It’s early December 2020 here on the plains of Nebraska and we’re just getting started with Muzzleloader season.  Last night I was driving the short mile and a half home from my tree stand and I saw a deer on the side of the road.  I slowed and favored the side of the road he was on with my high beams, he wasn’t running and didn’t appear to be too concerned with my truck.  He was not acting like a normal deer acts this time of year.  He stood there in my headlights then nervously began to step toward a tree line.  That was when I realized that he was limping severely on his front leg.  Three weeks prior – to the hour – I had helped the young man who had shot this deer, along with his father, track this exact deer shortly after he had been shot.  We tracked him for well over a mile before losing the blood trail.  While we were tracking him, I talked with the young man and his father about how the deer was shot, it’s orientation at the time of the shot, etc, etc.   The young man told me that he had borrowed his older brother’s 243 Winchester because his brother was off at college and not using it….and he wasn’t sure what bullet he was shooting, and that the deer was broadside, and only about 15 yards away, so there was just no way he could have possibly missed…  I had a pretty good idea what had happened at this point…

My mind snapped back to December of 2019.  One year to the month prior.  The owner of the neighboring tract of land to the east, stopped and asked me, in as an accusatory tone as an extremely polite Nebraska farmer can ask, “if I’d have happened to have wounded a deer while I was hunting.”  He went on to tell me, “that they were trying to get a wounded buck down that was on their property and, would I want to help?”  Which is how a very polite Nebraska farmer says – “I am fairly certain that you wounded this deer, you inept SOB, and you’re coming with us and putting your tag on it when we get it down.”  I politely obliged and after a rodeo of a hunt, I killed the deer for them and punched my muzzleloader tag and hauled him off.  They’ve yet to invite me hunting again, which serves edify my position on the nature of the initial invitation to hunt with them.  It also makes me grin on the inside, also being a polite Nebraskan, in the agrarian line of work, knowing very well that the only deer that I had shot during the current season were in my freezer already.  It became fairly obvious that we had someone else hunting in our area and wounding deer.  The deer in question had been shot in the front leg, just below the body level some time prior as the infection was severe.  Just like the deer that was currently standing in my headlights.  The bullet had not exited the leg intact.  It almost certainly had to have been a small, high velocity varmint bullet.  The same farmer later contacted me about the 3rd wounded deer…asking if I knew anything…he didn’t seem surprised to hear that it was wounded by a young hunter with a 243 Winchester.

If this weren’t enough, yet another year prior, in 2018, this time the second weekend of Nebraska rifle deer season in late November – less than 1/4 mile to the west of the exact spot where I now sat watching the 3rd gravely wounded buck in 3 consecutive seasons limping toward a bedding area – I had killed a 3rd wounded buck.  This one was sporting a very poorly placed “Texas heart shot” that had shattered his left hip and left him crippled.   After inspection of the wound revealed telltale fragments of thin bullet jacket and only about 6” of penetration, it was undoubtedly a wound made by a very high velocity cartridge with a light jacketed bullet.

3 years and 3 wounded bucks.  All 3 young bucks that really shouldn’t even be getting shot at anyway – in my opinion.  While I can only speculate on the first two deer that required a coup de gras after they had been shot initially, the 3rd deer, I know exactly what happened.  Rookie hunter, in a tree stand at very short range – high angle shot – with a cartridge that is marginal deer hunting in the first place.  What wounded this deer was “tolerance stack”.  Too many variables that added up to the young hunter failing to cleanly kill the deer at which he was shooting.  The hunter shot the deer low in the leg.  Between that high angle of the shot, (the deer’s close proximity amplified the angle created by the elevation of the tree stand) and the height of his scope over the bore of the rifle is also amplified by the very short distance to the target; the physics of the situation in combination with a lack of experience led to a wounded deer.  Had the young hunter been shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5×55, 270, 308, 30-06, etc, etc…it is much more likely that both legs would have been broken and while it would have been an uncomfortable experience for both hunter and the deer, the outcome would have likely been different as there is a much better chance he’d have broken both front legs… 

