Another 142gr ABLR

[Hunter26]

Took a buddy of mine hunting this AM with perfect conditions. It was 29 degrees (that's cold here!) when we got in the stand, the same one I shot my buck out of last week. We had a great wind and still morning. A couple minutes after 9 AM a single doe popped out in one of our shooting lanes at 50 yards. I told him to get ready and ease the rifle up to the shooting rail. As he was doing so, another doe popped out, then another & another until five were in our shooting lane eating acorns. Two were much bigger and I directed him towards one that wasn't blocked by other deer. My friend moved a little too much and the one I wanted him to shoot stared us down. She actually got nervous enough that she began to walk off but turned back around. The other big doe was blocked by two smaller ones. The nervous doe was almost completely facing us and was about to stomp her foot. I told him to shoot her square in the chest if he felt comfortable and a second later the doe was on the ground! He hit her between the left shoulder and neck and we found the bullet just under the skin between the last rib and opposite ham. My buddy had his second deer ever on the ground!

I don't have any weights or expansion measurements, I gave him the bullet and just took a couple pics. Doe weighed 98 lbs which is quite big for my area. Gun & load was the same as my buck; Tikka T3x Super Varmint in 6.5 PRC shooting 142 gr ABLR's over Staball HD at 2840 with a TBAC Ultra 7. ABLR once again did the trick!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Congratulations to your friend. Always fine eating. That bullet seems to have performed well. Dan.

 

[Aussie Wanderer]

That’s going to be some nice meals right there. That’s a lot of frontal area on that bullet, no wonder she was a bang flop. Great job.

 

[PJGunner]

Looks like that bullet did what it was supposed to do. I haven't been quite so lucky. I thought the 150 gr. ABLR would be a perfect match for the 7x57 but so far, no such luck. I've tried that bullet in three different rifle chambered to the cartridge and also in a .280 Remington and I just can't get them to group worth spit. Funny thing is the rifles mentioned are all MOA or less shooters.
Paul B.

 

[JD338]

That's a darn good bullet. Great expansion and penetration.

JD338

 

[Cneelk]

Solid performance on bullet and shooter. Well done

 

[NYDAN]

Congratulations. Everything came together for a successful hunt and great equipment performance. I really like the ABLR bullets for deer.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I loaded a few 142 ABLRs up for my buddy's new rifle in 6.5 Creed. He shot a large buck in the neck and a doe in the chest. They both had very large exit wounds but the deer both dropped to the shot. Both shots were taken at around 100yds.

 

[Guy Miner]

Congrats to both of you! Looks like the AccuBond was well placed and did the job just fine.

Guy

 

[walkinhorseman]

Looks like that bullet did what it was supposed to do. I haven't been quite so lucky. I thought the 150 gr. ABLR would be a perfect match for the 7x57 but so far, no such luck. I've tried that bullet in three different rifle chambered to the cartridge and also in a .280 Remington and I just can't get them to group worth spit. Funny thing is the rifles mentioned are all MOA or less shooters.
Paul B.

Have you tried the standard AccuBond? Noslers LR ogive may not be happy in many chamber throats. They are like secant ogive VLD’s vs tangent ogive bullets. That is why Berger developed the hybrid ogive, to be more forgiving to seating depth. I,ve seen poor precision with the 190 gr 30 cal ABLR in a Nosler 48 where changing to a more tangent ogive 180 AB gave better precision. You have to ask yourself if you really need the ABLR for your cartridge.

 

[PJGunner]

Have you tried the standard AccuBond? Noslers LR ogive may not be happy in many chamber throats. They are like secant ogive VLD’s vs tangent ogive bullets. That is why Berger developed the hybrid ogive, to be more forgiving to seating depth. I,ve seen poor precision with the 190 gr 30 cal ABLR in a Nosler 48 where changing to a more tangent ogive 180 AB gave better precision. You have to ask yourself if you really need the ABLR for your cartridge.

My thought was load data for the 7x57 is kept low due to the older m93/95 Mausers still in use. The ABLR would probably increase the range for use in the weaker rifles. Might only be an extra 25 to maybe 50 yards but it would help. I was looking to pick up maybe as much as 100 yards as I was using a Winchester M70 Featherweight to work up the loads using 7-08 data. Perfectly safe in the M70 and in a Ruger #1 and a custom FN 98 Mauser I have.
I have discussed the ABLR with a couple of the guides I've hunted elk with and they say within 200 yards the ABLR shot from most magnums had grenaded badly on the elk shot with them. I thought that at the lesser velocity from the 7x57 using 7-08 data might work out quite nicely as by 100 yard is would be close to what a 7MM Mag might be doing at 150 to 200 yards. where the bullet was supposed to work. he only drawback at this point is finding a load that is at least reasonably accurate.

My goal was find a load that would work at levels suitable for those old Mauser rifles and at the level safe in my more modern rifles. Two different loads for two different purposes.
Paul B.

 

[SJB358]

Boy, I have kinda slowly came around to the ABLR since I had so much drama trying to get it to shoot, but I believe if you have the twist to run them, and can tune them, they leave nothing on the table from deer to elk for me. I have had excellent results with them and prefer them to a bunch of others at this point. They have planted quite a few animals for me.

Congrats on the deer and what looks to be a wicked load in the PRC.