24hourcampfire.com — "Move Over Fail Safe - Winchester's New XP3 Big-Game Bullet" by John Haviland

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	__________________ The .338-.375 Campfire: Part One Rick Bin Revolvers Make Riflemen Ken Howell A Campfire Review of 8x42 Binoculars Rick Bin A New Way to Hunt Lion Ken Howell (as told by Elgin Gates) __________________ Where Giants Walk The Earth Rick Bin Annealing Cases Ken Howell Jaguars In California James Capen Adams Those Other North American Bears Laban Fieldman Killer Buffalo Ken Howell (as told by Elgin Gates) __________________ BIG EYES Seeing Is Believing Rick Bin Your Chronograph Can Tell You More Ken Howell Africa And Actions John Buhmiller On Seeing Deer Stewart Edward White [1873-1946] Shootout With The Black-and-White Cat Steve Timm Swiggett Kills A Killer Ken Howell __________________ Handloading for Long-Range Shooting John Haviland Three Types of Hunters/ The Five Stages of a Sport Hunter Denny L. Vasquez Big Ivory Ken Howell (as told by Elgin Gates) __________________ Gnawed and Clawed Ken Howell __________________ Move Over Fail Safe Winchester's New XP3 Big-Game Bullet John Haviland Factors In Accuracy Part Two: Handloads John Barsness My Love Affair with Grace Charles Speck How I Killed a Bear Charles Dudley Warner __________________ Best Buys In Binoculars John Barsness Bear In Camp! Ken Howell Last Minute Muley Rick Bin Factors In Accuracy Part One: Rifles And Shooting John Barsness A Brownie Got Me Ken Howell __________________ The .300 Winchester Jack Steele Looking Long John Barsness Choose the Right Backcountry Tent Rick Bin Who Bombed Elmer Keith? Ken Howell __________________ Salty Locals Frank Nuni El Tigre, Jr. Ken Howell

Move Over Fail Safe
Winchester's New XP3 Big-Game Bullet

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Savvy hunters anticipate a wide variety of potential shooting conditions. A proven bullet that inspires confidence is the smart choice. Two years ago my son shot an antelope buck standing broadside just short of 200 yards. The 140-grain Fail Safe from his Remington Model Seven in 7mm-08 Remington was traveling only about 2,200 ft/sec when it hit the buck through both lungs. I thought he had missed because the bullet kicked up dust on the hillside behind the antelope, and the buck ran off without so much as a hobble in its step. However, a moment after the buck ran over the ridge, an upside down front leg appeared above the crest. We climbed the hill and found the buck deader than political honesty.

Now consider a friend's experience firing a 270-grain Fail Safe from his .375 H&H into a kudu. He shot the bull in the hindquarter, and the animal struggled on a short way then fell dead. He found the bullet in the kudu's neck with all four of its nose petals sheared off. He said the bullet's remaining straight shank and the several feet the bullet penetrated showed the bullet had expanded very little. He swore to never use another Fail Safe bullet.

It's hard to argue bullet failure when the result is a cleanly harvested big-game animal.

What my friend ignored was the kudu was dead, and that meant the bullet had worked. He also failed to realize few styles of expanding bullets penetrate that deeply. Also, somewhere along the bullet's path its four nose petals had peeled back before they broke off, which meant the expanded nose had measured a good three-quarters of an inch across.

All the same, the perception of failure has hurt the Fail Safe bullet, and Winchester plans to replace it with the XP3 bullet.

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