Wounded deer – wounded game animals in general – are inexcusable…but it happens.  Biggest single factor effecting wounded animals??  Shot placement.  What is worse than poor shot placement?  Poor shot placement with a cartridge that is marginal for the game being hunted.  Too many hunters consume, with youthful enthusiasm, the stories that a spun by “personalities” and “influencers” who are out helping to fuel the passion and dreams that fuel the industry… that’s how marketing works, folks… but it also seems to be leading hunters into something of a false reality.  Simply buying gear and reading about & visualizing shooting game at long range DOES NOT grant any hunter additional skill or ability.  Just like watching YouTube videos probably won’t make you an expert long range shooter…  Growing up, I heard MANY deer hunters brag about how a box of ammo would last them 20 years… one shot every year… hunting on the Elkhorn River bottom of Northeast Nebraska where shots are seldom more than 50 yards…it’s not outside the realm of possibility, but it was probably a bit of a stretch.  I am sure that a lot of boxes of ammo made it every bit of 5 seasons tho.  Guys just didn’t seem to shoot as much back in the late 1980s and 90’s…  If we transition to western hunting where shots are routinely 300 yards or beyond… it’s probably not a bad idea to get some serious trigger time before hitting the field…  Equipment has improved and “ethical range” seems to have increased greatly with the equipment…but what about skill level of hunters?  All the equipment in the world isn’t worth a thing if the end user does not possess the skill to use it properly.  It is important to know one’s own skill level and be very honest with oneself about that skill level… anyway…back to the 243 Winchester bashing… 

The 243 Winchester is far and away the most marginal – yet wildly popular – big game hunting cartridge on planet earth.  Why??  Misconceptions, wives tales and great marketing…  The 243 Winchester is insanely popular inspire of its actual merit.   Developed in 1955 and touted as a “dual role” cartridge for both varmints and deer, the 243 Winchester became one of the most popular cartridges in the world today.  Not entirely unlike McDonald’s cheeseburgers which were introduced just a few years earlier in 1948.  Sure, there are TONS of better cheeseburgers based on actual merit…but volume is king…and McDonald’s sells more cheeseburgers than anyone else, so they must be the best cheeseburgers, right?…right…????   The 243 Winchester was the first cartridge advertised to really bridge the gap between varmints and medium game.  Its “flat” trajectory was “perfect” for western hunting and it was more than capable enough for everything from prairie dogs to whitetail.  It’s “light” recoil was just perfect for “ladies and beginners”…  At least that’s what the sales & marketing goons from Winchester told the gunshop owners who helped perpetuate the 243 into the world… 

Reality…well, now, that’s a little different…  First off, recoil is one of the biggest hurdles for most shooters whether or not we want to admit it.  We all started our shooting career somewhere.  Most of us with a BB gun and/or a 22 LR.  Many shooters first experience with anything that resembled recoil was probably a single shot .410.  Some probably had older brothers or dad’s or uncles who thought it was “funny” to let a younger shooter try something with recoil that was far too heavy for their experience level – to “help toughen them up”…or whatever…in retrospect, subjecting beginning shooters to heavy recoil is repugnant.   Recoil is just one element that reinforces a “flinch” in all shooters.  Flinching makes it very difficult to hit a target.  Not hitting a live target is how wounded animals happen.  Muzzle blast comprises at least 50% of what most shooters would lump into the term “recoil”.   Muzzle blast is concussive force created when the bullet exits the muzzle under tens of thousands of pounds of pressure that has been created by burning propellant.  This pressure also adds to the “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” part of recoil as what is referred to as “rocket nozzle effect”.  The 243 Winchester is nothing short of “world class” when it comes to muzzle blast, especially with lighter bullets, while actual “recoil” measured in foot-pounds may not be as heavy as something like a 308, it is comparable.  However, muzzle blast takes it over the top and creates an overall more intense shooter experience.  I would argue that the 243 Winchester is among the very worst cartridges to give a beginning shooter…regardless of their gender or stature… 

