I used 143 hh in my 28 nosler @3550 fps, last year in South africa. they did everything claimed! accurate, about .25 moa in my gun. all my long range data was spot on at that speed, and altitude with Bo adjustments. I had Kills with perfect performance on blesbuck at 525, blue wildabeast at 787, and my longest range shot ever, a big zebra stallion at 1046. bullet performance was perfect for my liking! thanks go out to Steve at HH for his input! if you haven't tried Hammer bullets then maybe you shouldn't talk negative about them. I also like barnes ttsx but believe the HH are a step up!
Sounds like an awesome trip and some incredible shooting.
I have been down the path of lighter weight for caliber bullets and seen some spectacular kills with fast moving bullets.
I started hand loading over 30 years ago and used to do a lot of game management on ranches in south Texas and the hill country. This was before laser range finders were readily available. I shot literally hundreds of deer with a 25-06 pushing Nosler 100gr Ballistic Tips at ~3400fps. My longest shots were slightly over 400 yards.
I eventually moved up to a 300 WM because I was hunting more in South Texas and the brush is thick and you wanted to plant everything on the spot or leave a big blood trail. I was younger and my testosterone levels were higher then.
I read the first article on the 6.5 Creedmoor when it was released in the early 2000's and it really resonated with me (Not sure how many 6.5/6/25 CM's I have at this point). I had the 1st Leica Geovid's with built in rangefinder and they were a game changer. I shot a feral hog in South Texas at 600 yards that year with a 150gr Hornady Superformance load at 3400 fps.
What I realized after I shot that hog at 600yds was that the 6.5 CM load with 140gr Berger VLD at 2850fps had more energy at 600yds than the 300 WM due to the BC. Not to mention, about ⅓ of the recoil.
Similarly, your 143 HH at 3550fps has <700 ft/lbs of energy at 1046 yds.
A standard 28 Nosler with a Hornady 180 ELD-M going 3150fps at 1046yds has over 1400 ft/lbs of energy.
I'm shooting a 7 PRC with 180 ELD-M at 2980 fps and it has 1210 ft/lbs
Fast is fun and great for close/moderate ranges, but high BC wins at long range every time.
Several years ago, I had a 28 Nosler that I loaded the 195gr Berger EOL's built by Piercision Rifles. Very accurate and I took it on an elk hunt in NM. We went to the Whittington Range in Raton because it was close to the ranch we were hunting. I had more fun shooting the 1200 yards steel buffalo silhouette. I burned that barrel out in <700 rounds.
