E tip and bullet expansion

[Dr. Rx]

I just learned that after about 2000 fps, e tip bullets don't get enough expansion to drop animals beyond 400 yards. What has been your experience on live hunting?
I harvested a mule deer at 250 yards and it had an exit wound about the size of a quarter. Should I be looking for a different bullets beyond 400 yards?

What bullets would you recommend?

Kris

 

[brsnow]

I bought another rifle with higher velocity for longer shots and switched to Barnes LRX for the reason you mentioned. Went from 7mm-08 to.280 AI, these are for elk.

 

[Dr. Rx]

Thank you brsnow.
I'm shooting a 300 wsm, I like the idea of a 280 AI with the Barnes lrx.. thank you

 

[brsnow]

Thank you brsnow.
I'm shooting a 300 wsm, I like the idea of a 280 AI with the Barnes lrx.. thank you

You can find a higher velocity bullet with your .300 wsm. You are all set!

 

[Middleofnowhere]

I’m a little skeptical about that claim for E-Tips.
If you need to use “non-lead”, like me, consider Hammer Bullets or Barnes. They have excellent long range performance on game.

 

[Tumbleweed]

While I can't speak to their terminal performance on animals I do have some experience with load development and E-tips.

A friend asked me to work up a load in his 7STW with the 150 grain .284 version. These things have so much bearing surface that you really gotta be careful on powder charge. I could not get good velocity out of them either for this reason. Switched to the 168 Berger Classic Hunter and the difference was night and day. Also, the ballistic coefficients are much lower than advertised.


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[Kimber7man]

The hole in the elk in my avatar is the entrance hole from a 140 E-tip from my 7mm08. Muzzle velocity was 2,780 and elk was 370 yards away. Went right through her, she was on the ground and dead in about a minute.

 

[260madman]

Nosler says 1800 FPS for etips. Furthest I’ve used them was a little over 220 yards with my 6.8 SPC. Killed 2 deer.

I would look for a different bullet to use “long range” if that’s truly where you’ll be taking game from. Soft is good at distance.

Old pic of 2 recovered from sand at the range.

 

[Kimber7man]

Yeah if you’re going to stick with Nosler I’d think over 400 yards would be Accubond long range territory

 

[Dr. Rx]

You can find a higher velocity bullet with your .300 wsm. You are all set!

Yeah if you’re going to stick with Nosler I’d think over 400 yards would be Accubond long range territory

Great point. I don't see myself shooting beyond 400 yards.. but it's absolutely interesting that these bullets do not really expand...I would have never expected that from a guilded metal bullets

 

[Dr. Rx]

You can find a higher velocity bullet with your .300 wsm. You are all set!

What would you recommend I start with using factory ammo for Barnes bullets for a 300 wsm?

 

[Hoghead]

I use maker bullets. He is a small company that will design a bullet to do what you want. I shoot hogs with a 500 JRH I use 1150 fps so the bullet doesn't go through the hog and hit a dog. I called him and told him what I wanted and he sent me 5 bullets. I loaded them but the COL was a little long. He moved the canalure sent me 3 bullets he shot at 750 900 and 1200 fps. Every bullet I have killed a hog with worked exactly like it was supposed to. I really can't say enough about the customer service.

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[Kimber7man]

Looking at my ballistics, the 140 E-tip from my 708 mv of 2,780 would drop to:
2,000 fps at 560 yards with 1,250 fpe
1,800 fps at 725 yards with 1,010 fpe

 

[mcseal2]

I went to the 180gr E tip in my 300 win mag for my AK moose hunt. My chronograph showed them running 2896fps at the muzzle from a 23.5" barrel. My buddy shot them from his 300WM also, same load. I shot my bull twice through the lungs at 300 yards. Both bullets exited and he didn't go far before dropping. Internal damage looked about as expected. My buddy got a smaller bull late in the hunt at 500 yards. His bullet also exited and his bull dropped right there.

Interestingly I did recover one from my whitetail last year after the moose hunt. Due to scope issues with my 264 win mag I used my 300 on deer. I took my buck at 379 yards quartering toward me. He was sparring with another buck up until that point and not offering a shot, I didn't think it likely I was going to get a better opportunity before I lost light. The bullet entered just inside the RH shoulder and wound up under the hide near his hip. These are pics of that bullet. Impact velocity should have been around 2260fps. The bullet retained 179 grains, must have only lost the plastic tip.

