280 SHERMAN/162 A-MAX vs BEAR

[elkaholic]

Hi guys.....A young friend of mine called and was pretty excited over killing a black bear @ 310 yards with his new .280 Sherman. He wanted to build something different and I told him to use my 6.5 Sherman reamer inside a .280 A.I. chamber which his smith did. He has a 26" Lawrence barrel on a 700 action and it shoots 1/2" or less with the A-max. He said the bear went straight down with a shot to the lungs. He said the exit hole was greater than quarter size. I told him to take some pics when he skins it out so I can post something for him. I think he's hooked........Rich

p.s. I was glad to hear that there "WAS" an exit hole! I want to do some more testing with the A-max at long range.

 

[Scot E]

See I didn't even know there was a 7mm Sherman. Rich, before you know it you are going to have a whole line of Sherman cartridges!

I haven't done any testing with the A-max in 7mm but in 6.5 and 30 they are awesome!

Looking forward to the pics!

Scot E.

 

[elkaholic]

I've shot some in my 6.5 but not at game, just testing. Have you connected on anything long range?.......Rich

 

[WildRose]

Congrats to your buddy. Nothing beats success! gun)

 

[Scot E]

Most of my shots are 1/2 mile or closer so I don't shoot as long as you do. With my 30-06 I have had hits from 250 yards to 750 yards and have no issues with any over expansion at the closer ranges. That isn't saying a whole lot though considering the power level of that gun. I shoot the 168's at a muzzle velocity of 2900 fps.

I know of at least a handful of guys that shoot the 168's in their 300 Win Mag's and love them. I would guess at that power level you would have to be a bit more careful with real close shots, maybe under 200-300 yards or so, but then again I have seen them perform fine with that kind of power at those ranges. It is just that you hear about more issues there and so I would personally be a bit careful. To be honest there is no magic to them with the close range stuff but it is the LR stuff where they shine. They are about as accurate of a bullet as you can get, and they expand reliably and down to very low velocities which is perfect for my style of hunting where I often times need a mid weight packable rifle where I don't carry the real heavy magnums with the extra weight for the real LR stuff.

I only have experience with the 260 Rem/ 6.5 Swede power level of guns in 264. But I have had excellent results with that bullet at any range from point blank to over 900 yards. All on deer or smaller animals. The 6.5 has a bigger issue than some other calibers in getting a bullet to expand properly, at least in my experience. That is in part due to its high SD and diameter to length ratio. In my experience they are just a tougher bullet when compared to the same bullet in other calibers. So the more frangible bullets are a perfect match for the 6.5 IMO. I am not a premium controlled expansion fan anyway but especially not so in the 6.5.

I still have my eye on a 6.5 Sherman which would be a perfect fit for some longer range tests with the A-max. Someday soon hopefully.

Scot E.

 

[300WSMMAD]

Thats a great result and good news.
Here in NZ the 162 AMax is a renowned killer,so much so the distributor cannot keep up with them.
I go through about 2K of them a year, I shoot them in F class as well as my hunting bullet from my 284 WIN they are the great all rounder.
Taken hares to red deer with them, longest kill is 1100 yrds on a large bodied feral goat, complete pass through with a MV of only 2950 FPS.

Good to see they work on Bears too!

I have so much confidence in their killing ability I will be using them in a up coming hunting trip in August to New Calidonia hunting Rusa.

300WSMMAD

 

[elkaholic]

Thanks for the info from here to down under! I hope to get some pics of the "Bar"......Rich

 

[elkaholic]

I talked to the bear killer yesterday and discovered that the original post needs a little correcting. He did shoot the bear twice because he said it was attempting to get up all though it never did get to its feet. He also said that the bullets "did not" pass through as he thought but were under the hide. He saw the holes in the rib cage when he field dressed it and assumed they had passed through. I think he was a little excited! One of the bullets came apart and he only found pieces of jacket. The other was intact and weighed 65 grains. This was a little more in line with what I would have expected from a 162 A-Max at this distance (the combination of the two). I told him to GET ME SOME PICS so hopefully they are forthcoming........Rich

 

[Scot E]

Thats a great result and good news.
Here in NZ the 162 AMax is a renowned killer,so much so the distributor cannot keep up with them.
I go through about 2K of them a year, I shoot them in F class as well as my hunting bullet from my 284 WIN they are the great all rounder.
Taken hares to red deer with them, longest kill is 1100 yrds on a large bodied feral goat, complete pass through with a MV of only 2950 FPS.

Good to see they work on Bears too!

I have so much confidence in their killing ability I will be using them in a up coming hunting trip in August to New Calidonia hunting Rusa.

300WSMMAD

How big is a red deer compared to our mule deer or elk?

Scot E.

 

[elkaholic]

I think they are kind of in between. Maybe like a spike bull?......Rich

 

[elkaholic]

Finally got a pic of what's left of the 162 A-max. His dad cut the bear up before he got a pic so no wound to view. I think this bodes well for long range work with the A-max since we still have 65 grains left at 310 yards and it did make it almost thru the bear.

 

[WildRose]

Finally got a pic of what's left of the 162 A-max. His dad cut the bear up before he got a pic so no wound to view. I think this bodes well for long range work with the A-max since we still have 65 grains left at 310 yards and it did make it almost thru the bear.

You can figure on roughly about 2/3-3/4 of the weight being retained as you move out from 600-1,000yds with the Amax which is why it's one of the better all around bullets on the market for long range work.

The way the jacket is designed it opens easily but it gets steadily thicker as you move front to rear such that you get good expansion while retaining the bulk of the mass all the way through.

Generally I prefer the interlock or interbond under 600yds, but they have a whole lot more energy to work with at those ranges.

 

[WildRose]

How big is a red deer compared to our mule deer or elk?

Scot E.

250lbs is a really big red deer.

 

[laserflat]

I hate to reopen a dead thread, but was just wondering. How would yall say the 162 A-Max compares to the 168gr Berger Hybrid as far as BC and terminal performance? Also, has anyone ever used the 6.5mm 140gr A-Max on game? How did it fair? What about the 6mm 105gr A-Max?

Thanks