"" I took my best whitetail with it at 283yds using the 162gr SPBT and dumped him on his nose. ""
41 Mag: Thats is a nice buck you killed with the 162 grain Hornady. I am interested in the performance of the bullet on the deer? Did the bullet exit the animal? How much damage did it cause?
I think the 160 and 162-grain bullets fit the ideal long-range slot for the 7 MM Mag.
It appears you are learning towards the 139-grain Hornady for hogs. That indicates to me that you have a lot of respect for it. Can you describe its performance on game and compare it with the 162-grain bullet. In the penetration department does the 139-grain bullet exit in your experience.
Siskiyou,
Thanks, for the area we hunt he is a great free range, low fence buck.
As to the performance of the bullets,
When I worked up the loads for that particular rifle the 162 Hornady had the highest BC out there for that particular weight range, in what at the time I considered a hunting bullet. That load has been used on both whitetail and hogs, and the results have been differing. On the deer, our shots have been at ranges past 200yds, which is what the load was developed for and it performs great. Meat damage even on the one pictured which was shot through the neck just in front of the shoulders was minimal. There was approximately a 2" cavity in the area where it hit the neck/spine junction, which was very acceptable for me. The results were about the same on others which were hit in about the same area.
On the hogs we have shot, it depended on the angle and the area hit. Hogs are built tougher and as such do things to bullets sometimes that even a solid shoulder hit on a deer would never do. Many I have shot when I had time to place the shot, resulted in similar results as we saw on the deer. Some however, did show extreme expansion upon hitting the tough hid from a direct broadside shot, and also from hitting the shoulder plate. Even with this however the main portion of the damage was for the most part only in and around the immediate impact area. Close range velocity was generally more the culprit than bullet construction.
I cannot remember ever NOT getting a complete pass through with this particular load. Even my nephews first big hog which he hit through the left ham, exited between the shoulder and neck completely length wise.
(Click on image for bigger version)
If you look at the front shoulder you can see where the bullet exited.
The 139's,
When I worked up the above loads I also worked with these as I shoot them in my .280 as well. I didn't go so far as completing the testing so much as the 162's did everything I could ask for. In the .280, they have worked exceptionally well in the past and I see no reason they wouldn't not work well now in the 7mag. I only worked with RL-19 with them in the past and once I hit an accurate load I pretty much stopped there. My reason to go back to them, is as mentioned before, I believe that with running them to around 3100, I can get all I would need from the 7mag out to 300yds, still use the .280 for close to medium ranges, and utilize the big STW and heavier bullets for anything bigger or at the longer ranges.
Like you, I believe the 160gr range of bullets to be about the best fit for velocity and weight for the standard 7mag. Within reasonable pressures and with some of the newer powders and bullets, you can really bring out the full potential of the round. With the 139's running at impact velocities between 2500 and 3000fps I would not see any reason to believe they would not have a pass through except possibly hitting both tough shoulder plates on a really big hog. Other than that with most shots they should be fine and I am hoping to find out in the upcoming weeks. Nice thing about Texas, and the areas we hunt and shoot, those hogs are year round test media, and they taste good too.
