What in h....

[Sverre A.]

Last month I was in South Africa, and shot an Oryx with a .454 Casull, hard cast bullet in 325 gr.  

The animal was standing broadside – 85 m - maybe a little bit to the left for me.  

I hit it in his shoulder.  The bullet went through the skin, then it turned to the right and swerved along the body.  

Then it found it`s way to the animals throat (under the skin) and followed it up to it`s mouth.


The Oryx was as mentioned - standing a little bit to the left (when I was looking at him)

I mean that the bullet should start to penetrate  - regardless of the animals position.

When does an animal stand complete broadside to the hunter?

Anyway – I should believe it would be more natural that the bullet swerved to the left – than to the right.

 

How can a bullet act like this?

It was no branches between the Oryx and me.

 

Last year I shot a Blue Wildebeest at 105 m with the same kind of bullet – and it went through the body as nothing.
 

The bullet:

Lyman 325 grs.

1386 fps. (Ruger Super Redhawk, 7,5”)

Accuracy at 100 m/3-shot groups =  9 cm

[BruceP]

Just a guess would be that the bullet might have just caught the side of the rounded bone in the shoulder joint turning it to that side. Sounds like the bullet did penetrate a good bit, just not in a straight line.
BruceP

[jhalcott]

So, now we no SOMETHING. Oryx are tough.!
   Did you hit the shoulder or just behind the shoulder? It sounds like you hit just in front of the shoulder where it starts to dip into the neck junction, Caught a muscle or blood vessel. This can happen with a round nosed bullet.Even a "flat nose" with a small meplat can do it. I had a similar experience with a 45acp shooting ball ammo on a feral goat. Distance was about 10/12 FEET.I was stunned to see it run off,but got in another shot and had to use a 3rd to finish it.
 Hard cast bullets often act like FMJ's. That is why many casters use a bullet slightly SOFTER than linotype for hunting.
 I would like to see a picture of that bullet if at all possible!
   Please do not take these comments as flames.  jh

[New Hampshire]

This is a little bit of an odd story but proves a point.  I guy I worked with is a Nam Vet.  He said he saw a guy shot square in the head (he was wearing a helmet,) and that bullet followed the contor of his helmet/skull.  The bullet, if I remember, stayed in the helmet on the opposite side from where it entered and traveled.  Moral of the story, when bullets hit something hard like bone they do some crazy a$$ stuff.
Brian M.

[Bullseye]

Last year I shot a deer that was perfectly broadside at 20 yards.  Hit him right in the shoulder (I was aiming a little behind the shoulder) with a 44 cal. 240 gr. XTP out of a muzzloader.  The bullet went in the shoulder and came out about half way down the ribs on the other side.  How I do not know, it must have deflected off the shoulder bone.  The amazing thing is that the bullet tore up the vitals bad and the deer still jumped a fence at 40 yards and went another 60 or so after that with almost no blood trail.  How an animal can do that, I will never know.  I know I do not want to hit any more square in the shoulder again, it tore up way to much meat.

[Lloyd Smale]

lots of variables here. first bullet design what was it a keith a lfn a turnecute nosed bullet. Some tend to go straighter then others. What speed did you shoot it at. If it impacted much more then 1200fps that could have added to the problem. Angle that the bullet hit bone will cause it. What did the bullet look like when you recovered it was it wiped on one side. Was it all  there or was the nose gone. Then it could be an alloy problem. We do alot of penetration testing on bone hardwood and wet news print. What we found its this First the best alloy weve found is something on the line of 5050 ww and lyno or something that gives about 16-19bhn. Hard enough to stay together and penentrate and not so hard as to crack. Once a nose deforms it acts like a parachute. Second is that at over 1200fps almost all bullets deform in some way and it effects the pentration. Next bullet design. We get the best performance with swc and lfn bullets wfns and turnacated nosed bullets do a little worse. Turnacated nosed bullets are probably the worse for taking a dive. Another problem can be to heavy of a bullet for the caliber but there you should be fine. Idealy in a .44 i would go with a 300 grain bullet cast as i recomended pushed at 1100-1200fps. As with anything once in a while things are just going to go wrong and cant be explained thats why when we test we fire at least 3 of each load. One thing i can guarantee is that if that hard cast failed a jacketed bullet would have failed worse under the same circumstances. Most problems we have had with the .454 in penetration have came from trying to push bullets to fast. Thats why im a firm believer in the fact that with cast anyway a .454 is no better then a .45 colt and if you want more power you must to to a bigger diameter heavier bullet.

[Sverre A.]

I didn`t recover the bullet.  I should want to post some pictures - but I don`t know how to do it.  I asked the moderator but ....
If somebody want pictures - send me your e-mailadr.  Sverre

[Mikey]

Sverre:  Mornin'...  Have to go with New Hampshire and Lloyd on this one - bullets do not always do what they are supposed to do or perform the way they should.

The Vietnam story New Hampshire relayed happended a couple of times that I am aware of and supports the notion that performance isn't always as expected.  Also, Bullseye and jhalcott have their points and that also lends credence to your report of the bullets less than expected performance.

I understand that Oryx can be considered tough and that more than one person has fallen to being impaled by those gnarly lookin' horns they have - that to me indicates a critter who may not want to just lay down and die for you.  And, if he was perfectly broadside, he didn't see or hear you. which credits your hunting techniques.  

All in all, although the bullet may not have performed as expected (this time), your hunt was successful and you have my congradulations.  Your experiences give us all issues to consider and I am grateful you have shared them with us.  Mikey.

[PaulS]

I guess there might be a good reason why most hunters in Africa use solid bullets (copper and bronze). Hard cast lead is apparently soft enough that it doesn't smash the heavy bones of African game.

PaulS