shockwaves and shortrange?

[doegirl]

One thing I noticed about the entry and exit holes on my doe I shot Monday are the tiny entry and exit holes. And she was shot lengthwise. There was no blood trail for about 25-30yds then a TON of blood afterwards. She was shot 30 yds away. My question is: I'm sure about 90% of my shots will be well within 100yds, probably even 60. Am I using the best bullet for the situation? Since I switched to GOEX, I'm probably doing less than 1800fps now. I thought about getting some XTP's and using those for the rest of the season. I'm down to two shockwave bullets anyways.

 

[lechwe]

I switched from XTP's to shockwave's just for the extra trajectory. I have shot several deer with teh shockwaves now but if I didn't need the distance I would still be shooting the XTP's. I have never seen anything as devistating on game as the 300gn XTP. I was comfortable shooting them out to 150 yards before they started dropping like a stone.

Good luck

 

[choc-dog]

lack of blood trail

Doegirl,

My brother was hunting with me last weekrnd for Maryland's opener and he had the same situation on 2 button bucks he shot. He was shooting his new Pro Hunter camo using the 200 gr. shock wave pushed by 95.0 of 777 in 2f. Very liitle blood to start and then it was really blowing out.

This was his first deer ever. The first BB only had one lung hit and the second BB had big holes in both lungs. The first deer traveled 60 yards and the second 40 yards. What happens inside the deer is oviously more important than the size of the exit hole.

Most of the XTP bullet jackets were designed for pistol velocity's and their upper limit is 1800 FPS at impact. The 300 gr. mag XTP is of course has a stronger jacket.

I had a friend shot a doe last year with a 240 gr. XTP with 3 pellets and the bullet blew up on the deer's shoulder. Killed the deer but what a mess.
I told him he was exceding the jackets velocity.

I shoot the 200 gr. shock wave for more speed and hopefully more expansion , so far it has worked.

I shoot for "THE BEST OF THE WEST" high shoulder shot and so far this
year I have 2 dead dead right there (DRT).

Choc-dog

 

[Doohan]

Doegirl.

If you got that combo to exit, I think you are doing pretty good! I think the missing blood trail is more a factor of the shot you took over the bullet. I have seen quite a few 250 SW kills and feel the bullet is pretty good! In the same scenerio the 250 XTP might not have exited.


I had a similar shot on my recent Kentucky hunt. My load was a 275 Ballistic Extreme on top of 44gr 5744. ( approx 1875 fps ) In my instance, the bullet never exited??


I have a few packs of the Harvester sabots here in .475 and .475 XTP's in 325 and 400gr. I hope to get some range time with them after the holidays.

 

[rks1949]

My wife shoots a 300gr. XTP over 100grs Pyrodex. All the deer she has shot have had pass throughs,and blood trails a blind man could see. Most don't go over 25-40yards.

 

[cayuga]

You might want to pick up a pack of 300 grain XTP's and try them with 100 grains of powder. If they are accurate, give them a try.

 

[rondal]

Another good choice would be Barnes Expanders. There have been good posts on the large wound chanels they leave, also they wont come apart as they are solid copper with a large hollow point.

 

[johnc21]

I have shot two deer with the 250 sw this year and the blood trails were pretty good. Both shots were around 70 yards. I actually didn't need to follow the blood trail because I could see the deer. Both down inside 20 yards. I did check them to see if I would be able to follow. It seems like about 5 yards before the blood starts pouring good. It also depends how high in the kill zone you hit also. I think with shots placed in the rib cage you won't get much of on exit wound with shockwaves. Really nothing there to make them expand. I have shot 300 grain xtps in the past and they made a real mess on exit. I remember one that I could stick my fist in the exit hole. That deer actually ran about 60 yards uphill before expiring. I love it when they run up hill,makes the dragging a little easier. The bottom line is if you want total devastation go with a hollow point. Lots of good bullets out there.

John

 

[Grouse]

The 250grn XTP is by far the best jacketed ML bullet i used for WhiteTail Deer under 150yds.

 

[doegirl]

Thanks, guys, for your help. It sounds like the shockwaves need a little more resistance to open up properly. Should the opportunity presents itself, I'll try the high shoulder shot and report back to y'all. I do have some 240grain XTP's though, just in case...

 

[Ethang]

Including last season, I have shot 4 deer with the 250SW and 3 Pyro pellets from my Encore. All have had big exit wounds dropped within 20 yards or so, and had massive blood trails. All have been shot just behind the shoulder, no major bone strikes. 2 were 20-30 yard shots. I don't want to be too graphic, but the doe I shot with this load last week had a MASSIVE amount of back spray from the shot. Great blood from both sides that started immediatly. With the lower velocity of 2 pellets you might need a good bone hit to open the bullet up.

With a Simms pad recoil is very managable. I tried this load last after trying everything else and have been very happy with it. YRMV

 

[rich44]

Howdy
I've just taken my tenth deer since using the 250SW with 3 50gr Pryodex pellets and all but one was under 50 yrds. Seven were DRT (high shoulder shot) the other 3 never made it 20 yrds. One was a quartering shot and the exit hole was pretty good size. Ive used the 300gr XTP out of a 44mag and it works very well. I'm pretty sold on the SW about the most accurate thing out of my Encore.

 

[doegirl]

Well, I've tried the simms recoil pad and it makes my stock too long. Because of the configuration of the stock, it would be difficult to cut it down. I noticed again you guys are using 3pellet loads with success with shockwaves. I'm sure that's what kind of load they were designed for in the first place.

 

[Ethang]

The 3 pellet load might be over kill, but it is working well so far. I have not taken a shoulder shot with it to see what kind of meat damage it would do but I think it would be extensive.
and you are right, the Simms pad is thick. I a big guy and it still makes the stock a bit long for me with winter clothes on.

 

[Hanover Honker]

I have posted pics of "used" 250 gr XTPs on this thread on the new to ML forum.
http://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=5048

Nice to see what the bullets actually do!

 

[Nutt189]

I shot a doe this evening at 28yds. The load I was using was 110g 777 loose and a 250gr SW. She only went about fifty yards. I went to where I shot her at and there was blood from where she was shot till where she expired at. The drops were all about half dollar size. It was a pass through right behind the shoulder. The internal damage was impressive for a shot that close.