be more wrong. It is very possible. Not easily explained but very possible. I had a bull go 1.25 miles one time with an arrow through both lungs with a slice out of the top of the heart.

 

[BAKPAKR]

You couldn’t be more wrong. It is very possible. Not easily explained but very possible. I had a bull go 1.25 miles one time with an arrow through both lungs with a slice out of the top of the heart.

I have had animals go farther than I think they should have, too. I attribute it more to the specific animal than to “bullet failure”.

 

[1000yards]

I attribute it more to the specific animal than to “bullet failure”.

Why?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

It sounds like the bullet performed exactly as it is designed to perform, but didn’t do enough damage to put the animal down quickly. I think that is a function of bullet design and an animal with a strong will to live. I am very glad you found her and would like to give you props for your persistence.

I’d be curious to see some pictures of the wound channel and damage to the internal organs.

 

[92xj]

You couldn’t be more wrong. It is very possible. Not easily explained but very possible. I had a bull go 1.25 miles one time with an arrow through both lungs with a slice out of the top of the heart.

And I’ve seen an elk go 65 yards with a field point through both lungs
I’ve seen people say they have tracked an animal for 500 yards and when actually measured it’s been 240 yards
Shit happens but rarely stories like these are 100% factual truths, not because the poster is trying to lie but because there are assumptions with no proof
I’m not calling the OP out as a liar, just saying that the odds of an elk running 750 yards with two lungs, with holes created by a truly mushroomed bullet entering and exiting both lungs fully is slim to about none unless the elk was shot on top of a hill and gravity helped make up that distance. But 750 yards through a swamp and the thickets of the west side is a long ways where gravity isn’t helping much.
You boys can keep coming up with scenarios and how anything can happen and its the bullets fault for not working and keep telling me I’m wrong, I’m ok with that. I’ll continue to just admit I made a bad shot when my double lunged with a mushroomed bullet animal runs 750 yards.
The internet is an entertaining place

 

[1000yards]

And I’ve seen an elk go 65 yards with a field point through both lungs
I’ve seen people say they have tracked an animal for 500 yards and when actually measured it’s been 240 yards
Shit happens but rarely stories like these are 100% factual truths, not because the poster is trying to lie but because there are assumptions with no proof
I’m not calling the OP out as a liar, just saying that the odds of an elk running 750 yards with two lungs, with holes created by a truly mushroomed bullet entering and exiting both lungs fully is slim to about none unless the elk was shot on top of a hill and gravity helped make up that distance. But 750 yards through a swamp and the thickets of the west side is a long ways where gravity isn’t helping much.
You boys can keep coming up with scenarios and how anything can happen and its the bullets fault for not working and keep telling me I’m wrong, I’m ok with that. I’ll continue to just admit I made a bad shot when my double lunged with a mushroomed bullet animal runs 750 yards.
The internet is an entertaining place

This has been said here many times by some very smart people: that perfectly mushroomed bullet you see is not perfect mushroomed through the entire path of the animal, it is changing from a pointed bullet to that final form along the path. Yes it looks like a perfect mushroom when it's recovered, but it did not look that way while it was going through the lungs.

 

[Kyguy]

If you have a dead animal, the BULLET did its job. Nothing else to be debated.

 

[BreechFace]

And I’ve seen an elk go 65 yards with a field point through both lungs
I’ve seen people say they have tracked an animal for 500 yards and when actually measured it’s been 240 yards
Shit happens but rarely stories like these are 100% factual truths, not because the poster is trying to lie but because there are assumptions with no proof

Except for the OP stated he OnX the distance as the crow flies to 540 yards and estimated another 200 yards of meandering terrain.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Why?

Because I think you can shoot 10 deer through the lungs with bullet x, hit the same spot on each deer, have the same wound channel, and 8 will run a short distance, 1 will drop in its tracks, and 1 will cover a lot of ground.

 

[SouthernCharm]

Except for the OP stated he OnX the distance as the crow flies to 540 yards and estimated another 200 yards of meandering terrain.

Exactly, on the Oregon coast, there is no straight lines except maybe the creek running up the side of the mountain or the mudslide.

 

[92xj]

Except for the OP stated he OnX the distance as the crow flies to 540 yards and estimated another 200 yards of meandering terrain.

Exactly why I said one of the three things. I am not calling the OP out as a liar, stop trying to make it sound like that.

Most likely it was an odd bullet performance or the exact path wasn’t in and out of each lung if the distance is accurate.