Ive been looking around for any word that the 69gr Nosler Custom Competition bullets were ok for shooting furries for a while now and only come across one report on the nosler forums that said they were good. Most people i think are a bit more experienced with the 69gr SMK's and sierra dont recommend them for hunting. Most of the results on animals i have found with the SMK's was that they poke thru and arent reliable for expansion. But these noslers are a different bullet and since they are supposed to have J4 jackets just like bergers do, and considering berger sells J4 jacketed varmint and hunting bullets I thought they are worth a look. Finally the small etch lines running down the nose of the bullet very much like the speer TNT's had me thinking that the bullet would definitely expand and possibly fragment just like the TNT.
Now my tests have not been on live varmints yet and I understand what I have shot into may not replicate skin, muscle and bone that well- this was done to see just what they did when they hit something.
First off, my 22BRx has been re bedded with a bit more resin filled in under the action and barrel. I hadnt shot it for a few weeks. So this was to be a sight in and see how the groups go with the old load.
I set up my portable bench with a rolled up rain coat under the butt and the rifle sitting on its harris bipod. 100m away i set up a paper target on a redgum stump. Wind was probably 15 knots from directly behind me, as i was a little sheltered behind some trees.
First off I fired away to get the sight in set. You can see the results on the target from where i started.
Here is where it starts to get good. I got my sight in good then for the hell of it i moved one click left and fired 3 shots into a group. I know i should fire 5 shot groups but I dont get 5 shots at the same fox. Yes i get plenty at a range target but I only did it for the hell of it. Those three shots went into 0.397' edge to edge. Minus the caliber 0.224 made it 0.173 center to center. Pretty good for me in 15 knots of tail wind and not on a proper set of bags.
Time to test just how the bullets performed.
I had a 20L poly water drum set up 2/3 full at the side of my paper target and I put one into it. It split around the bottom and wasnt very spectacular but it did the job. The bullet was inside and so was a heap of bits and pieces from it. Upon impact, the bullet fragmented violently and sent copper bits everywhere and the lead just disintegrated with it. I was pretty stoked.
Next up was a bag of rags that you can get from automotive parts distributors. The rags are packed in really tight and i wrapped the bag up in silver duct tape. Pushing into it, I think it would go pretty close to the chest of a pig in that it was slightly thicker skinned and was very pretty tight to push in. I put a shot into the target and packed up my gear and headed home.
Getting home, I got into the target cutting it open much like a gunshot victim on ER, pulling rags out slowly inspecting them for holes and copper bits. The results were awesome, with small holes turning into large tears and bits of fragmented bullet cutting the rags up left right and centre. Digging in deeper, I found the bullet, mushroomed up to 0.550'. This was more than twice the original bullet diameter. It weighed 49.6gr, retaining around 72% of its original weight. It had penetrated 22cm into the target.
The bullet that hit the water drum expanded to a little bit more than this and lost most of the lead out of it. It expanded to just under 0.6' and weighed only 25.1gr and retaining about 36% of its original weight. The jacket appears to have split down the etch marks that went down the nose.
So im very impressed with the 69gr nosler custom competition bullet. Not only is it accurate in my rifle but it appears to be capable of performing well on furry things. Would i use them on rabbits? Yes. Would I use them on foxes? Yes. Would I use them for feral cats? Yes. Would I use them on wild dogs? Yes. Would I use them on goats and our average west aussie sized pigs? Yes. I think it would also be more than capable as a small sized deer bullet too, if you had to use a 22 caliber for deer. I think that would be about the limit of it though.
Pic of target
Pic of bullet from 20L drum, note what little is left of the base section and all the bits of copper and lead.
Pic of bullet from 20L drum
Pics of bullet from bag of rag target
Holes from bullet fragments inside bag of rags target
Now my tests have not been on live varmints yet and I understand what I have shot into may not replicate skin, muscle and bone that well- this was done to see just what they did when they hit something.
First off, my 22BRx has been re bedded with a bit more resin filled in under the action and barrel. I hadnt shot it for a few weeks. So this was to be a sight in and see how the groups go with the old load.
I set up my portable bench with a rolled up rain coat under the butt and the rifle sitting on its harris bipod. 100m away i set up a paper target on a redgum stump. Wind was probably 15 knots from directly behind me, as i was a little sheltered behind some trees.
First off I fired away to get the sight in set. You can see the results on the target from where i started.
Here is where it starts to get good. I got my sight in good then for the hell of it i moved one click left and fired 3 shots into a group. I know i should fire 5 shot groups but I dont get 5 shots at the same fox. Yes i get plenty at a range target but I only did it for the hell of it. Those three shots went into 0.397' edge to edge. Minus the caliber 0.224 made it 0.173 center to center. Pretty good for me in 15 knots of tail wind and not on a proper set of bags.
Time to test just how the bullets performed.
I had a 20L poly water drum set up 2/3 full at the side of my paper target and I put one into it. It split around the bottom and wasnt very spectacular but it did the job. The bullet was inside and so was a heap of bits and pieces from it. Upon impact, the bullet fragmented violently and sent copper bits everywhere and the lead just disintegrated with it. I was pretty stoked.
Next up was a bag of rags that you can get from automotive parts distributors. The rags are packed in really tight and i wrapped the bag up in silver duct tape. Pushing into it, I think it would go pretty close to the chest of a pig in that it was slightly thicker skinned and was very pretty tight to push in. I put a shot into the target and packed up my gear and headed home.
Getting home, I got into the target cutting it open much like a gunshot victim on ER, pulling rags out slowly inspecting them for holes and copper bits. The results were awesome, with small holes turning into large tears and bits of fragmented bullet cutting the rags up left right and centre. Digging in deeper, I found the bullet, mushroomed up to 0.550'. This was more than twice the original bullet diameter. It weighed 49.6gr, retaining around 72% of its original weight. It had penetrated 22cm into the target.
The bullet that hit the water drum expanded to a little bit more than this and lost most of the lead out of it. It expanded to just under 0.6' and weighed only 25.1gr and retaining about 36% of its original weight. The jacket appears to have split down the etch marks that went down the nose.
So im very impressed with the 69gr nosler custom competition bullet. Not only is it accurate in my rifle but it appears to be capable of performing well on furry things. Would i use them on rabbits? Yes. Would I use them on foxes? Yes. Would I use them for feral cats? Yes. Would I use them on wild dogs? Yes. Would I use them on goats and our average west aussie sized pigs? Yes. I think it would also be more than capable as a small sized deer bullet too, if you had to use a 22 caliber for deer. I think that would be about the limit of it though.
Pic of target
Pic of bullet from 20L drum, note what little is left of the base section and all the bits of copper and lead.
Pic of bullet from 20L drum
Pics of bullet from bag of rag target
Holes from bullet fragments inside bag of rags target
