Load workup for Dall Sheep Hunt

[mntnflyr4fun]

I am scheduled for a Dall Sheep hunt in Ak. this next August and am getting ready to begin workup of a new load for my 300 Win Mag. for this hunt.

I would like to end up with a load that will not only make the grade for sheep out to 400 yds, but also be an excellent long range load ( up to 750 yds) for elk.

I will be investing a lot of time in getting a load ready to hunt and if I could end up with a dual purpose load that woud be great, but I am not willing to sacrifice any performance on the sheep to get to the dual load capability.

I have been considering a load using 200gr. Nosler Accubonds, but am worried that the bullet might not open up enough on sheep which I anticipate to be 350-450 yds. out.

I have done lots of research on scirocco's, VLD's, Interbonds etc. and it appears that the reviews are all over the place with more consistently positive reviews of the Accubonds.

I currently shoot 180gr. Speer Grandslams which do a great job in the terminal perfomance end, but inflight characteristics just don't match up to the boat tail designs.

I would appreciate any thoughts out there on bullet selection?

[roninflag]

i would use a soft bullet like a 168 berger, 168cbt , 165 baltip, 165 sierra/horn in that order. ( maybe even a 150) for the dall . i would want a quick opening/ quick kill . they can fall a long ways. i used a 168 berger 7mm on my rocky .

[BUNDUKI]

I did an ibex hunt in kyrgystan central Asia last year. I used my 300win mag loaded with 180g nosler ballistic tips with great results two one shot kills, one at 430yds and the other at 210yds.
I chose the ballistic tip because I wanted a bullet that would expand at range and put the animal down as quickly as possible as these things have attendacy to run in to inaccessible places after Being hit.
I am loading 82.5g of H1000 in front of a federal 215M primer in lapua brass 10 thou of the lands and getting 0.35MOA groups with a velocity of 3050fps
I think the 180bt would serve well as your dual purpose load.

[Rimfire]

Originally Posted by BUNDUKI

I did an ibex hunt in kyrgystan central Asia last year. I used my 300win mag loaded with 180g nosler ballistic tips with great results two one shot kills, one at 430yds and the other at 210yds.
I chose the ballistic tip because I wanted a bullet that would expand at range and put the animal down as quickly as possible as these things have attendacy to run in to inaccessible places after Being hit.
I am loading 82.5g of H1000 in front of a federal 215M primer in lapua brass 10 thou of the lands and getting 0.35MOA groups with a velocity of 3050fps
I think the 180bt would serve well as your dual purpose load.

+1 and if you want tougher swap the 180 NBT for a 180 NAB

[Michael Eichele]

The bullet in the far right in the picture below is a 30 cal 200 grain Nosler Accubond taken out of a dall ram shot at 360 yards. If you think that you will have an expansion issue on your dall ram, look very closely at the picture.



Regards.

[mntnflyr4fun]

Wow, I am pretty shocked at what that 200gr. Accubond looks like at that range. It is destroyed.....Do you have much experience in general with the Accubond? Are you still shooting it?

Thanks for the pictures.

[Michael Eichele]

Originally Posted by mntnflyr4fun

Wow, I am pretty shocked at what that 200gr. Accubond looks like at that range. It is destroyed.....Do you have much experience in general with the Accubond? Are you still shooting it?

Thanks for the pictures.

I still use it off and on. I also took a mature bull moose at 650 with the same rifle/load. All bullets passed through and all had devastating effects.

The AB in the picture actually travelled a great distance into the ram. With the angle of the ram and the angle of the terrain, he was hit quatering away with his head down. It entered behind the shoulder, traveled the length of his neck and was halted by the back of his skull. Hence the reason I retrieved it.

All in all, I am very happy with the AB performance as a hunting bullet. It is a great balance between real hunting expansion/accuracy and decent BC.