Terminal performance.  “The 243 Winchester is a fast, flat shooting cartridge.”  Well…by most standards, it is pretty fast.  But “fast and flat shooting” is pretty misleading.  For comparison, if we zero both a 243 Winchester with a 100gr bullet and a 30-06 with a 150 grain bullet at 200 yards, at 500 yards bullet drop is within a few inches of one another.  If both guns shoot a 1.5” group at 100 yards, the difference in trajectory will not be noticed on the target at 500 yards as the groups will likely fall inside one another due to radial dispersion.  Conversely, the 22-250 Remington with a 55 gr bullet zeroed at 200 yards drops approx 12” less at 500 yards than both of the aforementioned.  The 22-250 is a significantly “flatter shooting” cartridge and therefore better for longer ranges and smaller targets – aka varmints.  The 243 Winchester is fairly fast with hunting bullets, but no faster than other popular hunting cartridges like various 6.5’s, 270’s and 30 caliber cartridges, but the 243’s bullets typically weigh 30 to 100 grains less…small bullets going fast tend to tear themselves apart when they encounter the target.  Larger, heavier bullets at similar speed tend to hold up better and consequently kill better.  Order of magnitude matters.  It’s basic physics.

The 243 Winchester is a product of marketing success backed up by large scale manufacturing and good salesmanship in the early days – just like McDonald’s cheeseburgers.  The 243 Winchester is, and will always be, a marginal cartridge for big game.  That does not mean that it is not a popular big game cartridge.  It just means that it probably should not be a popular big game cartridge; if success is determined based on actual merit…just ask any well seasoned big game hunter who has used the 243 Winchester.  Neither does the 243 Winchester offer any appreciable gain in meaningful categories over the 22-250 or 220 Swift when it comes to varmint hunting of any type.  Many believe it is a good cartridge for beginners.  This is also not true.  Its muzzle blast is among the worst of all modern cartridges as discussed prior…beginners would be much better served by a 300 Whisper/Blackout or 7.62x39mm in a quality bolt action platform.

If you own and hunt with a 243 Winchester, that doesn’t make you a bad person or mean that  that you should rush out and get a different rifle.  It simply means that it might be wise to consider the actual physical limitations of the cartridge and make sure that your gun is properly zeroed with ammunition that uses a high quality bullet that will hold up to high velocity impacts and penetrate deep enough to provide an incapacitating wound to the game you will be hunting, especially if the shot angle is a little less than ideal.  If one minds the details and does everything right – not forgetting that shot placement is everything – there is some margin for error, but not much.  When it comes to hunting whitetail deer with the 243 Winchester.  Given the number of wounded deer that I’ve personally  encountered in my hunting area over the past few years, and the proliferation of hunters using the 243 Winchester in our area…my belief that the 243 Winchester is simply too small for whitetail deer…and too big to be practical for coyotes…  As for it’s popularity, 1,000,000 “wrongs” don’t make a “right”…and the 243 Winchester is the perfect example of that.

So, just what would I suggest… if you want a smaller bore, short action, sure, you can get a 6.5 Creedmoor…but, if you want the best short action cartridge for hunting; get a 308 Winchester.

Sectional Density > Ballistic Coefficient

Standard Deviation > Extreme Spread

Bullet Mass > Bullet Velocity

Actual DOPE > Projected DOPE

THE MACRO:

Specific Gravity sounds like a pretty hard concept to understand…and it can be a little tricky, especially when it comes to applying it to small arms ballistics.  But it doesn’t have to be hard.  It’s really as simple as a Baseball, a Tennis Ball, and a Whiffle Ball… let me explain… 

Specific Gravity is the term that is used to define an objects mass as it relates to an equal volume of water.  For example:  Water has a specific gravity of 1.  Lead has a specific gravity of 11.34.  This means that 1 cup of lead is 11.34 times heavier than 1 cup of water.  Copper, another common bullet material, has a specific gravity of just under 9, or a cup of copper is 9 times heavier than a cup of water….which means that copper has roughly 80% mass/density of lead.  Copper/polymer and sintered bullets are typically around 6, or 53% the mass of lead.

In this day and age, too many shooters and hunters think no further than muzzle velocity, bullet weight and ballistic coefficient.  But that’s just the “MICRO”, we’ll elaborate on the MICRO later in the essay… But this mindset ASSUMES ALL projectiles to be on a level playing field, and that is simply inaccurate.  A very wise man once said, “the best bullets will always have lead in them” and I concur 100%. 

