Minimum bullet velocity for kill....?

[jmike]

Just wondering what do you guys think is the minimum velocity for a clean kill...?

I am shooting Federal Fusion 180 gr out of a 300 WM. At 500 yards it is down to 1900 fps, according to Federal this is the minimum need for a kill.......?

 

[Rob5589]

Varies based on bullet construction

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

What animal?

 

[WCB]

I doubt they said 1900fps to kill...if you asked them minimum velocity for expansion then ok...that is tested on ammunition loaded down until it doesn't expand beyond original bullet diameter in ballistic gel. Since animals are not gel and have hide and ribs etc...it is more than likely a bit less than 1900fps.

You will also get guys with their figures on energy needed to kill...this is still dependent on bullet construction.

 

[Wrench]

I've killed enough with bullets in the 3 digits to know it will work well if placed correctly......but don't expect major blood.

 

[tntrker]

I was going off of 1500fps min with my Accubonds.

 

[Ram94]

You can probably knock down most gophers well down below 500 fps

 

[Mr. W]

Shot placement is going to be important when starting to reach out that far. I practice in different conditions and chart my results so I know can have the best chance of knowing my dope and where that bullet is going to hit.

 

[Runwilderness]

Checkout the Knowledgebase section of Ballisticstudies.com and Nathan’s books. I am not a long range hunter, but I found the detailed and marketing hype free discussion there quite worthwhile.

Short answer: bullet construction, animal body mass/resistance, caliber, and the over ever important shot placement.

 

[jmike]

All good info, THanks

 

[KineKilla]

As stated, it depends on the bullet construction.

Nosler lists their Accubonds as having a minimum fps of 1,800 to properly expand.

Nosler Accubond LR = 1,300fps.

Hornady GMX = 2,000fps.
Hornady SST = 1,850fps.
Hornady ELD-X = 1,800fps.

Not all manufacturers list a min or max speed either.



Sent from my SM-N976U using Tapatalk

 

[1shotgear]

Those Fusions are basically old school soft points. 1800 FPS would be a very safe velocity for reliable expansion.

 

[Wapiti1]

Fusions are soft due to their electroplated design. The copper is dead soft unlike a swaged bullet design. I'd suspect they will open at around 1200 fps pretty reliably.

Jeremy

 

[bruceleroy]

I would find another round. That is really not what I would expect at 500 from a WM. My 308 shooting 180s is still at 1780 at 500. Seems to defeat the purpose of shooting the magnum.

 

[T Mathews]

it all depends on the bullet manufacture copper normal takes a faster speed to have a more reliable expansion than led they say copper is normally around 2000 fps where led is normally around 1600

 

[tdhanses]

You can probably knock down most gophers well down below 500 fps

Did you mean 50-100fps?