Hey gents, long time no post. I'm sure you missed me
Hunting season is coming up. While examining the load I currently have to see if it would be suitable for the task, I came across some contradicting information on the 178gr Amax from Hornady. Hornady website says 'match bullets are not intended for hunting'. Yet, my Hornady reloading manual places a green checkmark in the 'medium game' category for the 178gr Amax. Several people online saying 'don't use match bullets', several people online saying 'don't use match bullets, except the 178gr Amax'.
Thus, I set out unscientifically to put the bullet to the test. I'm just going to post the results and let you guys discuss it's suitability based off my single point experiment
Target: Phone books. Soaked with water, duct taped together.
Load: 178gr Amax, 2700fps
Distance: 200yds
Picture 1: A good enough zero. Only three shots.
Picture 2: Initial entry. I'd say it's about .308" in diameter.
Picture 3: Entry into final phone book. A little more than 1" across.
Picture 4: Bullet pulled from last phone book. Correspondingly an 1" across, about 3/4" long.
Overall it penetrated 14" of phone book. Right after about 4" is where you start to see the 1" hole showing up. That maintains until the last book that stopped the bullet with no divergence in the course. The bullet I pulled weight 79.8gr. The last 1/4" of the bullet looks to have kept most of it's shape, with the base clearly visible.
I leave this to your much more experienced minds. Thoughts?
Hunting season is coming up. While examining the load I currently have to see if it would be suitable for the task, I came across some contradicting information on the 178gr Amax from Hornady. Hornady website says 'match bullets are not intended for hunting'. Yet, my Hornady reloading manual places a green checkmark in the 'medium game' category for the 178gr Amax. Several people online saying 'don't use match bullets', several people online saying 'don't use match bullets, except the 178gr Amax'.
Thus, I set out unscientifically to put the bullet to the test. I'm just going to post the results and let you guys discuss it's suitability based off my single point experiment
Target: Phone books. Soaked with water, duct taped together.
Load: 178gr Amax, 2700fps
Distance: 200yds
Picture 1: A good enough zero. Only three shots.
Picture 2: Initial entry. I'd say it's about .308" in diameter.
Picture 3: Entry into final phone book. A little more than 1" across.
Picture 4: Bullet pulled from last phone book. Correspondingly an 1" across, about 3/4" long.
Overall it penetrated 14" of phone book. Right after about 4" is where you start to see the 1" hole showing up. That maintains until the last book that stopped the bullet with no divergence in the course. The bullet I pulled weight 79.8gr. The last 1/4" of the bullet looks to have kept most of it's shape, with the base clearly visible.
I leave this to your much more experienced minds. Thoughts?