Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Observations of bullet performance

I've shot a few fallow - probably about the size of your slightly smaller whitetails.

I generally only use cup and cores out of non magnums. Weird things can happen.

sierra 85gr bthp - shot fallow at 75yards, perfect shot from good rest on deer craning it's neck to eat from high branch. Buck ran into wood. I left it an hour an 15minutes to try for another. When I followed up it was laid down at the base of a tree and got up as I approached. I examined the couch area and saw droplets of blood where the head had been. Left it and came back the next morning - dead with through and through lung shot. Bullet had entered between ribs and exited between ribs, some expansion in lungs but main factor was the skin had been stretched as it fed. When the bullet had exited the skin had returned to the normal position and sealed the holes so the lungs hadn't collapsed.

And that has been my main finding - bullets not hitting rib bones can expand less - they have a tough balance to manage from 25yard shots to the shoulder up to chest shots at 250yards with nothing solid hit.

150gr sierra prohunters out of my 18" M700 Ti which didn't like anything approaching max loads killed somewhat slowly - a change to BTs cured that.

A 125gr sierra pro hunter out of the same rifle appeared to be a clean miss at 200yards on a little roebuck. It walked into the wood and maybe just wobbled a tiny bit as it did so. I waited 20minutes followed up, saw it standing and shot it through the neck. Perfect double lung - no expansion at all. Start load, a BC like a brick and double the distance the load was intended for

At normal velocities/situtaions I've found the same bullets to work really well.