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]

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]

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.

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

I feel better. I have been pretty much honing in on the Accubond for my long range big game loads. We get lots of shooting at Bulls on the Oregon coast in the 550-800 yard ranges and so am setting up my 300win for that job after the sheep hunt is over.

One of the things that is very attractive (as long as the bullet works)about the Accubond is that the Accubond and Ballistic Tip are identical B.C's with the ballistic tip being less heavily built and less costly which makes it a good choice for light skinned game as well as a lower cost practice bullet. Additionalyl, according to Sierra Infinity V6, the Sierra Gameking in 180 grain shoots out to 400+ yds pretty much on the same path as the Noslers with an almost identical B.C, and may have its own applications with interchangeability being the key....one load, three bullets, you don't get that to often.

Thanks for clarifying what that bullet went through, as when I saw that pic. my first thought was a rib cage, heart lung shot and at almost 400yds, I expected to see a bullet looking more like the one in the pic on the left, but you can't expect anything to look too pretty after banging along the spine for a couple feet.

Sounds like it did great on the Moose and that gives me confidence to go ahead and work some load up with them.

If you don't mind sharing, what load (primer/powder etc) are you shooting and what kind of velocities are you seeing.

Thanks again

 

[Michael Eichele]

I feel better. I have been pretty much honing in on the Accubond for my long range big game loads. We get lots of shooting at Bulls on the Oregon coast in the 550-800 yard ranges and so am setting up my 300win for that job after the sheep hunt is over.

One of the things that is very attractive (as long as the bullet works)about the Accubond is that the Accubond and Ballistic Tip are identical B.C's with the ballistic tip being less heavily built and less costly which makes it a good choice for light skinned game as well as a lower cost practice bullet. Additionalyl, according to Sierra Infinity V6, the Sierra Gameking in 180 grain shoots out to 400+ yds pretty much on the same path as the Noslers with an almost identical B.C, and may have its own applications with interchangeability being the key....one load, three bullets, you don't get that to often.

Thanks for clarifying what that bullet went through, as when I saw that pic. my first thought was a rib cage, heart lung shot and at almost 400yds, I expected to see a bullet looking more like the one in the pic on the left, but you can't expect anything to look too pretty after banging along the spine for a couple feet.

Sounds like it did great on the Moose and that gives me confidence to go ahead and work some load up with them.

If you don't mind sharing, what load (primer/powder etc) are you shooting and what kind of velocities are you seeing.

Thanks again

Load was 300 RUM. 95.0 H50BMG, Remington case, Federal 215 gold medal primers. Standard length. Velocity was 3050 FPS. My rifle is no longer fitted with that barrel. Now it has a 338 barrel.

I have also used the 150 Accubond in my 308 for sheep and mule deer. Both died very quickly and the mulie buck dropped where he stood on impact. The ram stood there for a few seconds and kicked over. The exit on the ram was over an inch and blood spewed out of it like crazy. Definately not afraid to use them here. Some of my buddies use them for close quater moose loads and have all had great results with them as well. Good expansion and dead very quickly. Just the way we like it.

 

[captain cox]

no better bullet for the money. with a 270 win one shot bull elk kill, and one shot kill on deer this year. with my 300 rum i killed a bull one shot. no problem. if they made a heavier bullet for .338 thats what i would load in my edge. nothing but praises for this bullet.

 

[6mm Remington]

I hope this photo comes across. The left bullet is a 90 gr. E-tip out of my sons 6mm Remington at 3160 fps. All bullets were recoverd from water jug #6 at 100 yards. The center is a 165 gr. Accubond from my 30-06 in my Ruger #1B at 2940 fps. The right bullet is a 100 gr. Partition out of my 6mm at about 3100fps. Again all were recoved in jug #6 at 100 yards. I love the Accubonds and I think a 180 or 200 gr. would work very well for you. My buddy shot a really nice 6x6 at about 300 yards with his 300 WSM and 180 gr. Accubond. He shot the bull twice. One bullet exited and the other was found on the ground when he was dressing the bull out. Great textbook performance. Like you said too, buy the Ballistic Tips for practice!! Good luck on your hunt.

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

Thanks for the great pics, looks like all three bullets are capable of devastating knockdowns...