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Forum Index > Rifles general discussion > Re: Z -max projectiles

Re: Z -max projectiles

15 Jul 2017
@ 08:23 am (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Aside from Bob's input, this thread should be treated with caution. Anyone new to hunting should be wary of this thread because it contains a great deal of misinformation, non evidence based anecdotes and zero necropsies.

I will try my best to correct some of this.

Hornady jacket material is generally softer than Nosler.

If a bullet is too soft for the job at hand and meets too much resistance on impact relative to its weight and construction versus game weights, the bullet may cause sufficient internal wounding but there may be no nervous reaction. This occurs due to the surface water tension in the animal becoming so hard, that it overcomes the energy of the soft bullet with regards to nerve (trauma message) impulses. The animal does not therefore lose consciousness. It does not respond to trauma by shutting down and instead uses whatever oxygen that has remained in its muscles to move towards escape. Even this is a very hashed description.

Internal wounding may well be very broad and in the case of the little 50gr V-Max, the wound may be about 6" deep and 2 to 3" wide. Without a nervous reaction, the animal may run some distance before bleeding out. The bullet may not exit and we may not see much physical evidence of wounding unless we open up the animal.

Head shots can be worse, the bullet expending all energy on the outer skull of game, failing to penetrate. Depending on the size of the animal in question, 40-50gr bullets can prove insufficient for head shots.

One would think that based on the above, performance (nervous reaction) should improve at extended ranges. It can to some extent but the trouble is, this bullet weight is very light and so it loses what little energy it had after traveling a little way out. The same goes for penetration, again depending on the size of the animal.

If the hunter fails to perform a detailed necropsy (autopsy), he may misunderstand what has happened and make a statement that the bullet has just passed through without causing damage. This is not uncommon.

In ballistics, it is not uncommon to find the truth in the very opposite of what we have initially concluded. This factor makes it very difficult for bullet makers to find middle ground with hunters. If you go to my blog page, you will see a photo of Hornady's senior ballistician Dave Emary. If you look at his facial expression, you will see a good many years of practicing the smile and nod.

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