Lost a Core

[Camper]

Shot a bull Calf moose on Saturday with my 7mmSAUM 60gr of H4350 behind a 140gr nosler AB.

I got one pass through in the vitals at 60 yards and while it was running away, I tried to put one in the back of his head. I missed and shot straight up the spine I found the 140gr AB while skinning and it had smashed a few of the vertabre and came to rest in a mess of crushed bone.

The AB lost its core and it weighed 56gr after plowing through the vertabre.

The moose is dead and dropped instantly with the spine shot. (would have died from the first shot but I just wanted to anchor it)

I guess I will take everyones advise and move up to the 160's for moose and keep the 140's for deer or... I will stick with the 140's and move to the TSX :twisted:


The pass through shot gave a great exit hole no complaints with that one and I'm not complaining with the spine shot just didn't think it would loose it's core.

Oh well Moose is in the freezer!!!!!!!

I will try and post a pic of the bullet when I get a chance.
__________________
Camper,

 

[tjen]

Why were you not using the 160gr bullet with that cartridge and with moose in mind?

The 140gr AccuBond is a great bullet for the 7mm08, 7x57, and even the 280rem with deer on the menu. But even with these cartridges if you after elk/moose use a 150-160gr bullet.

I see a bullet miss matched with both the cartridge and then intended game too. the 150-160gr bullets work so much better with all the 7mm Magnums (even with antilope).

 

[JD338]

Camper

Congratulations on your moose. Do you have the jacket and base or just the base of the bullet. Can you post a picture of the bullet?

The 160 gr AB would be a great bullet for both moose and deer. That is the bullet I use for deer hunting in my 280 AI. :wink:

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

Camper

Congratulations on your moose. Do you have the jacket and base or just the base of the bullet. Can you post a picture of the bullet?

The 160 gr AB would be a great bullet for both moose and deer. That is the bullet I use for deer hunting in my 280 AI. :wink:

JD338

+1 please

 

[blacktailhunter]

I agree that a heavier, non-tipped premium bullet would be a better choice initially. However, keep in mind that it hit heavy bone with a lot of sharp angles and "spines" sticking out. I think that the 160gr AccuBond would have had the lead scraped out of the jacket just the same. Keep in mind that it is only the outer layer of lead that is bonded to the jacket. Once expansion is initiated, most of the exposed lead is just a piece of lead that is not bonded to anything.

There have been some reports of bad batches of Accubonds that showed no evidence of being bonded at all. Bullets shot into wet newspaper bullet catches and such have revealed complete and clean separation of the core and jacket. I will look for some pics to post if I can find them.

It sounds to me like the AccuBond did about what it was intended to do given the circumstances. I'll even step out on alimb and say that not only is the 140grn pill too light for moose, but that the 7mm is too small for bull moose. :wink:

 

[Camper]

7mm is more than acceptable for moose even the big ones!

I do agree that 140 is small for a moose but this was a bull - CALF (400lbs) and like I said the first shot in the vitals was a complete pass through.

 

[Guy Miner]

I think you and the bullets both did well!

One dead moose right there on the ground. Cool.

You should see how much/little bullet I had left when I shot my mule deer this year with a Berger 115 grainer from my .25-06, only 33 grains! Still, it's a very dead deer right there in the freezer...

Sometimes bullets come apart - we can minimize that by using tougher bullets, heavier bullets, reducing velocity, avoiding big bones etc... But, sometimes they come apart. I think if you'd have been using a Nosler Partition, you'd have lost the front half of the bullet, and still had a very dead moose on the ground. Who knows with the TSX? I've used them before and have yet to recover one. We are certainly blessed with a tremendous variety of bullets from which to choose!

Again, Good job. Regards, Guy

 

[bullet]

I think you and the bullets both did well!

One dead moose right there on the ground. Cool.

You should see how much/little bullet I had left when I shot my mule deer this year with a Berger 115 grainer from my .25-06, only 33 grains! Still, it's a very dead deer right there in the freezer...

Sometimes bullets come apart - we can minimize that by using tougher bullets, heavier bullets, reducing velocity, avoiding big bones etc... But, sometimes they come apart. I think if you'd have been using a Nosler Partition, you'd have lost the front half of the bullet, and still had a very dead moose on the ground. Who knows with the TSX? I've used them before and have yet to recover one. We are certainly blessed with a tremendous variety of bullets from which to choose!

Again, Good job. Regards, Guy

+1 I agree with guy, glad you collected your moose.

 

[bobbyrum]

Sometimes perhaps we ask too much of a bullet that really may not have been the best choice for the job we are using it for. In my 7mm RUM I use only the 160 AB for mouse or moose. :lol: Chronographed velocity average is 3435 ft./sec. If I were to use a 140 gr. at the velocities that it would be possible for me to generate, I'm afraid that I would be leaving myself open to bullet failure, no matter how good the bullet may be, & especially if my shot placement was not the best. Hard on the barrel too. Congratulations on your moose, Camper. It's going to be some good eating! Wish I could get one.

 

[Camper]

Thanks fella's, I am really happy with the moose.

it was my first one!

 

[bullet]

Thanks fella's, I am really happy with the moose.

it was my first one!

Well if that was your first one congrats on that and there is meat in the pot to boot. You could not ask anything more of that supposed little bullet. I have a friend who uses a 150gr mechanical bullet (old style) and kills a moose almost every year with that load. Do I think he is nuts???? You bet but he still does it even though I have told him he is crazy.

Once again congrats on your first moose. I think that is just great.

 

[blacktailhunter]

I guess some of you guys didn't notice the wink at the end of my first post. Like seen here: :wink:

 

[Camper]

Sorry Blacktail hunter, I missed the wink!

My Bad!

 

[tjen]

Just a note most of the bullets I have recovered from game that hit shoulder bones and vertabraies have had less expansion than the same type bullets from different type hits to the body. Excluding Nosler Partitions most were Core Lokts and they kept about 60% weight and not much expantion over their oridginal dia.

In short if the bullet is tough enough not to completly splat when contacting bone it punches right through with little expantion to what is left of the bullet. These were 277, 308, and 358 cal bullets