BH 175 Match
 

Its deer season in PA and I was zeroing my .308, target was a fungus growth on an oak tree appox, Dist 100+ yrds. I centered the cross hairs of my mil dot scope on the edges of the fungus, gun was in a shooting rest; when I checked the shot I realized that the bullet was a bit low of center, but more importantly, it did not penetrated the oak. Temp was 21. 5^F. I am wondering if the load was off, short on powder, or the tree frozen that a BH 175 Match would bounce off?
Has anyone ever experienced this?

That's some tough fungi...

"Damn English oak!" Jack Aubrey, Master and Commander, Far Side of the World...

Humor noted; but I am serious, should I get a shot,I don't want to injury the deer, I want to drop it.

I'm in no way affiliated with 'em, but you could always use a box of factory Federal Vital-Shok (Nosler partition) 180 gr rounds, or the Federal Vital-Shok 150 gr Nosler ballistic tips. I recently dropped a doe at 300 yds using the Federal 150 gr Ballistic Tips. She dropped/rolled right where she stood :D

Penn- Did you only fire one round? If two or three failed to penetrate a tree, there may be a problem. Have you weighed them? if the weights vary, there may be an issue.

Are you 100% sure it didn't penetrate the oak? Often it will look as though it didn't penetrate but in reality, the tree closed back on the bullet. Did you find the bullet?

edited to add: Looking at the picture again, I think the bullet did penetrate but did not go thru the oak. The "wound channel" on the tree will not be soft like you think.

I'd chronograph the round in your rifle. You should get around 2400-2700 depending on the rifle and barrel length. If you're sure it bounced off, I have Jeff Hoffman's (owner of Black Hills) phone number.

175SMK's aren't great on penetration. A bonded bullet will do much better. Remington Core Lokt Ultra Bond, Nosler Accubond, or Barnes TSX/TTSX will do really well against flesh and bone.

I buddy of mine just dropped two does with one shot with the (308) Barnes 130gr TTSX @ 230yrs. They were standing next to each other. The bullet ended up in the skin of second deer but clipped the top of the heart. Lost one petal but retained most of the weight.

Did the tree scream?

Might go back out, take a couple more rounds, shoot said tree again(or even some phone books). See what the holes look like. Ammo factories mess up once in a while. Pheasant hunting last year, a friend tripped the trigger on a shotgun round, and the pellets rolled out the end of the shotgun.

I handload for my .308. You should not have a problem discerning a bullet hole. They do really well on whitetails.

Clearly, that ammo is defective, and should be sent to me for professional disposal.

Seriously, that looks to me exactly like every other tree I have shot. What did you expect it to look like?

TR

TR, Koz, Craigepo, el et, I have always zero using a grid target on a range, and only once before, zeroed in the field. Yes, I know that’s really weak, but that’s my experience. That said, I expected to find an entry hole, when I didn’t, I made the decision not to hunt until I understood what was going on with the Ammo.

Confused over the outcome, I did not fire more rounds, but will go back tomorrow with a skewer to see if the tree has a round in it, or not. If it does, I think I’ll be GTG, In the meantime, I’ll weigh the rounds on the gram scale at the restaurant, that will be a clear indication if something is amiss.

To all, thank you for your insight, your time and consideration. I'll follow up tomorrow with the exam and weights. Tx, d

D:

Sure looks like an entry on that tree to me.

I seriously doubt if there will be an appreciable difference in cartridge weight, or if that would keep a .308 round from penetrating the bark of a tree.

TR

Relax. The bullet is somewhere in the tree, probably between 8 - 12" in. You stuck the equivalent of an ice pick in the tree. Green wood will close in and largely obscure the entry. It will also absorb the energy fairly quickly relative to other mediums.

DO NOT go hunting with that ammo. Your responsibility is a humane harvest; use the right ammo. BTHPM IS NOT a suitable bullet for hunting. Get something in the 155 - 165 gr. range that will expand in your chosen game animal at your most likely engagement range. And re-zero your rifle with the hunting round. Your elevation will vary enough to adversely affect hunting accuracy.

Made my day! Thanks Dusty! :D

Penn- I have a pig hunt scheduled out here on the left coast at the end of March. We hunt an area with barley fields and grape vines... If you get your rifle dialed in, come on out...