October 30, 2001
Leved Cartridge Company
P.O. Box 21
Georgetown, TX 78627-0021
Dear Mr. Kelsey:
I am writing to tell you
about a hunt I had with your 175 grain muzzle-loading bullet. I loaded it
with 150 grains of pyrodex and it shot well on my 100 yard range. I figure
the velocity must be around 2300 fps.
On October 28 I took it
to the field along with a friend who is a photographer. He witnessed the
shot and was in a tree stand about halfway between me and the deer. I got
the shot just before dark on a nice six-point buck that weighed about 140
pounds. He was about 70 yards from me and I had to make the shot from my
left shoulder. I fired the shot but could not see what happened to the
deer because of the gun smoke. I called out to my friend and asked him if
the deer was hit and which way it had run. Much to my surprise, he told me
that the deer had not even taken a step forward but had dropped straight down in
its tracks. He said it looked like the deer was dead before it hit the
ground!
I have hunted deer for
years and have taken over 100 deer with rifle and muzzle-loaders. I have
never seen results like this. For example, two days after I shot this
deer, I shot an 8 point about the same weight with my 7mm-08 and it ran about 50
yards with its heart and lungs shot out. I am in the process of putting a
scope on my Savage Model 10ML-2 muzzle-loader and plan to use it with your
bullet for the rest of the regular hunting season. I figure I can hit
accurately with it out to about 200 yards with no problem.
We did an autopsy on the
six-point. The bullet had struck high in the right shoulder and exited on
a straight line about midway up the left shoulder. The bullet made a
two-inch entry wound and broke one rib. It completely severed and
destroyed a four-inch section of the spinal column even though the bullet must
have hit the bottom of the spine, not the center. It broke 2 ribs and
damaged a third rib on exit even though it only hit one rib! The exit
wound was probably over three inches in diameter. The interior of the
chest cavity was filled with blood.
If I had not loaded and
fired this bullet myself, I would never have believed that this much damage
could have been done by a non-expanding bullet. It is simply
unbelievable. Your radially-dynamic design really works! You have a
great product and I plan to use it for all my muzzle-loading hunts from now on.
Sincerely,
Brian Gale
McIntosh County, Georgia
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