Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 30 Cal Bullet Test by Richard Mann

Many bullets on the market to test for Mister Man. 3 of 40 is not really a good representation of available bullets on the market nowadays. Bias testing.

I would like to see how an E-Tip would have performed.

Ditto...^^^^^^

Gored oxen are never a pretty sight.

Not the fairest comparison; a 210g at 3000fps is gonna hit hard on both ends. A 120 at 3000+ not so much....

I haven't seen a Field & Stream in many years. Their gun stuff years ago was seldom anything more than a cursory report, probably because the readers weren't hardcore gun folks. I'm unfamiliar with how it's done now.

Shooting into test medium won't reveal exactly how bullets will perform on game, but do show how they compare against each other in identical circumstances.

The ELD-X looks good. I'll never shoot at 800 on game, but it appears they should be reliable both near and far, with good wind performance to boot. When I get my .270 sorted out, they'll be on the list. Hoping for a 6mm as well.

I can't believe some of the comments so far. (Well, actually I can, because it's the Campfire.)

One person bitches because they didn't set up a chronograph 800 yards away, apparently believing Doppler radar is inaccurate. Among other things, Doppler is used in satellite systems and surface-to-air missiles. Oh, and the Labradar chronograph, which gets very high marks for accuracy in every test made so far.

Another is apparently upset that the test didn't include EVERY .30 caliber spitzer on the market, but can't even count how many bullets WERE tested (it was 5, not 3). Guess what? It was a test of LONG RANGE bullets. Even the 200-grain Nosler Partition which SU35 mentions, which has a pretty decent ballistic coefficient for a flat-based spitzer, would be traveling well under the 1800 fps Nosler lists as minimum for expansion at 800 yards.

Some even believe it was a Hornady commercial, when Mann has probably done more shooting research, both on test media and wild animals, with Berger bullets than any other full-time gun writer. He also published some of the very first articles on how WELL Bergers work on big game.

Oh it's fair. It's just there's a price to pay for cutting your wind drift in half. But I did draw the line at buying a .338 Lapua

I for one am pleased to see the ELD's get good reviews. I've not tried the 212's but am in the process of working on loads for the 200 gr bullet in 300 WSM and 30-06, and 178's in my 308 and 30-06. So far I'm quite impressed with the accuracy and the cost is almost 1/2 of the Accubonds. My only concern is the lack of information on how they might perform on game.

I imagine it was less to do with the test being setup to favor one over the other, and more about ignorance of wound ballistics. Look at the responses in this thread.....


People can't grasp that what a bullet looks like at it's final resting point tells you little about what type of wound it created along the way.








A Partition at 800 yards?






Again, you believe a Partition is going to do well at 800 yards?


Tumbling can cause tremendous damage, however at low impact velocities with no fragmentation it's not quite as impressive. The Berger VLD's do create good wounds even when they tumble.









Horribly. A that impact velocity 180gr 30cal E-Tip will have an expanded diameter between .30 and .35 inches and will generally remain point first through 16-18 inches of penetration. It will feature almost no secondary wounding effects and consequently will have a very narrow wound channel.







What exactly was gored?








Actually properly calibrated 10% Ballistic gel has proven to be a relatively reliable indicator of soft tissue performance.

Favorite bullets that were left out.

Horribly. A that impact velocity 180gr 30cal E-Tip will have an expanded diameter between .30 and .35 inches and will generally remain point first through 16-18 inches of penetration. It will feature almost no secondary wounding effects and consequently will have a very narrow wound channel.




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That performance would'nt surprise me I'm not implying it would do well.Nosler list minimum impact velocity at 1800 fps at 800 yards the velocity should be close to that minimum.

Especially true for bullets that tend to tumble through. The damage from tumbling bullets can be devastating.

Well you have to admit comparing the 212gr ELD-X to the 190gr VLD is going to skew results to the Hornady bullet.

Add to that not showing the gel wound channel when both bullets penetrated the same but one tumbled does not really tell the story on terminal performance.

It depends on what you consider adequate "expansion". I do not consider expansion that is barely larger than bullet diameter, to be "adequate".

28lx,

A 180 E-Tip started at 3100 fps (the probable muzzle velocity from a .300 Winchester Magnum) isn't going to be traveling 1800 fps at 800 yards. That's using actual range-tested BC info and environmental conditions for Grand Island, Nebraska.

Roger FMJ performance is not impressive.

Tumbling bullets don't always penetrate straight, which is another concern.

John

Just simply wondered how an E-Tip would perform.I don't think the test was skewed in Hornadys favor. Not surprised the question turned into a goat [bleep] though.