Thread: First fail - 6.5mm 143gr ELD-X

Hi Flyblown,
This is an excellent professional quality improvement activity. Are you working on a mangement course ?
Peer review is great. You never quite know who you're dealing with on the internet, but Tahr would be your closest peer here and @kimjon is another whose input would be valuable.
You've identified this "first fail" as a sentinel event but the time between failures (>232 animals) suggests your process is pretty good.
You've discussed several possible root causes:
Unsatisfactory bullet selection and performance ? No. Consensus here is that this is the best bullet currently available for your application.
Unsatisfactory cartridge choice. No. Only tahr has even entertained this idea but your reasons for selecting 6.5 Creedmore are sound.
Inadequate marksmanship. No the shot was within the accepted accuracy and the existence of "gaps" is recognised. The track record of 220 goats with 10-15% second shot attests to your capability.
Inadequate search for wounded animal. No. Going back with the dog is best practice.
Failure to maintain shooting position after the shot and failure to take a second shot. This is the main correctable cause. It s very difficult to change behaviour specially when you are generally so successful but you can learn from this one incident. Looking outside the box: changes in equipment and standard procedure are more effective. You could do this by changing from single loading by a partner to magazine feed and having a spare mag within hands reach. Depending on the build, you might need to wait for a new rifle to get a long enough magazine of at least 5 shots with reliable feed and a shorter throat so you can seat to the lands within a feedable OAL .

Thanks for this interesting post.