Confusion on bullet hardness.

[kbstenberg]

this hunting season has put some doubts in my mind on my cast bullets. I have harvested a few deer with my cast bullets in the 30/30 with 50SOWW/50COWW + 1% sn.
This year I am using a 7TCU with 357maximum's Thore bullet the same alloy as above. Using 24gr/ 335, powder coated. I tested my loads at 50yards using kitty litter bottles (about 1.5gal, each) and got very good bullet mushrooming to .5". I can keep all my bullets in a 1" group from 25 yards out to 100 yards.
But this year I killed a buck at 10 yards. I never hit any bones but it went through the top half of the heart, through the liver, went through the lungs which it made mush out of. I found what was left of the bullet just under the hide just behind the opposite leg.
All that was left of the bullet was less than 1/3rd the original weight. I would have thought from the water test that the bullet would have had superior performance with my alloy and velocity? And I was stunned that the bullet didn't pass through the animal at that distance?
The deer still ran 200 yards with not a drop of blood to follow. It had blead out into the belly but not let any blood drip out.

[runfiverun]

sounds just like my home made [sierra copy] jacketed bullet in the 0-6.
up through the heart/lungs and off shoulder then stopped.
both the bullet and the deer.

you can either have internal disruption or penetration with the 7mm's using cast boolits.
the only real practical way around it is to use some soft lead for the first 1/4" or so on the nose and water drop from the mold.
this gives you more of a partition like performance.

[Yodogsandman]

That's one tough buck! Congrats on finding it without a blood trail to follow!

[OS OK]

You know, this gave me a thought, never heard of doing it but here goes.

With that mix, couldn't you drop them from a mold and grab them quickly to stand them in cool water about 1/2 the height of the cast OAL?
Let them sit for 10 seconds or so and take them out.

You could try that with varying lengths of time then test them with a BHN tester on the nose and on the base to see if it would make a difference?

I'm thinking the base would water harden to some extent being in direct contact with the water...then the nose would remain to some extent softer depending on how much heat tried to siphon out through the base.

Just an idea, might be a little nutty, but...might be worth a try?

charlie