A number of years ago, I was solicited to help with a very “interesting” project in which a company was working on injection molded projectiles from various polymer/metal matrices.  Seriously wild stuff…and it wasn’t until this project that I truly began to understand just how important Specific Gravity is to small arms ballistics as a whole.  The entire firearms industry seems to have been inadvertently built to work best around a specific gravity of something in the neighborhood of 10 – from twist rates to slide weights…it’s a very real thing.  On this project, we were working with materials that had a specific gravity closer to 6, or just more than half the mass density of lead.  This led to all sorts of very challenging and complex learning opportunities from gyroscopic stabilization to firearm function, and how different density materials perform terminally.  It was a fantastic learning experience. 

In the current commercial firearms and ammunition space there are 3 predominant types of projectiles.  Lead core/copper jacketed bullets (aka: cup & core bullets), solid copper (or gilding metal) bullets, and IMM and/or sintered bullets.  There are others, but they all common types fall within these boundaries.

I’ve had many friends ask, “so, what’s the difference – really” especially when discussing a traditional cup & core bullet in comparison to solid copper hunting bullets.  After a lot of thinking, it finally occurred to me while playing Whiffle Ball with my son.

To more easily understand the role that specific gravity plays in ballistics:  Find a baseball, a tennis ball, and a whiffle ball.  Pick out something to throw the balls at that will react, and not get ruined in the process.  Throw each ball at the target as hard as you can throw it, being careful to put the same amount of energy into each throw.  Which ball causes the most effect on the target?  Next, find an open field and throw each ball as hard and far as you possibly can, being careful to use the same amount of effort and technique when throwing each ball.  Which ball traveled the furthest?  

The effect that specific gravity has on objects that fly should be clarifying very rapidly.  The baseball represents a cup & core bullet.  The tennis ball represents a solid copper or brass bullet, and the whiffle ball represents a copper/polymer or sintered bullet.

This is a gross oversimplification to illustrate a concept, but the concept is very real.  

“HOW can there a difference between two 30 caliber, 150 grain bullets that have the similar shape…but one is made of copper and the other is made of copper and lead?”  The answer is all around us – the atmosphere.  The atmosphere has weight and density – approximately 784 times less dense than water, but never-the-less IT IS dense enough to matter.  For an object to efficiently pass through the atmosphere, the more dense the object is, the less ability the atmosphere has to create resistance to slow the objects travel.   Back to the ball example, the whiffle ball is closest to the weight of the atmosphere…which means that the air is going to be able to slow the whiffle ball more quickly because the whiffle ball lacks the mass to store the kinetic energy that is being transferred to it by the throwers arm.  The baseball, having a higher specific gravity, may start a bit slower, but it is able to store more of the kinetic energy and overcome the atmosphere more efficiently…it will also overcome other targets that it may encounter more efficiently.  This is called “inertia”. 

Ballistics seems to be hard for a lot of folks to understand.  It’s really as simple as physics.  It is also important to keep in mind that there is not and never will be a “magic bullet”.  All bullets have things they excel at, and that also means that they’re not as good at something else.  There are instances where having an extremely low SG bullet is precisely what you need, as you don’t want that bullet to over penetrate or escape a shooting range and hit an unintended target a long distance away.  Low SG bullets will slow much more rapidly than their cup & core and copper cousins.  Certain locations require the use of non-lead bullets and it is great to have many excellent solid copper hunting bullets to choose from, however, one must keep in mind that they simply will not have the same long range capability as cup and core bullets, especially beyond 400-500 yards.  It’s great to live in a day and age where we are afforded so many great choices to achieve the most precise solution.

THE MICRO:

There are lots of other factors that go into how efficiently a projectile flies…but the projectile’s SG will always the lowest common denominator.  Other things that make a difference are the way the projectile is balanced in flight, the relationship of Center of Pressure and Center of Gravity, the bullets angle of attack in flight – the amount of the bullet’s surface that is presenting itself to the atmosphere and can be a function of trajectory or yaw – all these things will factor into how efficiently a bullet flies to it’s target.   The “gravity” of the atmosphere also makes a difference.  In the old days, trajectory tables had to be manually converted to account for approximate atmospheric density due to elevation or other “macro” atmospheric factors.  Today, ballistic “solvers” aka: computers do all the pencil work…that said, it’s always wise to “true” all the numbers on a specific load as while ballistic coefficient numbers and calculators are more accurate than ever, there is no substitute for real world performance…so don’t forget to pull yourself away from the computer screen and get some trigger time… 

