Why not bonded shock waves?

[encoreguy]

I know many of your here have had great luck shooting the 250 SST and 300 SST. Is there a reason you are not shooting the bonded ones? I thought a while back some were saying the 250 SST was not staying together and was more like a varmint bullet. Just curious and I wanted to know before I made my next bullet order.

 

[Spitpatch]

I have shot 3 deer with the regular 200 gr. shockwave over 115 gr. 777 ffg.

The deer ranged from 32 Yards to 110 yards. Virtually all were pass throughs. One was a front quartering shot, through the shoulder and out the flank on the opposite side. All went down within 20 yards. No bullets were found even though I tried to use a metal detector. Exit wounds were 1-1/2".

So I guess, based upon MY experience, I see nothing wrong with the originals . I did find the bonded versions vs. the originals to be not as accurate in my disc Elite, but the bonded ones MORE accurate in my Encore. :?

Shot placement and accuracy should dictate what you shoot. IMO

 

[encoreguy]

I won't argue with accuracy first. It is my understanding that the 200 and 300 grain are "tougher" than the 250's as far as coming apart. I have heard no complaints on the 200's. Some say that the 300's don't expand as easily and at longer distance, at lower velocity shoot through with little expansion. I can't say because I have not shot any into an animal yet.

 

[dwhunter]

In most cases the bonded SW is simply not as accurate and much more expensive than the SST or regular S/W. The fact that Hornady ONLY makes this bullet for T/C and not under their name says a lot.

 

[big6x6]

The main reason only just a handful of us have actually used them on game is that they just were not available until late 2005. Too late for most of us to come to any conclusions concerning accuracy/poi etc. This will be the first season for most to get a chance to use them.

I definitely WILL be using the 250gr Bonded Shockwaves this fall! Accuracy differences, if any, are impossible to tell unless one tries them. They shoot plenty good in everything I have. The 250gr Bonded shoot BETTER in my ULA and slightly less so in my stainless 10ML-II but still less than 1.5 inches. The 300gr variety shoot great in both my ULA AND blue/synthetic 10ML-II. Only you and your gun can determine how they shoot.

I have always found the SST/Shockwaves to be a little on the fragile side but have certainly never lost an animal due to that fact. Typically when I find a 250gr SST/Shockwave it is in at least two pieces, core and jacket. I WELCOME the improvement and look foward to seeing how they perform on whitetail!

 

[IndianaHunter]

The main reason only just a handful of us have actually used them on game is that they just were not available until late 2005. Too late for most of us to come to any conclusions concerning accuracy/poi etc. This will be the first season for most to get a chance to use them.

I definitely WILL be using the 250gr Bonded Shockwaves this fall! Accuracy differences, if any, are impossible to tell unless one tries them. They shoot plenty good in everything I have. The 250gr Bonded shoot BETTER in my ULA and slightly less so in my stainless 10ML-II but still less than 1.5 inches. The 300gr variety shoot great in both my ULA AND blue/synthetic 10ML-II. Only you and your gun can determine how they shoot.

I have always found the SST/Shockwaves to be a little on the fragile side but have certainly never lost an animal due to that fact. Typically when I find a 250gr SST/Shockwave it is in at least two pieces, core and jacket. I WELCOME the improvement and look foward to seeing how they perform on whitetail!

What he said :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

 

[rossman40]

With the SSTs and Shockwaves it depends on the velocity they hit at. I used a 250gr SST pumped out with 44gr of VV N110 in 2003. Front quartering shot on a buck and I put it about 2" right of center on his chest. At about 2400fps MV the shot was just over 50yds, no exit wound and all I found of the bullet was a jacket and a 72gr chunk of lead, the deer jumped straight up and all he did was kick a few times when he landed. I was so dissappointed with the bullet performance the next season I went back to XTPs because I knew I would have close in shots. When I cornered the Hornady rep on this and asked him where the superior weight retention of the SST was he told me I was shooting them too fast and that they designed it for all MLs which most do not have the speed of the Savage. For the season last year I went with the same load but used the 250gr Bonded SW (which I just picked up a week before) and had almost the same shot but went for the base of the neck. The bullet entrance was right of center and at first I thought the bullet exited from the way the back of his neck looked.

The bullet basicly went along the left side of the spine in the backstrap almost to the next to last rib. I recovered one large chunk that weighed 172gr and two smaller chunks that weighed 17gr each.

My conclusion is if your going to have a chance of close shot the 300gr SST/SW or 250gr Bonded SW would be the choice. The regular 250gr SST/SW, even though it fragments close in, will still drop a deer like a sack of bricks when placed right. The 300gr your going to pump out at a speed that is more in it's performance envelope say 2100-2200fps MV. For longer ranges (over 100yds) the regular SST/SWs are more accurate and your down range velocity will be in the envelope unless your one of those strong shouldered studs and launching the 250gr at over 2600fps.

Rumors I heard is that Steve Hornady said that making the deal with TC on the Shockwave was one of the biggest marketing mistakes he has made. Last I heard a new and improved Hornady version SST-ML may be out in 2007.

 

[encoreguy]

Rossman40, excellent post that is very helpful and it confirms what I had heard, yet you don't hear about many here shooting the bonded version.

 

[Doohan]

Rossman40, excellent post

:yeah:

Great post and very informative, Thanks for the post and pics!