shooting_nut
Beginner
- Jul 14, 2018
- 12
- 0
First off, I want to offer a big "thank you!" to everyone here on this forum. Over the last few years, I found this site to be a great source of information on loads, bullet performance, rifles & gear...you name it. In particular, some QuickLoad help assisted me in working up a great load for my 7mm-08 & the 160gr AccuBond over top of RL17 (MV of 2725 fps out my Tikka T3x). I've used this load to take two mule deer so far, but those were both in the timber at around 85 yards. Both broadside, both dropped to the shot, and (no surprise) no recovered bullets. Not much of a challenge the cartridge/bullet.
This year, I decided to take this rifle/load hunting for cow elk. I found a small group of cows at about sundown. One stepped out of some cedar trees in a clear grassy spot down hill of where I was at about 360 yards, quartering towards me. I took the shot, and she immediately tensed up & walked a very quick half-circle back behind a tree where I could only see her head. A few seconds later, she flopped over and didn't get back up...no more than 10 seconds after the shoot.
Upon inspection/field dressing, I found the bullet (pictures below) had entered between two ribs about 4 inches behind her right shoulder blade and passed through her lungs, liver, and a little of her stomach before coming to rest against the offside hide. My rough measurement says it went through about 22" of elk. Vertically, the bullet hit a little high, in the top 1/3 of her lungs, 4-5" below the top of her ribs/spine. This is my fault for not re-ranging her after moving around to get into a stable position, not the fault of the bullet.
The recovered bullet (after cleaning) weighs 140 grains, yielding ~87% weight retention. My ballistic calculator puts the bullet going about 2250 fps, with 1800 foot-pounds of energy at impact.
I had some reservations about using this heavy of a bullet in the 7mm-08, thinking it might not open up well at extended range/lower velocities. Looks like my worries were unfounded, at least for this particular AB. I couldn't ask for any more from the bullet given the conditions.
All told, this is the 8th elk I've taken with a Nosler AB bullet (previously 4 using a 30 cal/165gr from a 30-06 at a MV of 2900, ranges from 75 to 380 yards; 3 with a 7mm/140gr at a MV of 2825, ranges from 85 to 350 yards). I haven't been disappointed yet. It really seems to be a great design, at least in the three examples I've used.
Edited to add: Sorry I didn't have a picture of the elk before field dressing/packing it out. I didn't have my phone with me the night I got her, so the best I could include was the rifle and packed out meat/proof-of-gender.
This year, I decided to take this rifle/load hunting for cow elk. I found a small group of cows at about sundown. One stepped out of some cedar trees in a clear grassy spot down hill of where I was at about 360 yards, quartering towards me. I took the shot, and she immediately tensed up & walked a very quick half-circle back behind a tree where I could only see her head. A few seconds later, she flopped over and didn't get back up...no more than 10 seconds after the shoot.
Upon inspection/field dressing, I found the bullet (pictures below) had entered between two ribs about 4 inches behind her right shoulder blade and passed through her lungs, liver, and a little of her stomach before coming to rest against the offside hide. My rough measurement says it went through about 22" of elk. Vertically, the bullet hit a little high, in the top 1/3 of her lungs, 4-5" below the top of her ribs/spine. This is my fault for not re-ranging her after moving around to get into a stable position, not the fault of the bullet.
The recovered bullet (after cleaning) weighs 140 grains, yielding ~87% weight retention. My ballistic calculator puts the bullet going about 2250 fps, with 1800 foot-pounds of energy at impact.
I had some reservations about using this heavy of a bullet in the 7mm-08, thinking it might not open up well at extended range/lower velocities. Looks like my worries were unfounded, at least for this particular AB. I couldn't ask for any more from the bullet given the conditions.
All told, this is the 8th elk I've taken with a Nosler AB bullet (previously 4 using a 30 cal/165gr from a 30-06 at a MV of 2900, ranges from 75 to 380 yards; 3 with a 7mm/140gr at a MV of 2825, ranges from 85 to 350 yards). I haven't been disappointed yet. It really seems to be a great design, at least in the three examples I've used.
Edited to add: Sorry I didn't have a picture of the elk before field dressing/packing it out. I didn't have my phone with me the night I got her, so the best I could include was the rifle and packed out meat/proof-of-gender.