An observation in passing:  The vast majority of ELR competitions are currently shot with 375 and 408 CheyTac (and similar) cartridges.  To this point in time, almost all, if not all, bullets for these cartridges are machined from brass.  While the cartridges are significant improvements in terms of “order of magnitude” their performance would receive an exponential gain if a bullet manufacturer were to make a very high precision cup and core style match bullet, as it would significantly increase the Specific Gravity of the bullet… food for thought… 

Every bullet, upon leaving the barrel,  immediately impacts the atmosphere.

— Steve Johnson, circa 2020

Moral of the story:  While air won’t always make a bullet expand, it certainly does help to slow it down.  Consider the differences in air density at different altitudes and account for them in calculations.   Also consider the density of the projectile and how well it will hold up to the atmosphere, especially if shooting beyond 400 yards.

One can not make heavier, a bullet already in flight.

– Steve Johnson, circa 2019

Moral of the story…choose enough bullet.  Order of magnitude matters, and when the rubber meets the road…tis better to have and not need, than to need and not have…

Signs of Pressure

This topic has been a burr under my saddle for a while. I have regular conversations with handloaders and other shooters who nonchalantly discuss “signs of pressure” and understand them to be “sticky extraction” “ejector marks” “flattened primers” and the only “sign” that anyone seems to take seriously is “primer pocket expansion” to the point that cases cannot be reused…because cases are expensive…  Since when did short case life matter more than firearm longevity or personal safety???  

I was super lucky.  I got to learn about internal ballistics in person from industry legends and hands on with state of the art P&V equipment.  The first industry legend I got to study under is a man named Ken Oehler. He built the footings for my understanding of internal ballistics – before that, he built a company called Oehler Research.  I picked up a lot of the rest of my knowledge from working in a ballistics lab on a reloading manual project under the leadership and guidance of a guy named Dave Emary.   

When I first met Ken Oehler at his range near Fredricksburg TX, he asked me a question that has stuck with me since.  I was there to learn how to use strain gauges to accurately measure chamber pressure for the express purpose of creating the most precise reloading data possible.  The year was 1999.  We were discussing using his Oehler M85 strain gauge system.  Ken asked, “What is the first sign of pressure?”  My response was, “very slightly sticky bolt lift.”

Ken responded dryly, “No. The first sign of pressure is the bullet exiting the muzzle.” 

That set the tone for the rest of my time learning from Ken.  The lessons he taught me stick with me today.  Firearm chamber pressure is not a linear black and white thing and it darn sure isn’t something that can be measured by the way a bolt handle lifts.  Two different cartridges loaded to the same pressure can make cases look and act completely differently due mainly to the manner in which the pressure is applied.  

In the days prior to Piezo Transducers and strain gauges, lead and copper cylinders called “crushers” were used to measure pressure in Lead Units of Pressure (LUP) and Copper Units of Pressure (CUP).  While accurate and relative, CUP and LUP failed to capture more dynamic events that are very readily visible with Piezo-electronic pressure measurement or strain gauges.  Time under the curve – or the duration which the pressure is present – has an effect on the way the copper and lead crushers presented data.  Quicker burning propellants tended to make pressures look higher than slower burning propellants.  CUP and LUP use a phenomena called “plastic deformation” to define the pressure created by different cartridge/bullet/propellant combinations.  CUP and LUP ARE NOT the same as PSI, nor is there a correlation. 

When handloaders talk about seeing “signs of pressure” when a big ejector mark shows up, what they’re really talking about is the material threshold where the brass cartridge case begins to fail due to a thing called “Plastic Deformation”. “Plastic Deformation” is when a material changes shape or form beyond the point of “Elastic Deformation” and is permanently changed.  Under “Elastic Deformation” the object will return to its original shape. 

“Plastic Deformation:  is a permanent deformation or change in shape of a solid body without fracture under the action of a sustained force.”

“Elastic Deformation:  is deformation that disappears upon removal of the external forces causing the alteration and the stress associated with it.”

