Several months ago, we at NIGHTHOGS were contacted by Lehigh
Defense about testing some of the new high performance bullets they had
added to their offering. After a couple of discussions as to criteria
for the testing and some test shots in our suppressed 44 magnum rifles,
we began collecting data.
The bullets we are
currently testing are the the XTreme Penetrator (XP) bullets. They are
CNC machined from solid copper bar stock and therefore hold to tolerances superior to cast bullets. As a result, they are very consistent in both weight and dimension.
The first
thing we noticed was that our rifles were more accurate with these
rounds due to the consistency in manufacture. We also quickly found that
we were getting more DRT (DEAD RIGHT THERE) kills than before. Part of
this could be attributed to the higher accuracy but more than likely due to the
increased size of the wound channel and deep penetration.
Our
44 magnum bullets are loaded just below the speed of sound which makes
them "Pellet Gun" quiet for stealth. Large hogs can be VERY difficult to
kill under any circumstances, but when you couple that with a subsonic
round, shot placement, bullet size and bullet performance become
critical. We have found that these bullets perform very well. Having a
monolithic bullet that penetrates very
deep and causes a greater diameter wound channel is a big plus.
Typically,
we try to shoot hogs at the base of the ear while they are broadside
so that we have a good sized kill zone. That being said, on a recent hunt I
was forced to shoot one that was slowly walking straight towards me-between the eyes. Obviously, in this case, you have a much smaller kill
spot and you run the risk of the bullet glancing off the hard skull because of
the angle of the head. My shot entered the forehead and the
hog pancaked, indicating that he was dead instantly. When
I dressed the hog, I was able to retrieve the bullet from the front of
the shoulder. It went through the skull and down the neck, crushing bone the whole way.
This was quite impressive.
We are currently using the Lehigh
Defense XP bullets exclusively in our 44 magnum rifles, and our .40
S&W, 9MM and .380 semi auto pistols.
We will soon
begin testing Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos bullets in our 6.8 SPC AR15 rifles. These
are not subsonic and have greater range than the ultra-quiet 44's. We will provide results as we get them.
Below are some pictures (graphic) of recovered LeHigh bullets and the tremendous wound channels which they created:
