Bullet Retention

tdub24

Veteran member
Dec 15, 2011
1,328
553
Carlin, NV
In 2013, my dad (Pop) got his only bull elk here in NE NV. The shot was 220 yards and he made the perfect shot through both lungs with his .270 using 130gr Remington Premier Scirocco Bonded bullets. The bull didn't run 15 yards. The bullet rested right behind the opposite shoulder in the hide. While taking care of the animal, I put the retrieved bullet on my Kuiu pack for safe keeping. At the time, I thought I set it inside in one of the pockets. Well I got home and damn if it was gone. Only option was that I didn't set it inside and it rolled off while loading the pack with meat.

I had been telling my hunting buddies many many times that I needed to go back for it cause it was one of the prettiest mushrooms I have ever seen. Well 2 Saturday's ago, my neighbor calls me up and says let's go see if we can find it. I told him I know exactly where it should be, plus having a GPS to get back to the kill site was a plus. When we get to the kill site I immediately recognized everything. I could envision every detail like it happened yesterday. I pointed out where the elk laid and where I set my pack. I said it has to be within this 3' circle. My neighbor no more turned on the metal detector when it started ringing true. I said no buddy, you need to move it up when you initially turn it on. He tells me no, I have the bullet!! Wait........what?! You found it in less than 10 seconds after walking the mile back into here?!!! Two and a half years after this bullet was shot, through tons of rain and plenty of snow, it still lay on the top soil. Didn't even soak into the earth an inch.

Today I had the opportunity to see how much it weighs.....117.9 grains. Unless my math is messed up, that is 90.69% weight retention. Sh_tty thing is I think Remington has discontinued making these bullets. They shoot perfectly as a factory load out of that gun, 0.625" group at 100 yards. I have 63 rounds left, but I'm not sure if Pop plans on hunting anymore anyways.

Here are a couple pictures of said bullet:

117.9 grains.jpg 117.9 grains_1.jpg

In case you wanted to see the little bull:

DSCN0044.jpg IMG-20131114-00459 (3).jpg
 

HeartElk1

Active Member
Mar 30, 2011
193
0
That is a great story. Comgrats on the bull your Dad got and also for finding the bullet. Amazing!

I like those Remington Premier Scirocco Bonded bullets too in 30.06 and have had good results with them for deer (150 gr) and elk (180 gr.). I hadn't heard anything about Remington discontinuing them, but thankfully I bought several boxes on sale a few years ago.
 

AKaviator

Veteran member
Jul 26, 2012
1,819
1,082
That's too cool! Good job!! It sounds like going on a treasure hunt. You should start looking for gold nuggets with you skills and luck!
Congrats to your Dad too!
That's a good commercial for the Scirocco bullet.
 

Slugz

Veteran member
Oct 12, 2014
3,618
2,247
54
Woodland Park, Colorado
Nice and great story. Thanks for sharing. We handload all our rounds here so we do the same thing every year also. Like you if we find them they are usually in the off side hide. I think nowadays with technology the way it is that for the most part all bullets perform as specified. Obvious differences in tips, construction will drive that final weigh retention %, usually based upon what percentage they want to fragment out first. That being said.....all Nosler Partitions, Accubonds and Barnes TTSX bullets we measured were right at or above advertised weight retention. Lastly that data though was skewed at times when min FPS at impact was not met.
 

tdub24

Veteran member
Dec 15, 2011
1,328
553
Carlin, NV
Wow! Great memory you have there on a number of levels. Have you tried buying a lottery ticket?
LOL, lottery is actually part of my retirement plan. I drive to Twin Falls once a month to re-up my ticket and hit Costco. So far, this plan is not working out very well. Haha
 

marcusvdk

Veteran member
Dec 13, 2011
5,381
1,653
Michigan
Great story. Amazing it was that quick to find almost like fate. Could always contact Remington and see if they are discontinued. See if they have any left they would sell you. Also try gun brokers maybe some on there
 

tdub24

Veteran member
Dec 15, 2011
1,328
553
Carlin, NV
Nice and great story. Thanks for sharing. We handload all our rounds here so we do the same thing every year also. Like you if we find them they are usually in the off side hide. I think nowadays with technology the way it is that for the most part all bullets perform as specified. Obvious differences in tips, construction will drive that final weigh retention %, usually based upon what percentage they want to fragment out first. That being said.....all Nosler Partitions, Accubonds and Barnes TTSX bullets we measured were right at or above advertised weight retention. Lastly that data though was skewed at times when min FPS at impact was not met.
Thanks for the information, I never really thought too much into ammunition until recent years. I grew up with the whole "if it hits a paper plate at 100 yards it will kill a deer" training. After I had returned from college and starting reading up on everything hunting, I realized that mentality was not sufficient. So I started to find the best bullet for each of our rifles. I have found factory loads for our main rifles that work with less than an inch grouping so reloading hasn't been on my radar. Maybe one of these days i will get into it.
 

tdub24

Veteran member
Dec 15, 2011
1,328
553
Carlin, NV
Great story. Amazing it was that quick to find almost like fate. Could always contact Remington and see if they are discontinued. See if they have any left they would sell you. Also try gun brokers maybe some on there
Ya I haven't called Remington yet, but have sent emails that have gone unanswered. Never thought to look on gun broker, thanks. I had been looking for 150gr. Remington AccuTip in .270WSM that shot amazing out of my rifle but was unable to locate any so I switched to Winchester Ballistic Silvertips. They ended up shooting nicely too after many hours at the range and messing with a Sims De-Resonator. Now they shoot a 0.5" group at 100 yards.
 

tdub24

Veteran member
Dec 15, 2011
1,328
553
Carlin, NV
Great story, I also like the cigars after the fat lady has sung.
That has become my signature look, started in 2009 after my first ever muzzleloader hunt. And anybody that is in the picture has to have one as well.
 
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Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,074
4,300
82
Dolores, Colorado
I've been reloading for over 60 years. When I started with my Dad and other friends, there was not a lot of selection in components. Today we are spoiled as we can get almost anything we want. We used to weigh our bullets (if we could find them) and look for good expansion, jacket performance and the like. I got excellent results from Sierra Bullets and still favor them today. When you get the right combination of velocity, bullet weight and coefficient, the results are amazing!