Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Ballisticstudies.com - came across this website

Looking for 7x57 load and bullet info, I came across Terminal Ballistics Reasearch - web address: ballisticstudies.com
with a huge amount of research on bullet performance on over 100 cartridges...and it's free info!

Nathan and wife Steph Foster in New Zealand have spent over 15 years compiling stats by cartridge, bullet make, weight, fps, images of wound channels.

They have a few books for sale which if anything like the Knowledge Base are a real deal. Look at 7mm Rem Mag or 30.06 ...these are not short notes like a reload book, very indepth field experiences.

Does everyone else know about Nathan and I'm a decade behind?

I've often wondered how one person can have so much experience with so many cartridges on so many game animals.

It happens because some people hunt a LOT more than others.


And some places allow enough shooting/culling that far more results can be observed/compiled.

About the only game animals in North America that allow a similar amount of shooting are feral pigs and, in some areas, whitetails. In New Zealand, Europe and Africa far more "culling" takes place than in North America.

I initially thought how Nathan could compile the huge amount of info...his 'About Us' explains well.

A few years ago I stumbled across ballisticstudies. If my memory serves me correctly I believe I was doing some research on a recent 7x57 I just acquired. I find his info to be extremely insightful and at times historical depending on the cartridge and at times useful. I know that some times his research on particular animals with specific bullets doesn't always match up with the animals we have access to in North America but there have been a few examples where I experienced better bullet performance than he did. Since my first visit I've read just about all of his articles for all the cartridges he did a write up on. All that being said I feel like it's a fantastic place to kill several hours on the internet and come across some fantastic info.

I really enjoy his website. I've been checking it out over the last few years. There's a LOT of info on there, good practical, real world experience.

I contacted Nathan on few occasions and he answered right back with excellent advice. He has been very helpful.

There is no closed season on deer, tahr, chamois or feral goats in New Zealand. You can go hunting 365 days a year on public land. There is also no need to buy a game licence to hunt those animals. All that is required is to download a permit (free) for the Department of Conservation area you're going hunting in. This has come about because those animals were originally classified as noxious animals by the NZ government. The govt department of the day, the NZ Forest Service, employed and trained men to be professional hunters for several decades when the wild animal numbers were very high compared to today. Everything was shot on sight, fawns, pregnant hinds, does etc.

Nowadays, there are still plenty of deer left, actually increasing in population in the last 10 years or so. They are no longer referred to as "noxious animals" but still thought of that way by many in the Department of Conservation who have a penchant for dropping 1080 poison on them.

I have a friend who does a lot more deer hunting than me who typically shoots 50-80 deer a year. Mostly red deer and some sika deer. He certainly doesn't shoot everything he sees; no female adults or little stuff. Gives nearly all the venison away. There are many hunters that shoot more than my friend does.

The books aren’t bad. Much of it is on the website. I first found them looking up the 300 savage 11 years ago.

There's only one mention of the Lapua Scenar in his Wound Research articles, but it's contrary to what hunters on here have experienced. FWIW.

Yes, you are. Lots of stuff going on outside the USA.