Sage, it's funny you even jumped in this thread about a bullet you know nothing about! And when asked a valid question you avoided it and got all huffy puffy.
So Sage??? Have you ever shot the VLD??? If not then your voice or opinion means nothing on the matter. You say it explodes on contact, well, once again you should learn about the bullet before spouting off telling others they are FOS.
I have shot VLDs for the last 5 or so years now. Between me, my uncle, friends that use them and the dozens of people I have let use my gun to kill elk on our ground, one thing is very clear. The VLD is a great killing bullet for big game.
Wes is spot on with his in the field experience. When you hit an animal with a vld, it is mush in the chest cavity. Most animals take very few steps if any before going down.
I shoot a 300 RUM 190 gr Vld. 3,212 fps. I have killed elk, deer, bear, bighorn sheep with this rifle from 40 yards to 934 yards. I have never experienced a vld blowing up on contact and not penetrating, even when elk have been hit in the shoulder. What I have experienced is a few inches of penetration and then a BIG wound channel making soup of the insides, even when hit in the shoulder.
I will admit I was nervous when I first started hunting with the VLD. I read the forums and heard they blew up, thin jacket, no penetration ect.... even talked to a few people that have commented in this thread. now after the 100+ animals I've been apart of dropping from a VLD, I love them! They cause massive internal damage, more than I have seen from other bullets.
I know some people have had a bad experience with them, But the same can be said about all bullets. No matter what brand bullet, you will find those that dislike them because of a bad experience.
I'm not expecting or trying to change minds And at the end of the day I don't care. Shoot what you like and trust. They have worked great and I will continue to use them and put BIG animals down with no problem. I will trust my experience using them over someones opinion with limited actual experience. The more I kill with them, the more I like them.