Month: February 2021

THE BULLET

• Bullet : Sako Powerhead Blade 230gr (14,90g)
• Ballistic Coefficient (G1) : 0.340
• Lenght (measured) : 1,420″ / 36,07mm
• Weight (measured) : 230,46gr (14,93g)
• Material : Copper
• Part # : 613D
• Manufacturer : Sako LTD, Finland

EXPANSION

Test gun was a Blaser R8 rifle with the 480mm – 18,9″ barrel. Faster velocity was measured ca. 5 meters from the muzzle, by using the Sako 9,3×62 factory cartridges. The slower velocity was achieved by reloading. If muzzle velocity is 2533 fps – 772 m/s, the slower velocity of 2119 fps – 646 m/s simulates the impact at the distance of 169 yards – 154 meters.

IMPACT VELOCITY	MAX WIDTH	RETAINED WEIGHT
2533 fps – 772 m/s	0,76″ – 19,37mm	229,12gr – 99,4%
2119 fps – 646 m/s	0,65″ – 16,56mm	229,08gr – 99,4%

WOUND CHANNELS & PENETRATION

Test targets were the wet newspapers.

IMPACT VELOCITY	PENETRATION
2533 fps – 772 m/s	18,11″ – 46cm
2119 fps – 646 m/s	22,83″ – 58cm

REAL LIFE TEST – MOOSE

We had luck to shoot three mooses with the new Sako Powerhead Blade 230gr 9,3×62 factory cartridges during the hunting season 2020. Two moose calfs and one young bull. All mooses were running with quite good speed, when shot. In every three case, the bullets penetrated the whole moose, so no expanded bullets to show. In the real life test, the gun was same Blaser R8 with the 480mm – 18,9″ barrel as on the controlled tests above.

Shooting distance for the first calf was 20 meters and for the second 30-35 meters. Both calfs ran circa 20-25 meters after the lung shots, before felling permanently to the ground.

Some photos of the calf carcasses on the below. On the first photo, the bullet penetrated both sides of the calf, without breaking the ribs. Liver and lungs also took the hit.

On the second calf, the bullet penetrated the left side with breaking the rib and then went through the lungs and the front part of the right shoulder, without hitting to the bones. This can be seen on the photos below.

There is no photos of the last young bull. But the shooting distance was 45-50 meters and the moose was running fast! Bullet penetrated the right side and went through the heart and then trough the left shoulder without hitting to the bones. Moose ran about 20 meters after the hit, before fell permanently to the ground.

In all three cases, the runs after the hits was quite short. All carcasses was also very clean as the photos above shows, and there was no need to clean blood from the muscle membranes. Entrance and exit holes of the bullets on the carcasses was good in size and clearly shows that the Sako Powerhead Blade bullets opened immediatedly after hit.

SUMMA SUMMARUM

Premium copper bullet for different medium and big game hunting situations.

The expanding style of the bullet is samekind as on the .30cal Sako Powerhead Blade bullets. The bullet opens fast after the impact and over doubles it’s width. When bullet expands near to the maximum, the overall lenght of the expanded bullet is reasonable short compared to the width, which will give the good directional stability for the bullet during the penetration.

The stopping power of the new Blade bullet is really good. Like we mentioned above, the mooses didn’t ran much after the impacts. Even if the killing power is good, the carcasses was pretty clean and there was no excessive amounts of blood between the muscle membranes.

It can be seen, that this bullet can take even more beating, than what our testing velocities gave to it. The impact velocity of 800m/s – 2624fps will not be the problem, so you can reload it with even greater velocities. It must be noted, that the factory cartridges gave pretty good velocities even if our test rifle had a quite short 480mm – 18,9″ barrel!

This bullet should be in the stores in 2021 for reloading purposes, and it will be a tough competitor for many bullets! Factory cartridges for 9,3×62 is already available!

Big thumbs up for this!

Sincerely yours – The Hard-Hitting Shooting Lab