Lost a Core

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I wasn't sure if this went in the hunting or reloading section but here it goes.

Shot a bull Calf moose on Saturday with my 7mmSAUM 60gr of H4350 behind a 140gr nosler AB.

I got one pass through in the vitals at 60 yards and while it was running away, I tried to put one in the back of his head. I missed and shot straight up the spine I found the 140gr AB while skinning and it had smashed a few of the vertabre and came to rest in a mess of crushed bone.

The AB lost its core and it weighed 56gr after plowing through the vertabre.

The moose is dead and dropped instantly with the spine shot. (would have died from the first shot but I just wanted to anchor it)

I guess I will take everyones advise and move up to the 160's for moose and keep the 140's for deer or... I will stick with the 140's and move to the TSX :twisted:


The pass through shot gave a great exit hole no complaints with that one and I'm not complaining with the spine shot just didn't think it would loose it's core.


Oh well Moose is in the freezer!!!!!!!

I will try and post a pic of the bullet when I get a chance.
 
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Just reporting my findings

Thought they were not supposed to lose their core or at least retain a little more weight.

Like I said I'm not complaining, the bullet did it's job.

Moose is in the freezer and I am tickled!!!

That bullet was travelling pretty fast when it hit that vertabre so I would expect some loss of lead, maybe not that much that's all.
 
I dont think there is harder bone than the spine. High impact speed too! :) sounds like it held up reasonably well, imagine if it was a Ballistic tip or SST?
 
I thought that Accubonds were supposed to be bonded cores, I drove a 225 gr Horandy Interbond into the spine of a moose with my 338 RUM and it didn't come apart and it still weighed 178 grains.
 
a 140 is likely moving a heck of a lot faster than a 225grainer. the speed of the bullet combined with what it was hitting would make it lose its core. no matter if its an accubond, anything thats got 2 metals in it is going to seperate a lot going through a lot of bone at that sort of speed. only thing that might stand up better would be one of the barrnes bullets.
 
Aries- said:
a 140 is likely moving a heck of a lot faster than a 225grainer. the speed of the bullet combined with what it was hitting would make it lose its core. no matter if its an accubond, anything thats got 2 metals in it is going to seperate a lot going through a lot of bone at that sort of speed. only thing that might stand up better would be one of the barrnes bullets.
Click to expand...

If 67 feet per second is a heck of a lot faster you are right.:rolleyes:
 
You shot a "deer" weight bullet at very high speed through a heck of a lot of hard moose bone. I think the bullet did very well under the circumstances. By comparison, most 140 Gr. cup and core bullets would have completely fragmented within one or two vertebrae, not just lost a core after breaking several vertebrae.

If you want your 7MM SAUM bullets to hold together on such shots, reduce velocity, go to 160 or better yet 175 grain bullets (which also reduces velocity), or use a monolithic hollow point like the TSX.

Even with those good accubond bullets, you can't have it both ways - shooting a light weight at high speed into lots of bone and expect more than it gave you.

I have made a similar shot twice on elk and moose, with a 250 grain 35 Whelen at 2500 FPS. My bullets hung together because they were not pushed as fast, and had more sectional density. They also penetrated nearly the full length of each animal. Speed is not always your friend when it comes to penetration.
Your 7MM is fully adequate for moose and there is nothing really wrong with your choice of bullet for it, only your expectations. You killed the moose, be happy.
 
Don't get me wrong I am exstatic with getting my first moose!!!

It also makes total sense to me that a bullet going that fast hitting that hard of bone will take a pounding.
So my expectations have changed.
 
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