Bonded bullets can be made to penetrate deeper because they retain their weight better, and they can be made to expand wider because they hold together. Hornady’s InterBond, introduced in 2003, is a bonded bullet that does a little of one and a lot of the other.
In hunting there are the rifles you choose to make sure you take an animal humanely; and then, there are the rifles you choose to make sure the animal doesn’t take you. A choice for a black bear rifle lends itself to the latter.
You’ve probably heard that African dangerous game can absorb five hits from an Abrams tank and keep on charging. You’ve probably heard that kudu, eland, wildebeest and even impala are so tough from evading lions and leopards they’ll soak up bullets that would floor a North American brown bear. Nonsense.
Remington’s 7mm Mag. came on the scene and won the hearts of many hunters looking to use a bullet of less than .30 caliber, and quickly overtook the .264 Win. Mag., forcing it into near-obscurity. And, in spite of the myriad attempts to produce a 7mm Mag. that will better the performance of the Remington version, it still maintains its seat at the head of table.
It’s no secret that premium hunting bullets offer greater accuracy, higher ballistic coefficients and better terminal performance, but they’re typically about twice as expensive as standard bullets. Is the extra cost justified?
It’s easy for anyone to be confused by what appears to be an unlimited number of bullet designs on the market today. Cast lead bullets, cup-and-core bullets, bonded bullets, monolithic bullets—what’s all this stuff mean? Here’s a cheat sheet to share with new hunters.