Finished off Deer with DT 200gr XTP's (penetration)

[Lowrangerider]

My uncle shot the deer in the spine right above its shoulder blades with his 30-06. It was still trying to get up so I shot it in the head with the Double Tap200gr XTP in my stock Glock 20; I have to admit from ~5 feet away I thought it would go right through the deers head and make a big exit hole but they didn't even go all the way through... I am a little dissapointed that it didnt have better penetration but it did the job and the deer died the instant I shot it.
Anyone else have similar experiance?

I also have on the way some 180gr. golden Sabre, 180gr. Gold Dot JHP, and 165gr. Gold Dot JHP all from Double tap.
Even though these rounds are lighter do you think the increased volocity might help the bullet exit better?

[heat762]

Welcome to Reality

and I quote: http://www.theboxotruth.com/index.htm

"3. Pistols are pistols and rifles are rifles. Enough said."

All Pistol rounds are WEAK. Even the venerable 10MM.

Ask a ER Surgeon, people survive pistol shootings, rifle shooting....no

A pistol is a defensive weapon, period.

It might keep you alive long enough to get back to your Shotty or AR.

Peace Out

[Lowrangerider]

Originally posted by heat762
Welcome to Reality

Peace Out

Thanks, That is why when I am in my deer stand I use my rifle. But when walking through thick swamp it is a little easier to carry a pistol.
For long shots I agree but from 5 feet away it should still work plenty fine if not be overkill. Hell I think my Glock 20 with DT ammo has a higher weight bullet and higher volocity then my old lever action 30-30.

[noway]

This is ironic 2 thread on hunting and folk stating they taken numerous WT with DT 200gr ammo in the other thread and then this. :)

Will the head is mainly made up of bones. Passing thru the skull is a big job for a handgun bullet. My only question is; Did the bullet get the job done and killed or finished off the deer ?

imho: it did what it suppose todo and finished the deer ;)

[Lowrangerider]

I am in NO WAY bashing or even complaining about my DT ammo. Just want to make that clear.
It is my first practical application of my 10mm. With how much power people say it has I was just suprised it didn't go through. That is all.

Yes, as soon as I shot the deer in the head it stopped moving. Well, I guess the back legs did give a few twitches. :)

How about my second question about different bullet choices? Do you think any of them would have been a better choice?

With the stock barrel I seem to be limited to about 25 yards anyway.
I have plans for a 6" barrel and some better sites for next year.

[noway]

{How about my second question about different bullet choices? Do you think any of them would have been a better choice? }

What did you want your bullet todo?

{I also have on the way some 180gr. golden Sabre, 180gr. Gold Dot JHP, and 165gr. Gold Dot JHP all from Double tap. }

Would any of the other expanding bullets perform any beter? Most likely NOT.

The XTP is a hunting bullet designed with that as primary #1 focus the other bullets you listed are designed around personaldefense.
If you wanted a bullet to exit the skull, then you would best be served with using a FMJ or some other bullet that limited expansion even more than a XTP.

Either which way the bullet did it's job as designed.

[P220ST]

Originally posted by Lowrangerider
It was still trying to get up so I shot it in the head with the Double Tap200gr XTP in my stock Glock 20; I have to admit from ~5 feet away I thought it would go right through the deers head and make a big exit hole but they didn't even go all the way through...

You said "they". You shot it more than once? ;P

Think of it this way, all the bullets energy (722 ft/lbs) stayed inside the deer. That's not a bad thing.

[ILikeFtLbs]

Most rifle rounds used for deer hunting won't go through either. As a matter of fact, I have shot many deer in the neck with .270s, .30-06, .30-30, 6.5x55, and 7mm Mag and the rounds have never passed through there either. I imagine if I used a 175 gr corelokt round in 7mm mag I might get through, but don't see the point.

Try shooting a 100 lb whitetail in the head with a .44 mag from 5 ft away. The bullet won't come out the other side.

