Unexpected Result

[Tallest]

Last evening I shot a groundhog at 9 yards with a 243win shooting 75 Gr V-Max at 3440 fps at the muzzle. A conservative estimate is that it was around 3150 fps on impact. From what I can tell, that should still be north of 1500 ft/lbs.

But the weird thing was, I had about a 0.25" entry wound, and no exit, no rupture, no blood at all. This was an early spring female, so I would guess not much more than 7 or 8 lbs. max. When I picked her up, there was no structure left below the head, meaning she felt like a slack balloon full of water/semi-liquid matter. Also, on impact, she just flopped onto her side, no travel to speak of.

What I can't wrap my head around is how that small of an animal could absorb that much energy without moving more. A friend suggested I had a bad round that was running low velocity, but the shot was located perfectly where I aimed. And this is Hornady factory ammo, I don't think it was a bad round.

It seems stupid to ask if this is possible, because obviously it did. Still...?

 

[Tallest]

Sorry… should say 94 yards


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[Byrdman]

I shot a rabbit at 20yards with a 3800fps 55gr Nosler out of a 243win before. It definitely moved. Bullet never hit the ground behind it. Just disintegrated at blew it to pieces.

 

[weekender7]

The VMAX did exactly as it was supposed to. You got the best results anyone could have asked for.

 

[Geewhiz]

It’s a varmit bullet. Don’t that have super thin jackets that are supposed to explode?

 

[Tallest]

The VMAX did exactly as it was supposed to. You got the best results anyone could have asked for.

That makes the most sense. I've just shot larger groundhogs and even coyotes with 50 and 55 gr VMax at greater distances and lower velocities and had huge, blowout exits. I've never had something hit with this much oomph contain it so perfectly.

 

[RockAndSage]

"I've just shot larger groundhogs and even coyotes with 50 and 55 gr VMax at greater distances and lower velocities"

That's the key part, right there - those blowout exits at greater distances and lower velocities are from the bullet holding together just a little bit better for just a little bit longer with just a little lower velocity. In this case, the lead and copper fragmentation would have been finer particles, not carrying the energy as deep, as the lighter particles have their energy and momentum stripped faster than larger ones. You can see a similar grenading effect with defensive pistol bullets like HST or Gold Dot put into rifle calibers like .350 Legend, pushed at double their intended velocities - they detonate, rather than have any kind of controlled expansion. Maybe v-max bullets just detonate more explosively with, say, only 100fps more than engineered for??

None of this is to say your experience wasn't weird or might be almost impossible to replicate though. I've never seen anything like it, but it sounds like every bone in its body was shattered in absorbing that energy and fragmentation.

 

[JeffP_Or]

There are a bunch of interesting variables for these thin skinned bullets that can change performance. I shot three coyotes on a morning hunt at varying ranges from about 25 yards to a bit over 100 yards with a .223 40 grain Winchester Varmint-X factory load; all pass-thrus and each had varying sized exit holes and all ran some yards. The 25-yarder was the worst/best.

After that morning hunt, I was walking back to camp and shot a badger digging into a dike from about 60 yards - a small badger. Never moved after the shoulder shot. No exit. Caliber sized entry. Similar globular internal mass as you've described.

Are these burrowing animals more densely constructed than coyotes? Thicker skinned as ground dwellers? Heavier boned? I don't know really but honestly could not tell that badger had been hit until I really looked at it. Bullet sure did what it was supposed to in all situations but all to varying degrees - interesting responses!

 

[Fordguy]

Last evening I shot a groundhog at 9 yards with a 243win shooting 75 Gr V-Max at 3440 fps at the muzzle. A conservative estimate is that it was around 3150 fps on impact. From what I can tell, that should still be north of 1500 ft/lbs.

But the weird thing was, I had about a 0.25" entry wound, and no exit, no rupture, no blood at all. This was an early spring female, so I would guess not much more than 7 or 8 lbs. max. When I picked her up, there was no structure left below the head, meaning she felt like a slack balloon full of water/semi-liquid matter. Also, on impact, she just flopped onto her side, no travel to speak of.

What I can't wrap my head around is how that small of an animal could absorb that much energy without moving more. A friend suggested I had a bad round that was running low velocity, but the shot was located perfectly where I aimed. And this is Hornady factory ammo, I don't think it was a bad round.

It seems stupid to ask if this is possible, because obviously it did. Still...?

Strange things happen sometimes. Factory ammo is usually, but not always reliable. I once shot a rabbit at 20 yards with a 40 grain cci 22 mag. The rabbit ran away leaving small drops of blood in the snow. I found the bullet in the snow where the rabbit had been sitting. I've shot a lot of rabbits with 22lr and 22 mag, but that is the only one that stopped a bullet regardless of the distance.