Bullet at high velocity short range

[TH]

I am a little confused. Last year I went elk hunting in Utah came up over a ridge and there was a bull of a lifetime at 180 yards shot him 5 times with a 208 a max at 3325 fps. Before he fell. The bullets only penetrated about 5 inches into the elk. I was extremely disappointed in the performance of the bullet. This year I went mule deer hunting in Colorado. I ended up killing a mule deer at 728 yards. One shot deer never took a step. My buddy and the guides were extremely impressed. So my buddy found a nice mule deer bedded up under a pine tree at 535 yards he said his rifle was not capable of taking a shot like that and asked to use my gun. I dialed the dope in my scope and he made a great kill his mule deer just rolled over dead. Two great kills.
We decided to go to town and get ready for our trip home when Cody one of the guides called me and said can we use your rifle we have some hunters that have not tagged out yet. I was a little reluctant because of what happened last year. I ranged the first elk 1090 yards checked the wind dialed in the dope and the first hunter dropped the elk like a ton of bricks. The group of Elk ran to 1180 yards. The next hunter got up and shot his elk. Ran about 25 yards and fell over dead. Both elk were almost complete pass throughs. It it possible that 180 yards was just too close for the 208 A max?

 

[liltank]

May want to find a load with the 200grn Accubond. When your walking keep those handy for close shots. When you are set up for long range, then switch back to the A-max. I have a feeling they will have a similar POI. From 0-300 you should be good to go.

Tank

 

[Oliveralan]

Impressive shooting!

I agree on the A-maxs, they work very well at lower velocities, they expand down to 1600 -or for saftey's safe call it 1700- fps. I've never shot anything with one close range with them starting at over 3300fps, but that kind of close range performance seems to be pretty common with them at those velocities.
After all, they are match bullets, terminal ballistics were (as far as I know) not considered when they were designed, they just happen to make excellent LR hunting bullets!

With what caliber are you launching then at 3325fps? My buddies 32" 300 rum is running around 3240fps tops. Sounds like a 30-378 or 338 lapua imp type deal.

 

[TH]

Im shooting a 300 Hulk. Which is a 30-338 Lapua case shortened and blown out. Similar to the 300 Norma mag case. Thanks for the advice on carrying another bullet for short range. I never thought about that. I also didn't think the a max would explode on impact at shorter range.

 

[Loner]

Look right at the bottom of the "features" . Hornady answered your question before
you ever bought the bullets.

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: .308 30 CAL :: 30 Cal .308 208 gr A-MAX®

 

[elkaholic]

I am a little confused. Last year I went elk hunting in Utah came up over a ridge and there was a bull of a lifetime at 180 yards shot him 5 times with a 208 a max at 3325 fps. Before he fell. The bullets only penetrated about 5 inches into the elk. I was extremely disappointed in the performance of the bullet. This year I went mule deer hunting in Colorado. I ended up killing a mule deer at 728 yards. One shot deer never took a step. My buddy and the guides were extremely impressed. So my buddy found a nice mule deer bedded up under a pine tree at 535 yards he said his rifle was not capable of taking a shot like that and asked to use my gun. I dialed the dope in my scope and he made a great kill his mule deer just rolled over dead. Two great kills.
We decided to go to town and get ready for our trip home when Cody one of the guides called me and said can we use your rifle we have some hunters that have not tagged out yet. I was a little reluctant because of what happened last year. I ranged the first elk 1090 yards checked the wind dialed in the dope and the first hunter dropped the elk like a ton of bricks. The group of Elk ran to 1180 yards. The next hunter got up and shot his elk. Ran about 25 yards and fell over dead. Both elk were almost complete pass throughs. It it possible that 180 yards was just too close for the 208 A max?

This will happen every time with a thin jacketed bullet like the A-Max at that velocity. Especially with a ballistic tip such as the A-Max has. They are a good LONG RANGE bullet for the same reason. I've had 180 A-max's blow up in mid air at over 3400' with my ultra......Rich

 

[SBruce]

I had similar results with light jacket fast moving bullets on thick skinned varmints. 50-53 grn match bullets going 3800+ from a 220 Swift. Shot a couple of raccoons and badgers at close range, and all it did was **** em off. Had to shoot them a couple more times. Entrance wounds were big, just no penetration.

Everything I've read on the A-Max suggests that it should be used for medium to long range only, and for broadside presentations only. After using other match bullets for varmints and predators, I'd probably concur with what I've read about the A-Max.

I did shoot two whitetail fawn deer this past season with the 105 A-Max at 3000'/sec out of a 243. 1st one was 300 yds broadside and very close to disapearing into a ton of thick tall willows.....I purposely shot for scapula/spine so I didn't loose it in the willows if it ran off a little. That one dropped right there and the wound at the top of the shoulder blades/spine was big enough to put my fist in without touching hair. The bullet would've been going about 2500'/sec. kill was instant as far as I know.

2nd whitetail fawn was about 180 yds and broadside in a large clearing. I opted for a double lung shot and it also dropped dead right there. The entrance wound (from inside the body) was about 2" and the exit wound (also looking from inside the body) was about 3". The lungs were schrapnel to the max and some stomach/intestine damage also.........very, very explosive and broken ribs both in and out. That bullet would've been going about 2700'/sec.

Just passing this on FWIW, I know the 105 is a totally different animal than the 208, and a whitetail fawn is totally different than an elk, but perhaps they act similar at similar velocities.??