Well I tried this bullet this season and it kills them dead.
I recovered some of the bullet from one large buck a buddy shot.
It had some mushrooming .. jacket did come apart and left shrapnel , which is fine by me if the deer dies quick.
It will power through a shoulder but not tough enough to make it out of the other shoulder.. which is good. 2 busted up shoulders does not put as much meat on the table.
In 2 shoulder shots and a head on chest shot the hearts were destroyed.
The head on chest shot the bullet did not exit.. Must have ended up in the guts somewhere..I did not search for it.
I chose this bullet because in my 30-06 and .308 it is accurate in the higher fps area than my 165 or 168 gr bullets .
2815 fps in the 20.5" .308 and 2980 fps in the 22" 30-06.
The bullets are seated .005-.010" off the lands.
30-06 load is R-P annealed cases BR2 primers 3.280" OAL (in my 100atr) 53 gr IMR 4064 This load is safe in my gun and may be over book max.. so work up.
The .308 load is annealed Winchester cases, 210M primers 46.5gr Varget 2.818" OAL in my savage 10fp Heavy barrel.
This may also be over book max so consult your manual ,,it is safe in my gun. may not be in yours.
I like the Annealed cases..I anneal each time ..I shoot 3 shot groups and The first shot needs to plant where I aim.
Really needs to from a fouled or clean barrel and hot or cold day.
These loads do that for me.
The 30-06 load at 500 yards printed a 4.9" 3 shot group.. the first 2 shots were 1.8" apart. the most important shots for general hunting in my mind.
The .308 grouped that load 4.615" at 500 yards.
May not be super great but the bullet did it's job and put the deer on the ground.
I shot some deer with the 178 A-Max and it will power through both shoulders on a broad side shot..Too devastating for my table.
The 168gr I could not send very fast 2500 fps in my .308, I could not reach a High accuracy node .
My loads may not work in your rifle and all loads need worked up to.
As we know lot numbers of powder and bullets change things.
Not all scales will be the same either.
Not all gun chambers are the same size.. A big reason to work up to the load your gun likes.
Happy Hunting.
I recovered some of the bullet from one large buck a buddy shot.
It had some mushrooming .. jacket did come apart and left shrapnel , which is fine by me if the deer dies quick.
It will power through a shoulder but not tough enough to make it out of the other shoulder.. which is good. 2 busted up shoulders does not put as much meat on the table.
In 2 shoulder shots and a head on chest shot the hearts were destroyed.
The head on chest shot the bullet did not exit.. Must have ended up in the guts somewhere..I did not search for it.
I chose this bullet because in my 30-06 and .308 it is accurate in the higher fps area than my 165 or 168 gr bullets .
2815 fps in the 20.5" .308 and 2980 fps in the 22" 30-06.
The bullets are seated .005-.010" off the lands.
30-06 load is R-P annealed cases BR2 primers 3.280" OAL (in my 100atr) 53 gr IMR 4064 This load is safe in my gun and may be over book max.. so work up.
The .308 load is annealed Winchester cases, 210M primers 46.5gr Varget 2.818" OAL in my savage 10fp Heavy barrel.
This may also be over book max so consult your manual ,,it is safe in my gun. may not be in yours.
I like the Annealed cases..I anneal each time ..I shoot 3 shot groups and The first shot needs to plant where I aim.
Really needs to from a fouled or clean barrel and hot or cold day.
These loads do that for me.
The 30-06 load at 500 yards printed a 4.9" 3 shot group.. the first 2 shots were 1.8" apart. the most important shots for general hunting in my mind.
The .308 grouped that load 4.615" at 500 yards.
May not be super great but the bullet did it's job and put the deer on the ground.
I shot some deer with the 178 A-Max and it will power through both shoulders on a broad side shot..Too devastating for my table.
The 168gr I could not send very fast 2500 fps in my .308, I could not reach a High accuracy node .
My loads may not work in your rifle and all loads need worked up to.
As we know lot numbers of powder and bullets change things.
Not all scales will be the same either.
Not all gun chambers are the same size.. A big reason to work up to the load your gun likes.
Happy Hunting.
