180gr single shot pistol bullet vs Bear?

[chickenstripe]

I know their not boolits, but I feel that this group of folks can shed some light.....

I have a concern regarding Hornady's 35cal 180gr single shot pistol bullet.

http://www.hornady.com/store/35-Cal-.358-180-gr-SP-Single-Shot-Pistol/

I acquired several hundred of these, and have them loaded in my 358Win at 2300fps, and have successfully used them to take deer.

I've learned that this bullet is designed to expand at lower velocities, by having a thinner jacket material.

Can anyone out there give any information, pro or con, about using this bullet for black bear? Im more concerned about bullet failure and penetration (or lack of), not the power that the combination provides.

[TCTex]

I would call Hornady about that! If I am remembering this correctly I have been told by Hornady that they will handle rifle velocities just fine. They put the SSP on there to make the lawyers happy. Something about they didn’t want people loading them up in tubular rifles. (And it was too long to cycle in some platforms.)

As for black bears, I know quite a few hunters that have successfully taken black bears with the 35 Rem, 358 win, 358 JDJ, and 357 Herrett handguns using the 180 SSP.

FWIW, I called Hornady and asked questions about my 26in Encore barrel in 357 Herrett. The two bullets in question were the 200gr FTX and the 180 SSP. I can shoot the FTX at 2400fps and the SSP at 2500fps. I was told to back off the FTX a little and that I couldn’t push the SSP to hard… LOL

[Dthunter]

I have used this bullet for bear in a 357Maximum. They work great at
Those velocities.

I would just pick your shot carefully. If your ranges are short on average I would take only clear broadside shots.

Goodluck and enjoy your hunting.

[429421Cowboy]

My personal opinion, having never shot the bullet myself, is that if it performed well on deer and you were happy with it, i would feel comfortable using it on black bear. I think a good shot that is patient can take an average size blackie with a good deer rifle, many hundreds have fallen to .30/30, .243 and .250/3000 rifles with less effective bullets than yours, as long as it can poke a good hole you should be fine.

[chickenstripe]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.

I have called hornady in the past about 158gr 357 bullets (HP vs FP), and they can comment on velocity, but not performance on game (other than not to use FMJ on game).

I'm going to load some barnes 200gr, and the 180gr SSP's (they are similar profile) and do some penetration comparisons, just to satisy my curiosity.

[mdi]

How did it preform on deer? Shallow rapid expansion? Deep penetration an expansion? Through and through? I would think one would want very deep penetration and moderate expansion for bear.

[fryboy]

bear are a lil tougher than deer ( more like an overgrown hog with out the thick cranium plate ) as noted the bullet is lighter constructed for lower powered calibers ( where it excels btw ) the 358 win has a lil more ummm ummmph and as noted above the closer you are the better the chance of the bullet failing ( read that blowing up instead of thru ) but as noted a 30-30 will kill a bear , heck a .22 lr will kill deer and elephant ( tho i've not done either ) with proper shot placement ( and IMHO that matters more than massive amounts of energy etc )

[Rico1950]

Where I hunt 100 yards is a long way unless your on a pipeline. Hornady 180 SSP in a 35 Rem Contender carbine has done well. For the .358 Win I use 200 gr. Rem or Hornady.

[chickenstripe]

In an effort to publish some data out there on the internet related to these short barreled rifles, and their terminal performance, I did a bit of testing today.

The rifle is a ruger frontier / compact in 358 winchester (16.5" barrel).

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_45615041129f8e0f0.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6509)

I posed a question on this forum about the 180gr SSP bullet from Hornady. For comparison I've included the 200gr Barnes TSX, and 250gr Hornady Interlock.

Muzzle velocities are only known for the 180gr load (chronograph is down) and they are launched at 2400fps. For this length barrel, that is about as fast as I can get them to go.

Impact into wet phonebooks was at 50yds.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_456150411262e8a36.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6507)

Bullets were recovered and the penetration was measured, as was the expanded diameters of the projectiles.

Left to right: 180gr Hornady SSP #3505, 200gr Barnes TSX-FP #35820, 250gr Hornady Interlock #3525

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_456150411288c8c6e.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6508)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_4561504112e360079.png (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=6510)

In addition to the 200gr barnes being the prettiest recovered bullet, it has the same point of impact at 100yds as the 180gr Hornady. Therefore no sight adjustment is required. Haven't tried the 250grainer at 100yds.

The 180gr bullet had alot of fragmentation at the point when it was recovered. About the size of #4 shot. Both the 250 and 180 grain bullets peeled back to the cannelure.

I'll be publishing velocity data within the next few weeks, when I get my hands on a chronograph.

Hope this helps someone...... I couldn't find any data on bullets fired from these short barreled rifles.

BTW I'll be using the 200gr barnes......

Chickenstripe.