#2493897 - 10/11/08 10:28 PM
Solid Bullets for Hunting
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IndyCA35
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Registered: 03/24/02
Posts: 1859
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My impression is that solids are illegal for hunting in most or all states. Why?
How would they do on North American game?
It seems to me that solids would do very well in the brush, especially the flat nosed ones made by such as North Fork and G.S. These look like longish wad cutters and they do not deform when they hit flesh or bone. Based on an African Cape Buffalo I shot with one, I doubt if you'd ever recover one with a BC of .300 or so from an elk, even with a Texas heart shot. And that would include .30 caliber bullets weighing something less than 220 grains.
I have heard that solids work well on African antelope, and I don't mean just the big calibers.
_________________________
Indy
Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think.
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#2494041 - 10/12/08 04:38 AM
Re: Solid Bullets for Hunting
[Re: IndyCA35]
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HunterJim
Campfire Guide
Registered: 03/28/03
Posts: 4669
Loc: San Diego, CA, USA
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Back in the day lots of folks used surplus military ammunition for hunting, and the various game departments decided that "ball" (and real solids by implication) were wounders of game and were thus prohibited. Like many firearm related game regulations this does not seem amenable to science, rather folklore.
Most do not notice that .45s shooting hard lead are using solids.
I have solids from both these sources, but North Fork is out of business, and GS availability here is chancy.
jim
_________________________
LCDR Jim Dodd, USN (Ret.)
"If you're too busy to hunt, you're too busy."
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#2494093 - 10/12/08 05:39 AM
Re: Solid Bullets for Hunting
[Re: HunterJim]
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djs
Campfire Guide
Registered: 01/18/06
Posts: 3315
Loc: Virginia
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When I was a kid, I listened to a neighbor who described using a 50 BMG on German Roe Deer. It was very effective on the 50 pound animals, especially when 750 grain bullets at 2800 fps hit them. I recall him saying that 10+ 750 gainers made up for the lack of expansion.
Of course, he used 220 grain SP bullets in a 30-06 for Maryland Whitetails!
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#2494119 - 10/12/08 05:54 AM
Re: Solid Bullets for Hunting
[Re: HunterJim]
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IndyCA35
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Registered: 03/24/02
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Surplus military ammo is now usually (a) light for caliber, such as M2 Ball 30-06 ammo with 147 grain bullets and (b) comes with spire point bullets. The latter, as I understand it, were found to veer off sometimes when hitting a large bone. This is why solids used for heavy game in Africa are never spire points.
Back around 1900, most of the military ammo in calibers such as 7mm Mauser, .303 British, and 30-40 Krag used round nosed bullets of the heaviest practical weight.
After expanding bullets came into being there were some cartridges that seemed to kill all out of proportion to their ballistics. The 6.5x54mm Mannlicher Shoenauer, the 7mm Mauser, and the .318 come to mind. All of these used, of course, very heavy (for caliber) bullets at lower velocities. I suggest that their reputation stemmed from the fact that they did not expand very much. What if they used solids that didn't expand at all?
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Indy
Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think.
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