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Well, testing of some Lehigh Defense .264 brass Controlled Chaos bullets loaded up for me by LRRPF52 started off rather rocky. These bullets are supposed to penetrate and break apart, creating multiple wound channels. It is suggested they be shot near the CNS, which I assume means hoping that one of the fragments will damage the CNS. For this brass bullet, this seems to be wishful thinking.
Here, I would like to point out that there are some critical features of doing these analysis. First, you need to recover the animal. It is hard to know what the bullet is doing if you lose your data. Second, if you recover the animal, it would be nice to recover the bullet or portions there of.
The first hog shot was on the run and my partner shot it multiple times and while I had it it once, and there were multiple exit wounds so it did not seem prudent to tear apart the whole carcass in hopes of finding out if my bullet had remained inside.
The second hog was the first hog noted in the video. It was also shot multiple times. My partner was going to try to shoot the chest with his .300 BO and I was going to pick a spot farther back that turned out to be a butt shot because of a fortuitous flinch. He shot the hog 2 times. I shot it 3 times. At least one of my bullets (last shot) definitely exited and my 2nd shot appeared to have either exited or remained in the abdomen. Given the plethora of holes and lack of discovery via metal detection, I gave up on bullet #2. Bullet #1 was recovered and was in very good shape for a bullet that had got deep lengthwise through a hog, suffering only slight expansion at the tip.
The next hog was a big sow. First shot was great, but she ran and I popped her with a second shot on the run. First shot entered behind the right shoulder and exited in front of the left shoulder, apparently passing near the spine, but missing the spine. This seems to have been a good shot through the boiler room and despite taking off, I don't doubt she would have gone down fairly quickly. The exit wound under the skin was tiny and unremarkable, however. Metal detection revealed no fragments. The second shot was made in an attempt to stop her sooner rather than later. You can hear the impact of the second shot clearly on the video. This second shot entered farther back and somehow exited out the bottom of the hog, clipping the heart in the process. Metal detection revealed no fragments. The problem with is example was that the video cut out during recoil when the cable detached from my scope. I had not had that happen before with this scope, but it chose now to happen.
Both shots created more impressive entry wounds than exits, which I found odd. Neither seemed to do much more than punch through the hog.
The last hog finally had most facets come together. I made a good shot and the hog went down. Video worked. Examination revealed that the bullet passed through the neck, exiting with a small permanent wound cavity that was maybe the diameter of my pinky finger. It was NOT impressive. I probed the hole and found where the bullet had passed through the spine behind the head, breaking apart at least one vertebra. Whether the exit hole through the soft tissue was due to a partially expanded bullet or due to the bullet forcing bone fragments out after passing through the spine is anybody's guess. Metal detecting revealed no other fragments.
So the bullets do not appear to be expanding significantly. The do not appear to be breaking apart into fragments and creating multiple wound channels. The do seem to penetrate well and if you shoot the hogs in the right places, the hogs will die, but then again, I don't know that I could not have gotten as good of results with FMJ.
I am going out for 3 more nights this week in hopes of getting some more hogs. I will continue to test these bullets at least for these hunts.
As well as these are holding together from a Grendel, I am wondering if they might be more suitable for barrier penetration than hunting.
Here, I would like to point out that there are some critical features of doing these analysis. First, you need to recover the animal. It is hard to know what the bullet is doing if you lose your data. Second, if you recover the animal, it would be nice to recover the bullet or portions there of.
The first hog shot was on the run and my partner shot it multiple times and while I had it it once, and there were multiple exit wounds so it did not seem prudent to tear apart the whole carcass in hopes of finding out if my bullet had remained inside.
The second hog was the first hog noted in the video. It was also shot multiple times. My partner was going to try to shoot the chest with his .300 BO and I was going to pick a spot farther back that turned out to be a butt shot because of a fortuitous flinch. He shot the hog 2 times. I shot it 3 times. At least one of my bullets (last shot) definitely exited and my 2nd shot appeared to have either exited or remained in the abdomen. Given the plethora of holes and lack of discovery via metal detection, I gave up on bullet #2. Bullet #1 was recovered and was in very good shape for a bullet that had got deep lengthwise through a hog, suffering only slight expansion at the tip.
The next hog was a big sow. First shot was great, but she ran and I popped her with a second shot on the run. First shot entered behind the right shoulder and exited in front of the left shoulder, apparently passing near the spine, but missing the spine. This seems to have been a good shot through the boiler room and despite taking off, I don't doubt she would have gone down fairly quickly. The exit wound under the skin was tiny and unremarkable, however. Metal detection revealed no fragments. The second shot was made in an attempt to stop her sooner rather than later. You can hear the impact of the second shot clearly on the video. This second shot entered farther back and somehow exited out the bottom of the hog, clipping the heart in the process. Metal detection revealed no fragments. The problem with is example was that the video cut out during recoil when the cable detached from my scope. I had not had that happen before with this scope, but it chose now to happen.
Both shots created more impressive entry wounds than exits, which I found odd. Neither seemed to do much more than punch through the hog.
The last hog finally had most facets come together. I made a good shot and the hog went down. Video worked. Examination revealed that the bullet passed through the neck, exiting with a small permanent wound cavity that was maybe the diameter of my pinky finger. It was NOT impressive. I probed the hole and found where the bullet had passed through the spine behind the head, breaking apart at least one vertebra. Whether the exit hole through the soft tissue was due to a partially expanded bullet or due to the bullet forcing bone fragments out after passing through the spine is anybody's guess. Metal detecting revealed no other fragments.
So the bullets do not appear to be expanding significantly. The do not appear to be breaking apart into fragments and creating multiple wound channels. The do seem to penetrate well and if you shoot the hogs in the right places, the hogs will die, but then again, I don't know that I could not have gotten as good of results with FMJ.
I am going out for 3 more nights this week in hopes of getting some more hogs. I will continue to test these bullets at least for these hunts.
As well as these are holding together from a Grendel, I am wondering if they might be more suitable for barrier penetration than hunting.
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