Last night I received a call from a friend regarding his son kill his first buck. I have had an interest in the load they put together this season. The bullet is a 140-grain Accubond, pushed by 56.0 grains of H4831sc. His rifle has a 24-inch barrel. I consider this load slightly mild, and the only load that I have used that is similar is 57.2 grains of H4831 pushing a Hornaday 140 grain BTSP(#2735)he time I developed this load I did not have a Crony.
As described last night the shot was a little over 100-yards. The bullet struck low on the front shoulder breaking the leg bone, entering the chest cavity damaging a lung, and exiting the deer on the other side. This is the performance I would expect to see from the Accubond.
I am interested in the bonded bullet because I feel the 140-grain bullet maybe idea in the .270. And Mac11700 wrote that he found the Hornady 140 similar experience with the same bullet. I would quote him but I cannot find his comment.
I have found the 140 grain Hornady BTSP to be on the explosive side under 100 yards, but these two example are not a good over all example of bullet performance.
#1. I crawled out on a rock point and kicked a buck out of his bed directly below me. The bullet hit the top of the spine just forward of the pelvis. The deer was within 25 yards when I fired, and he was moving. There was a mass of exploded flesh and bone. There was a large exterior wound. The deer was down and the bullet had done its job.
#2. I developed a load using a near maximum charge of WW785 and the Hornady 140 BTSP. At 6700-foot elevation and with the temperature a bit over 70° produced an average velocity of 3030 out a Savage 110, that normally generates higher velocity then a Remington 760 and Remington 700 fired under the same conditions.
I shot a buck that was looking at me around a large pine at about 75 yards. I aimed for the neck/spine and the bullet hit right on the spine, blowing a large gaping hole in the neck. I expected this type of performance and was not disappointed.
Back in the middle 1960’s I patrolled and area that had a booming deer population and the deer kill was very high. As a result I validated a lot of deer tags, examine a lot of deer, and talked to the lucky hunters. The results from the neck shot were consistent with the results from my observations. And it was consistent with the results I had with shot deer at close range in the neck using factory and handloaded 130-grain bullets in the .270.
Admittedly I was hoping for more from the very accurate 140 grain Hornady BTSP. In both cases the bullet had fragmented while shattering the bone. I believe the gapping hole is the result of the force of the bullet being re-direct. Similar to when an explosive charge goes off in a drill hole. A certain amount of blow back occurs. If blow back occurs in soft flesh the result can be dynamic.
When I was a kid the family hunters used a lot of Remington Bronze points. They killed a lot of deer for us, and a younger brother produced a very fast kill on a running buck at about 20-yards. The 150-grain Bronze Point from his 300 Savage almost completely severed the neck. By today’s standards the .300 Savage is rather mild. Years later I had the opportunity to Chrony some “old” 150 grain Remington C-L ammunition. The velocity was recorded at fifteen feet from the muzzle, with an average velocity of 2430. Based on passed published ballistic information from Remington the Bronze Point was loaded to the same velocity as the C-L.
When I was a kid it was all about velocity. My buddies and I did not care about, Dick, Jane, and dog Spot. But we could read the ballistic charts. But sometime after my front lobe developed I realized that if I could not afford to buy premium bullets and needed another answer to the problem. My answer has been to increase bullet weight.
In the Remington M722, 300 Savage I was able to increase bullet weight and velocity using 165 grain bullets from Nosler, Hornady, and Remington. My load is taken from the current Hornady 7th Edition Reloading Handbook, pg. 435. In some manuals this load is over maximum, but the maximum in this and early editions is 41.4 grains of IMR4064. This load works fine in my rifle from sub-freezing to 90°. Average velocity 15 feet from the muzzle is 2646 fps.
The buck in the include picture was hit by a 165 grain Nosler Partition at around 45-50 yards. The bullet hit the leading edge of the right front shoulder, traveled up the spine/neck a few inches and exited the left side of the next. There was fine grit of bone around the exit hole. What did I find under the hide? The neck meat was blood, shot, and a couple pounds of meat on the front edge of the shoulder were loss. On the right side from the entrance wound to the flank a thin layer of blood shot mucus was present. This was easily removed.
The bullet was not recovered.
Over the years I have only recovered oneNosler Partition. It was a 140-grain PT loaded on top of a Swedish military load from which the original bullet had been pulled. As I recall the load when fired across the Chrony gave a velocity of about 2550 fps. At approximately 150 yards the bullet entered the chest just inside the front of the right leg, angled across the lungs and heart and stopping against the hide on the far side. Damage to the vital organs was extensive. And the damage to the far ribs and part of the shoulder was also extensive. The bullet had done its job. The forward tip of the bullet from the partition forward was gone. I expected this from reading others results and having talked to other partition users. The bullet performed has designed, with the front part dumping a lot of energy in the chest cavity, the back half continuing to penetrate.
If we were shooting ballistic jell instead of hide, flesh, and bones bullet design would be easier and more predictable. Heck I have found the tough hide of a cold weather, high country buck to be more challenging with a sharp knife then the thin hide of a warm weather, low elevation buck. But when providing information regarding a bullet it is helpful to have key information. Simple things like what bullet, the velocity be it publish or obtained from the shooters Chrony. The range, and other items the jury needs to make a decision.
These issues are discussed on a regular bases at the coffee shot, when the guys are eye-to-eye. And normally answers a forth coming.
P.S. stick is in exit wound.
