Bullet Selection / Terminal Ballistics

[mortensen]

To many hunters pay little attention to proper bullet selection, focusing instead on greater muzzle velocities, how awesome the loaded round appears, the name of the rifle, etc. But it's the bullet that kills game and not enough consideration is placed on the hunt's final results on a few cents worth of lead and gilding metal.

The perfect bullet should expand soon after entering and retain a mushroom shape throughout the entire animal. In addition to the damage caused from the bullet's path, a properly mushroomed bullet will reverberate a hydro-shock extending out to other tissue and organs.

I would consider bullet manufacturers a fairly reliable source when it come to discussing bullet selection and terminal ballistics.
After all, your success as a hunter using their product is also their success which spells more sales for their company.

Bullet Selections: (Examples only, you can go to the web-site of any bullet manufacturer and they will offer you simaliar information on their bullets).

www.hornady.com

www.sierrabullets.com

Hunting Bullet Guide: By Chuck Hawks.
www.chuckhawks.com/hunting_bullet_guide1.htm

Ballistics Resource: Terminal Ballistics.
www.hornady.com/ballistics/terminal.php

[Hardcase]

Thanks for the info!

[mortensen]

This illustration kind of shows you how one thing can lead to another and another and another!

We start off life with a hunting rifle. Then we start going hunting. Then we decide to do reloadining. And now that we hunt and reload, it's not a bad idea to get some knowlege regarding basic ballistics (terminal ballistics). Since we enjoy learning all of these functions, it's not a bad idea to learn some basic gunsmithing! And when you learn basic gunsmithing, there will be something eles thats going to pop up!

There's a vast information highway out there regarding hunting and firearms. And were only scratching the surface!

Thanks for your imput.

[gd3006]

A few years back, Craig Boddington wrote a 2-part article on terminal ballistics. If memory serves correctly it was published in Guns and Ammo. Some really good advice regarding bullet design, selection, and suitable velocities for different game and situations.

gd

[flyman41]

My friend Richard Mann wrote a book about this very subject along with some of the other authors mentioned here. Looks like we share the same school of thought on bullet selection.