wondering about terminal ballistics 270gr .348

[winchester85]

i run a 270gr gc round nose bullet in my model 71 348. basically a cylinder with a hemispherical nose. i run it at about 1850 fps.

been thinking i would use it for a bear. plenty of power i would think, but wondering about the shape delivering much energy or if it would just punch a .349 hole through the bear?

[Cowboy_Dan]

Depends on a lot of factors. What alloy are you running? Expected velocity at impact? Best way to find out for yourself is to do some testing at the expected range. If the alloy is soft enough and moving fast enough at the target, that round nose will flatten out nicely.

If you use a flat top punch when lubing, it will squish on a flat point if the alloy is soft enough. I have done it with straight wheel weights making Tokarev boolits. Seemed like the meplat was centered, but I didn't do any measuring.

[WBG]

For a serious game bullet, some people including me, like a wide flat meplate that is 70% -80% of the bullet diameter. We think this results in a better wound channel as the bullet "cuts" through the tissue. This wide flat meplate is popular in Africa with harder bullets. Nothing new, but I thought I would emphasize it. Of course, your round nosed bullet in a softer, expanding, alloy usually gives a super wound channel too. Brian
PS. Your load is plenty of power for black bear, imo.

[ericp]

I'm also in the camp that prefers a nice meplat for hunting bullets but as long as you keep your alloy soft I'd expect it would hammer a bear with authority. My favorite hunting bullet for my Browning 71 is the Accurate 35-250B.

Eric

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=35-250B-D.png

[WBG]

I have one of Accurate Molds in 585cal. 650 grain that I will use on cape buffalo next April. It has a wide flat meplate. It looks perfect. While I am new to casting, I am savvy about machine work. This Accurate mold is first class work. I have killed cape buffalo with one hit from a wide flat meplate solid bullet in 375 HH. I am convince that the wide flat meplate is a good thing for hard to kill animals. Brian