Impressed with monolithic bullet

[Sagebrush1]

I switched over to the 127LRX’s in my son’s rifle this year (factory Barnes ammo) Given this is only a sample size of 1, but he killed a deer Monday and I was impressed with the performance.

Entered through a rib, passed through both lungs, exited through a rib and hit the hill. I found one petal in the skin in the off-side. Devastating wound channel without any “explosive” evidence.

 

[nhenry]

I switched over to the 127LRX’s in my son’s rifle this year (factory Barnes ammo) Given this is only a sample size of 1, but he killed a deer Monday and I was impressed with the performance.

Entered through a rib, passed through both lungs, exited through a rib and hit the hill. I found one petal in the skin in the off-side. Devastating wound channel without any “explosive” evidence.

That's pretty typical with the monolithics! I'm a big fan of monos. They stay together and I don't break any teeth on lead fragments

 

[Redman]

Yep I made the switch in 17 and haven't looked back.

 

[JLS]

I’ve been impressed with them for about 22 years now. A lot of deer, elk and antelope weren’t.

 

[smarandr]

I'm still trying to get through all my Partition rounds, but my wife has shot a deer and antelope with some 140gr ETips out of her 7mm-08. I think between the two of them they combined for one step after the shot. About zero ruined meat as well. I actually found some 168 gr TTSXs the other day and am looking forward to loading them up in my 308.

 

[VikingsGuy]

My son and I have killed 15+ animals with Barnes TTSX bullets of various calibers -- everyone has done its job well. My son has killed 2 with Hammers and they show promise as well.

 

[COEngineer]

Pics or didn't happen.

Unfortunately, I have to ruin the pep rally now with my story. Last year my shot went between the ribs and 'penciled' the deer. It didn't react at all and most of the bullet's energy went into the rocks behind it (as I determined later). I thought I heard a hit, but didn't know where because it literally kept walking like nothing happened...so I shot it 3 more times. The first shot was mortal, but I burned up 3 more rounds and ruined some meat that would not have been necessary if I had been using soft-tip bullets.

Glad you had good luck, but I'm not convinced it's worth giving up on lead.

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

Pics or didn't happen.

Unfortunately, I have to ruin the pep rally now with my story. Last year my shot went between the ribs and 'penciled' the deer. It didn't react at all and most of the bullet's energy went into the rocks behind it (as I determined later). I thought I heard a hit, but didn't know where because it literally kept walking like nothing happened...so I shot it 3 more times. The first shot was mortal, but I burned up 3 more rounds and ruined some meat that would not have been necessary if I had been using soft-tip bullets.

Glad you had good luck, but I'm not convinced it's worth giving up on lead.

What monolithic were you using, and at what velocity? I've never had an issue like that with 168gr .30 cal Barnes TTSX started around 3k fps.

 

[COEngineer]

What monolithic were you using, and at what velocity? I've never had an issue like that with 168gr .30 cal Barnes TTSX started around 3k fps.

Here's the whole thread if you're interested: https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/where-was-this-buck-hit.302608/

They were 308 Win. Federal 150 grain copper Power Shok (they use a hollow point design instead of the ballistic tip) at about 250 yds. I don't know the velocity curve.

 

[noharleyyet]

I've a non mono (ScenarL), and monos TTSX, and TSX loaded that are grandfathered. Platform acquisitions recently are Hammer Hunters...have some 25 cal 90g Absolutes and 98g Shock Hammers for the Wby Mag coming to satisfy some speed and energy curiosity.

 

[Seamaster]

I suspect that you mean monometal rather than monolithic. The lithic part is for stone. Monolithic is usually a large stone object, but the word has been widely misused and is now often made in reference to other large inflexible object.

Sorry to be "that guy".

 

[ImBillT]

That's pretty typical with the monolithics! I'm a big fan of monos. They stay together and I don't break any teeth on lead fragments

If you broke a tooth it wasn’t on a lead fragment.

 

[ImBillT]

Pics or didn't happen.

Unfortunately, I have to ruin the pep rally now with my story. Last year my shot went between the ribs and 'penciled' the deer. It didn't react at all and most of the bullet's energy went into the rocks behind it (as I determined later). I thought I heard a hit, but didn't know where because it literally kept walking like nothing happened...so I shot it 3 more times. The first shot was mortal, but I burned up 3 more rounds and ruined some meat that would not have been necessary if I had been using soft-tip bullets.

