Thread: Where was this hit?

Originally Posted by whanahuia

From what I can see, Left rear leg is not allowing deer to pivot and is stiff.

Yeah, looking like thats where it was hit.

Put a few of them NBT in without changing anything else in load...same powder n charge weight,leave seater the same. Bet the terminal result will be vastly different lol. Swings n roundabouts,you can't make omlet without breaking eggs and you can't cleanly anchor deer without smashing legs.

Grab the wrong rifle in your haste, Tahr, Haven't read any stories like this in the .223 thread,

Looks like it went top of shoulder and into the other leg because it wobbles on that leg as it turns. My son had a similar shot recently but it took front out just above wind pipe. The deer was walking just.
Ask Te Tawa because this is his calibre as well.

The plot thickens. Here is a pic of the undamaged left hind leg (the near rear leg) from my mate. Maybe TeRei is right (and Whanahuia) and the bullet hit right on the aim point and angled right though - that figures from the angle it was on. AND I remember now there was a bit of guts hanging out of her off flank which would have been the exit from the first shot. Which means I probably shot her in the haunch in the trees OR the first shot carried on through the haunch after it exited the flank, and I missed the 2 shots in the trees OR didn't see another hit when I butchered her.

Silly old bugger.

At least Im satisfied now the first shot was on point. Phew

Here's the exit. Problem solved. In the high shoulder and out the ham.

So what do you think about it?

Originally Posted by gimp

So what do you think about it?

I think it’s a good demonstration that if copper bullets don’t expand they are not effective, and when they do expand they are still not as effective as fast expanding/frangible cup and core bullets. Regardless of their (solid copper) penetration. The exception being the Hammers because they have a the frangible element of shedding their petals for secondary damage.
I don’t think this is caliber specific.

Originally Posted by Tahr

I think it’s a good demonstration that if copper bullets don’t expand they are not effective, and when they do expand they are still not as effective as fast expanding/frangible cup and core bullets. Regardless of their (solid copper) penetration. The exception being the Hammers because they have a the frangible element of shedding their petals for secondary damage.
I don’t think this is caliber specific.

That's about what I think about it. It is nice to shoot a cartridge where you can see the impact and not have to guess too. Looks like the .257R is a bit too much for that at these distances.

What's your impact V?

Originally Posted by gimp

That's about what I think about it. It is nice to shoot a cartridge where you can see the impact and not have to guess too. Looks like the .257R is a bit too much for that at these distances.

What's your impact V?

@gimp 2367 fps

I think the first shot may gone thrlugh the liver. Ive seen deer shot through the liver just stand a while then collapse.

I think the tipped Barnes expand more reliably. Perhaps the tips help initiate expansion better.

I have not had trouble with "soft" bullets killing, ie lack of penetration(other than obvious varmint bullets used by mistake) but rather from too hard bullets.

Out of interest the worst experience I had on a deer was three wounding shots and a long messy tracking job - was also with a .257 Roberts as it happens, using moderate loads from the traditional old 257 Rob data which was underloaded anyway. Slow hard bullets acting like FMJ and a rattled shooter after things started going bad.

It does concentrate the mind wonderfully when tracking spots of blood at shoulder level on bushes with limited visibility and a cocked rifle.