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Marrakai, ask and ye shall receive.

GS Custom flat nose copper bullets. Available from www.gscustom.co.za

From left (all GS Custom):

(1) unfired 570 grain 500 Nitro Express bullet
(2) 570 grain 500 NE bullet fired into elephant (frontal brain) - penetrated 74 inches, but missed neck vertebrae
(3) 570 grain 500 NE bullet fired into elephant (frontal brain) - penetrated 31 inches and stuck in neck vertebrae
(4) 570 grain bullet fired into buffalo (body shot) - penetrated 60 inches
(5) unfired 500 grain .470 Capstick bullet
(6) 500 grain .474" bullet fired into buffalo (body shot) - penetrated 56"
(7) 500 grain .474" bullet fired into giraffe (body shot) - penetrated 40"

Woodleigh FMJ bullets recovered from game. From left:
(1) unfired 570 grain 500 Nitro Express bullet
(2) 570 grain 500 NE bullet fired into elephant head (note deformation of the bullet base) (59 inches of penetration, missed neck vertebrae)
(3) unfired 500 grain .474” bullet
(4) 500 grain .474" bullet fired into elephant head at 2300 fps (note core squirting out the base of the bullet) (31 inches of penetration, stuck in neck vertebrae)
(5) 500 grain .474" bullet fired into waterbuck at 125 yards, muzzle velocity was 2300 fps (53 inches of penetration)
(6) unfired 480 grain .458” bullet
(7) 480 grain .458" bullet fired into eland shoulder at 2200 fps (31 inches of penetration)
(8) 480 grain .458" bullet fired into elephant (frontal chest shot) at 2200 fps (53 inches of penetration)

The Woodleigh solids did not exhibit as large a wound channel as either the GS Custom or Bridger bullets. On elephant heads they seem to be just as good as Bridger and GS Custom, but on body shots they do not penetrate as deeply as flat nose solids, on average.

Barnes and Trophy Bonded bullets recovered from game. From left:

(1) unfired Barnes 570 grain 500 Nitro Express bullet
(2) Barnes 570 grain 500 NE bullet fired into elephant chest which did not fully penetrate on a broadside shot even though no bones were hit (46 inches of penetration). Note - a Bridger fired on a similar shot penetrated all the way through.
(3) unfired Barnes 500 grain .474” bullet
(4) 500 grain Barnes .474" bullet fired into elephant head (frontal brain) (25 inches of penetration)
(5) 500 grain Barnes bullet fired into elephant head (34" stopped in neck vertebrae)
(6) unfired 500 grain Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer .474” bullet
(7) Trophy Bonded 500 grain .474" fired into elephant head (frontal brain) (36 inches of penetration, stopped in neck vertebrae_.

Interestingly, on average the Barnes solids penetrated the shallowest of from among the group of non-expanding solids consisting of Barnes, Bridger, GS Custom, Trophy Bonded and Woodleigh. I attribute that to the hemisphereical round nose design combined with a brass that is less dense than the materials some other companies are using to make solids.

North Fork cup nosed solids (available from www.northforkbullets.com) From left to right:

1. North Fork 500 grain Cup Nosed Solid .474" - new

2. same, fired into buffalo - 56" penetration

3. same, fired into giraffe - 55" penetration

4. same, fired into giraffe (100 yards follow up shot) - 58" (penetration increased when expansion was less due to reduced velocity at range?)

velocity - 2300 fps from 470 capstick

The pic below shows Bridger flat nose brass bullets recovered from game. From left (all Bridger solids):

(1) unfired 550 grain 500 Nitro Express bullet,
(2) 550 grain 500 NE bullet fired into cape buffalo (body shot) - 60 inches of penetration
(3) 550 grain 500 NE bullet fired into elephant (body shot) - 52 inches of penetration
(4) unfired 500 grain .470 Capstick bullet
(5) 500 grain 470 Capstick bullet fired into elephant (frontal chest) - 72 inches of penetration
(5) 500 grain bullet fired into elephant (frontal brain) - 39 inches of penetration, stuck in neck vertebrae
(6) unfired 300 grain .375 bullet
(7) 300 grain .375 H&H fired into cape buffalo (frontal chest) - 48 inches of penetration, stopped in guts
(8) 300 grain .375 bullet fired into cape buffalo (frontal chest) - 46 inches of penetration, stopped in guts

Bridger solids will soon be available on-line from http://www.custombrassandbullets.com/

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