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Sako Powerhead Blade – .366″ – 230gr – Bullet test

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 VELOCITYMAX WIDTHRETAINED WEIGHT
2533 fps – 772 m/s0,76″ – 19,37mm229,12gr – 99,4%
2119 fps – 646 m/s0,65″ – 16,56mm229,08gr – 99,4%

WOUND CHANNELS & PENETRATION

Test targets were the wet newspapers.

IMPACT VELOCITYPENETRATION
2533 fps – 772 m/s18,11″ – 46cm
2119 fps – 646 m/s22,83″ – 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.

First calf – Entrance and the exit wound.

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.

Second calf – Entrance.
Second calf – exit wound.

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

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Fox Bullets Classic Hunter – .366″ – 250gr – Bullet test

Fox bullets is a bullet manufacturer from Slovenia. They are producing a lead-free hunting and training bullets which are made of copper- zinc alloy. You can found their homepage here: https://www.foxbullets.eu

We want to give our thanks to the Finnish importer Corenius for the possibility to test the Fox Bullets products in our Hard-Hitting Shooting Lab. Yes, we have quite good selection of Fox Bullet products for testing purposes, so there will be more tests! You can found Corenius’s homepage and the availability of Fox Bullets products here: https://www.corenius.fi

But to the results!

Fox Bullets Classic Hunter .366″ 250gr bullet results!

TESTING

Testing was made by reloading the bullets to the 9,3×62 cartridges. We measured the impact velocities ca. 5 meters from the muzzle. Harder impact velocity was 708m/s (2323fps) and the lower impact velocity was 646m/s (2119fps).

Note: This bullet is quite long for this weight class and it steals quite much powder capacity from the brass. Measured lenght is 38,00mm (1,49″).

The ballistic coefficient of this bullet is 0,332 (G1). So If the velocity at the muzzle is 708m/s (2323fps), the lower impact velocity of 646m/s (2119fps) simulates the impact at the distance of 74 meters (80 yards).

THE BULLET

Fox Bullets Classic Hunter bullets are designed for hunting. As they say on their homepage:

“The Fox Classic hunter are lead-free bullets designed for all hunting situations that an European hunter can experience, from a close distance shot on a wild boar on a driven hunt, to an extremely long shot on a gams in the high mountains. Bullets are lead-free and are made of copper- zinc alloy. The selected material provides an adequate deformation even at a lower impact velocities”.

“The grooves on the bullet reduce the contact surface between the bullet and the rifle barrel, which reduce the pressure and increase the speed. The degree of deformation is determined by the depth of the hole at the top of the bullet. The tip is made of thermo-stable plastic that increases the ballistics as well as the terminal effect.”

“At the impact, the bullet deforms into a mushroom shape of a double off the diameter off the caliber. A controlled and rapid expansion enables an effective transfer of energy from the bullet to the body of the game. All this together provide an extraordinary stopping effect, while at the same time keeps the games meat undamaged.”

This 250gr bullet is quite long and the shape of the bullet is quite special. With the Blaser R8 rifle, you usually can reload 9,3×62 cartridges to quite long OAL. But with this bullet, the cartridge’s overall lenght became shorter than normally, because of the shape of the bullet.

So this bullet steals quite much powder capacity from the brass, and you cannot expect very high velocities with it. We would gladly push this 250gr Classic Hunter bullet to even higher velocities than what we archieved in this test, to ensure the good expansion at the target.

At the higher velocity of 708m/s (2323fps) the expansion of the bullet was good. With this velocity, the bullet did not expand to the very end of the expansion chamber. So this bullet can probably also handle little greater impact velocities and expand even little more.

At the slower speed of 646m/s (2119fps) the expansion of the bullet was too modest, concerning the caliber used on the test and the impact velocity of the bullet. Consequently the long lenght and the heavier tail of the bullet resulted bullet to turn sideways inside the target after the expansion.

Retained weights of the both bullets were over 99% and of course at the excellent level.