Much is expected from brass cartridge cases.  Cartridge cases are expected to hold the bullet, the primer and the propellant securely and precisely.  When fired, they are expected to expand to fill the chamber and seal 50,000 – 60,000psi of hot, angry, gas moving at up to 7,000 fps from coming back into the shooter’s face.  The case then retracts slightly to eject from the chamber, then repeat that task over, and over again as many times as it’s reloaded.  Over time, plastic deformation will accrue and render cases in need of a trim…eventually, they will wear out and become unusable.  The pressure to which the cases are loaded will determine the amount of times which they may be reloaded.  Cases loaded to reasonable pressures, within the threshold of the material from which they are manufactured will last a long, long time.  Cases loaded beyond the threshold for plastic deformation may, or may not, be able to be reloaded.  In extreme cases loading to the point of catastrophic material failure puts both shooter and equipment in danger.  Where is this precise line?  It’s honestly hard to say exactly where the line between relative safety and catastrophic failure lies.  BUT it is safe to assume that this line lies a safe margin inside loading data that can be found in reputable, published sources that has been tested and vetted by experts.

So….why do shooters still use “guess & by golly” methods to determine chamber pressure?  “Why” is the correct question to ask in this situation. 

If one is shooting a 308 Winchester and only getting 1 or 2 reloading cycles from the cartridge cases before the primer pockets become loose….one might be wise to accept the fact that they are shooting a 308 Winchester and load it accordingly ….OR…. consider trading it in for a 300 Win Mag.

“The first sign of pressure is the bullet exiting the muzzle.”

Case lubrication is almost always necessary.  Some straight wall pistol dies are made of carbide which is hard and smooth enough that case lube is not required.  While this is a very convenient feature and saves time, the process still goes much smoother with lubed cartridge cases.  

There are a variety of effective case lubricants on the market.  The general types are:  paste, pad, and spray.  Each have their place on the bench.  Paste lube is the slowest.  Paste lube is also very effective and a great choice if the reloader is reforming cases or performing a tough full length sizing operation, such as when reloading for a semi-automatic firearm where cases can require significant resizing.  Paste lube is also excellent when just a few cartridge cases need to be lubed.  It is very straightforward to apply, simply transfer the lube to the case with the index finger and thumb.  A little goes a long way, if too much lube is applied, it can build up in the die and cause oil dents, generally on the shoulder of the case. 

Pad lubrication is one of the the best ways to lube a bunch of cases fast.  Pad lube is generally a liquid lubricant that is poured onto a slightly spongy pad, then 4 or 5 cases are laid flat on the pad and rolled to apply lube to the cases.  This method can be used for all types of brass cartridge cases.

Spray type lubricants are very convenient.  They are also very effective.  When lubricating rifle cases, it’s generally best to put the cases in a tray and give them a light spray from all for sides, or to lay the cases flat on a rag with the mouth facing the edge of the bench.  Spray the cases, rotate them 90 degrees and give them a second light spray.  When lubricating bottleneck cases it’s important to get just a bit of lube in the case mouth so that the case can pass easily back over the expander ball that will set the inside diameter of the neck.

 

Here is a piece one of our guys did on the Ruger American Ranch in 300 Whisper aka 300 Blackout.

http://www.nrafamilyinsights.org/article.php?id=8042&cat=3&sub=6

Here is a test report that details the results of the Polycase ARX bullet on an approx 175 lb Whitetail Deer.

EDGE Research Test 7 11252014

Introduction/initial impression:

Polycase Ammunition is a relatively new, Savannah GA based business.  They are implementing pioneering certain manufacturing techniques and materials into bullet and cartridge case manufacturing.   We will be testing and reporting on their injection molded bullets.  www.polycaseammunition.com

We have received a number of bullets for testing and quality is good, weights are very consistent and the monolithic structure of the bullet eliminates concentricty issues.  Prototype bullets occasionally have some excess sprue that is easily trimmed prior to loading.

The bullets are light for diameter.  The initial bullets provided are an 84gr RN and 75gr ARX.  Titegroup seems to be an ideal propellant for loading these bullets.

Initial testing from multiple firearms proved the bullets are very accurate.  The light bullet develops little recoil and is very easy to shoot.

Their ARX bullet is an interesting concept and we will delve into its terminal performance characteristics in future posts.  We will test in 10% Ordnance Gelatin.