I've often wondered what Sell would think of today's array of big game bullets. Back when he was hunting, aside from the Nosler Partition the only bullets readily available were cup-and-cores--which is of course one reason many hunters used lower-velocity cartridges for "woods" hunting": C&C bullets worked most reliably at close range when started at moderate velocities--and ruined less meat, important to Sell when he was hunting for lumber camps.
But today there's a far wider variety of bullets, some of which work very reliably at close range even when started considerably faster--and also ruin less meat, especially "monolithics"--which also penetrate very well even in lighter weights than "traditional" for close-in cartridges. I know this due to actually using them to kill a bunch of game from up close to several hundred yards--as has Eileen. And anymore meat is the main reason we hunt--well, along with liking to hunt. We already have too many inedible big game parts hanging on our walls (and from the garage rafters), and have seen about the same amount of meat damage from lighter-weight monolithics at 3000+ fps as larger, slower cup-and cores started at much slower velocities.
all of my rifles are either the cup-n-core or cast bullets. COWW (clip on wheel weights) with a skosh of tin or Lyman #2 with a skosh of tin kill deer and black bear. you can shoot on the shoulder or behind the shoulder and it will exit the game. C&C bullets are great for deer or black bear too. i, personally, no longer use premium or monolithic bullets. the Nosler BT really wastes meat when the impact is over 2800fps. what the BT does at that speed (2800fps+) is like a hand grenade. it goes in and fragments. lung soup with chunks of heart and little itty bitty bone fragments on the entry shoulder and the BT never exits. if you do 2800fps and under, it will do a perfect mushroom bullet. this is just my experience with the BT bullet (6.5, .277, .284 and .308"). i don't do Nosler BT anymore because of the price went way up. instead, i use Hornady SST and i limit myself to 2800fps because the range of deer/bear is only under 60 yards.
the cast bullets, which i use for hunting, are "eat up to the hole(s)" they will leave. i try to shoot the game behind the shoulder, but every once in a while, i will take a shoulder shot and they will exit the game and "eat up to the exit hole." the wound channel leaves only a hole in muscle tissue (heart or the shoulder), while the lung tissue (permanent and temporary channels ) is destroyed by the cast bullet. the velocity of the cast depends on the caliber of the bullet, but it is 1200 - 2000fps (.512 - .308").
i guess i'm an old timer or a cheap basturd. whatever it is, i still eat deer.
"Russia sucks." ---- Me, US Army (retired) 12B & 51B
Russian Admiral said, after the Moskva sank, "we have the world's worst navy but we aren't as bad as our army".
