How many instances of poor expansion did you experience? I would be interested to hear about them, if you're willing. ....
Jordan - Most of my testing was done on coyotes because the X bullet was new to me and I had read about failures to expand. I mentioned the two coyote examples that stick in my head, but there were others that had me doubting the reliability of the X bullet. About that same time Dad gave me his .22-250 and I quit using the 7mm RM for coyotes.
The antelope was the first and last big game animal where I used the X bullet - it shouldn't have taken three through the chest to put it down for good. After the experience with the antelope I went back to the 160g Grand Slam that had served me well for 20+ years with no failures. Now, with 14 years experience with the MRX/TTSX/LRX, my group has no complaints.
Some people contend you need to shoot a lot of animals to determine if a bullet is reliable or not. I say nuts to that. When a handful of experiences result in a high failure rate (failure to perform as desired), that is enough for me to take a different route. I've had no issues with MRX/TTSX/LRX, AccuBond, North Fork SS/SS-HP, Grand Slam and only one with regular cup-and-core bullets.
Maybe I'm naive or just not as experienced, but I don't get all this love affair with solids on medium game. I'm no elk hunter so I won't go there, but for deer size game, to include pronghorn, and yes, even wild hogs, I've tried six bullets. I hear people bad mouth my favorite of those six on here so I'm almost afraid to mention it. But for what I've tried on deer and hogs, the plain old Cheap Sierra Game King has been my go to bullet for right at 40 years. And one other, the Combined Technologies Ballistic Tip has also worked reliably. I tried some of the old generation Nosler Ballistic Tips and had a prolific failure to penetrate. It came apart just under the skin of a deer. I haven't tried them since and I don't have as many examples with the CTs as with the Game Kings, but as you say, it doesn't take too many before you see a good pattern of performance. All I want is a bullet to penetrate that 4, maybe 6 inches from outer skin, through any bones or cartilage(and counting any additional mass due to angle of shot), into the vitals, before it opens up. The Game King and the CTs give me this(and probably the regular Nosler Ballstic Tips since they've been improved). I don't need a solid for a Texas White Tail or a speed goat or even a hog. These have performed almost perfect for me over the years so I'll save the solids for whenever I get an opportunity for an elk.
Last edited by Filaman; 02/25/20.
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