off season, I test a bullets penetration ability thru the local Oregon trees, at certain distances and velocities...
Got started on that by using trees as a back stop when chronographing out in the woods when the range is tied up with some club shoot etc..
taught me a lot and is still teaching me a lot..
some of the highlights I found for my own uses...
1. Ballistic Tips, are an excellent bullet for slower impact velocities
2. Varmint bullets, when an impact velocity is going to be pretty low, their fragility make them still open up, yet their core in the rear is still tough enough to give some pretty deep penetration...holds true for varmint bullets from 20 caliber right up thru 30 caliber...
3. Round noses are better at slower speeds, than are Spire Points...
4. if not using a fragile bullet like a varmint bullet, then sectional density performs better than low sectional density..
example: a 175 grain Hornady RN, with an MV of 1800 fps, managed to penetrate thru 18 inches of Pine, and keep on going at an impact of 100 yds from the Muzzle..
a lot of you know I do a lot of handloading for kids, who are just starting out...teach them to work up...their shooting abilities...
so I have spent time testing this along those lines, for such needed information...
but I also use it myself, to tailor loads to the areas I hunt and the game I am pursing...
since most game ( like 90%) is taken within 100 yds... and like 99% is taken within 200 yds, just how much velocity does one really need?
Not talking antelope in open country for instance, but where I hunt locally, 150 yds is going to be an awfully long shot...
if you take a look at most ballistic charts also, regardless of caliber, almost any Spitzer bullet, if shot at 30/30 velocities of 2250 fps at the Muzzle... when zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, will be dead on at 200 yds, and will be 3.5 inches low at about 240 yds..
then you take into account, the average white tail deer is 15 to 16 inches, from breastbone to backbone, regardless of weight...
cut that 'window of opportunity' in half, to say 7.5 to 8 inches..
now go back to the formula above about being zeroed 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, being dead on at 200 and 3.5 inches low at 240 yds...
with an MV of 2250 fps, in pretty much any caliber with a spitzer bullet, you have a formula that you can aim on hide at anywhere out to close to 250 yds, and if you hold steady, the bullet will be where it needs to be for a clean kill...
match that up to a bullet that you know will open at that distance reliably, and you should not have much to worry about..
the local kids here have proven that to work pretty darn well.. even beyond 200 yds...
when they ask me my bullet choice, I recommend Ballistic tips, for both accuracy and reliability for expansion at impact velocities as low as the 1200 to 1400 fps range..
as for myself, I've taken several deer with my 7 x 57 Featherweight, with 115 grain Speer HPs,.. the charge was 28 grains of SR 4759, a cast bullet load....but here is how it performed on the second largest black tail I have taken.. this one weighed 210 lbs on the hoof..according to OR F&W...
heart shot... didn't need a second one...quite evident..
and then the donor of the heart picture:
shows the size of the ol boy... his antlers were covered in dried blood also..which don't show up well in the pictures...
and finally a pic of Seafire jr and his other Scout Buddy ( who both recently made Eagle Scout Rank) with the donor of the heart...
so the slower speeds help kids make great shot placements..
the other boy with my son, took a deer next season, with a 270 loaded with a 90 grain Speer HP, behind a charge of 30 grains of IMR 4198...
this in an area that 150 yds is a mega long shot..