Thanks for the quick review.. I'm on the fence between these and the new Lehigh 265 prototypes Sabotloader is posting about.. Assuming accuracy is the same out of my ultra-lite I'm not sure which to go with..
I've pretty much learned that the ultra-lite is not a "long range" gun because of the short barrel so I don't think I'm going to be shooting much past 200 yards no matter what.. Maybe 225 or wherever my next reticle ends up.. So, I'm not as concerned about bullet drop at longer ranges, more about minimum expansion/fracturing velocity.. I contacted Parker a while back to try to get a velocity number from him and he kind of danced around the question, so it's hard to compare them to the Lehighs..
What good timing! Just for drill and a good reason to go shooting I did some testing last week. One of the bullets I shot was the .452x265gr. Lehigh. I wanted to test the CF function of the bullet.
After several years of shooting Lehigh's, the original Lehigh, the current Lehigh/Knight Bloodlines or the current offerings directly from Lehigh, I am prepared to say they are the most Terminally Ballistic bullet that I have used. It was really hard for me to give up on my life long Norton Partitions but today would not even look back.
The thing that sets the Lehigh's apart is the CF function of the bullet - I think it actually came from Germany. The CF function is probably 80% of it's ability to harvest so quickly. Yet the bullet even after shedding the petals still creates a large dose of 'hydrostatic' damage to the internal organs as it passes through and exits the body with a blood letting hole.
As important as the CF function is to the performance of the bullet, my latest interest was to determine what velocity was needed for the CF function to work. A trip out to the Pope ranch and the determination was made...
I loaded up vials of BH powder in 70, 60, 50, 40, and 30 grain (by volume) increments. Then set up a chronograph and a water target at 25 yards.
These are the bullets that I set out to test...
This is the target stand I built for the test. All the tests were shot using just a regular water bottle.
Then the bullets were shot through the water bottle and the results monitored on the target after the shot...
With the 265 grain bullet. the first shot was with 50 grs V of powder creating 1312fps
Then 40grs V - creating 1153fps
Finally 30 grs V - creating 1000fps
From looking at the targets you can easily see the blast effect (hydrostatic) effect the water blasting through the heavy paper target and then look closely for small slits - these slits are caused by the release of the petals out and into the surrounding organs. This is the 30 grain target flattened out on the bench.
See the slit type holes a 4 - 6 & 8 o'clock - those are the petals that were released. if you look around the target you can find the other 3 above the center of the target
So this bullet works down to approximately 1000fps. That number arrives from my testing and is not the official number Lehigh might use.
Here is a computed ballistic sheet for the bullet to 225 yards... Look at the computations for 225 yards - plenty of velocity left and over a 1000 lbs of energy left - great Elk Medicine
Finally and I promise to quit. While the Ulta-Lite only has a 24" barrel, the rifle itself is capable of reaching out much farther than 225/250 yards. If I were younger and had the right equipment and with Mother Natures conditions being right - 400 yards would not be a problem. Might not work well with this bullet because velocity and energy but other bullets coming from Lehigh might well do the job.