TLM,
The cast bullet looks "less hard" than the bullets I shot into the elephant. Yours broke amd lost the nose, but didn't fracture so much. You can see your bullet was quench hardened.
Fwiw, I averaged about 36" of penetration with 500gr Woodleigh RN, steel jacketed solids at 2135fps, roughly 60" plus with 450gr North Fork FN solids at 2220fps, though they could be hard to find with that much penetration. I found the Woodleighs more reliable for penetrating bone in a straight line, but the North Forks could not be beat in flesh. My elephant rifle is a double barrel in 458wm, so I loaded a Woodleigh in the right barrel, the first barrel, and a North Fork in the second, since the second shot was either an insurance shot on a dead elephant or an attempt to kill the elephant after a muffed brain shot, at unknown angle, where penetration could be everything.
The honey comb eats bullet velocity, and so penetration. On smaller cow elephant most Woodleighs would pass through on broadside shots, all North Forks, on bigger bulls no Woodleighs, but almost all North Forks. That is 4' -6', cow and bull, through the lungs.
Four blocks of "spec" ballistic gel won't stop either.
Fwiw to all, for everything but elephants, soft points are probably better in .458", but animals die quickly with .458" holes through their vitals, whether 1500lb cape buffalo or 15lb Grysbok. That would hold as true for a 458wm shooting NF's or Woodleighs as for a 45/70 shooting hard casts at moderate velocity. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 45/70 on any North American animal with not too hard hard cast bullets.
Fwiw,
JPK
The cast bullet looks "less hard" than the bullets I shot into the elephant. Yours broke amd lost the nose, but didn't fracture so much. You can see your bullet was quench hardened.
Fwiw, I averaged about 36" of penetration with 500gr Woodleigh RN, steel jacketed solids at 2135fps, roughly 60" plus with 450gr North Fork FN solids at 2220fps, though they could be hard to find with that much penetration. I found the Woodleighs more reliable for penetrating bone in a straight line, but the North Forks could not be beat in flesh. My elephant rifle is a double barrel in 458wm, so I loaded a Woodleigh in the right barrel, the first barrel, and a North Fork in the second, since the second shot was either an insurance shot on a dead elephant or an attempt to kill the elephant after a muffed brain shot, at unknown angle, where penetration could be everything.
The honey comb eats bullet velocity, and so penetration. On smaller cow elephant most Woodleighs would pass through on broadside shots, all North Forks, on bigger bulls no Woodleighs, but almost all North Forks. That is 4' -6', cow and bull, through the lungs.
Four blocks of "spec" ballistic gel won't stop either.
Fwiw to all, for everything but elephants, soft points are probably better in .458", but animals die quickly with .458" holes through their vitals, whether 1500lb cape buffalo or 15lb Grysbok. That would hold as true for a 458wm shooting NF's or Woodleighs as for a 45/70 shooting hard casts at moderate velocity. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 45/70 on any North American animal with not too hard hard cast bullets.
Fwiw,
JPK