The head is thick bone and muscle and skin. The neck is thick bone and thicker muscle and skin.

[JKG]

Did you recover the bullet? It'd be interesting to see... if you have a digital camera, can you take a pic and post it (if its not too much trouble)?

I'd imagine it expanded a lot. Doesn't DT make a hardcast load? That should do the trick for you if you want more penetration into hard targets, or FMJ like previously mentioned.

I thought the XTP would have blown thru too, thanks for posting.

[Lowrangerider]

No, I didnt recover the bullet. I guess when I go back out to the hunting grounds next weekend I could go find the head and skin it/ cut the head in half and recover the bullet(s).

I did 'test' a few more rounds in the deers head once we had skinned the deer, removed the head, and said thank you to the deer for its sacrafice. I just wanted to see what type of damage they would do to a hard surface like deer skull. The shot I put right beween the eyes seemed to do the most damage since I could see the ground afterwards.
Maybe the shot I took when I put the deer down hit a really hard spot? Either way like others have pointed out; The bullet did what it was supposed to do.

[spcwes]

Well that just happens to be the uncertainty of shooting a living creature with a bullet. I have had handgun bullets from lesser calibers pass through the body of large WT deer. It depends on what you are shooting and what the bullet hits.

For the record I have shot possible hundreds of WT deer and when I stepped up to a 30.06 I have never, let me stress this a little NEVER had a bullet NOT exit on a broad side shot.

I went from a youth shooting a 30-30 lever gun, to a 308 (which on the other hand passed through the deer more often than not) 30.06, 7mm mag, 7mm Wby mag, and now to the 300Win Mag. On the listed calibers starting from the 30.06 I have never had a bullet stopped on a broadside. We have does that are over 200lbs in this neck of the woods. My father just stuck a 300lb buck last week that fielded out around 229lbs. We are not talking about little deer.

Now, I have had them hit bone and do damage on both sides with exits of bone and flesh and still found parts of bullet inside but the majority would be gone. I have also fired 9mm +p+ rounds through the tops of deer heads, sides of deer head and generally had them always pass through leaving a dime sized exit wound. But I have had some stopped in the skull.

I have also had pass troughs on boars with the 45ACP using an XTP with the animal weighing around 120lbs. You may be surprised at what a bullet will do after hitting something like a bone.

I have shot deer before with a 44mag using a I think it was a 210gr Winchester Silver Tip on a perfect broadside shot and had it hit rib. The bullet then made a deflection inside the animal and broke and became lodged in the last rib on the other side of the animal. That was like 16" of penetration in a different direction than the bullet was first traveling.

I have found a real good place to shoot deer with a handgun caliber to get the fastest affect is in the neck area below the base of the skull. But the neck seems to work well in a few different areas even further down. The faster heavier bullets always worked better than the slower ones (i.e. the +p over the standard load) when hitting the neck area. It might have something to do with two large arteries and the spine in a very tight area but I will leave it up to people that know more

The bullet not going through the animals head from my experience is a fluke. You may be surprised to find it down in the neck or something. it might have hit a bone and went down instead of out the other side.

[Bravo-Four]

kind of getting off topic on this but, when phil hartmans wife shot herself in the head, using a .357 mag, it was quoted as "taking off a large part of her head"

So, Im sure velocity has everything to do with the exit wound based on a head shot. I did some unscientific testing, yes, shooting pumpkins, and I had very dramatic results using a taurus .357 mag revolver. It sent chunks of pumpkin everywhere, while my 10mm reloads(probably wimpy ones) had no effect after penetration. I dunno, deer head is probably tougher than a human head.

[noway]

{kind of getting off topic on this but, when phil hartmans wife shot herself in the head, using a .357 mag, it was quoted as "taking off a large part of her head"}

She didn't shoot herself in the head per-se but thru the mouth to the head. Very very different thing all together. The velocities of bullet hitting brain matter with almost a simple easier route thru bone, tends to make a mess ;)