140gr MonoFlex for hunting?

[Kaldor]

Well, deer season is 8 months away, and I want to get a jump on loading my 300 BO for my son this fall. If I dont get going on it now, Ill be scrambling later.

I use the 140gr Leverlution/Monoflex's in my 30-30, and have had good success. Dropped a deer at about 225 yards, good wound cavity, died pretty much instantly. Granted this is a 20" barrel, and at 225 yards still has roughly 900 ft/lbs of energy, but these bullets are designed to expand at lower velocities, which is why I am bringing this up.

Ive been back thru the forums here trying to find some load data for Hornady 140gr Monoflex bullets. Im seeing a little here and there for the 160's but nothing concrete. Im shooting a Rainier 16" 1:8 twist barrel with 150gr FMJBTs and 110gr Vmax's loaded over 296 and they are plenty accurate, but neither are good for deer. I know plenty of guys are using 125gr SSTs with good success, and I may go that route, as I can get them locally and for a decent price.

The question here is which bullet to give a shot? Hornady has 2 different versions, the 308 Marlin and 30-30 versions. The Marlin version has a higher BC, and the cannelure is set back a bit farther which might lend to easier seating depths. On paper (Hornady's ballistic calc) the 125 SST (2100 fps) and 140 Monoflex (2000 fps) are really close to each other ballistics wise, similar drop and energy at 200 yards. The other question for me is will the 125gr SSTs open up and drop the deer at 150 yards plus? I really hate tracking deer. Im fairly certain the 140gr Monoflex's will at 150-200 yards, but would prefer some input before shoot a deer with them.

Any thoughts? Ill buy a box and give them a try. Or am I chasing my tail on this one? If the 125 SST's will function at 150-200 yards, Im not going to mess around with the 140's.

[r.tenorio671]

...the only true way to determine that is load some up and fire them thru YOUR firearm. Once you find a reliable and accurate load, you can test it out at the expected distances using a media of your choice (water jugs, wet phonebooks, leg of ham or rump roast)...

..now before someone pipes in that a leg of ham or hunk of butt roast is expensive...put it in perspective. The costs of powder, primers, bullets, driving to range (gas & time), range fee (if any), etc., etc, etc... probably run more. If you have a slaughterhouse or friendly butcher nearby you can lower that cost. Also, if done properly, you can still recover the majority of the meat used if properly handled. Those "surprises" in the field on opening day aren't always nice ones...

[ss355]

Hornady's site says that the muzzle velocity range for the Monoflex (the FTX?) is 1800-3000 FPS. The SST range is 2000-3300FPS. Sounds like you'll be on the low end of recommended velocity for either bullet.

[randyrucker]

My first choice is the Barnes 110 gr Blk Tip, Then Hornady 125 SST or Nosler 125 Ballistic Tip or Nosler 125 Accubond. Personally I would not use the 140 Monoflex for deer in the Blk Out.

[randyrucker]

...the only true way to determine that is load some up and fire them thru YOUR firearm. Once you find a reliable and accurate load, you can test it out at the expected distances using a media of your choice (water jugs, wet phonebooks, leg of ham or rump roast)...

..now before someone pipes in that a leg of ham or hunk of butt roast is expensive...put it in perspective. The costs of powder, primers, bullets, driving to range (gas & time), range fee (if any), etc., etc, etc... probably run more. If you have a slaughterhouse or friendly butcher nearby you can lower that cost. Also, if done properly, you can still recover the majority of the meat used if properly handled. Those "surprises" in the field on opening day aren't always nice ones...

I like the idea of testing the round you hunt with. There is a lot of testing data out there on the Blk Tip, SST, BT, and AB. If all else fails and you can't connect to the internet, use the neighbors annoying barking dog... (I'll probably have to delete this post if I ever run for Governor.)

[tXr]

The Hornady 110gr Vmax is an EXCELLENT deer round!

Because it is originally intended as a super fast varmint bullet with a thin jacket for large 30 cal cartridges like a 308win or 30-06 the performance with the much slower 300blk is still well within the expansion range of the round. Instead of exploding due to very high fps, it expands like the bullet was intended for hunting with the slower cartridges.

[tallburnedmidget]

Hornady's site says that the muzzle velocity range for the Monoflex (the FTX?) is 1800-3000 FPS. The SST range is 2000-3300FPS. Sounds like you'll be on the low end of recommended velocity for either bullet.

Guys have been showing good results with 125gr SST expansion at speeds that are very likely lower than 2000FPS. With the number of kills using the 125gr SST and some of the experimenting guys on the site have done it appears that the actual min expansion velocity for the 125gr SST is quite a bit lower than published minimum.

Now with that said, I don't think the trend applies to a majority of the bullets out there. The 125gr SST just happens to be one of the rarer one-off examples of a bullet that guys have shown performs as well as it does.

rebel and others who have done the testing on wet packs and live animals if you are reading this feel free to weight in

[JoeHarley13]

My first choice is the Barnes 110 gr Blk Tip, Then Hornady 125 SST or Nosler 125 Ballistic Tip or Nosler 125 Accubond. Personally I would not use the 140 Monoflex for deer in the Blk Out.

What he said.

[Kaldor]

Thanks for the info guys. I can get the 125 SSTs for a decent price locally, so I think Im going to go that direction.