I shoot a 338 Win Mag with 225gr Hornady Interbonds and like the accuracy.
This is a relatively new load and not many animals shot yet.
I shot a waterbuck last season, see http://forums.accuratereloadin...361060861#7361060861
My host said that the butcher complained about excessive meat damage, more so than most carcasses he had seen all year. Animal shot behind the shoulder to the opposite shoulder.
I thought that the bullet did not open up much as there appeared to be a small exit hole, but did not see the skinned carcass.
I would dismiss this as not enough evidence to change bullets, but the issue came to the fore when a friend acquired a new 338 Win. Based on this story he is shying away from the Interbonds.
What experience do you have with Interbonds and meat damage? Premature break-up?
Load is near max but the waterbuck was a good 180 yards away and the bullet should have slowed considerably.
Our environment calls for shots at cow elk-sized game out to 300 yards.
Please share your opinions.

I have shot elk with my 338 wm, using 200 Accubonds. Don't think those are made anymore.
They were all pass throughs and did not cause excessive meat damage at all.

Loss of a shoulder or loss of the whole animal if the bullet doesn't work.

A easy pick for me.

If one want the least meat loss shoot a bow.

I haven't tried the Interbond, but I've shot everything from Impala to Eland with great results with the 225 Gr. Nosler Partition in my .338 Win Mag. My gun also shoots the Hornady Interlock to the same POI as the Nosler with identical loads. You might want to give the old reliable partition a try.

I'm a big fan of Hornady bullets, but when I go on an expensive hunt, I always step up to the Nosler Partition.

I have had excellent performance out of the the Hornady Interlock in my .338 win. It leaves 2 holes in an elk at under 100 yards which tells me that it is holding together well enough. The load was chrono'd at 2906. I'm not afraid to use it at all. And I never noticed any undue meat damage but usually take an elk behind the front shoulder through the ribs.

I wouldn't be alarmed or be wanting to change bullets because someone said he figured there was excessive meat damage. I have downed a moose and elk in the last couple of years using the Interbond. The elk was a complete pass through in the rib cage area and the moose, although hit perfectly behind the shoulder, had both bullets stop on the opposite hide after taking out 4 ribs and the heart. Weight retention on both bullets was between 80 and 90%. NO damaged meat. Sorry, forgot to mention the bullet used was 225gr .338 also.

quote:

Originally posted by lagerboy:
I wouldn't be alarmed or be wanting to change bullets because someone said he figured there was excessive meat damage.

Neither would I, if my rifle likes the bullet and it's doing the job, that's good enough for me.

quote:

Originally posted by johnfox:

quote:

Originally posted by lagerboy:
I wouldn't be alarmed or be wanting to change bullets because someone said he figured there was excessive meat damage.

Neither would I, if my rifle likes the bullet and it's doing the job, that's good enough for me.

Put me in this camp too....meat damage isn't a critical factor in my world. Any high powered bullet will cause some meat damage and it's more where the bullet hits than anything.

Two years ago I used a 338 on an elk/deer hunt in Montana.The 225 Interbond shoots very well in this rifle so thats what I used for both. Unfortunatly I did not get a chance at an elk that year but did use that rifle on a nice whitetail buck. The bullet entered a front shoulder through the lungs and broke a couple ribs on the way out. Bullet was not recovered. There was damage around the wound channel but there was no evidence of lead fragments. I would say there was less meat damage than several other 338 bullets I have used . Does someone think that a 225 gr bullet with a muzzle velocity close to 2900 fps is NOT going to do a little damage???

I've shot about a dozen deer with the Interbonds and the meat damage was not too bad at all shooting 139gr in a 7mag and a 7STW,a 300WSM with 165gr.The most damage I had was with a 308Win with 165gr bullets.The muzzle velocity on the 300WSM is around 3050fps,the 308Win is around 2700fps.I've hit a lot of shoulder bones and always got complete pass through on every bullet.The meat damage from the slower 308Win is still a mystery to me.
Here's a through the ribs on a deer with the 7mag MV 3200fps.
Entrance wound from the inside


Exit Wound from the inside

Thanks for the response. I will not be changing bullets, even though there are potentially better (and more expensive) bullets out there.
The thing is that the Interbond has just gained itself a bad reputation in my neck of the woods!
I suspect this was pretty much a once off as the butcher said that it was some of the worst damage he had seen and had to discard an uncommonly large amount of meat, even for a shoulder shot.
I just have to persuade my friend that they are not so bad!
I'll be using the bullet on some kudu this season and see how it goes.

