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Rifleman said:Good article, I did not really read it all that close
RandyWakeman said:Anyone who buys into the article (and that isn't me) would HAVE to be shooting hard cast bullets only. Who is?
We never know when we buy or build ammunition exactly how much will be required of each bullet we send down the barrel toward big game. Thus, it is foolish to not use bullets with design characteristics that are up to the toughest assignments. The same design characteristics that restrict expansion also protect against major component separations. So, because toughness goes with the territory in high TSD bullets, they routinely survive violent impact with bone and continue on with their assigned task. With regularity, they deliver enough energy where it matters. And gratefully, in all but the most extreme circumstances, any bullet with that capability is certain to continue helping us by opening a leak on the far side.
To be fair, assuming the use of adequate weapons in the first place, game the size of deer does not demand the highest TSD in bullet choices. But for the sportsman who uses the same weapon for deer, elk, moose, etc., a wise decision is to select one bullet and load for all game. It saves on re-sighting, helps avoid ammunition mix-ups and requires that only one trajectory be remembered. Of course, in such a plan the ammunition choice must be governed by the most challenging hunting assignment anticipated.
Patrick White said:Going hard cast only is the extreme end of TSD.
RandyWakeman said:It sure states that nowhere. The entire article was written to support hard cast bullets. The quote is easy enough to read: ""In all muzzleloader hunting circumstances imaginable, especially those involving heavy game, hard cast flat point bullets are dramatically more capable. TSD predicts it, scientific testing supports it and repeated results on game confirm it.."
There is no scientific basis to "support it" and documentation to "confirm it." Saying "ALL muzzleloader hunting circumstances imaginable" is clear enough. You can try to make it into Barnes MZ- Expanders by tortured logic, but they are not close to what is touted-- no way are they "flat point," and they DO expand.
The same design characteristics that restrict expansion also protect against major component separations. So, because toughness goes with the territory in high TSD bullets, they routinely survive violent impact with bone and continue on with their assigned task. With regularity, they deliver enough energy where it matters. And gratefully, in all but the most extreme circumstances, any bullet with that capability is certain to continue helping us by opening a leak on the far side.
Patrick White said:A .45 cal bullet is gonna do some damage whether or not it expands.
RandyWakeman said:So will a .357 magnum. So will .30 cal hardball. So will a .223! Minimalistic wounding, or minimalistic harvesting just isn't much of a goal.
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