Hunting with RN Bullets

[Lost Dog]

Classic. 45-70, Lyman 457124 cast sorta soft weighing 405gr and a modest load of Unique making no more than 1250fps drops big feral hogs with ease. Your 1880 cavalry load of 55gr of FF black powder and a card atop the powder gives the same result. Out of my old Sharps and trapdoors were justifiably great on game. Today I only have a Marlin Guide Gun, but the same RN bullet does the job. Never needed a follow-up shot on anything I ever hit with it. Personally, I find nothing wrong with a big RN bullet plowing along with some black powder behind it. Using 16:1 mix they mushroomed great for me.

I have shot coyote with a 120gr GCRN .30'06 at 2000fps and made good kills. Small hogs dropped as well. 200lbs hogs took more than a single hit at times. Went up to 150's for them, and they did have a small flat on them maybe .125"?

 

[Minute Of Berm]

I find it interesting that a great killer of critters hasn't been mentioned, the 40gr. rn .22 long rifle has dispatched a goodly quantity of game. The effectiveness of a well placed round nose boolit is hard to dispute.

 

[Lost Dog]

You got a good point there M.O.B.! Good point indeed.

 

[35 shooter]

I've used both a rn 280 gr. and a fn 235 gr. bullet in the 35 whelen for deer so far.
Season before last i shot 2 does with the rn @ 2200 fps. and ht'd to 27 bhn from ww alloy, so a pretty hard bullet. One doe was at about 35 yds broadside and the other at about 40 yds. broadside. Both were center lung shots just behind the shoulder.
Both of these deer did run, but left blood trails that were almost solid on the ground...it looked as if someone had poured paint out of a bucket on the run.
The first doe made it about 100 yds. and the second one only about 30 yds. and straight to me.
The lungs on both deer looked like a 2" wide blade had cut through them, yet the entry and exit holes in the hide were just full cal. holes with maybe a bit wider on exit, but no more than a 1/2".

This last season i took a smallish buck with the 235 gr. fn. at 2200 fps. ht'd to 27 bhn broadside at about 45 yds. Center shot through the lungs behind the shoulder just like the does were and he dropped sideways right where he was standing. Entry and exit holes looked the same as the rn bullets.

I did like the performance i saw with the fn bullet, but would hunt with either bullet that happens to be in the rifle at the time.

 

[telebasher]

Pure lead roundballs have been taking game a lot longer than elongated slugs.

 

[Welding Rod]

A soft RN in a 35 Rem will do the job. On most stuff in North America. I don't know about 30 cal cause anything that small is for long range, for me. 30-06 with 180 partitions maxed type of thing. Just plinkers/small game/varmits with cast, but wouldn't worry about shooting a whitetail if it was a good shot. A whole mess of deer have been harvested with the 32-20.

 

[KHornet]

Think the bottom line is "if it works for you, don't fix it"!

 

[Bret4207]

I find it interesting that a great killer of critters hasn't been mentioned, the 40gr. rn .22 long rifle has dispatched a goodly quantity of game. The effectiveness of a well placed round nose boolit is hard to dispute.

There have also been gazillions of wounded animals left to suffer and die with the 22LR RN. Even in squirrel, with the 22LR we aim for head or heart shots. We don't shoot for the "big part" and expect to bring home supper. And lets face it, a 22 on a squirrel is the equivalent of using something the diameter of a gallon paint can on a deer. The jackers I used to arrest didn't shoot their deer in the heart with a 22LR, they put one in the brain. Bullet placement and velocity make a difference. I've killed coyotes with 22 Short HP and LR HP. That doesn't mean it's the best choice. I've killed a bunch of domestic hogs with a 22LR RN. Cattle too. That's akin to the old African hunters with their FMJ RN. They didn't shoot Jumbo in the lungs and wait 45 minutes for him to die. They shot him in the brain, same for buffalo, rhino and hippo. And when they missed the brain, well you can read "Death in the Long Grass" and find out all the clever and entertaining ways an elephant has to kill you.

Long story short, yes, RN can work just fine. And like every other design, they can fail miserably if you don't put the bullet in the right place. I am not in the group that thinks more power is better. I firmly believe most (85% at least) hunters would be better off with a 6.5x55, 7x57, 308 or 35 Whelen. Get over into cast and you still have to put the bullet in the right spot, at reasonable ranges and velocity or even moreso.

 

[KHornet]

Cant argue with your choice of cartridges Bret, might include a couple more, but what's in name?

 

[Rick]

I think the choice of cartridge depends a lot on where you will be Bambi hunting. In most areas the 308 is from plenty to over kill. In areas where long shots are likely the 06 could be a better choice. Around here I've been hunting Bambi with a 45 Colt in a Blackhawk, 50 yards is the longest shot I'm likely to get. I've never understood the need for a 375 H&H or bigger for Bambi. Dead is dead. How dead do you want him or how deep in the dirt behind Bambi to you need to drive the bullet?

