There are anecdotes from the spec ops community about a (at the time) new ammo developed by Black Hills that were “one hitter quitters”. A new (at the time) round that ended the fight immediately. No drama. No question. Before then they were using 62 grain “green tip armor piercing “and reporting back that it took multiple shots (7 to 8 in some cases) to put a threat down. And these new bullets had green tips too….Just what do you think they were shooting?
Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Enter the 77 TMK!
The ballistics gel is ‘set up’ to replicate living tissue. The original formula was derived from pig tissue, which I think we all should be able to agree is in family with both human and ungulate tissue. Any difference between the three is certainly within the variability that is present in the pass/fail criteria for calibrated ballistics gel.
The tests in question were shooting 5.56 and 7.62 TMKs into calibrated ballistics gelatin. They weren’t putting the ballistics blocks into clothing, including bone structure, or doing anything else to the gel to represent one specific use case or another that would relegate it to only applicable to “solid chest hits on humans” like you claim.
For the people these bullets were developed for, combat and hunting was one and the same.
A ballistic tip impacting at 2300 fps is going to give good penetration, how much bone did it break?
ballistic tip broke through the bottom of the scapula 3/4" above the knuckle where it meets the humerus
This was a the largest driver that motivated my switch to smaller caliber.
No exit hole....... Not hard to get exits on broadside hits. Even at that 243 exits are small generally even with the best bullets. If you hunt open country leaky exits are not all that important but in thorn brush and rattlesnake country the last thing you want to attempt is a grid search.
I've never understood these claims. I grew up hunting in West Central Georgia in thick woods with a .243 shooting 100gr Winchester Super-X Power Points. I never had an issue following blood trails and the furthest one ran on me was 30-40 yards. About half were DRT and the others were short blood trails that were easy to follow. Sure, the exits were fairly small at a nickel to quarter-sized but they were in the right spot and poured blood out.
Where I hunt if a deer goes downhill it enters briar hell. However I have used many 243 rifles and a 257 with many different bullets. Very few leaked a lot of blood or much at all. The last deer I shot with my Roberts I used a 100 gr. Ballistic tip, hit quartering to me on the shoulder bone, bullet or what was left of it went through the lungs and ended up under the hide on the far side. That deer ran flat out for more than a hundred yards in tall grass. Of course my dog found it immediately but there was no blood other than on the ground where the bullet hit and threw pieces of bone, hair and a little blood out. Another deer hit with a 85 gr. Nosler partition right through the lungs went down leaving a little blood but got back up and went 75 yards or so. It being right at dark with plum thickets all around I went back to camp got my dog and a friend to help load it. We were gone maybe 20 minutes. Feral hogs were tearing it apart in a plum thicket and we were not going in there to argue the point. I killed a huge feral hog that year and another deer with the 243, the hog with a head shot using the 85 gr. Partition and the second doe using the 95 gr. Ballistic tip. The doe was an easy 50 yard shot standing broadside, hit just behind the shoulder with the bullet ending up in the meat on the outside of the shoulder blade. She dropped. A 243 was not my main rifle but several others used one for a season or two. All went to bigger rounds being disappointed with unimpressive blood trails and deer that made it into the plum thickets and "shinnery" a form of Oak brush and were eaten by coyotes or hogs. One could easily argue that the country that lease was in that small bores were not well suited. The guys shooting 308's, 30-06's, 270's and 7-08/7x57 had far fewer issues. I am not saying the 243 wasn't a killer it just wasn't the best choice for that area. Which by the way was 11 miles NE of Guthrie Texas. My usual rifle on that lease was a 7x57 shooting 150 gr. Ballistic Tips and 140 gr. Nosler Partitions. I had zero complaints using it.
The only time I’ve seen a bear killed by a square on shoulder shot was from a .300 Weatherby. The bullet penetrated completely and turned everything past the shoulder into jelly. I’ve seen plenty of other rounds not penetrate including .270s and .30-06s.
.375 SOCOM with a 200 gr Sierra Pro Hunter at about 30ish yards. Didn’t leave more than a few drops of blood. Definitely didn’t penetrate.
I find it amusing that people with zero idea of someone’s skillset with firearms is so quick to judge them. You have no clue, none, about someone else’s training and experience. Similarly, you have no earthly idea what exact weapon I’m carrying. I’ve carried that same specially designed SBS for two decades. I’ve also carried other long guns, mostly M-4 and AR-10 variants. My SBS is specially designed for true close quarters work. I like it because it’s short, maneuverable, and most importantly, reliable. I’ve shot enough gas guns to have experienced failures with them. They don’t happen often, but when they do, it’s either immediate action drill time or transition to your handgun. Neither really works in bear country where you’re working at bad breath range. I’ve had exactly zero malfunctions with either my SBS or any of the others designed just like it. And I’ve never seen any one of the exact same SBSs malfunction. Not once. And yes. I can shoot that SBS very quickly and very accurately while on the move and at a moving target. I But by all means, feel free to post your uninformed opinions about a stranger’s weapon handling skills and the unknown hardware they’re carrying. Pfft.
Sounds like you should practice more if your spend that much time looking for wounded bears
Guess you should pay more attention to the original post. I didn’t shoot the bear. A client did. But by all means, don’t let the facts stop you from being an internet troll. Troll away if it makes you feel better.
As I already posted, I’m just amazed at people’s ability to assess someone else’s skills from in front of their keyboard. Again, troll away if it helps you feel good. I don’t want you sad or depressed if you’re not able to reach your daily quota of snarky comments to strangers. I can’t handle that level of responsibility.
