The crew at The American Rifleman, every ten years or so, would do a re-run of various tests. There's the usual "cut off one inch at a time and see what happens on the chronograph" test of rifle barrels.
And, "Brush guns". The usual deal is to collect a fair representation of small and large calibers; slow and fast cartridges. Targets would be placed at various distances behind some brush. Deflections from the targets' centers would be measured.
The only uniform factor was that the farther behind the brush was the target, the greater was the deflection. Doesn't matter if it's pointed or round nose. Doesn't matter if it's a .270 or a .45-70.
I guess this is as good a time as any for my own deflection story. I call it "The Prickly Pear BucK".
I'd jumped a nice buck at very close range. Trouble was, the scope was on 7X instead of 2X. All I could see was mostly brown; occasionally an ear or a tine--and then nothing but brush. I had my .243, using the Sierra 85-grain HPBT bullets.
I figured the buck would circle around and head upwind and uphill toward a saddle in the ridge behind me. I cut across the circle and waited cross-wind to see if he'd show up.
Yup. I mentally patted myself on the back for smarts and got ready to shoot. He ambled along, and then stopped, about 40 yards away. Don't aske me why I was bound and determined to take a heart shot. Maybe because I had to shoot offhand, I guess. There was a prickly pear leaf in the way. "Oh, well," I sez, "here goes."
Bang-whop-plop. DRT, I thought. I walked up to gut him. I looked for the bullet hole. No hole. I searched that danged deer for two or three minutes, and finally found a little drop of blood--and then a hole--right under his ear!
I looked back through the prickly pear, and I hadn't shot through just one leaf. No! FIVE! No three holes lined up in a straight line. The bullet had curved up and to the right, veering from an aiming point at the heart and hitting under the ear! The deer was maybe five+ yards behind the fifth leaf.
I'll take luck over skill, any day!
Art