a pass through

swarovski

Well-Known Member
Hi folks,its just dawned on me there has been a few comments on a particular bullet that did not expand on a beast, would anybody like to divulge there experience as i had what i think was a pass through and want to hear your opinions on how the beast reacted after the shot,pms are fine if you dont want to tell your story on an open forum, regards swaro
 
can think of a few...

in 308, hornady 150gr gmx just not going fast enough to expand and going through a red like a fmj (tried them out when the FC was thinking about going lead free for 2014)
180gr nosler partitions on a few roe in 308 just not creating much damage again a bit slow probably to expand properly (no other bullets in stock for reloading)

but 150gr nosler ballistic tip is the muts nuts for everything!
 
Not a deer but I had a fox a few weeks ago broadside shot, just behind the shoulder dropped on the spot but no visible entry or exit.
I parted the fur and found a tiny pin ***** on the entry side and same on the other side, hardly any blood. That was using 40gn silvertips at 70yds.
 
I had it many years back when I used 165 Sierra Game Kings in a .308w to shoot a roe instead of my usual 150 grn bullets which were out of stock. The shot was at about 80 yards and the doe quivered and took a few steps forward as if unafected before I shot her again. The stalker that I was with said " that was awful shooting" but when we looked both bullet holes were within an inch of each other and perfectly placed. Then he said " you didn't buy those bullets from ****, I've had a few guys come down here with those bullets now, they're no good for roe, too tough".

I've also had it with fox with the .308w, again the fox run on almost as if unaffected.

In my mind it just goes to show the importance of matching the bullet that you use to your quarry.
 
Possibly.

Sako 90gr softpoint in .243. 180 metre shot at roe buck. Didn't hear the shot strike, and the deer froze, looked up toward me, then scuttled toward thick forestry - in every way identical to a clean miss. Fortunately it stopped for a second at a fence, and I shot again.

On gralloching, I was very surprised to see two holes about 2 inches apart. The first was a neat pencil hole entry and an exit perhaps the size of a 20p piece. Nicked the heart and went through the lungs with very little damage. The other was as I'd expect - pencil entry, exit the size of a golf ball, dragging some diaphragm and liver with it (slightly quartering shot).

I think I was just very unlucky in that the bullet went between ribs on the way in, so didn't really start expanding - never had a problem with them since.

It has lead me to be very cautious about interpreting things as a 'clean miss' ever since.
 
Not deer but I tried 90gr GMX in .25-06 on foxes if you hit them broadside the bullet went straight through without even knocking the fox over it looked like a clean miss! The fox would then set off like a rocket for about 100-150 yards then drop stone dead.
On inspection there was just a tiny entrance wound and exit wound the same size.
 
normal reaction, jump or skip but much longer run for the roe than usual and the red needed another shot, which for the 308 in rare with a good first shot
 
Experienced this with .223, .243 & .308 all good heart / lung shots, the deer have all reacted as would be expected, some dropped on the spot some ran on a few yards. What I did notice on all of them is the entry had gone in between two ribs & exited between two ribs without striking any bone. All were roe deer at a range between 30-150 yards
Wingy
 
I had a batch of 120gr Sierra Pro-Hunter in my 7-08 which I think were too hard. I know they are a tough bullet anyway. Had a fallow pricket at 100 yards shot perfect broadside and animal did not even know it had been shot, took another bite of browse before slowly lying down and expiring. Reaction was more like a lethal injection than a 3,000 fps bullet! Had similar pass through on fox and another fallow. I now use 120gr Nosler ballistic tips or 140gr Accubonds in this calibre with consistently great results. I do use pro-hunters in the .30-06 with good results though and just think it may have been a bad batch.

8x57 is quite right. Matching your bullet to your quarry is key.
 
I had a batch of 120gr Sierra Pro-Hunter in my 7-08 which I think were too hard. I know they are a tough bullet anyway. Had a fallow pricket at 100 yards shot perfect broadside and animal did not even know it had been shot, took another bite of browse before slowly lying down and expiring. Reaction was more like a lethal injection than a 3,000 fps bullet! Had similar pass through on fox and another fallow. I now use 120gr Nosler ballistic tips or 140gr Accubonds in this calibre with consistently great results. I do use pro-hunters in the .30-06 with good results though and just think it may have been a bad batch.

8x57 is quite right. Matching your bullet to your quarry is key.

Had exactly the same with pro hunters in 7 .08
had deer run like they hadn't been shot no reaction at all
total confidence smasher
regards pete
 
Come to think of it I previously mentioned Game Kings but it was Pro Hunters in .308 that caused the problem not Game Kings which is a bullet that I am presently using in the absence of Sako Gameheads my favourites. I guess that Pro Hunters are really intended for bigger deer than many of us normally shoot in this country, though they would possibly be suited to reds.
Appologies for my mistake, put it down to age. :doh:
 
Think there may be some difference from batch to batch, had one batch of interlock that just refused to expand , no reaction to the shot beasts running 100+ yards before keeling over, OK if in the open but not good if in cover, no blood trail.

Changed to pro hunter and unlike the previous posters have nothing but good to say about them even on Roe.
 
Ive found that prohunters (120gn 6.5mm) over expand on roe/munty if shots are too close, not driving them particularly fast. Thats from 3 different batches and quite a few deer. Longer shots, above 150m they work well.
 
Think there may be some difference from batch to batch, had one batch of interlock that just refused to expand , no reaction to the shot beasts running 100+ yards before keeling over, OK if in the open but not good if in cover, no blood trail.

Changed to pro hunter and unlike the previous posters have nothing but good to say about them even on Roe.

+1 for Pro Hunter using the 100 grain Spitzer in .243, nothing but praise unlike issues with twice the price Interlocks
 
I too didnt hear the strike, the doe's ran off, the buck went frew the hedge off boundries, I got frew gap and watched it just stood there expecting it to drop, it didnt go down once to graze, it did put its head around to where shot should of went, light was fading so I tried to get closer to see exit side to see with binos any blood, it would let me get to about 60yds the run a dozen steps then stop, did this 4 times until I lost it, I am not in the habit of missing, if I see it again I know I missed but the way it reacted to me how it stood there I had to of hit and shot went clean frew, I even rubbed the ground where it stood for a few mins where it went under the fence, no blood,the bullet was 130gr vld hunting doing 2980fps
 
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Come to think of it I previously mentioned Game Kings but it was Pro Hunters in .308 that caused the problem not Game Kings which is a bullet that I am presently using in the absence of Sako Gameheads my favourites. I guess that Pro Hunters are really intended for bigger deer than many of us normally shoot in this country, though they would possibly be suited to reds.
Appologies for my mistake, put it down to age. :doh:

Mike
game king , pro hunter , SST , ballistic tip , exploding grenades
with your shooting end result deer runs off no reaction thinking TFFT :rofl:

Regards pete
 
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