CH: Interesting test and thanks for posting.
Some comments/observations: Interesting that the 30 cal Trophy Bonded Tip had more frontal area and retained weight than the 338/225 AB.But did not penetrate quite as much.
Second, the 300 Win Mag/180 MRX seems to show that you don't leave penetration on the table with high speed bullet impact, if bullet construction is up to the task.
Water is good, but I wonder what results would have been with some heavy bone mixed in
Bob -
Hard to say what bone would do if added, other than cause inconsistency in the target media making shot comparisons less direct. (Getting big bones into a water jug would be an interesting endeavor...
) I do have some photos of bullets recovered after impacting bone in game, however, and the results are - at least to me - informative.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/8115Recovered_bullets_2.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/8115Recovered_bullets_1.jpg)
Left to right:
350g North Fork, .45-70, 6x6 elk, 213 yards, 2181fps MV, retained weight 271.5g (77.6%), .623" expansion (excepting the 'helicopter wing', which probably unfolded on impact with the last rib)
160g Grand Slam, 7mm Rem Mag, 5x5 elk, ~110 yards, ~2900fps MV, Retained weight 113.7g (71.1%), .542" expansion
162g Hornady BTSP, spike elk, ~110 yards, ~2900fps MV, retained weight 77.2g (47.7%), .593" expansion
180g North Fork, .300 Win Mag, 200-yard steel, 3032fps MV, retained weight 85.0g (47.2%), .486" avg. expansion
The .45-70 350g North Fork hit low on a broadside, obliterating a section of the left front leg and near rib and shattering a far rib before coming to rest under the hide. Somehow the bull remained standing but tipped over before I could get another shot off.
The Speer Grand Slam and Hornady BTSP InterLock were both fired from the same range from the same rifle at roughly the same speed. The Hornady hit a near rib dead center leaving an caliber sized entrance hole in it and a rib-wide crater on the back side. It missed or lightly nicked the far side ribs and came to rest under the hide on the off side. That was my first elk and the last time I've used standard cup-and-core bullets in my bolt rifles when hunting, switching to Speer Grand Slams the following year. Some 20 years later I recovered my first and only Grand Slam. It had destroyed both shoulder joints of a 5x5 bull and came to rest under the hide on the off side. IMHO the challenge to the integrity of the Grand Slam was much greater than that for the Hornady InterLock. While they both penetrated to the far side the Grand Slam did a heck of a lot more damage on the way there.
The North Fork SS embedded itself in the 200 yard steel, as did all three or four I tried. This was the only one I could dig out of the steel and, while it didn't retain much weight, the North Fork SS were the only bullets that didn't fly to flinders. Cup-and-core bullets turned to shrapnel, shredding nearby paper targets. Barnes XLC bullets made nice depressions and gave them a beautiful copper plate finish but we couldn't find any remnants. They also shredded nearby targets, lending support to the belief they came apart as well. This is not to suggest North Fork SS are better bullets for game, as steel is far different than flesh and bone. I've recovered North Fork bullets from game but have never recovered a Barnes XLC, MRX or TTSX. It takes a lot of bone to stop the North Forks. I guess it takes even more to stop a Barnes.
