Faulty bullets ?

RICK O SHEA

Well-Known Member
A good friend of mine only manages to get out stalking on the odd occasion due to a demanding job and an even more demanding wife but when he does and he gets a result he often brings the deer to me so i can skin and joint it for him.
He would do it himself but his other half wont allow him to bring the deer home :doh: so i help him out for the odd case of beer which suits me just fine :).

Anyway he called in a couple of weeks ago and left the deer in the chiller as i was out stalking myself and sent me a text to say he had called in.
When i started to skin the beast i saw the worst meat damage i had ever seen in my life and the carcass was a total mess
The shot was taken from 168 yards with a 243 using a soft point 100 grain power shock federal premium [factory load]
A high shoulder shot was taken on a slightly quartering deer with the bullet hitting its mark then deflecting down the body just under the spine then crossing half way along the back then exiting the haunch on the opposite side to the shoulder.

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I should add that he had also shot a deer a couple of months previous to this one again another shoulder shot and the bullet totally took out the far side shoulder .
I have used a 243 plenty of times on roe and still do on the odd occasion favouring bullets in the 85 grain range and have never had a problem but i havent used anything as heavy as 100grain.
He asked me whether it might be a faulty batch of bullets poor shot placement or just bad luck.
Any thoughts he would greatly appreciate as this incident has lost him his confidence in his rifle the calibre and in himself.
Many thanks
RICK O SHEA
 
Hi,i took a roe buck earlier in the year using a Norma 100g sp in .243 and a fallow doe using the same round last year, the soft point round seems to do the job every time with minimal collaterole damage, could it be the type of bullet? i use the same sp round for a lot of the foxes i shoot,they do the job every time without obliterating the fox unlike the ballistic tip rounds i've tried?
The other ammo i like is RWS 100g sp, this very accurate in my rifle and again does the job without vapourising everything i shoot at unlike winchester supreme silvertips.
trikkat3
 
I had a similar problem once on a roe using 95gr ballistic tip remingtons. Braodside on at 40m in a wood, the bullet didn't exit the other side, it just disapated under it's shoulder. It ran 70m stopped so I gave him another round in the same place, this time the bullet performed as it should and exited the far side causing a 2" hole.

When we skinned the buck, this is when we found the first round had totally fragmented and not gone anywhere, the second performed ok.

This did put huge doubts in my mind about my bullet choice. So I now use 95gr BT for the foxes and 100gr core loc ultra bonded for deer, saying that now that I have a 30-06 the 243 seems to be left behind!!!!!

Jonathon
 
Yep
looks like the bullets are working just fine :thumb:

as for the meat damage, he is worrying to much
but better shot placement will help to reduce that in most cases
and I would say just unlucky in this case , as you can't really predict where the bullet will travel or the damge it causes when shooting along the shoulder
Tell him to keep up the good work and carrying on putting them in your fridge, as over time his experience will grow and the damage will get less with every telling shot
I hav only ever used 100 grain soft points in my .243 and they do the job just fine, every now and again theres a bit of trimming to be done

I take it there was a bit of mince off this one:D
 
I've used the Federal 100 Grain Power Shock this year and taken two Bucks with them. I didn't have as bad meat damage as shown here, but they were definitely hit and dead!
 
at the end of the day is he shooting for meat,if so neck shoot them or is he shooting to cull which meat damage is a part of the course,if you shoot enough deer this is going to happen,tell him not to worry about it
 
The damage seems pretty extreme to me - but then s**t happens!

I have always used 100 grainers in my 243 and over the last year or so have taken about 70 roe and a few red and sika also. I have been using Sierra Game Kings which are OK - just. I like your friend have had a few instances of meat damage (usually on quick shots on departing beasts) but at the same time have had mostly failures to exit on red and sika so I'm changing to the Hornady Interlock I use on the 264 (not the SAME bullets ye understand....) to try to reduce the 'splatter' effect of the Game Kings. I sometimes have found that even on well placed shots I get the bag burst - which I put down to shrapnel flying off?

I would say though that hitting bone with any high velocity round is going to give mare wastage.
 
Hi mate,

whow what a beast, i shoot that exact round and have done since day one with my 243. never seen that kinda damage.
i must admit mate it defo seems harsh damage. never seen anything like that with mine.
was the beast dropped on the spot do you know. it seems as if when shot its bled into every orifice.
what salvageable meat did you get. i would have minced the whole thing looking at it..

shame looks decent enough size wise

atb f.
 
vinison damage

Hi mate,

whow what a beast, i shoot that exact round and have done since day one with my 243. never seen that kinda damage.
i must admit mate it defo seems harsh damage. never seen anything like that with mine.
was the beast dropped on the spot do you know. it seems as if when shot its bled into every orifice.
what salvageable meat did you get. i would have minced the whole thing looking at it..

shame looks decent enough size wise

atb f.

Wow that was my thoughts exactly it seems like the bullet passing down threw the body caused massive hydrolic shock bursting blood vesels on its way.
Regaurding the salvageable meet all i could salvage was a couple pounds of mince as part of the bullet also got threw to the other haunch but never broke the skin.

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I spoke to my mate last night and he has been out and purchased some more bullets of the same brand but a different batch number and has already shot a fox with minimal damage so he is going to stick with them for know.
I did tell him though to make sure the next deer he shoots is stood more side on to reduce the risk of bullet deflection and see what happens.
Cheers
RICK O SHEA
 
Rick
here's a pic of a good sized red stag shot with .243 100 grain shot side wards on


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so don't let him get to dissapointed just incase he gets a bit of damage on his next one, even if it's a side on shot
ATB
 
Hey,

As has already been said s**t happens and with the forces involved with high velocity rounds these incidences are bound to happen occasionally.

I have always used 100 grain RWS .243 soft point for deer and foxes and never experienced that kind of damage and would highly recomend them as an accurate round that gets the job done.

Cheers

Rob
 
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