Thread: A question for the doubters

The thing with "margin for error" is that permanent wound cavities aren't really that different in size that you can significantly miss the important bits with larger bullet vs. a smaller bullet and still expect to achieve a good result. A gut shot is a gut shot no matter what. The extra diameter of wound cavities we are talking about is a centimetre or 2. The difference in gel of the max permanent cavity of the 75gr .223 bullet above vs the .308 155gr is .75inches wider radius. This gives you 18mm more margin of error for a bad shot. But then again that's a .223 bullet going 2200fps vs a .308 at 2789.



Unfortunately there are no gel test results for say, an 80gr ELDM at 2800fps. There is a 75gr BTHP TAP at 2750. This is a bad bullet. It does not fragment predictably - fragmentation is dependent on tumbling for this bullet. However the permanent cavity is only 6mm smaller in radius than the .308 bullet.


6mm extra margin for error hardly seems significant when you're shooting a deer.

If someone has an alternative rational, data-driven approach for assessing these things, by all means present it. At present though, gel tests in calibrated gelatin seem to be the only objective comparative metric that allows us to compare the significant component of wounding

Originally Posted by gimp

The thing with "margin for error" is that permanent wound cavities aren't really that different in size that you can significantly miss the important bits with larger bullet vs. a smaller bullet and still expect to achieve a good result. A gut shot is a gut shot no matter what. The extra diameter of wound cavities we are talking about is a centimetre or 2. The difference in gel of the max permanent cavity of the 75gr .223 bullet above vs the .308 155gr is .75inches wider radius. This gives you 18mm more margin of error for a bad shot. But then again that's a .223 bullet going 2200fps vs a .308 at 2789.



Unfortunately there are no gel test results for say, an 80gr ELDM at 2800fps. There is a 75gr BTHP TAP at 2750. This is a bad bullet. It does not fragment predictably - fragmentation is dependent on tumbling for this bullet. However the permanent cavity is only 6mm smaller in radius than the .308 bullet.


6mm extra margin for error hardly seems significant when you're shooting a deer.

If someone has an alternative rational, data-driven approach for assessing these things, by all means present it. At present though, gel tests in calibrated gelatin seem to be the only objective comparative metric that allows us to compare the significant component of wounding

Momentum counts for a lot also.