Glad you had good luck, but I'm not convinced it's worth giving up on lead.

I do think that some monolithic bullets are more likely to fail to expand than others. I’m confident that a lot of them have extremely low failure rates. Frankly lead bullets can fail from time to time as well. I’ll be checking out the thread you posted.

Coincidentally, the only animal I’ve shot with a mono, was a hog, and it failed in exactly the same manner you experienced. IIRC it was a 53gr Barnes X, the old ones, with a TINY hollow point, and it had a fairly underwhelming impact velocity as well. That experience didn’t dissuade me from using monolithic bullets, and I fully intended to begin using them when I quite reluctantly shot a few deer with the bullets that I currently like, and simply haven’t had any reason to try anything different.

 

[ImBillT]

I suspect that you mean monometal rather than monolithic. The lithic part is for stone. Monolithic is usually a large stone object, but the word has been widely misused and is now often made in reference to other large inflexible object.

Sorry to be "that guy".

Definition of MONOLITHIC

of, relating to, or resembling a monolith : huge, massive; formed from a single crystal; produced in or on a monolithic chip… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

“formed or composed of material without joints or seams”

If you’re gonna be “that guy” It pays to be correct.

 

[Seamaster]

Definition of MONOLITHIC

of, relating to, or resembling a monolith : huge, massive; formed from a single crystal; produced in or on a monolithic chip… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

“formed or composed of material without joints or seams”

If you’re gonna be “that guy” It pays to be correct.

That is one usage of the many in modern language listed by Webster, but lithic really does refer to stone. I am sure you can Google some other usages. I am certain that nobody really cares if words used in our modern version of English hold their traditional meaning. I would bet that even "monometal' misses the mark. Webster has added many words such as "ain't" and some modern usages of "cool" also.

It does indeed pay to be correct, but generally it does not pay enough to be worth the effort. I should have kept quiet.

 

[RaiderRich]

Definition of MONOLITHIC

of, relating to, or resembling a monolith : huge, massive; formed from a single crystal; produced in or on a monolithic chip… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

“formed or composed of material without joints or seams”

If you’re gonna be “that guy” It pays to be correct.

Not the dictionary!

Honestly the best way to describe non-lead bullets is, well, non-lead. Many of the "mono" bullets are alloy construction which kind of kills the mono part of either monometal or monolithic, but I digest yes I meant that instead of digress...Family Guy reference.

I have only killed one small deer with a non-lead or mono bullet. 7mm-08 GMX. The deer dropped in its tracks. I understand Hornady has developed a successor to the GMX or another option, the CX (I think) bullet.

 

[ImBillT]

Not the dictionary!

Honestly the best way to describe non-lead bullets is, well, non-lead. Many of the "mono" bullets are alloy construction which kind of kills the mono part of either monometal or monolithic, but I digest yes I meant that instead of digress...Family Guy reference.

I have only killed one small deer with a non-lead or mono bullet. 7mm-08 GMX. The deer dropped in its tracks. I understand Hornady has developed a successor to the GMX or another option, the CX (I think) bullet.

Being an alloy does not kill the mono part any more than the fact that it contains more than one atom. An alloy may contain multiple metals, but it is still a single material.

 

[ImBillT]

That is one usage of the many in modern language listed by Webster, but lithic really does refer to stone. I am sure you can Google some other usages. I am certain that nobody really cares if words used in our modern version of English hold their traditional meaning. I would bet that even "monometal' misses the mark. Webster has added many words such as "ain't" and some modern usages of "cool" also.

It does indeed pay to be correct, but generally it does not pay enough to be worth the effort. I should have kept quiet.

A) -lithic as a suffix is used in more words(and more fields) than I care to count and many of them do not relate to stone.

B) English is not a dead language. You can’t declare people wrong for using a word in a way that is supported by the manual on how to use words and what they mean(the dictionary). Heck, one of the greatest users of the language literally made up almost 2,000 words. You gonna go tell Shakespeare he can’t write like that cause lithic means stone?

You really are “that guy” if you wanna argue with the dictionary and say that only the narrow definition that you accept is correct.

 

[Addicting]

So back to bullets, yep love those Barnes.

 

[Walkathon]

I shot a whitetail buck with a factory 130 GMX out of my .270 win and it worked well. Decent expansion and not a lot of meat loss.