2019 hunting ammo

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rebel
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by rebel »

Grouse870 wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 10:28 am I get all that for sure but I disagree on some of your points. The .308 and .30-06 with pretty much any “big game hunting” will reliably expand out to 400+ yards which encompasses a vast majority of hunting so the “average” hunter probably doesn’t spend as much time thinking about bullet performance. But the discussion here is not about what type of hunter you are, it’s about bullet performance. I want to use the best bullet possible weather that’s the 110/120 tac x or not. Back to the discussion I sent a follow up email to federal asking about the 1800 expansion velocity and how basically it made the load a 100 yard deer load and they responded with “the 300 blackout is not a long range load” so take that for what it’s worth.
I think you misunderstood my intent of that post. Long Rage hunting is all the rage now, I see it at the local level at my shop as well as it being glorified on TV and the internet. What you say is true with correct caveat - with the correct bullet and proper load the 308 and 30/06 are 400 plus yard hunting capable. So with bullet X that has never failed me out to 125 yards, I'm gonna try it at 400, 450 maybe 500 yards.
Maybe I'm somewhat jaded, but this is the thinking of the average hunter, non or novice reloader.

My point was that if ballistics data states that the bullet will have minimum expansion velocity at 350 yards, someone would ignorantly try 450, because A) they are arrogant and believe their skills are far greater than they are. B) They are completely ignorant of ballistics or C) they don't give a damn whether they kill or wound (see A about arrogance). edit - not saying you think this way at all!

Although Extreme Long Range ( ELR ) came about before this, the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor has propagated this into whomever owns a rifle chambered in this can add his own crater to the moon. :roll:

Wasn't comparing the 3 cartridges, rather expressing the concern about folks looking at minimum expansion velocity and confusing that with maximum effective terminal results. There are many,many yards between the two.
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by rebel »

Also I should add, 130-140 lb buck I killed was with a hand loaded 125 SST at 98 yards. Ran 20 yards and slid 10 yards. No exit, recovered bullet just under offside hide after penetrated both shoulders. 75 lb nuisance animal with a 125 Sierra Flat Nose HP Hand load at 125 yards. DRT . Longest kill ever was a groundhog at around 200 yards with a 125 SMK hand load ( it's what I had in the truck ). Bullet penciled through the midsection, crawled about 10 yards and expired. Didn't really expect this round to expand, but it was a varmint and thin skinned. So good on you for doing bullet research but handloading can really give you a wider array. Just keep your yardages realistic.
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dellet
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by dellet »

This is fun, l’ll argue with both of you.

The “type of hunter” you are should determine if you should even use the cartridge, long before you get to bullet selection. If you don’t understand ballistics or aren’t willing to learn it, don’t hunt with 300 Blackout. It’s just that simple.

The Barnes 110 is kind of the gold standard, designed for the cartridge, expands at 1350 fps, comes apart on impact at 2500. Barnes has video out there of gel impact at 400 yards. The block is 6”x6”, if they had been off 10 yards or a few degrees of inclination on their calculations. It would have missed the block completely.

At that distance the bullet is dropping about 1/2” per yard, but according to the charts, from a 16” barrel it’s good to go to 450 yards at 1350. That’s all the “average hunter” Needs to know.

If you’re the “type of hunter” whose research ends at the back of the ammo box, find a different cartridge.

With the advance of bullet technology and magnum type cartridges there are way too many people who think all they have to do is hit the animal and the bullet will do the rest. Some of the heavier rounds just need to come close enough and the shockwave of the bullet will do the trick and there will be no loss of meat.

We hear it here all the time, I shot that 750 pound boar the with a 125 grain subsonic cast lead bullet at 200 yards, the same place I shoot them from a tree stand with a 416 Rigby, all he did was blink. This cartridge sucks.

If you’re not the kind of hunter that understands anatomy, ballistics and bullet performance, either don’t use the cartridge, or keep it under 100 yards. That much I will agree with Federal.

People here asking questions deeper than “what’s the magic bullet?” generally fall into the category of already having a good handle on those skills or are trying to learn. Every now and then one creeps in that just wants an easy answer, they are the ones giving the cartridge a bad reputation in the hunting circles.

I had a thread sometime back questioning “are you a hunter, or do you just shoot animals?” This is part of the point I was trying to make. Know your prey, know your equipment. There have been a lot of guys come on this forum killing a lot of animals cleanly, with the “wrong bullet”, they do it repeatidly simply because they understand how it works, where it needs to be placed, and have the skills to do it. “Most hunters” lack at least one, if not all three of those qualities.

Threads like this really help educate people wanting to learn, and when the discussion drifts to the “why is this important” I think it really helps people understand.

The Federal response of “not a long range cartridge” shows an “industry expert” to be just as lazy “most hunters”. No desire to properly answer a question, because he is used to giving it to people who don’t really know what to do with the info. So now we get to bash the product as being not suitable for its design.

Or we can grab a box and make our own decision.
300 Blackout, not just for sub-sonics.
Grouse870
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by Grouse870 »

Agreed. I think the 300 blackout is a cartridge you have to think about. I think a good analogy is the .243 when it first came out. There were varmint bullets and deer bullets depending on which bullet was used could vastly change someone opinion of the cartridge. I’m still going to pick up a box of the federal copper stuff and send you a few so we have a better idea of what it exactly does since federal may not know :)
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SwampDog_13
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by SwampDog_13 »

Good convo here... might just make me throw a super at a deer one of these years :lol: .
nolwark76
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by nolwark76 »

What about the Barnes 120 black tip? Is there a use where it's better than the 110? I'm just a shooter and would like to be a hunter some day. Hunting season here is always during football season for the kids so I've not gotten out there like I want.

Recently picked up a Wilson Combat 14.7" barrel on sale that needs to be built up.
oldfrank
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by oldfrank »

I hope to try hunting with the 300 Blkout this year, actually probably in the next week or so if I can get some range time first and then try it on some pigs.
I have a 7.5" AR pistol and I am loading 125gr SST bullets. I have not fired the first round yet but have been getting the gun and ammo ready.

I am a handgun and longbow hunter mostly so I like to get close. One of the above posts mentioned .243 which was my main rifle caliber for over twenty years. I killed 1 to 3 deer every year and all but one dropped within 10 yards and the one that ran went about 25 yards. It is all about waiting for the right shot and bullet placement.

I have done a lot of reading on this site and have learned a lot and it finally pushed me into trying the Blackout round!
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Wellbornpapa
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by Wellbornpapa »

You can get 125 gr SST loads from Custom Reloads in Dallas for $76 per 100
rlandry6
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by rlandry6 »

Is there a source that gives the expansion fps for various bullets?
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dellet
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Re: 2019 hunting ammo

Post by dellet »

rlandry6 wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 8:34 am Is there a source that gives the expansion fps for various bullets?
If it's not advertised, then you have to call the manufacturer, If they won't or can't tell you, you have to test it yourself. There are some rules of thumb like most 308 bullets are 1800 fps, most 30-30 are 1600 fps, but you can't count on that.

For more of the popular Blackout bullets, they are listed in the first post tacked at the top of the hunting section
300 Blackout, not just for sub-sonics.
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