Just read an interesting article by Boddington in Rifle Shooter, which kinda relates to this subject...taken to the extreme.

He wrote about the .577, .600 and .700 Nitro Express.

Of interest, he noted numerous occasions in which elephants took both barrels of these literal cannons to the head, and ran away seemingly unscathed. Concluded that in such instances the ammo was not performing up to specs regarding speed, coming in by about 200 fps under, at roughly 1800. This apparently made all the difference in performance.

The greater the frontal area of the bullet, the more critical is sufficient speed to effect penetration.

On the other hand, we've been reading articles this last year or so about the remarkable performance of ultra high speed - light for caliber bullets, specifically the Barnes Tipped TSX.

As noted in earlier posts, my own experience with these is limited to one elk, shooting Federal Premium 130 TTSX in 300 WM, rated at 3600 fps. About 80 to 100 yard shot. Through the shoulder square on, about 6" below the spine. No pass through, but lungs were destroyed absolutely. It never drew another breath, evidenced by the fact that although it ran about 40 yards, it didn't leave a drop of blood anywhere.

The other elk I've shot was at 50 yds using 200 gr. Sierra Gameking, about 2900 fps, from the same rifle, and never saw even a flinch. It eventually just flopped. The previously mentioned kill with the 130 most definitely elicited a reaction from the bull, as it bolted hard and immediately.

I don't profess to know the physics involved, but I suspect that hyper-velocity behind proper constructed, but relatively light for caliber bullets is taking the science to an entirely other level, perhaps not yet fully understood.

Is there a co-relation between speed and shock that is not accurately measured in "pounds/sq. ft." For I believe the reason that bull did not spit out blood as is typical of a lung shot because the shockwave that went through his chest was so severe that it literally stopped everything completely, specifically his diaphragm from functioning.

The extreme example of this is the rail gun with which the military is experimenting. An 1" x 18" bolt of titanium, with no warhead of any kind, shot at something like 6000 fps, will destroy a tank utterly and thoroughly.

What is the science happening here? And is it applicable to so-called "hyper velocity" bullets?



FWIW.


Last edited by sir_springer; 11/05/09.