Winchester makes a 55 gr Frangible load, it looks like a conventional soft point except that the point is indeed very pointed.
My Chief is considering getting some for dogs or putting down injured deer, but we don't have any info on how it would work in those applications. Anyone have ideas?
I dont have any experience with the Winchester version but Federal makes a similar one.
I shot a racoon with that load and it was a dismal performer. The entrance wound was about 2-2.5" in diameter but was only 1" deep at the deepest.
It was far from pretty, the coon ran around screaming and only the fact that it hit at the base of the neck and probably nicked the juglar made it fatal...eventually.
I most definitely would not shoot a dog or deer with it (possible exception of the head).
The various varmint bullets are frangible enough if penetration is the fear.
Today I phoned the Winchester factory and asked about their frangible, the guy in their technical section said their frangible is designed to break up only if it hits something harder than the bullet itself. He said in animals, their frangible would act like fmj because flesh is a lot weaker than the bullet.
That sounds a little strange because a deer is much softer than the lead in a soft point bullet, but soft points expand nicely in deer. Perhaps there is more to this than just the hardness of the point.
Either way, it doesn't sound like a good choice.
Edited by - Gearhead Jim on October 30 2009 9:05:52 PM
In my experience on deer and dogs the various non-bonded 55-60gr .223 loads are frangible enough. They by design highly fragmenting varmint loads that exhibit shallow penetration in flesh, and low ricochet potential.
5.56 Frangible?
Posted - October 29 2009 : 10:08:47 AM
