Match bullets for long range big game hunting

[wildwilderness]

Guess what?

There is No Magic Bullet!!

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

Many people "only" brag about their successes.....rare is the person that confesses of their failures! History has shown, that there have been a high percentage of failures! memtb

agreed .. more failures than will ever be told

 

[dogz]

I'm for betting the reason that Sierra isn't in the game with their SMK has something to do with their military contracts........... which is of course much more lucrative for them than the hunting market would be........just a thunk

 

[Sledhead406]

Thanks for your input, very interesting. This has not been my experienc. My choices are made on performance, like you, not on marketing hype. I wonder, thinking of marketing, why if the match bullets are effective/efficient on game, why companies (like Sierra) aren't marketing them as hunting bullets?

If I was to take a guess, it is because the vast majority of people are hunting at distances where the use of a match bullet would be detrimental. Average Joe grabs a box of eldms and shoots a deer at 30 yds from his tree stand, he's going to likely not have a good experience.

 

[bigngreen]

Thanks for your input, very interesting. This has not been my experienc. My choices are made on performance, like you, not on marketing hype. I wonder, thinking of marketing, why if the match bullets are effective/efficient on game, why companies (like Sierra) aren't marketing them as hunting bullets?

Because of the market they want, also you can't sell Hunting bullets to the military, I know for a fact that some of the best hunting bullets out there today still are marketed as Match.

 

[bigngreen]

agreed .. more failures than will ever be told

I disagree, EVERYONE wants to blame the bullet, look how fast the bullet is blamed when something goes wrong, most of the time the animal wasn't even recovered and it's a bullet failure.
I can't count the number of bullet failure videos I've seen and some body puts a bullet into the legs, gutts, over the spine in the butt and yet they are all about it being a bullet failure.
I've seen ONE Berger failed to open, 210 at the back of the ribs on a doe mule deer, poor shot and it obviously penciled, we still were able to recover her.
I can't say only one failure about Barnes, Accubonds or Cutting Edge, but I only count the animals I recover and can look at the terminal performance

 

[rdsii64]

Game vs match bullets is getting a bit long in the tooth. What I choose depends on what, why, and where I'm hunting.

 

[AlphaDogs]

Kinda in the rear view mirror since we now have hunting bullets with same ballistic profile as match.

 

[Pointman]

Most debated topic ever. Worse than Ford vs. Chevy.

Especially when there are MOPAR addicts in the crowd.

 

[Elk Hunter 338]

I disagree, EVERYONE wants to blame the bullet, look how fast the bullet is blamed when something goes wrong, most of the time the animal wasn't even recovered and it's a bullet failure.
I can't count the number of bullet failure videos I've seen and some body puts a bullet into the legs, gutts, over the spine in the butt and yet they are all about it being a bullet failure.
I've seen ONE Berger failed to open, 210 at the back of the ribs on a doe mule deer, poor shot and it obviously penciled, we still were able to recover her.
I can't say only one failure about Barnes, Accubonds or Cutting Edge, but I only count the animals I recover and can look at the terminal performance

there's a lot of that also .. horrible videos of dude shooting an animal way past their effective range and letting the animal suffer or shooting it at to far with a puny cartridge and after a 4 hour hike having to dispatch the animla when they get there!! hell i saw one where a guy shoot at a bull and hit it all over like 7 times and finally the camera guy said stop....but in the beginning
they were bragging about how he has practiced out past 1000 yards hitting moa sized steel so it wouldn't be a problem to hit an elk that far!!!
all they want is to be on tv and have a video on youtube.
Ive never had a failure with swift II or accubonds and truck loads of animals from coyotes to moose to vouche for them

 

[AlphaDogs]

Especially when there are MOPAR addicts in the crowd.

Yup anyone with a 3 digit IQ knows a RAM Cummins rules.

 

[Bob Wright]

It would be nice if there was a topic section of real world performance, with good photos for LRH bullet performance, success (DRT), or long blood trailing.
Where I am from, it's not possible to cull hunt, so you depend on getting 1 or 2 tags for big game if extremely lucky. In the desert southwest, longer ranges are always possible..
Then harvest success on each hunter is around 20-30%.
I simply have to follow people I know and trust on this site that are fortunate to have 10X the opportunity, 10X the critters and back it up with photos, distance, speed and a recipe for that load/chambering.
If anything, there is a critical balance of one handload, or a 2 way solution in a handload the hunter is willing to use each day in the field for a long range shot, or a short range shot.
Hunting at the ranges we have today makes it difficult to choose accuracy and terminal performance and get it right. I have to trust what I see, and read right here.
It's almost a "part time Medical Examiner" job to analyze how the bullet performed, other than a nice successful field photo of the hunter and his critter.
Now that I'm on this site, I wish I would have had the photos of all my skinned animals to share, "how did this one perform?".
Now I will and be open and honest. I have had failure.

 

[Warbird2006]

I bought and read the Nathan Foster series of hunting and shooting books and I really enjoyed them.He has killed a lot of game with match bullets. He is very knowledgeable and learned alot.What are you guys thoughts on the use of match bullets for hunting thanks for any reply.

I've ordered and read all of his books, they are awesome.

 

[Merf45]

I love my amaxs they have never let me down i got a box of the eldms cause they supposed to be the replacement and they dont shoot like my amaxs out of my gun thats why i scarf up everybox of 168 amaxs i run across lol