WOUND CHANNELS

Test targets were the wet newspapers. The bullet with impact speed of 708m/s (2323fps) penetrated 71cm (28″) of wet newspapers, and the bullet with impact speed of 646m/s (2119fps) penetrated 69cm (27,2″). The amounts of penetrations was really good. The slower speed bullet traveled completely sideways and it can be seen from the wound channel. It tumbled quite fast after the expansion.

SUMMA SUMMARUM

Copper alloy bullets usually likes quite high velocities, because the material is harder than it is on the bullets that are made from the pure copper. And it can be seen on this bullet test. Density of the copper alloy is also usually little lower, which can be seen on the bigger size of the bullets, compared to pure copper bullets.

Our opinion is, that this bullet is not for the slow velocity reloading. You have to push it hard, to get the good results at the greater shooting distances. But with this bullet, the size and the special shape of the bullet will not help you on that mission!

At the short distances, the bullet will expand ok, and you can expect really good penetration!

Sincerely yours – The Hard-Hitting Shooting Lab

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Sellier & Bellot Exergy – 9,3×62 Factory Cartridge – Bullet test

We did a little Sellier & Bellot easter shootout earlier! Thank you for the Aseliike Remes to make it possible! This is the third and last part of the article series that will concentrate on the S&B Exergy factory cartridges.  We already published the 6,5×55 and 308win tests and this will concentrate on the 9,3×62 caliber. The S&B Exergy Blue bullet test articles will follow right after these Exergy articles!

Exergy is the original copper made hunting bullet of the Sellier & Bellot. At their homepage , they are writing that the jacket material of the Exergy, is not available. But on the Exergy 30-06 cartridge page, they are mentioning that it is made of 100% Solid Copper. So we cannot be sure about the exact material, but we know that it is a lead free bullet with little round aluminium tip on the top of the bullet.

Sellier Bellot exergy

But, to the results!

Sellier & Bellot Exergy 250gr –9,3×62 Factory Cartridge

TESTING

Test gun was a Blaser R8 rifle with the 480mm barrel. We measured the velocity ca. 5m from the muzzle and got a 714m/s (2343fps) impact velocity. Manufacturer promises the velocity of 745m/s (2444fps) to the factory load, from the 600mm barrel.

The slower impact velocity was achieved by reloading. If the velocity at the muzzle is 745m/s (2444fps) what manufacturer claims, the speed of 637m/s (2090fps) simulates the impact at the distance of 134 meters (ca. 146 yards).

THE BULLET

The working style of the S&B Exergy bullet is to open in five petals and retain its high weight after the impact without losing the petals.

The harder hit, with the velocity of 714m/s (2343fps) wasn’t too harsh for the 250gr Exergy, like it was for the 6,5×55 and 308win versions. Bullet opened all-the-way to the bottom of the expansion cavity, and it did not lost a single of it’s five petals. Which can also be seen on the retained weight (99,4%).

9,3×62 is more close range caliber than the previous tested Exergy calibers, so it is possible, that cartridges are adjusted for the shorter shooting distances. Of course we did not achieve the velocity that manufacturer promises, because of our 120mm shorter barrel. That also can affect to the working of the bullet.

At the impact of the 637m/s (2090fps) the bullet worked great again, and kept all the petals intact as can be seen on the photo above. The retained weight was also again excellent. With this velocity, the bullet width was almost exact same than it was on the harder hit. Only clear difference can be seen on the lenght of the bullet. Also with this Exergy cartridge, we can expect bullet to open reliably even on slightly longer distances.

RELOADING

This S&B Exergy .366″ 250gr bullet is only available in factory cartridges.

WOUND CHANNELS

Test targets were wetted newspapers. The bullet with impact speed of 714m/s (2343fps) penetrated 64cm (25,2″) of wet newspapers, and the bullet with impact speed of 637m/s (2090fps) penetrated 57cm (22,4″).

The wound channels can be seen below. Both are very classical example’s of the wound channels.

SUMMA SUMMARUM

Factory cartridge with a good copper bullet! You can expect good working at the over 100m distances also. Low ballistic coefficient (G1: 0,348) affects the velocity quite fast at the greater distances. Not the bullet for the real long range hunting, but at the normal hunting distances you can expect very good results on big-game hunting!

Sincerely yours – The Hard-Hitting Shooting Lab