30 cal Afterburners - Terminal Performance Pics

[Mark Dille]

Hello, everyone!

I thought since this past hunting season witnessed our first bullet launches, predominantly in 30 cal (all are released now), I'd share a few of the terminal performance pictures that were sent to me as the season progressed. The real-world results so far have aligned with our design philosophy and all of our testing that took place over the preceding two years. We couldn't be happier with what we're seeing and wanted to provide all of you with a little of that perspective. In summary, we focus on high trauma that starts early, straight wound channels, AND deep penetration.

Below is a coyote shot with a 153gr Afterburner prototype out of a 30-06 just prior to production launch at about 150 yards. This shows the ability to expand with low resistance (ribs only on a small animal and standard cartridge), and this particular prototype still didn't even meet our low velocity criteria in testing, but did well with light resistance in this example, nonetheless.
Entrance


Exit (notice multiple exit holes form the petals)



If I remember correctly, this is the longest kill to date that I'm aware of. This was a small female bear shot at 523 yards with a 300 RUM loaded with the 153gr Afterburner at 3520 fps. The shot angle came in through the top of the back crossways to the underside of the shoulder/neck, so the total length of tissue hit was very short, even though spine was hit. Expansion still proved to start very early, and the path was straight.
Entrance


Exit



One of the very fortunate things this past season was to get extensive feedback on terminal performance on large, heavy-bodied animals in quite high numbers both at shots less than 100 yards and out past 500 yards, all with the 300 WSM and the 144gr Afterburner at a mv of 3350 fps and somewhere in the .2 MOA range. It's something we didn't expect to get so quickly, so we are very grateful to this particular customer for providing such great detail and a lot of it. I won't post anywhere near all the pictures I've received as that number is extensive, but I will post some of the significant ones. Basically, these are free range cattle, and his efforts are to support the local food bank in his town. At this point, I'm unsure how many dozens of cattle have been taken with the 144gr, but I'd assume it's over three dozen or so. Here are some of the significant photos.
High shoulder, base of neck at 416 yards - exit


Slight quartering away, hence the oval shaped, fist sized exit at 235 yards


This next one is very interesting for several reasons. One, the skin was penetrated for a total of three times and at odd angles, accompanied by a skull hit both in and out at close range, 130 yards. After it exited the backside of the head, it reentered the shoulder and traversed the whole body and was somewhere in the guts. During this whole unorthodox situation, the bullet's path remained perfectly straight, something we really focus on.



This last one is a doe shot at 200 yards with a 308 Win and the 135gr Afterburner at a mild 3000 fps mv. The key here, was the shot was actually high. The deer was looking back over her shoulder, and the intent was a high shoulder. It hit above that only hitting neck, and slightly on the left side (traveling from the underside to the top side based on the angle the animal presented herself). Due to the significant early expansion, the spine luckily was hit, and major arteries severed, dropping the deer in her tracks. A pencil through on this shot would have resulted in a difficult situation. This is one of the many reasons we designed the Afterburner to expand violently so quickly.

 

[codyadams]

I like it. More to come!

 

[Trollswatter]

Do you have any plans to come out with a 180-200 grain .30 cal?

 

[Mark Dille]

Do you have any plans to come out with a 180-200 grain .30 cal?

Yes, we are planning for faster twists in 30 cal. That’s the best way I can answer your question. The Afterburner line will be the lightest bullets you will shoot for their respective twist rates. We talk about why that is a bit on our website.

In the faster twists, the BC will be dramatic, accompanied by the terminal performance already witnessed in the shorter bullets with even greater potential for shrapnel induced trauma. These will require a faster twist than a 1:10”, however.

 

[Trollswatter]

When do you figure those will be coming to market?

 

[Mark Dille]

When do you figure those will be coming to market?

I'd love to provide you with an exact timeframe, but some of the logistics are still a bit out of our hands as we are in the final stages of validating our long-term material supply capability. Our material is formulated very specifically to our needs, and consequently that takes a bit of time to hash out supply chain capability and reliability as our material is not something that sits on bronze distributors' shelves in inventory. I can guarantee the validation process is more painful for us internally, as we've been revved up and ready to go for a long time with most of our Aterburner line from .223 - .416 already fully designed and waiting. However, we will not jeopardize terminal performance with a suspect batch of material. While that keeps us small for even longer at the moment, it's the right way to move forward. At least that's how we feel about it internally. Having said all that, it should be very soon though allowing plenty of time during the spring and summer load developmental phases, unlike last year when we launched in late summer through the middle of fall, limiting chances in the field.

For sure, they will be in the next batch, so they will definitely be our next products released. We've realized through the early phases of initial launch last year that our devoted followers were decidedly the long range crowd shooting custom, fast twist barrels, or some of the newer SAAMI cartridges that are already setup that way. While they may be a minority in the shooting world overall, they certainly aren't here on LRO or with us. While we always knew that crowd would be drawn to the Afterburners, what surprised us was the overwhelming support from that side of the shooting world. We really anticipated building the rest of the line for the long-standing established cartridges in most of the rest of the calibers prior to getting into the longer bullets within caliber, and we will still do that because the benefits for the classic mountain rifle setup with Afterburners is quite dramatic, but we've decided to switch gears and focus on the longer bullets requiring higher twists first.

We say it on our home page, that "the squeaky wheel will probably get the grease," and that's exactly what we're doing as the company grows; we are listening to our customer and potential customer base. Just like we are right here and available to talk to on LRO or through our own site, through email, or on the phone, we feel that two-way interaction provides an edge for our customers and us. We know we are nowhere near the cheapest out there as our bullets are probably the most expensive to make by design compared to any other competitor world-wide, but our intent is to provide the best overall performance we possibly can without weaknesses in any area. Every single section of an Afterburner has been thoroughly thought out and optimized for its specific intent. At no point does an Afterburner's body exist just to provide mass or length.

Sorry for the long-winded reply for the fast twist 30 cal release, lol. It's been a while since I've posted, and I felt it necessary to put a little color behind what we've been doing at Apex these last few months. We've been working diligently on maturing the line in design and addressing scalability challenges for the future, so that we can grow efficiently and quickly as we gain momentum. Thank you.