Poultry protection duty and varmint bullets.

[Roverhound]

I have a friend that has been having some raccoon problems killing has poultry at his farm.
I have been going there in the evenings and setting up my .17 Hornet but for walking I have been using my 300 pistol. The hornet is a bit heavy and the pistol just points so nice.
Anyway, I have been using Speer TnT 125 grain bullets with 17 gr. of Lil'Gun for a velocity of 2000 fps out of my 9.5 inch barrel.
The problem I'm having is the bullets are passing right through the 'coons without expanding. I can hear them grunt and react but due to the undergrowth and darkness I haven't been able to find a carcass to actually see what is going on.
The shots have been from 30 to 40 yards.
I'm looking for a bullet that will expand at, let's say, 1500 to 1600 fps and reliably feed in an AR so I can put the little bastards down right there and they don't suffer like they made the chickens and ducks suffer.
Will the Hornady 3010 or 23010 give me what I'm looking for?

[dellet]

Maker Bullets.
They make two versions of the is bullet, 110 grain. One expands at supersonic velocity, down to 1400 when I tested them. I believe they will expand lower now. The other version down to 800 intended for single shots.

I tried the sub version in an AR and was able to get it to feed. So you could load that version to the lowest speed that would reliably cycle. I actually ran it as a sub, but the powder fouling so bad, it did not take long to jam the action.




https://makerbullets.com/proddetail.php?prod=308110SBLK

https://makerbullets.com/proddetail.php?prod=300110BLK

[ruger761]

You might also try out Hornady 110 VMaxs or Nosler 110 Varmageddons. Both expand well at blk velocities and on very thin skinned game. The vmaxs expand out so quickly I could see the petals cutting the stick on paper targets on 7/16 waferboard.

[Roverhound]

The Noslers have good reviews used with 300 AAC on Midway so I'll probably give them a try. I've used the Vmax for both 17 Hornet and .204 with good results. I've used the Varmageddon bullets in my .204 but haven't shot anything with them. Just load testing.
Dellet, the Maker bullets look pretty interesting but are a bit pricey. I'll save those for a last option if I can't get anything else to work.

[gds]

My favorite Varmit load is a 120gr COD (crayola of death) with the tip cut off and hollow pointed, shot in my model 7, with some trail boss powder. does pure hatred on tree rats.

For your application, I have found hollow points seem to work a little better at expansion then soft points. I have used the hornady vmax 110s and get ok expansion, but not as good as I would like.

You might try these
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10109 ... box-of-100

But also the ones dellet recommends have good reputation and have been tested by several guys on here.

[gunguy]

If you can get them to feed in your rifle, I have had really good luck on raccoons with the 90xtp. 4.5 grains of trailboss.

[plant.one]

a 125sst will put a nice big hole in a raccoon on top of 17gr of lil gun. easy to get to feed well, stays within expansion velocity out to around 125 yds.

shot one a couple seasons back that wandered in during deer season i could have dropped a quarter in the exit wound. he was a couple feet up the side of a tree and the only place he went was straight down. *thump*



there's a big ole gaping hole under that loose fur

[Roverhound]

stays within expansion velocity out to around 125 yds

What is expansion velocity for the 125gr SST?
I went out back and shot a water filled milk jug at around 45 yards yesterday to see how much energy is being transferred. It did split the back of the jug, nothing explosive but it appears there is energy going into the target.
Few weeks ago I shot a milk jug at 160 yards with my .204. It blew it apart. The threaded portion actually blew off with the lid still screwed into it. I found that about 30 feet away.

[rebel]

It will mushroom nicely at 100 yards.

edit - a 125 FNHP will leave a huge hole if you can get them to feed in your pistol.

[plant.one]

stays within expansion velocity out to around 125 yds

What is expansion velocity for the 125gr SST?
I went out back and shot a water filled milk jug at around 45 yards yesterday to see how much energy is being transferred. It did split the back of the jug, nothing explosive but it appears there is energy going into the target.
Few weeks ago I shot a milk jug at 160 yards with my .204. It blew it apart. The threaded portion actually blew off with the lid still screwed into it. I found that about 30 feet away.

comparing a 125's energy dump on a milk jug to a 204 is apples to pineapples. that 204 comes out of the pipe at almost double the MV and generally use thin skinned varmit bullets designed to act like a mini-grenade on impact with pretty much anything thicker than a RCH - especially when the impact velocity is still north of 3000 like it is at 160 yds. i have yet to put one into meat that didnt result in a spectacular carnage event inside of 150 yds. pigeon sized birds disappear in a puff of feathers and groundhog sized critters end with chunks flying.

the 125 SST on the other hand is a controlled expansion designed jacket and core. more like what most hunters are used to for deer and such. i'm sure if you warmed them up north of 3000 through something like a 30-06 they could get a little on the messy side, but at blackout speeds they're gonna be pretty consistent for you.


the min expansion velocity for the 125 SST is 1600 FPS. its been a proven hunting bullet by multiple folks on here for deer sized game at typical 100 yds or under hunting distances