Bullet fragmentation

chill123

Well-Known Member
Whilst out stalking the other morning , looking down a ride i could see a Muntjac buck at 60m. i watched him for a while, untill he stood broadside, taking a shot with my 65x55 the Muntjac dropped on the spot . On inspecting him i could see the entry hole and exit hole( 40mm) through the chest . i then noticed a fresh wound(15mm) above his rear hoove . This puzzled me and i can only assume the bullet or part of it must have turned 90 degrees to do the damage . Has anyone else had a bullet do something similar?

Chill
 
Most unlikely that the bullet turned 90 degrees on exit through the chest I would have thought?
I've had bullets fragment on hitting cover which I hadn't seen in front of the animal which may be the cause but you should then find the entry hole is larger and ragged rather than the usual 6.5mm and round!
Maybe it is an unrelated wound sustained previously?:confused:
MS
 
A few months ago I shot a vixen at 50-60m with 223 60gr Vmax. I shot the fox just behind the shoulder as it was side on to me. She dropped on the spot and when I walked over her back leg was missing, I thought holy **** I didn't aim that far back. There was a small entry behind the shoulder and bullet turned at almost 90 deg and exited removing her back leg. It certainly made we reconsider my backstops in all directions. Will post two pics once at my pc



IMG_0368[1].JPGIMG_0370[1].JPG
 
Last edited:
Are you sure it was a wound and not just some blood on the leg?

On another forum there were a spate of reports of bullets doing strange things and for some reason the majority came from muntjac. I think there was even one where the bullet exit was on the same side as the entry.

Another possibility is that it was a "secondary projectile" and was maybe caused by a bit of a rib bone exiting.
 
Bullets can and do do the most incredible things thjat fly in the face of all that is scientific,here is a bullet(100gr soft point)that took out a Roe Buck(165yds)that was quartered away from me and resulted in no exit wound,and a puntured gut.On butchering the beast I found what was left of the bullet in what would of been the nearest of the haunches,so,if you can picture this,it had entered behind the shoulder allowing for the beast being quartered away and smashed the heart,there was then a small nick in one of the ribs on the opposite side,and then unbelieveably came back on itself and ending in the haunch which would of been probably 45 degrees..........incredible!

here is the said bullet with hardly any expansion atr all,just slightly misformed.........
DSC_0001-5.jpg

DSC_0002-13.jpg
 
I once shot a fox in the chest face on with a 30 06 , 135grn i think , it broke all 4 legs and blew half his brush clean off
 
Muntjac again, .243 100 grain sierra at 80 yards. Broke a rib on entry and travelled full length of the body under the spine. Exited through the entry side haunch. What a mess, however, the bullet didn't break up.
 
I once shot a roe doe but didnt realise there was some cover inbetween me and it, on inspecting the doe there were four grazes along the sadle were the bullet had fragmented, this was using a 6.5x55 with rws cone point bullets. Distance was no more than 60 yards.
 
Couple here, Fallow pricket, 60 yards, .243 with a 90 grain SP, Shot just behind shoulder. bullet went in, turned down the outside of the ribs, through the brisket, and back up the far side, exiting level with the entry but with no damage inside ribs. He ran about 80 yards and laid up in some brash where I shot him in the head.

Roe doe, same load, about 90 yards from a seat. Bullet went into the chest and turned downhill, nicked the bottom of the heart and exited through the brisket.

Really wierd.

James
 
A friend shot a buck on some boggy land and went to retrieve it, there was a fluttering in the rushes and he found he had also shot a duck with the same bullet.
After gralloching the beast he picked up the buck and the duck and went home to try his luck with his wife !

HWH.
 
Is it something to do with bullet stability (or lack thereof)? So on impact the bullets tumbled?
 
A friend shot a buck on some boggy land and went to retrieve it, there was a fluttering in the rushes and he found he had also shot a duck with the same bullet.
After gralloching the beast he picked up the buck and the duck and went home to try his luck with his wife !

HWH.

What,,shoot her and get another duck?
 
Is it something to do with bullet stability (or lack thereof)? So on impact the bullets tumbled?

I think that it a good question, and you might be on to something there. Seems to be more common in the 243 with 100gr bullets which are on the edge of being stable in flight anyway. So one would think they would be more prone to doing silly things on entry and striking bone and such.
 
Likewise here, shot a hind over the last hind season with a .270 140gr Accubond. Slightly uphill but broadside good chest shot. Bullet entered did damage to heart and lungs then exited at the back end of the ribcage. A tiny exit hole from a fragment was where i would have expected the larger normal hole to be......

Life's a mystery!
 
i have changed from my .243 100gn to a 308 because of this. the 243 on roe did just what i expected destroyed heart and good sized exit hole on other side. on fallow it was a differant story. one doe i shot was quartering away slightly. bullet went between ribs on entry turned left 90 degrees through gut and excited in front of off side rear leg with a small hole. not good. i know a lot of shooting deer is down to shot placement but i seem to concentrate on the correct heart lung area rather than trying to get it betwen ribs;)
 
Back
Top