Edge over kill for KS white tail

[bridgebuilder]

Last Friday night about 1/2 hour before dark a nice tall 8 point buck came out at 430 yards to see the 5 does that were feeding . So i dialed up 6.75 and no wind for a change , the buck was facing me head on then quartered slightly to his right so i centered the crosshairs on his left shoulder figured i had 8 inches of room for error and still hit bone and let her fly.gun) Even with the DE brake i lost sight of him from the recoil but heard the impact of the bullet into meat and he was gone . NO blood , hair , nothin when i finally found him about 450 yards away i had hit several inches behind the shoulder and the bullet passed between 2 ribs , so there was a pencil hole goin in and a pencil hole coming out the opposite side in front of back leg about 8 inches . Anyway pencil hole in left lung thru diaphragm and all the smelly stuff and out . I believe you have to hit a bone to make this a truly awesome round and for me thats not an absolute . So for me for now 6.5 is still king for deer . Anybody else have this problem ? Or recommend a lighter more expansive bullet and load for 338 Edge? I gues i left out i am shooting 300 gain begers at 2790fps.

 

[Senderofan]

I can't comment on the "Hybrid" .338 Berger bullet.....not sure if they designed them more for target shooting than hunting. I can relate a similar story to yours..when I was using Sierra MatchKing's. We tried some 100 gr. SMK's in my .25-06 for antelope hunting. Our experience was...this was the most accurate bullet in windy conditions that we could find. We used this bullet to take two antelope. Both times....the bullet penciled in and out. Inside the chest cavities of both animals was a bunch of mush along with the blood. I'm thinking the hydrostatic pressure did a number on the internals. My load was pushing the bullets 3300-3350 fps....so you got that very distinct thump when the bullet hit home. Both animals went less than 100 yards before they piled up.

Maybe the new "Hybrid" bullet is designed a bit more for long range target shooting and less as a hunting round??

I was happy to read Berger has moved up into .338 cal. bullets. Too bad your experience wasn't what you had expected. I decided to never use the SMK's when big game hunting. I really want something that will have some expansion to it.

Hope there are other guys out there with experience....with this new bullet. Your experience sounds a lot like mine with SMK's. Hopefully I'm barking up the wrong tree..

Wayne

 

[Jumpalot]

I shot an antelope at 925yds. and the bullet opened just fine. I think they might be a little on the soft side. My Edge shooting the Bergers has claimed an antelope, a cow elk and a bull elk and the bullets expanded just fine. Not sure what happened in your situation.

 

[learning]

It actually shot two antelope you forgot about mine.

It left a BIG hole.

 

[bridgebuilder]

Did all of the bullets hit bone on all of the animals you shot ? Thats the mistake i made i didnt hit any bone. I am pretty sure it would have looked like a grenade went off in there if i had but that wasnt the case. Maybe i just had a freak deal happen too . Thanks for input like to hear more good or bad stories.

 

[RDM416]

I have been shooting the 300 grain bergers this year at 2875 fps. I have killed 4 antelope at ranges from over 900 to 400, an elk at 600+ and a whitetail at 300+. The bergers performed well on all, some hit bone others did not. All critters dropped in their tracks with the possible exception of the elk. He dropped behind some brush and we found him about 10 yards down hill from where he was standing, don't know if he just rolled there or took a few steps....

I have also killed quite a number of deer with the 300 gr SMK. It certainly opens up better if you hit bone, but I have not had any real problems with it.

You might try the 250 SMK, I think it has a thinner jacket. I have used the 250s for hunting for several years and they have always perfomed great for me. They seem to open up better than the 300s for me and typically leave a VERY large exit hole. I am running them at about 3360 at the muzzle, so I don't really know if they perform better because of the increased speed or if they do have a thinner jacket.

 

[fireroad]

Your story is exactly why I don't hunt with match-type bullets, especially Bergers. If you are willing to drop down a little in weight the 250 gr Accubond will perform as needed without the need to hit bone.

 

[mike33]

I just killed a 130lb. east coast whitetail with my edge at 450 yards, 300 SMK at 2825. Hit 3" behind shoulder perfect elevation entrance broke single rib exit hole size of pool ball just touching 1 lung. Deer ran 30 yards was really impressed where i hit the damage was good and dead is dead. Really like to smack one dead in the shoulder to really see some damage.
mike

 

[liltank]

Really like to smack one dead in the shoulder to really see some damage.
mike

Why? That would be a lot of wasted meat!

Tank

 

[mike33]

wanna see the big ole hole when it hits the bone. Heck, i dont like deer meat anyway.
mike

 

[fireroad]

wanna see the big ole hole when it hits the bone. Heck, i dont like deer meat anyway.
mike

Coming from a state where all deer licenses are a draw that seems like borderline "wanton waste" to me. If you just want to blow giant holes in critters I recommend taking up hog hunting.

 

[bridgebuilder]

We eat ours , I built this Edge to take Elk huntin sometime but curiousity got the better of me so decide to use it this deer season and was really expecting a quick clean kill and that is exactly what didn't happen . I gun)shot a doe on Sunday with a 6.5 x47 i just finished at 415 yds and she didnt run 30 yds and died , but i did hit the corner of the shoulder and very good exspansion out of the 130 gr hunting vld.

These are my first 2 rifle builds at least i got a kill out of both them .

 

[mike33]

Okey, leave me clarify my comment before i look like a real jackass. I built an edge this to take to co. elk hunting. on the last day of my hunt my outfitter found out my nfx scope has an illuminated reticle. he told me it was illegal and i argued it wasent and had to go with my back up gun which was also a new build my 25 Bobcat ( 270 wsm necked to 25 ) it was topped also with a nfx 5.5x22 npr-1 but he didnt know a nfx from a tasco so i wasent going to tell. i took my first elk that morning a nice cow at 470 yards. I was excited about my first elk but dissapointed it wasent with the edge, i think everyone here knows what i have invested in it plus carring a 13 lb. gun for 4 days at 8200'. So now back home in our local season i get to kill one of our whitetails that went around 125 lbs if im lucky with the edge. Yes i wanted to see what 4 damage it would do on something small like this and yes hoping for a nice hole. as far as deer meat which i should of went on i dont care for deer steak or berger. However, i do make my own bologna, sausage, and jerky. Also i give my family some steaks they enjoy but i dont. So i just dont go out and try to blow holes in deer and let lay, i bring home and do my process as described. We was able to take 4 elk 2 bulls and 2 cows, 2 mule deer among a group of 10. We divide equal shares so i had fair amount of elk meat which i do like elk steak.
mike

 

[liltank]

We eat ours , I built this Edge to take Elk huntin sometime but curiousity got the better of me so decide to use it this deer season and was really expecting a quick clean kill and that is exactly what didn't happen . I gun)shot a doe on Sunday with a 6.5 x47 i just finished at 415 yds and she didnt run 30 yds and died , but i did hit the corner of the shoulder and very good exspansion out of the 130 gr hunting vld.

These are my first 2 rifle builds at least i got a kill out of both them .

So why didn't you get a clean kill with the Edge? What happened with that deer? By the way, I love Kansas. I lived on Ft. Riley for 2.5yrs. I was stationed in the 4/1 FA. I got out and visited many different towns. My favorite spots were Remington's in Topeka, Rocking Horse just north of OK City, Abilene, Silverado's in Manhattan, and I was baptized in a swimming pool during a tornado watch in Enterprise. I really like the XX Angus at the Little Apple Brewery too.

Tank