338s are not known to be meat destroyers. Ive never heard anyone complain about it.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Loss of a shoulder or loss of the whole animal if the bullet doesn't work.

A easy pick for me.

If one want the least meat loss shoot a bow.

Well stated, Pdog.

Bullets kill by inflicting trauma. The less trauma the slower the kill (if at all). I'm always amused by those who are concerned about "meat damage". If you don't want damaged meat, either kill them by smothering them with a pillow or don't shoot them in "the meat".

That said, the results of any one individual shot can and does vary greatly from that of a seemingly identical other shot. On the shot in question, the relatively heavy, relatively fast, and relatively well-expanded bullet may have sqauarely struck the humerous and the shattered bone fragments (and lead fragments) impacted a lot of shoulder muscle. A shot with a presumably "harder" bullet might have done the same thing, or a shot a half-inch displaced with the same bullet might have resulted in negligible meat damage.

At the end of the day, I'd rather sacrifice a few pounds of gristly shoulder than have to pursue a lightly-traumatised animal for hundreds of yards, risking the total loss of a head of game.

Your comment about there may be better bullets out there, IMHO, couldn't be farther from the truth. I believe that IB's are a premium bullet. Nosler Accubond, Partition and Swift Scirocco are also excellent bullets. You can't go wrong with any of them. Which ever bullet your gun shoots best stick with it. The bullets, we as hunters, have access to today are amazing. Cheers.

I don't care about meat damage. I want the bullet to put them down quick and I'm more than willing to give up a few lbs of burger for a quick kill.

If I had a butcher picking my bullets, I'd get a new butcher.

Sometimes bullets just fail to perform as we would hope. Angle of entry, bone mass hit, temperature, etc. can all affect the performance of a projectile. I had a 300 Win Mag 180gr factory load Accubond fail last year on a depredation deer hunt. The outside temperature was 109 degrees. If you are otherwise comfortable with the bullet, I wouldn't hesitate to use it on future hunts.

Under all cases the bullet has been placed at the wrong spot on the animal if meat damage is excessive.

quote:

Originally posted by ztreh:
Under all cases the bullet has been placed at the wrong spot on the animal if meat damage is excessive.

Nonsense--the bullet has been placed wrong if the animal doesn't die ASAP.

SSR

quote:

Originally posted by Cross L:

quote:

Originally posted by ztreh:
Under all cases the bullet has been placed at the wrong spot on the animal if meat damage is excessive.

Nonsense--the bullet has been placed wrong if the animal doesn't die ASAP.

SSR

word

I cannot disagree with what has been stated in the responses.
As a matter of interest, we in South Africa are allowed to sell meat to butchers, being private property.
If there is excessive damage, the butcher will not pay for that part of the carcase, hence the complaint from the butcher.
I agree that it was a freak shot that created excessive damage.

I like interbonds and I also use mostly Nosler Partition bullets for my hunting of BG. That said I plan to shoot Swift A-Frame bullets on my trip to South Africa because they are like Nosler Partitions on steroids.
As far as meat damage I do not worry about it. I would rather have a dead animal in my bag than one I cannot find or have to spend hours looking for. I cannot bring the meat back home with me from Africa(wish I could) so to be honest what do I care if there is more waste twith one bullet or another?? Just as long as the animal dies quickly and is recovered for the parts I need to have mounted. I understand that the PH/outfitter/rancher can sell the meat to make money but bottom line is I paid good money to shoot the game. I want to recover it with the least amount of trouble and care less if the other guy gets a few bucks less due to meat damage. He got paid far more for me shooting it than he would get for one that had no meat damage which was head shot for culling by himself.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Karoo:
If there is excessive damage, the butcher will not pay for that part of the carcase, hence the complaint from the butcher.
QUOTE]

My first thought was that the butcher wanted an excuse to keep a couple pounds of meat.

A big bullet at a fairly high velocity will cause damage wherever you hit it. Velocity causes as much trauma as the bullet performance if not more.

Worrying about meat damage is rediculous. If that bullet puts the animal on the ground, it is a success. So what if there is some meat damage. Don't shoot it in the backstrap or hind quarters and all else is irrelevant anyway, as there is only a marginal amount of meat percentage-wise in the ribs and front end.

quote:

Originally posted by BigNate:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Karoo:
If there is excessive damage, the butcher will not pay for that part of the carcase, hence the complaint from the butcher.
QUOTE]

My first thought was that the butcher wanted an excuse to keep a couple pounds of meat.

Given what everyone says about the meat of a waterbuck, damaging lots of it is an advantage who'd like to eat that stuff anyway???