CRS,
I hear stuff like that all the time, and yes, 200-grain Ballistic Tips do tend to shed the core.
So what? This is NOT the same thing as a typical thin-jacketed cup-and-core shedding its jacket. The reason? The jacket of 200 BT's is around 3/4 of the original bullet weight, and the core is only about 1/4 of the original weight. This is exactly the opposite of typical C&C's, where the core is most of the bullet's weight.
Did you weigh the jacket you recovered? I would guess (based on plenty of past experience) that it was around 60% of the original bullet's weight. Which is exactly what the "empty" jacket of the bullet that penetrated around 4 feet through the gemsbok weighed.
Yes, they do tremendous damage, precisely because they do lose around 40% of their weight. So do 210-grain Partitions, because they lose 35 % of their weight. Which is why both both bullets tend to kill quickly, yet penetrate well. And "tremendous damage" is why expanding bullets kill better than non-expanding bullets.
My definition of a "tough" bullet is one that always penetrates sufficiently for the animal hunted, whether or not the bullet loses "X" amount of weight, or ends up under the hide on the far side rather than exiting. If you try the 200 AccuBond, you'll find it also results in "tremendous damage," because it will lose maybe 5-10% less weight than the 200 Ballistic Silvertip.
Yes, monolithics in the same weight-range will retain more weight, and exit more often, and result in less "damage." Which is why they don't kill as quickly, on average. This is a basic fact of expanding bullets: The more damage they do to "vital tissue" inside the chest. the quicker they kill. I have data from hundreds of big game animals to back that up, and so do some ammo/bullet companies.
Last edited by Mule Deer; 01/23/20.
