Water Test 120 grain PPU HPBT bullet.

[VASCAR2]

291E6972-2543-4B20-B560-B4DDC362092C by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/150966264@N06/]C2F2FCAC-7216-4761-AA47-1E30A9DE3B29 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/150966264@N06/]

Here is a picture after the shot. The bullet went through three jugs but the bullet exited the third jug but missed the fourth jug and was not recovered.

94223DBC-AF27-4893-AA21-C50184C1EDB4 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/150966264@N06/]

I tried again and used two jugs with clear caps in front of two jugs with pink caps. I was fortunate to recover part of the second bullet.

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[VASCAR2]

Continued from page 1.


I found part of the expanded/fragmented bullets at the bottom of the fourth jug. The bullet penetrated the bottom edge of the jug where part of the core remained in the jug and there was a hole where it appeared part of the bullet exited the bottom of the jug. The bullet penetrated at least 23” of water. Here is a picture of the fragment I placed in the cap.


D6C8E542-1459-4B90-95C7-F12F1804AE16 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/150966264@N06/]

Here is a picture of the bottom of the last jug where the bullet entered the bottom corner.

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Here is a picture of the bottom of the jug showing what appears to be the bullet core exit from the bottom of the jug.


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Since I had one gallon jug of water left I decided to shoot it with an 85 grain Sierra Varmint bullet. The bullet was loaded with 29.0 grains of XTerminator powder with a S&B large rifle primer in a PPU case. I had previously chronographed ten rounds of this bullet and powder charge in fire formed X39 brass and got an average velocity of 2709 FPS.

Here is a picture of the jug after the impact from the 85 grain Sierra Varmint bullet.

CC37399B-FD98-4BE2-AA13-0F42F42C3B6E by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/150966264@N06/]

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Here is a picture of the exit of the bullet through a board from a pallet I use for attaching targets. I found the bullet and pieces of jacket on the ground behind this board.



Here is a picture of the bullet core and a couple of the larger pieces of jacket. The bullet penetrated 5-1/2” of water prior to going through the wooden board.



Another picture of bullet core and jacket in the cap from the water jug.



Here is a picture of the cardboard I had setting behind the water jug. Appears the bullet was completely expanded after going through 5-1/2” of water. This bullet will most likely perforate most small varmints.

[CVCOBRA1]

Looks like those Sierra's would be nasty on coyotes. Not sure how fur friendly they would be. Can you remember how they grouped? Kind of looking for a sub 90 grain bullet just for that purpose. I'm not worried about the fur either.....LOL

[VASCAR2]

The 85 grain Sierra Varmint has proven to be consistently accurate for me. I’ve shot that bullet in at least five different 6.5 Grendel AR-15’s. A friend used to load 85 grain Sierra Varmint in his 264 Win Mag which he used to eliminate ground hogs. I’ve gotten good accuracy with X-Terminator/A-2230 and H335 in 16”, 18” and 20” 6.5 Grendel barrels.

[VASCAR2]

Another thing I noticed about the PPU 120 grain bullet is it seemed to yaw in the third jug where it appeared to fragment by the time it made it to the fourth jug. I was shooting down hill but the PPU bullet trajectory went lower through the water than when I shot the 120 grain Pro Hunter which seemed to go in a straighter line through the jugs. The path of the 120 grain PPU HPBT/MPT bullets track through water was more similar to the trajectory when I tested the 110 grain PPU FMJ and the 100 grain Wolf/Branual FMJ bimetal bullet in jugs of water.

I think the PPU HPBT bullet would prove effective on hogs where your shooting at the head or neck. It would be interssting to see how this bullet would perform on a large hog with a body shot.

I didn’t notice many lead fragments or jacket material in the first couple of jugs I shot with the 120 grain PPU bullet. I never did locate the jacket and as smooth as the hole was on the bottom of the fourth jug I think that hole was produced by part of the lead core. The jacket could’ve seperated in one of the exploded jugs and not recovered. I was surprised I didn’t find any jacket from either shot.