Hornady 7MM 162 Grain A-Max

I think he means the A-max performs on game similarly to the VLD.

I recently used the A-max on a deer hunt for the first time just this last monday, Nov 7. My 7 rem mag shoots this bullet very accurately at a 2975 fps. It was a high shoulder shot at 409 yds. The 100 lb deer dropped and didn't even twitch. The bullet's velocity at impact was approx 2520 fps. Entrance hole through first shoulder was 1/2". Exit through second shoulder was 1". A tiny bit of meat was lost on the offside shoulder. I would definately use this bullet for LR deer hunting again.
 
Loner,

Go to Terminal Balistics Research and let Nathan Foster explain it to you . He is a New Zealand PH.

Click on the Knowledge Base and then click on the 7x57mm Mauser

The Hornady A-Max and Berger VLD are something of a modern legend in New Zealand.

The idea is to hit your game at approximately 2500 fps or less with these long soft target derived bullets.

The Hornady .224 75-grain HPBT Match bullet and a long, fast twist .223 Rem barrel has long been used to take whitetail deer over here. These heavier 7mm match bullets on mule deer and elk at long ranges are thus a no-brainer.

The experts who never used them will tell you otherwise. Of course, try not to hit heavy bone on the way in. For shooting through heavy bone in a .224 Rem, you use NATO 5.56 SS109/M855 armor piercing ammo in a 9" twist medium/long barrel. A guy I met in Montana has been using it for years. A lot of stories are spread by the expensive bullet people against the cheaper stuff that works anyway. Just gotta know how to use the cheaper stuff.
 
here is an 8x8 elk shot with a 162A-Max out of a 280 Rem. 1 shot and DRT

DSC_0116.jpg
 
gbp,

Judging by your scope, I would say you shot that elk from a long way off. The word I get is that the 162 A-Max needs to hit at 2500 fps or less. I use a light load of 4064 around 45,000 CUP (which is listed as book max load due to old military rifles) to keep my velocity at 2500 fps in case I scare up a close shot.

Finishing up my coffee right now, then heading out to brother-in-law's ranch at elevation 4400 feet, broken high prairie, for a shot at a mule deer with a 7mm 162 A-Max....or a 140 GameKing if I get within 200 yards. Used a .308 150 Ballistic Tip last year in my FAL, and a nice buck walked up to me in a draw, and he got neck shot above shoulder at 50 yards. BT exploded, deflected, and ruined alot of the near shoulder meat. DRT. Was expecting most shots to be over 200 yards. Ordered some Nosler 165 Accubonds for the FAL, they should hold up and exit next time, but the FAL is my brush/woods rifle.

Hunt last year took 2 hours. 2 deer taken same day. Both close, other deer was really messed up, quartering shot. Late season Montana hunting sees most game driven to private land, and BIL knows where they hang out. BIL will be using his .30-06 with those 150 BT bullets. Expecting DRT and some meat loss and hunt over before noon.
 
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Update on the mule deer hunt. I misjudged the time element and it took me 4 hours to bag the biggest 3x3 buck my brother-in-law had seen come off his ranch. The shot was at 300 lasered yards in a 20 MPH crosswind from the left. Broke the left shoulder on the way in, and the deer walked slowly but didn't get far. There was no exit. On gutting the deer the lungs had been messed up quite a bit. So, I guess you could say the 7mm 162 A-Max worked adequately.

Getting that big buck off of a ledge and out of a steep draw was the hard part.
 
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