Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 30 cal bullet test, cow femurs and newspaper part 1

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have to tag this. handiest thread I've ever seen on the fire.

I owe Kman a cold beer.

Would love to see a 7mm test at around 2600-2800fps impact speeds.

I use 180 grain Winchester Power Points factory loads out my 30/06. Just what I thought, no reason to change. It's worked on every elk I shot.

Going to give the 168 BTs a try

The Trophy Bonded’s had a good showing too. I’ve had excellent performances from both the TSX’s and the TTSX’s but decided to try
The N E-tip’s this year (why?).

The E-tips look to behind the TSX’s a good bit in penetration. Different alloys I presume or maybe slight design differences.

Very nice test and good, clear write up. I did something similar with 338 bullets in the 90’s. A lot of work but fun and very telling.

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Tells me what I need to know...

Bullet: .308 200gr Nosler Partition
Penetration: 12"
Weight retention: 119.5gr (59.7%)
Expansion diameter: .535"
Impact speed: ~2825fps

Bullet: .308 180gr Nosler E-Tip
Penetration: 14"
Weight retention: 178.8gr (99.3%)
Expansion diameter: .697"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Bullet: .308 180gr Barnes TSX
Penetration: 17.5"
Weight retention: 179.8gr (99.9%)
Expansion diameter: .674"
Impact speed: ~2900fps


Bullet: .308 168gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
Penetration: 9.5"
Weight retention: 98.6gr (58.7%)
Expansion diameter: .641"
Impact speed: 3100fps

I regret the day that I ever thought that a Barnes TSX from my 7mm-08 was a good soft tissue whitetail bullet. A tough, minimally expanding deep penetrating bullet through 12" of deer soft lung tissue does not equal a quick killing deer bullet.

This conversation is why some of the best gun writing that exists today is right here around the fire. It's a privilege to listen, Kman, your testing and report stands with the best writing of the magazines before they
went to transcribing ad copy.

I read this with admiration couple years ago... I’ve been thinking bout dusting off the reloading equipment and searched the post out again. Outstanding work and tremendous public service. Thanks KMan.

Outstanding thread! Thank you for all of the hard and messy work. Not just the testing but the photography. We all appreciate the time you took to put this together. This is reminiscent of the testing that two of my favorite gun writers used to do - Finn Aagaard and Bob Hagel. Their articles and books had very informative and showed photos of the bullets and results. Of course many of these modern bullets were not available back then. Again thanks for all of your labor! This is very good work.

Thanks for all the testing!

Old post I know, but this thread is worthy of a bump from time to time.

I too was surprised the 30 cal Speer didn't fare better, but some interpretation of the test method and results is worth considering. Indeed, per kman's opening post to the thread, "This is not scientific, valid, don't throw out the bullets you've been using for 30 years etc. I did this to satisfy my own curiosity and as much as it sucks to haul a bathtub full of wet heavy newspaper around, it's also fun."

kman's data for the 30 cal Speer 200

Bullet: 200gr Speer SP
Penetration: 3"
Weight retention: 14.5gr (7.25%)
Expansion diameter: .533"
Impact speed: ~2825

One thing to note is the velocity of impact is 2800+ fps. That's faster than a .30-06 can sling it and more in the territory of the 300 WSM and magnums. It's too bad the test couldn't have included some slower velocities but kman was after worst case stress testing really. The speer may have fared much better at 2500-2600 fps or less. A lot of work and expense went into it, but even at the speed tested, each case was a sample of one. 5 shots might have yielded more robust results (and more time, effort and expense. Easy to say typing away on the keyboard...). For instance, the relative angle of impact (orientation of the bone joint and bullet nose) might affect total penetration. Another thought to consider is that even 3" of penetration beyond the bone and tissue might have yielded a dead animal with bone fragments acting as shrapnel in the heart lung cavity. I don't know how well wet paper media compares to live tissue.

I was surprised that the Hornady 190 BTSP outperformed it by the margin it did although it didn't excel at weight retention either, but penetration was decent. Seems like cup core boat tails have the reputation of coming apart more easily than their plain base counterparts. I personally avoid shoulder shots but wouldn't rule one out if I didn't think another opportunity would present itself.

Bullet: 190gr Hornady Interlock BTSP
Penetration: 8.5"
Weight retention: 29.8gr (15.7%)
Expansion diameter: .806"
Impact speed: ~2875fps

Wealth of information presented. Thanks kman.

Thanks Kman, the results are very interesting. Thinking of flinging some E-tips this summer: 6.5 120, and 7mm 140 and 150. Would be interested to see your test with those bullets.

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