44AMP said:
Is "marginally lethal" like being "slightly pregnant"??
or is it like "less lethal" which is only part of the term "less likely to be lethal" which gives a distorted and inaccurate impression?
“Marginally Lethal” is like I aim for the heart or lungs, and the bullet tumbles off to the right missing the vitals. When a bullet tumbles, it creates a much smaller wound area and tends to move away from my line of aim. If it misses the internals I’m aiming at, it may not be lethal at all.
44AMP said:
Did they change target bullet construction and I missed the memo??
None of the target "match" rifle bullets I've ever used, seen or heard of was made for controlled expansion or for penetration and expansion.
I've used 52/53gr match bullets very successfully, for varmint hunting, driven at high speed from a .22-250. They work well, because not only accurate, but they BLOW UP when they hit a target.
That same performance that zaps woodchucks and smaller varmints and nails coyotes with a proper hit is miserable performance on deer, elk, bear, or other larger game animals.
The best big game bullets combine controlled expansion, penetration and weight retention. And, of those three, expansion is the least important, UNLESS it interferes with the other two.
To an extent, you are right. Explosive performance is great on varmints. On them, I cannot see the need to drive deep and expand as a killing method. With a quartering elk, I may need to penetrate 3 ft to exit. To me an exit is important.
This comes down to 3 key points:
1) Shot Path: I want a bullet to drive through the animal on the path I aimed for.
2) Exit: I want an exit for the animal to effectively bleed out of for tracking and loss of blood pressure.
3) Expansion: I want my bullets to maximize the work done on the animals organs. This shows on the bullet as expansion and expansion or over expansion causes weight loss.
So, I strongly agree with the need to expand. An expanded bullet flies true through flesh and does maximum damage, IME.
The theory with monos and even top performing cup n core expanding rounds is they hit game, expand and exit. They can perform even facing bones and long penetration paths.
The target bullets have issues punching through animals at low velocity and over expansion at high velocity. To get better low velocity performance, people will aim for rib cage and true broadside shots. This can be effective down to ~1500fps, I read. Target bullets can be effective up close by choosing shots and entry points without bone cover. As you can see these are highly technical shots for very well practiced shooters.
I’m chasing monos launched at ~3000fps or faster limiting shots to the range where speed drops to 1800fps. Even at that, below 2000fps, I will be aiming to the rib cage to create expansion…and I know monos won’t blow up.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on why weight retention is so important.