 

[Dr. Rx]

I went to the 180gr E tip in my 300 win mag for my AK moose hunt. My chronograph showed them running 2896fps at the muzzle from a 23.5" barrel. My buddy shot them from his 300WM also, same load. I shot my bull twice through the lungs at 300 yards. Both bullets exited and he didn't go far before dropping. Internal damage looked about as expected. My buddy got a smaller bull late in the hunt at 500 yards. His bullet also exited and his bull dropped right there.

Interestingly I did recover one from my whitetail last year after the moose hunt. Due to scope issues with my 264 win mag I used my 300 on deer. I took my buck at 379 yards quartering toward me. He was sparring with another buck up until that point and not offering a shot, I didn't think it likely I was going to get a better opportunity before I lost light. The bullet entered just inside the RH shoulder and wound up under the hide near his hip. These are pics of that bullet. Impact velocity should have been around 2260fps. The bullet retained 179 grains, must have only lost the plastic tip.

So I take it you are a believer in the ETip bullet..
Thanks for sharing..looks like great expansion to me

 

[KClark]

Have killed two bull elk with 180gr E tips from a 300 WSM, one at 25 yards, the other at 450 yards. Recovered one bullet from the 25 yard shot and it was picture perfect. No bullet recovered from the 450 yard kill but lots of meat damage.

 

[deerkiller]

Have killed two bull elk with 180gr E tips from a 300 WSM, one at 25 yards, the other at 450 yards. Recovered one bullet from the 25 yard shot and it was picture perfect. No bullet recovered from the 450 yard kill but lots of meat damage.

can you be more detailed about the meat damage and particulars ?

 

[mcseal2]

So I take it you are a believer in the ETip bullet..
Thanks for sharing..looks like great expansion to me

They have done well for me so far. Only downside I've seen is that when a whitetail takes off after the shot (my wife's and my buddies bucks) they don't leave a big blood trail in their initial sprint. Much less than I've seen with Accubonds in the past. The smaller entrance and exit just don't gush blood as fast. We recovered both deer within 100 yards of where they were hit, but they didn't leave much blood getting there. They just sprinted until they died basically. Could be more of an issue on a poor shot. Where they don't over-expand or blow up though shooting through the shoulder can fix that.

My rifle keeps them up around 1930fps at 600 yards. That's as far as I'd shoot at game even under ideal conditions. From my limited experience I expect them to perform fine out there, and much better at the ranges I usually shoot game at. I practice a lot at 600 to make the 350yd and shorter shots I look for easier.

 

[deerkiller]

They have done well for me so far. Only downside I've seen is that when a whitetail takes off after the shot (my wife's and my buddies bucks) they don't leave a big blood trail in their initial sprint. Much less than I've seen with Accubonds in the past. The smaller entrance and exit just don't gush blood as fast. We recovered both deer within 100 yards of where they were hit, but they didn't leave much blood getting there. They just sprinted until they died basically. Could be more of an issue on a poor shot. Where they don't over-expand or blow up though shooting through the shoulder can fix that.

My rifle keeps them up around 1930fps at 600 yards. That's as far as I'd shoot at game even under ideal conditions. From my limited experience I expect them to perform fine out there, and much better at the ranges I usually shoot game at. I practice a lot at 600 to make the 350yd and shorter shots I look for easier.

I'm not normally a fan of "this bullet for that species" BUT I'm thinking etips "may" be more suited to elk and bigger …. I honestly have not tried GMX's but they deserve some "press" as well I'd suppose - is it to be expected that TTSX's are more "upsettable" and more suited to a larger cross section of game size/species ? I've used them a lot and think highly of them but not on deer and such - I ask this because, here in OREGONE, it's inevitable that we are pushed to using non lead even though I'm confident I've not ingested much lead at all using Accubonds

 

[Dr. Rx]

Have killed two bull elk with 180gr E tips from a 300 WSM, one at 25 yards, the other at 450 yards. Recovered one bullet from the 25 yard shot and it was picture perfect. No bullet recovered from the 450 yard kill but lots of meat damage.

That is good to hear kclark