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Well I skinned my buck today & found the bullet! I think this might be the first cast bullet I've ever found although I must admit I quit looking a long time ago because they always went out the other side. Three things really surprised me about this, one I just mentioned and that is that I found the bullet. Second one is where I found it, and the third one is how this medium load could do what it did as far as penetration being that it was a hollow point bullet with a BHN of about 8-9.
As I mentioned earlier the buck was getting really nervous the last few steps so I stopped him with a soft grunt & he looked right at me but his body was turned just a tick to my right. The bullet did hit the big shoulder bone in the right shoulder and then destroyed the right lung, after that I didn't know until today. If it's cold enough I like to leave them hanging 5-6 days to age before skinning, that way you only have to skin them once. I had just starting skinning & hit the bullet with my knife blade, yikes!
That hollow point had went through the right lung, intestines & back to the LEFT hind quarter & stopped. I was totally not ready for that. I'm guessing the bucks live weight was about 140 lbs & my load was only 10 grs of Unique with the 245 gr. cast, powder coated HP & it still covered that much ground (meat) Of course the nose had sheared off, I expected that & kind of figured I wouldn't even find the bullet, or much of it being that soft but when I weighed it, it weighed 159.6 grs & had traveled almost perfectly straight across his body, even after driving through that big shoulder bone. The bullet did better than I expected really, being the Penta point HP.
I've shot very few animals with HP's over the years, always preferring Elmer's solids or LBT solids but I have stated a number of times that a HP at the correct hardness was probably a better mouse trap, I just hadn't followed my own advice except for a nice 4X4 3-4 years ago with the same bullet & load. That was a double lunger with an exit so no surprises there. I don't remember how fast this load is running, I'll have to check, I know it was going faster on the first deer because I was using my 10 1/2" Bisley.
This load really caught me off guard, I will use it again, maybe in a couple of weeks after I chase cow elk with the 480.







[img]https://i.imgur.com/67huFYC.jpg[/img]

Dick

That cast HP plowed through a lot of flesh and bone .

What cartridge were you using ?

How long is the barrel on your 44, Idaho'45? And how far was the shot? That is truly a LOT of penetration for that soft a cast bullet!

Fellas, I was shooting my Ruger old model flat top with a 6 1/2" barrel. The load is one I've taken a few deer with over the years but only one other one with this bullet, usually I've used the 250 gr Keith solid. This one is the Miha 245 gr "Penta" HP, its an octagon style HP that's a bit different if you haven't seen them, they open faster than most round type hollow points which surprised me with the penetration & also the softness of the alloy. Of course it doesn't make much sense to use a HP that's hard. I powder coat all my bullets using Harbor Freight Red paint & that allows me to drive a soft bullet faster than normal without using a gas check. I've been using them for a couple of years now. I took a deer & an antelope last month down in Utah with my Ruger 357 Maxium using them. The deer was 90 yds & the antelope was 122 yds.
How this bullet got through that big shoulder bone & back to the rear hind quarter is still a bit of a mystery to me because it went through one lung, the intestines & then back to the quarter, I didn't expect that. I'll be hunting a cow elk next week with my Ruger 480 using a 387 gr. HP that's powder coated, this bullet has taken a lot of game including my bullet moose, a buddies bull moose & another buddy shot a bison with it, all one shot with complete penetration. Good hunting to all of you!

Dick

Just to clarify, these are from a 45 colt right?

No, Ruger never made an old model flat top in 45 Colt, this was my 44 magnum using the 245 gr HP's with the Penta style instead of the normal round HP's. Sorry if I left that out.

Dick