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

165 gmx vrs 260/.375 accubond....near same expansion...retained MORE wt than the 260 and penetrated better...yikes!!

That is all I use from my 30-06 and 308 for everything now. From mouse to moose!

I like the looks of the 180 TSX's... Did a pretty darn good job penetrating too

Fotis, do you mind relating some on-game experiences?

Part 3

Results .375

Bullet: .375 250gr Barnes TTSX
Penetration: 16.5"
Weight retention: 152.1gr (61%)
Expansion diameter: .528"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Results .308

Bullet: 200gr Sierra BTSP
Penetration: 9"
Weight retention: 130.6gr (65.3%)
Expansion diameter: .730"
Impact speed: ~2825fps

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

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

Bullet: 180gr Speer Deep Curl
Penetration: 10"
Weight retention: 104.3gr (58%)
Expansion diameter: .664"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Bullet: 180gr Speer Grand Slam
Penetration: 8"
Weight retention: 68.1gr (38%)
Expansion diameter: .585"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Bullet: 180gr Nosler Partition
Penetration: 13"
Weight retention: 96.2gr (53%)
Expansion diameter: .760"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Bullet: 180gr Nosler Partition Protected Point
Penetration: 12.5"
Weight retention: 118.2gr (65.7%)
Expansion diameter: .594"
Impact speed: ~2900fps

Bullet: 175gr Barnes LRX
Penetration: 20.5"
Weight retention: 112.3gr (64.2%)
Expansion diameter: .381"
Impact speed: ~3000fps

Bullet: 168gr Barnes TSX
Penetration: 19"
Weight retention: 121gr (72%)
Expansion diameter: .440"
Impact speed: ~3100fps

Bullet: 165gr Speer Grand Slam
Penetration: 4.5"
Weight retention: 26.9gr (16.3%)
Expansion diameter: .528"
Impact speed: ~3100fps

Bullet: 155gr Lapua Scenar
Penetration: 6.5"
Weight retention: 46.1gr (29.8%)
Expansion diameter: .624"
Impact speed: ~3400fps

Bullet: 130gr Barnes TTSX
Penetration: 14"
Weight retention: 105.8gr (81.4%)
Expansion diameter: .655"
Impact speed: ~3575fps

I also tested 3 favorite .264 bullets of mine. Same test (cow bones, muscle etc).

Bullet: 155gr Lapua Mega
Penetration: 11"
Weight retention: 46.1gr (29.7%)
Expansion diameter: .624"
Impact speed: ~2500fps

Bullet: 140gr Hornady Match BTHP
Penetration: 10"
Weight retention: 59.4gr (42.4%)
Expansion diameter: .622"
Impact speed: ~2800fps

Bullet: 120gr Barnes TSX
Penetration: 16"
Weight retention: 97.6gr (81.3%
Expansion diameter: .485"
Impact speed: ~2950fps


Bullets L to R
.375 250gr TTSX, .308 175gr LRX, .308 168gr TSX, .308 130gr TTSX






Bullets L to R
.308 200gr Speer SP, 200gr Sierra BTSP, 180gr Speer Grand Slam, 180gr Speer Deep Curl, 180gr Nosler Partition Protected Point, 180gr Nosler Partition





Bullets L to R
.308 190gr Hornady IL BTSP, 165gr Speer Grand Slam, 155gr Lapua Scenar





Bullets L to R
.264 155gr Lapua Mega, 120gr Barnes TSX, 140gr Hornady Match BTHP
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/Kman338/20130202_163430_zps7e5b9821.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/Kman338/20130202_163446_zps82d03155.jpg[/img]

I'm done testing for now. If I do more it won't be until Summer. Newspaper weighed 550lbs today and my back is killing me. I'm very surprised by some of the results and others were expected. Everyone is free to draw their own conclusions. I would like to point out though that all 4 "fragile" "match" bullets (210 vld, 208 amax, 155 scenar, 140 bthp) penetrated a cow femur and several inches of muscle as well as newspaper. None of them exploded and all of them out penetrated several "real" hunting bullets. They make huge wound channels as well. They are certainly not premium bullets (partition, tsx et al) but they are better than several normal cup and core hunting bullets, imvho of course.

Jeez a poor showing by the Speer 200g .30, but a creditable result for the 180g Deep Curl.

Thanks Kman, for sharing what you learned.

Man, Thanks for all the time/work! This is really good stuff...




Same here, I took several deer this year at different angles and ranges with the 150 NBT (308win) and all have been pass thru's. Couple years ago I used Sierra 165 HPBT with the same results, 2 holes every time. IMR 4895 and go kill some [bleep]

130 Barnes 308......wow...looks like excellent rum and 30378 fodder!

Thank you for putting this test and results together, and taking the time to post for the rest of us to read, very informative...

Thanks for doing these tests. It is sad that Speer cheaped out the G.S. bullets, I am looking forward to trying the Deep Curl bullets in a 260 and 270. Thought the Mega bullet would have been a bit tougher.

Cool that the 130gr TTSX out-penetrated and expanded comparably to the 180gr PT...

Thank you again!!! I wish you would've done the 130 Ttsx at 3000-3200.... Alot of us here use it 300 savage, 308, 30/06

Would've been great to see what it did at the speed. I'm sure it would've expanded less and retained a little more weight. Don't know if that would've translated to deeper penetration though

Also the 130 ttsx didn't shear off any petals at 3575 impact speed. Quite remarkable and not sure why

Antelope, cow elk and deer. Between friends in my hunting camp never lost an animal. Most exited. All from 30-06

I am not surprised at all. The 30 cal BT's I have used are mucho tough, even at 300 rum velocity levels.

We've used the 130TSX at 3000fps on a few deer. They've made very nice holes and we've never found one from any angle.

Great bullet test. People that get paid to do this couldn't do a better job. If I wasn't 3000 miles away, I'd love to help you with the grunt work. Amazingly, you tested almost every bullet that is of interest to me.
Thanks,
Steve

Very good test and thank you for sharing!

Good test. I'm looking for a cheaper bullet than the Barnes and the Nosler E Tip and Hornady are worth checking into.

Wow! This is an excellent post, and I am very grateful for the information it provides. Thank you for taking so much time and effort!


One thing I consistently see is the barnes bullets, of which I am admittedly biased towards, penetrate like John Holmes. Great to see them perform in this test.

Out of curiosity what rifle are you using? Given the velocity on the 30cal I would guess a HOT 30-06, or more likely a 300 WinMag?