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Well, as some may know I am prone to experiment a bit to tailor Loads for certain platforms and situations. I do some hunting in firearm restriction areas that require the use of a shotgun, .40 or larger revolver or auto pistols during modern firearm seasons. This got me to build a 10.5" 458 socom ar pistol and so far it has performed great. I have been using 500gr subsonic expanding Maker bullets at 1000fps to harvest 2 deer with drt results.
I recently gained access to a bit larger property and there is some potential for some longer shots out to 100yds or so. This property is still a firearm restriction area so I will use my 458 socom pistol using supersonic ammo. I have developed a 300gr ttsx load that clocks about 1530 fps. I could stop there, except I only have a partial box and those bullets seem to be made out of unobtainium lately.
What I do have is a pile of 400 gr Maker subsonic expanding .458 pills that I haven't used due to settling on the 500gr version for sub hunting. I decided that driven faster they may just act like a controlled fracturing bullet with the 3 petals shearing off creating secondary wound channels and the base penetrating deeper and most likely exiting on deer sized game.
So I put this to the test on a water jug 10" deep and a 5gallon bucket full of damp sand. At 1375 fps the 400gr maker bullet obliterated the 10" water jug and entered the sand bucket fully expanded and petals intact. In the sand the 3 petals sheared off along the path and the base came to rest against the backside wall of the bucket for a total of 23" of penetration. I say this would be an unsurvivable wound in the chest cavity of a cloven hooved cervid.
Bullet on left is another that I shot into just damp sand as an example of what they look like with petals intact. The one on the right had water/sand treatment. What say you, will these work for my intended purpose? These may even work for extended ranges out of a 16" rifle as I know the reliably expand below 1000fps.
I recently gained access to a bit larger property and there is some potential for some longer shots out to 100yds or so. This property is still a firearm restriction area so I will use my 458 socom pistol using supersonic ammo. I have developed a 300gr ttsx load that clocks about 1530 fps. I could stop there, except I only have a partial box and those bullets seem to be made out of unobtainium lately.
What I do have is a pile of 400 gr Maker subsonic expanding .458 pills that I haven't used due to settling on the 500gr version for sub hunting. I decided that driven faster they may just act like a controlled fracturing bullet with the 3 petals shearing off creating secondary wound channels and the base penetrating deeper and most likely exiting on deer sized game.
So I put this to the test on a water jug 10" deep and a 5gallon bucket full of damp sand. At 1375 fps the 400gr maker bullet obliterated the 10" water jug and entered the sand bucket fully expanded and petals intact. In the sand the 3 petals sheared off along the path and the base came to rest against the backside wall of the bucket for a total of 23" of penetration. I say this would be an unsurvivable wound in the chest cavity of a cloven hooved cervid.
Bullet on left is another that I shot into just damp sand as an example of what they look like with petals intact. The one on the right had water/sand treatment. What say you, will these work for my intended purpose? These may even work for extended ranges out of a 16" rifle as I know the reliably expand below 1000fps.
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