155gr Scenar Effect on game

[maple_leaf_eh]

I made the mistake once of using a match bullet for hunting, because they were so damn accurate. 107 grain Sierra MatchKing in my 260 Remington, for coyotes and wolves. Would shoot in the .3's from my mountain rifle 700.

.....

Upon skinning the wolf it was found that my bullets penciled through like a FMJ. Wound channel like a target arrow.

I strongly suggest you do not use bullets designed for paper, for hunting. Stick with something else....theres a ton of great options out there these days.
​

I read up on Berger X bullets and thought they'd be just perfect for my .300 WM and antelope. I spotted a decent one and fired. He humped and took off. I never saw him after cresting the first dip in the hillside. The only souvenir was a single blood drop on a round rock. I kept it as a reminder that not-really-expanding bullets, even if they have the nose channel, are inappropriate for game that aren't very big side to side. I believe I punched a hole through and through, and the little guy scampered off to become coyote bait that night or the day after.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Mods any idea what’s behind all this necro posting lately? That’s like a dozen in the last 24 hrs

My bad for not checking the posting date too.

 

[iron cat]

I read up on Berger X bullets and thought they'd be just perfect for my .300 WM and antelope. I spotted a decent one and fired. He humped and took off. I never saw him after cresting the first dip in the hillside. The only souvenir was a single blood drop on a round rock. I kept it as a reminder that not-really-expanding bullets, even if they have the nose channel, are inappropriate for game that aren't very big side to side. I believe I punched a hole through and through, and the little guy scampered off to become coyote bait that night or the day after.

You are assuming you hit the critter well and it penciled through.
You may have just nicked it causing it to hump, which I have seen before on animals.
Cat

 

[Mulletard]

Tod, that is a sobering story. V-Max bullets are supposedly designed to fragment explosively. They're specifically designed as a varmint bullet, hence the "V" in V-Max. Your story is analgous to a Barnes X blowing apart after penetrating one inch on a small deer -- an absolute failure of the bullet's designed performance.

Personally, I was planning to load those very bullets for occasional long-range varminting in my heavy 6.5x55. Now I'm concerned.

On the other hand, I've heard that 155 A-Maxes in .308 generally perform like Nosler Ballistic Tips on deer-sized game, which means they should work. But I have heard that the Scenars have a fairly hard jacket, which means that there's a good chance they would act like a full metal jacket on impact.

Sierra 100grn varmint hollows are great in the swede. I drive em to 3000fps and they have taken many coyote. 1 shot drops (most around the 200 to 225y mark) except one I nailed on the run got it in the gut and spun for a bit. Looked like a murder scene though.


EDIT. ME TOO. NECRO!!!

ah well, maybe my post will help someone for varmint bullets.

 

[p-17]

Holy cow. I wrote that 20 years ago, and the 6.5x55 I mentioned was sold off long ago. (I'm now into the .260 Rem.)

Since then, there's been a great deal of discussion about the efficacy of the former Hornady AMAX bullets for hunting. The consensus is that they're somewhat soft, but they work on deer.

There are also guys on 24hourcampfre who swear by Lapua Scenars (especially 30 cal) for hunting. They post pics of elk and other animals dropped by Scenars and Bergers.

In the last 20 years, more nimrods have been convinced that they can shoot animals at ranges greatly exceeding 500 yards, hence the tendency to look for hyper-accurate, high-BC bullets.

I'm more convinced than ever that Accubonds/Partitions/TSXs/etc. are the way to go for hunting. Keep your impact velocity above 1,800 fps, shoot in the right spot, and cut your tag.

The most challenging part of the exercise is finding the game in the first place, in a situation when you can reasonably make the shot.

 

[EJG]

The only hunting bullet I used on deer or fox was a 143 ELDX in 6.5 CM which was OK but I found the 140 ELDM to be better. Shot around 200 deer with match bullets in the last 20 years and hundreds of fox. Not all match bullets work. For example 168gr Hornady BTHP is fantastic for body shots on deer but lousy for head/neck shots. They expand too late especially on small deer. Reason for using Match bullets is they are more accurate, better BC and seem to be more consistent in expansion. Trick is to match bullet, game and shot placement.
edi