Shockwave BONDED bullet

[GregK1]

I haven't shot the bonded series so I thought I'd grab my Knight & head to the range.
Knight Mountaineer 50
TC Shockwave bonded
EZ Glide supplied sabot
110gr BH209
100 yqrds

Top shot is a cold clean barrel, then a 3 shot 1/2" group

 

[Underclocked]

I used them for awhile and found them to be very accurate but on deer you need to hit bone to get good performance. I did weigh both the bonded and regular versions and found the bonded to only vary by .3 of a grain for a package where the non bonded varied by 1.2 grains.

 

[GregK1]

I wondered about expansion characteristics of this bullet. May have to do some more tests but it is accurate!

 

[dlethcoe]

Greg, Some nice shooting there, I used them for hunting a couple of times, and I was not impressed with there performance on deer, I shot a doe and had a pass thru, snow was on the ground and could not find any blood, followed her tracks after 75 yards in the timber started to find a little blood. found her, and still very little blood, looked like the wound had closed up.



Dave

 

[Underclocked]

Dave I had similar results when shooting soft spots but after realizing how much tougher they were I purposely aimed for the heavy part of the front leg/shoulder region and let it fly at 109 yards. It destroyed the bone and complete pass through. You could stick your thumb in the wound channel. So I realized I had the wrong bullet for my preferred shot placement and switched to the PT Gold and Barnes. I would think for Elk/Moose/Bear/Buffalo the bonded would work well and expand bit more with good penetration.

 

[GregK1]

It's too bad that a "bone" shot is needed to open them up properly. Seems like they could find a happy medium between jacket/core separation of the standard SST & the bonded. I know my Nosler Partition stay together & open up no matter what they hit. It would be nice to see someone build a partition M/L bullet.
Oh well, I'll be using Lehigh bullets anyway, but it's always fun to play

 

[Okie Hog]

i've never used the bonded shockwave bullet.

For many years i  used the 250 grain SST and the 250 grain Shockwave bullets interchangeably to take over 20 deer and a hundred or two wild hogs.   My shots are normally picked very carefully and many of my kills are bang flops.

Couple years ago i became convinced there is a difference in the expansion of the SST with its  soft tip and the Shockwave with its very  hard tip.  The Shockwave often failed to expand on hogs weighing under about 150 pounds that were hit low behind the shoulder:  The SST never failed to expand on similar sized hogs.  

Then i made a high shoulder shot on a doe that weighed about 110 pounds.  The distance was about 80 yards.  The animal went down like a rock, jumped up and took off.   There was very little blood where the doe fell.  After about 300 yards of tracking i jumped the animal and killed her.  That 250 grain Shockwave bullet failed to expand.  

My favorite deer load generates 1,850-1,900 fps at the muzzle.  i no longer use the 250 grain Shockwave bullet.

 

[GregK1]

That was exactly what Hornady told me on the phone when they were changing over to the flex tip. At that time they actually told me that if I wanted an FTX style bullet that would stay together & expand every time, my only choice was the big .458/325. Turned out to be a FANTASTIC bullet!

 

[Underclocked]

I like the 325 FTX as well but haven't used it on game yet. I get them going just a touch over 2000fps which is right in the designed range. I friend has used them in the lever revolution ronde. Hornady makes for the 45-70. 
Back to the Shockwaves, I was using them on Does so maybe bigger deer will help open them up better. I picked up the first box by accident then realized what I had. I also used both the SST and standard shockwave with mixed results.

 

[Okie Hog]

i started using the Hornady 250 grain SST bullet when they first came out. So far as i remember, it has always had a soft flexible tip. Never had any problem with that bullet expanding on hogs and deer. i've made three longer shots using the 250 grain SST bullet, a nice buck deer at 172 Army paces, a 125 pound hog at 192 yards and a 200 pound hog at 226 yards. The powder charge was 100 grains of JSG. That bullet expanded all three times.

The 250 grain unbonded Shockwave is another story: i stopped using that bullet. i can imagine the bonded Shockwave is even more unreliable on smaller deer and hogs.

BTW: TC used to have a bullet they called the PTX: It had a rounded nose with a hard plastic tip. The PTX came in 250 grain and 300 grain sizes. The only game animal i lost in well over 20 years was because of that sorry 300 grain PTX bullet: It failed to expand on a big bull elk. The range was less than 75 yards and the powder charge was 150 grains of Pyrodex. We looked all day for that elk. Late in the day another hunter found the animal and took it out.

 

[Underclocked]

The tips on the shockwaves are harder plastic, I still have few from when I shot pellets and the SST's with the tail on the sabot. The Barnes also have a fairly hard tip but work well.

 

[Dennis STANKOVITZ1]

I used the 200 grain shockwaves last year in my optima 45 and killed 3 whitetaills all between 105 and 140 yards.All of them dropped in there tracks but one he went about five yards.I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THEM ON ANIMALS also but that was put to rest.I also shot 4 foxes with them while deer hunting there not very good for them it really tears them up but i was deer hunting and thats what the gun was loaded with.Dont be afraid to use the to hunt with the shoot great and there not as expensive as some of the other bullets for the muzzleloader.

 

[GregK1]

I used the 200 grain shockwaves last year in my optima 45 and killed 3 whitetaills all between 105 and 140 yards.All of them dropped in there tracks but one he went about five yards.I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THEM ON ANIMALS also but that was put to rest.I also shot 4 foxes with them while deer hunting there not very good for them it really tears them up but i was deer hunting and thats what the gun was loaded with.Dont be afraid to use the to hunt with the shoot great and there not as expensive as some of the other bullets for the muzzleloader.

Without a doubt, the 40/200 SST has consistently outperformed it's bigger brother.  For some reason the combination of length & diameter in that bullet just works! Almost flawlessly.
However I personally (& I say personally because it is my choice for myself) don't look to see how inexpensively I can kill a deer. I test all sorts of bullets but my choices for hunting always go to the premium side. They work time after time & there is never a doubt factor.

 

[Dennis STANKOVITZ1]

Seem to me that your guns all shot well. I've been impressed with all that you do and follow all your reports. You spend a lot of time with them. My hat is off to you and I thank you for all your information.

 

[GregK1]

Seem to me that your guns all shot well. I've been impressed with all that you do and follow all your reports. You spend a lot of time with them. My hat is off to you and I thank you for all your information.

 Well thank you very much. I really enjoy shooting & sharing & if any of it helps anybody then it's been worth the effort!! If I can ever be of assistance just let me know, Greg

 

[Dennis STANKOVITZ1]

yesterday was the first day of our muzzleloading season. Took the 200 grain shockwaves out in my acurra 45 with 70 grains of weighted 209 and a fiocchi primer and shoot a doe at 110 yds. The bullet entered right behind the right front shoulder and couldn't find a exit hole till it was processed. Bullet took out the lungs made a left through the stomach and exited out the left side right in front of the ham. I Love these bullets they work for me.