I'm embarking upon a new gun project and I discovered some frangible ammunition that has NO JACKET. I'm told by the manufacture that it is a copper/tin mixture and designed to break apart into 3 separate sections and dump all it's energy into the target.

I've hunted with Berger VLD's in the past which do have a jacket and are lethal pills and I've shot varmints with the Barnes varmint grenades which basically explode into countless small pieces. Based on my experiences I would hunt the VLD over a Barnes VG but I am looking to hear your experiences with any type of frangible bullet.

Good or Bad why or why not !?!?!?!

BTW - The bullets I am going to test out come out to 18 cents a piece

HTXH

I think you would end up having pigs run off with flesh wounds, not enough penetration to hit vitals or break bones.

Good point, I'm certain that frangible bullets come in quiet a few different designs which is to my point that the soft frangible like the Barnes varmint grenade wouldn't be my choice vs a VLD type design.

I saw a video today of DRT's ammo and an after action report from ITS Tactical of the autopsy on a good size pig.

The projectiles I'm looking at , in the 50 cal config, will penetrate an engine block or two car doors so maybe a pig....

I share RD's viewpoint, but would like to know. Give it a try and see what happens.

A hog has a thick skinned and the bullet will explode leaving only a flesh wound.
The hog will run away.

A frangible .50 projectile is a very different thing than a frangible .224 projectile. I'm all in favor of using 600 grains of frangiblity on a hog. 50 grains of frangibility I'm much less sure about.

Frangible.

Trust me guys I am skeptical as well - but for the sake of the mental jog I offer you the following to read/watch.

Looks like others have gone there before and achieved results but the concept hasn't taken off in the mainstream as of yet.

Here is a video of DRT's ammo NOT MY VIDEO



DRT explaining their ammo NOT MY VIDEO



Now what I am looking at is bullets made by Sinterfire, I just found the above videos and DRT states that designs which are compressed powders without a jacket are ineffective for hunting Here is the Sinterfire glitz and glam

NOT MY VIDEO



Granted a pig is NOT AR500 steel so I don't expect the rifle ammo to turn to dust i.e. tear the skin off a pig and have it run off. Instead looking at the above video the Sinterfire design in ballistics gel penetrates a few inches and then disrupts which is what I am curious to test.

Then again you listen to DRT tell it, ballistics gel is not a good way to test ammo, shooting animals is.... So

Price on the DRT is about like Barnes solids

http://www.drtammo.com/DRT-Store/Product-Viewer/300-AAC-Blackout-135gr-Terminal-Shock-Bulk

Price on the Sinterfire is much easier on the wallet

http://www.shop.rmrbullets.com/308-125-Gr-SinterFire-LF-Frangible-NEW-250-Ct-308-125-SF-NTP-250.htm

Regardless this will be a learning experience for me - - -

HTXH

I shot this 205 lb boar with a 90 gr. Speer TNT in 6.5 Grendel. It had a velocity of about 2800 fps from the barrel, IIRC (or 2900?). I was told that it was great for head or neck shots. Basically, since truly frangible ammo does not tend to penetrate that deeply, you don't want to be trying to hit critical structures that are too deep, hence the head and neck claim.

https://youtu.be/M2nzB5Re7PU

It performed great for this job and I even got several small bits of overpenetration on the other side. The bullet hit in the neck, behind the head with the boar quartered away such that fragment exited the opposite side cheek and apparently the internal overpressure was such that the boar was even bleeding from his eyes. It was a pretty neat bit of damage, but this would not be a good round for less precisely aimed shots or body shots, not if ethical kills are what you have in mind.

Frangible ammo can work grear. It can be an abysmal failure. I use 100 gr matchkings in a 257 wby. I get just over a foot of penetration and no more. It leaves a massive wound channel for that foot. It has broken shoulder bones on large pigs. Quartering shots can be iffy on large pigs. Small pigs don't stand a chance. I've also used 178 amax in a 308 . it works well but I haven't had an exit wound from it. When using frangible, you must know your rounds limits.

Berger 140 grain hunting VLD's work great on hogs out of my 6.5x55. They do start coming apart but after they have penetrated fairly deep.