I've been curious to try them since I saw Youtube videos. Have access to an old, crappy single-shot, so maybe some day. Certainly can't deny their effectiveness.
's-matter, don'tcha think a half ounce of #12 dust would dispatch old Ursus - or even a very young one- quite handily?
Shooting through brush is one of the realities of hunting. Not something a guy plans for, but it happens!
Sho' enough does. A few years ago I was hunting snowshoes with a 45 Colt rifle which the little buggers thought couldn't get them if they hid behind frozen alder trunks. They never had a chance to learn that a Hornady XTP would not only get through, but would become a spray of multiple missiles that no rabbit could survive. As a bonus, the cloud of fur that attached to every surrounding branch made spotting the corpse easy.
(Would a redneck Berger be one loaded backwards? )
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
As a kid I took all the pellets out of a buckshot load and split them with a chisel so I could crimp them on a piece of wire fishing leader.
Sneaked up on a woodchuck at the edge of my grandfather's garden and let fly at very close range... nearly cut him in two. Made awesome whistling sounds as they changed directions and went just about anywhere they wanted to!
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
The folks at Western Powders have a bowling ball mortar. Their property is north of Miles City, Montana, with a lot of open space, including a long shooting range. It's also across a highway from the local airport.
The first time they fired it I was there. They shot it on their long range and tilted the mortar fairly high, assuming the bowling ball would make a high arc and go maybe 75-100 yards. Instead it went do high it disappeared in the bright blue sky, and people were scurrying for cover. They eventually found the ball buried in the hard Montana sod, more than 200 yards away. After that they looked around carefully for low-flying aircraft before touching it off.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
There are a few Alaskans who do the same out on the tidal flats around Anchorage and it is amazing how far they will go - and how deep in the mud they will penetrate. Almost as good as a Berger
I wouldn't think big, slow, soft projectiles like those would penetrate deep enough in a big, tough critter like a Kodiac.
DF
Brennekes really are the standard by which shotgun slugs are judged. But, there are better slugs these days, like Remington Copper Solids. Usually a deer won't catch either, but if the dirt on the other side is any indication, the Copper Solids out penetrate the Brennekes.
That said, you just don't get the high velocity secondary missiles from a shotgun impact like you do from a high velocity rifle.
This is the one to which I referred. This is on a pard's "airsmith" web page. He didn't make it - another local feller did. It's done AK-redneck style!
Last edited by ironbender; 11/11/13. Reason: link
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
The bowling ball fella has shot out into Cook Inlet from the bluff in Kenai too. One time a passing freighter thought it was under attack, so I heard. The ship was probably 10 miles off shore.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
As a bonus, the cloud of fur that attached to every surrounding branch made spotting the corpse easy. 