 

[Minute Of Berm]

Get over into cast and you still have to put the bullet in the right spot, at reasonable ranges and velocity or even moreso.

Which is what I said, a well placed round nose boolit will effectively do the job.

 

[RBHarter]

<<< 50/50 200gr 30 cal , 192-198gr .590-.603 after impact at 1500 fps . The impact point would approximate a muddy boar shot through a shoulder blade. Of course I took the biggest diameter points . At the other end of the equation I have worked a 279-124 NOE in 25/75 1-20/ww and successfully (?) splashed them at 105 yd at just 2000-2100 and passed through 1/4 inch plate steel with a .310 + hole at 2150 and up . I also know that after 20-24" of clean hog (an actual 165# boar) that a 452-252 Lee of 50/50 left a clean but dime sized exit hole at 17 yd with a muzzle speed just under 1100 fps through on side shield, organs, 2 ribs,off side shield and of course hair and hide . I hope in May to prove out 4 more semi pointy but soft bullets ,among them the 35 xcb in a 358 Win in a nominal near jacketed load . The above 279-124 NOE into jacket speeds, 130gr @ 2150 fps . A 454424 Lyman swc at 1250 fps and 257 gr of AC 50/50 . I'm still working on the 30-30 as to go heavy or nominal backed at each shot of course with a known humane solution in case it doesn't go according to plan.

With the top loads of course my worry is the bullet blowing up with typical ranges of 15-50 yds . Not so much the Colts or the 358 but the 6.8 .

 

[Bret4207]

I think the choice of cartridge depends a lot on where you will be Bambi hunting. In most areas the 308 is from plenty to over kill. In areas where long shots are likely the 06 could be a better choice. Around here I've been hunting Bambi with a 45 Colt in a Blackhawk, 50 yards is the longest shot I'm likely to get. I've never understood the need for a 375 H&H or bigger for Bambi. Dead is dead. How dead do you want him or how deep in the dirt behind Bambi to you need to drive the bullet?

The problem is 85% of the "hunters" out there shouldn't be trying shots over 75 yards, much less 350-600!

 

[KHornet]

You are so right Bret! My longest kill on a deer has been about 125, most of them under 75. One with a 50 cal muzzleloader at just a speck under 100. Shot was between the eye and the ear. That was an unlucky deer and a lucky hunter.

 

[Rally Hess]

At one time I had two boxes, like push pins come in, full of bullets and shot I'd recovered from animals I'd trapped. The most being recovered from beaver and coon. I can't tell you how many times I've had landowners tell me they or a family member have shot a beaver before I get the call to come trap them, and that the beaver"sunk" when they shot it. Most with a .22 or shotgun. I caught one large boar coon in SD that had 9 truncated cone shaped .22 bullets in it when I caught it, most in the head and neck area. TSA would have had him pulled aside at the airport for sure.

 

[Ben]

You are so right Bret! My longest kill on a deer has been about 125, most of them under 75. One with a 50 cal muzzleloader at just a speck under 100. Shot was between the eye and the ear. That was an unlucky deer and a lucky hunter.

I tell young hunters here in Alabama, " Draw a circle the size of the mouth of a coffee cup on a large piece of poster board with a black magic marker ".

Experiment with your rifle at different ranges ( 50 yards, 75 yards, 100 yards, etc ) , When you can no longer keep three of three shots in this circle, that is the limit of your range that you should consider taking a shot at a deer. Field conditions ( no bench rest ) should be simulated.

A quick, humane kill ( as far as I'm concerned ) is critical to an ethical hunter.

 

[KHornet]

Never heard of your advice to hunters in Alabama Ben, but it is very excellent advice. That would limit a lot of people to about 35 yds I fear!

 

[Lost Dog]

Ben, that's sound advice.
I'd tell the young ones to make a fist. When they can hit a target that size from the range they figure on shooting then they're ready to go buy a hunting license. Otherwise stay on the range and play with their little black rifles!
Recon I got less diplomatic finesse about keeping hunting ethics in place.

 

[Ben]

Never heard of your advice to hunters in Alabama Ben, but it is very excellent advice. That would limit a lot of people to about 35 yds I fear!

And the catch is Paul, .............many don't need to take a shot much past 35 - 40 yards, truth be know.

Ben

 

[KHornet]

Cant recall what gunwriter sage wrote it, but the jist of the statement was: "Shoot at least 2 rounds in practice for every yard you intend to shoot!" I find that also to be very sound logic, as it promotes accuracy, promotes familiarity with rifle and load, and promotes confidence in the shooter. All to often, deer rifles in particular have MAYBE one box shot at the range and then taken hunting!