nice bull at 1030 yards

[Idaho Sawyer]

So i just got home from a 10 day hunt with my cousin in central Id and was fortunate enough to find a couple nice bulls. The bull on the right gave me a good shot at 860 yards 16 degree uphill slope, no wind. I dialed appropriately and sent one on the way from my 7 mag with 168 berger. I watched the impact, he was quartering away and it entered the chest and just missed the far shoulder. He didn't like it much but he was still on his feet so I sent another one on the way. Another good hit in the boiler room and into the timber he went. Well I was feeling pretty good about the shots when he reappeared on the far edge of the timber leaking fluid but still upright. I range it at 1030 readjusted and sent another on the way this one hit his shoulder and knocked him down. He got back up, I sent another on the the way and just missed right over the top (my bad, I was getting a little fired up by now!) settled down and sent the final shot on the way. Sent another one into the shoulder and that did the trick. When all was said and done the first 2 shots zipped through the vitals doing damage but probably going to slow to open up. The last 2 I found in the far shoulder one had opened up, one had not. Definitely MAX range for the 7 Mag. I think I need an EDGE! The Bull green scored 318. My cousins bull was anchored at 500 yards with a couple 200 gr. Accubonds from his 300 ultra. It was a great trip!

 

[the444shooter]

Congratulations and thanks for the details on bullet performance! Nice shooting! I've got a Savage 111LRH in 7mm Mag on the way, and HSM just delivered my two boxes of 168gr Berger ammo, so I'm anxious to test it out. How did the 200gr Accubonds perform? Both exit?

 

[elkaholic]

Congrats on a nice bull and some good shooting! Also, some good info on the Bergers which I think verifies what some of us have stated in the past. When shooting at long range you need to aim for the shoulder to get expansion from the Bergers and even more so for the SMK's......Rich

 

[ATH]

Great shooting. One would have to run the numbers but perhaps the Accubond would open up a little better at that range? Elk are tough critters and really seem to soak up the lead at longer ranges unless you break something. No doubt Bergers are great bullets but if you need a shoulder hit to prompt it to open up at the desired range, you just shrunk your target zone considerably...

 

[elkaholic]

Great shooting. One would have to run the numbers but perhaps the Accubond would open up a little better at that range? Elk are tough critters and really seem to soak up the lead at longer ranges unless you break something. No doubt Bergers are great bullets but if you need a shoulder hit to prompt it to open up at the desired range, you just shrunk your target zone considerably...

You are correct about shrinking the target zone. Unfortunately, the AB's don't open any better at the velocities he was running, and in fact, because of their lower B.C., reach that lower velocity sooner. I use to shoot AB's and they are a good bullet at less than the distances in this post. I started making my own bullets several years ago after having less than desirable results with 200 gr. AB's in my ultra mag. It has been my experience that AB's pretty much just blow the nose off with no increase in diameter when the velocities are under 2000' or a little higher. One of the best factory bullets out there may well be the A-Max at extreme ranges primarily because of the ballistic tip. I say this from testing in media only, as I have never personally used them for hunting since I started making my own. For what it's worth......Rich

 

[Idaho Sawyer]

The AB's did not exit. Both of them were in the far shoulder adn both had opened up nicely. between AB's and Ballistic Tips I personally much prefer the BT's due to there reliable opening at low speeds. But my gun was throated for bergers and it shoots them very well, I guess we all just need to be aware of are bullets low end opening speeds and shoot appriately. Ya I cant agree more I have seen a lot of bulls soak up a lot of "perfectly" placed shots. Were we hunt it is incredibly steep so anchoring a bull is the goal no matter how good of shot you make. KEEP SHOOTIN TILL 4 LEGS ARE STICKIN STRAIGHT UP IN THE AIR!

 

[elkaholic]

The AB's did not exit. Both of them were in the far shoulder adn both had opened up nicely. between AB's and Ballistic Tips I personally much prefer the BT's due to there reliable opening at low speeds. But my gun was throated for bergers and it shoots them very well, I guess we all just need to be aware of are bullets low end opening speeds and shoot appriately. Ya I cant agree more I have seen a lot of bulls soak up a lot of "perfectly" placed shots. Were we hunt it is incredibly steep so anchoring a bull is the goal no matter how good of shot you make. KEEP SHOOTIN TILL 4 LEGS ARE STICKIN STRAIGHT UP IN THE AIR!

+1 on the BT's. I'd take a BT over an AB anyday at 500+ yds.

 

[Buffalobob]

Did you actually hit any shoulder bones and if so what do you think happened?

PS. Good job!

 

[Idaho Sawyer]

ya both shots at 1030 clipped the near shoulder and stopped on the far shoulder, and by clipped I mean they both hit the thin part of the shoulder closest to the rib cage. probably an inch or so from the edge of the shoulder, center mass verticaly. I'll try and upload up photos of the recovered bullets.

 

[Idaho Sawyer]

here are the 2 from the bull. the one on the left shed its jacket and the one on the right just turned into a banana!

 

[RDM416]

Congratulations and great shooting!! Thanks for sharing your story with us. I'm a big fan of the 338s, for that kind of range an Edge will certainly give you better terminal performance. But, hey don't knock the 7mm too much, she got the job done!

 

[Idaho Sawyer]

Ya I have spent the last week figuring out what I can liquidate to fund an EDGE. We have a lot of cross canyon shots and it would be nice to show up across canyon with a 300 SMK!

 

[ATH]

+1 on the BT's. I'd take a BT over an AB anyday at 500+ yds.

Therein lies the rub, the search for the mystical bullet that does everything at all ranges

I use ABs as I've had good results from close range to 700ish yds and longer shots would be rare. I have not shot a lot of BTs but the ones I did were at relatively close range and were far too fragile for me to want to hunt big game with.

I guess in an ideal world I'd load up with a good short- to mid-range bullet, but know my dope to drop in a longer range bullet if the opportunity presented itself...

 

[jrw1976]

Idaho sawyer just for my own curiosity what brand of rig are you shooting and what is your recipe. My son and I have just got into longrange shooting and reloading this year. We both made our longest kills to date on our deer this year mine was at 305 yards and my son shot his at 322 yards of course he had to best his old man Oh and he is only 13. We both shoot 7 mags and we always love to learn from others experiances.

Thanks, Jason