Great excitement that the 06 will print these in a single hole has been tempered with the realisation that they are rather softer than I had thought.

Shot was front on at 30m, impact velocity 2,800fps. Bullet hit top of sternum and a rib passing through the heart, lungs, liver and a small section of stomach before coming to rest under skin just in front of the opposite rear haunch. Frontal area of mushroom overly large and very asymetric, very small amount of shank left - this from hitting a small amount of bone on a deer of about 70lb field dressed.

As the intended quarry this season is red stag of around 300lb weight, the distance and time involved to obtain a shot at this elusive quarry (woodland red stag) has made me considerably more keen on penetration than is generaly the case. I do not want to pass up a shot if there is a bit more angle involved and I want blood on the ground when I make that last light shot in the woods as they can travel a considerable distance when shot in the rut.

I will be off in 10days, the following are accurate

30-06 165gr Ballistic tip at 2,800fps
7x57 140gr Nosler accubond at 2,800fps
7x57 140gr Swift A frame at 2,775fps

Shots vary from 30m front on to broadside at 300m. Which bullet do you think is the best compromise and which would you take

A friend of mine and I call them the unbond. Perhaps we had a bad batch, but I view them as large varmint type bullets, almost "explosive" in performance. I wouldn't trust them on larger framed game myself.

I think any of the three choices given would be fine, unlike many people on here, I've killed quite a few hogs and deer with ballistic tips so I'd lean towards them for that size game. I haven't used the accubond, but am certain the A frame will do the job as well. Like always, its mostly where you hit 'em, not what you hit them with.

I don't know about the 150 gr, but I use the 165 gr in a 300 WSM and have been amazed at how well the bullet works. I started using the 300 and IB last season and took 3 coyotes, 2 deer, and 4 hogs. The largest hog was just over 400 lbs. The largest hog was not eating size, so I planned on anchoring him with a shot to the shoulder. The IB penetrated the gristle plate, went through the shoulder, ripped the heart and lungs, went through the offside shoulder and was found in the gristle plate near the skin. Excellent performance on a stout animal.

All the animals taken with the IB have, so far, have dropped immediately. I highly recommend the 30 cal. 165 gr InterBond.

Just for your future reference, size has little or nothing to do with the "eatability" of wild hogs. You wasted a lot of good meat by not butchering that hog, all other factors being equal.

On our land we have too many hogs and too many problems from them. During the warmer months the hogs are covered with ticks and fleas. They are thinned out during those months and it is not worth the risk of disease from the fleas and ticks.

Depending on what the hogs are eating affects the taste of the meat, and a large hog eating wild onions is one nasty tasting animal.

Ive almost gone exclusivly to the 180 gn accubond from my '06. Unless I misread your post, I dont really find your bullets performance suprising. Thats a lot of bone to expect any .30 cal lead core 150 gn slug to punch through, even if it is bonded. You simply need a heavier slug for those kind of shots. Of corse a monolithic or partition should give more penetration as well though.

My pick would be 140 Swift A frame,second 140 accubond

quote:

Originally posted by 1894mk2:
Shot was front on at 30m, impact velocity 2,800fps. Bullet hit top of sternum and a rib passing through the heart, lungs, liver and a small section of stomach before coming to rest under skin just in front of the opposite rear haunch. Frontal area of mushroom overly large and very asymetric, very small amount of shank left - this from hitting a small amount of bone on a deer of about 70lb field dressed.

1894, funny you should mention that. Of late, I loaded a 7x64 for a friend. Not having anywhere close to the bullet selection you have in the UK (not to speak of the US), we chose a 154 grs Hornady Interbond. We were looking for the "do it all" bullet, that would work well for all animals which might be taken with this rifle: roe, chamois, red and pigs.

The first animal down was a roe at about 40yds. Immediate kill, but no exit wound, and bullet looked exactly like you described yours. I guess the impact velocity might have been in the vicinity of 2600-2700 fps.

Even with bonded bullets, there is probably no such thing as a free lunch. As we have discussed before, I'm not that keen on Partition type bullets over here, as they often lead to longish tracking jobs, and I don't have a dog. So I was looking for something, which would expand to a larger diameter (even on light game as roe), yet still penetrate reliably. It looks as though the bonded bullets may still be a compromise in this respect. The Interbonds hold together really well, but the level of expansion on close shots seems to limit penetration.

It is funny how different people get different results. Reading JJHack's glowing reports on the Interbonds on heavy game in Africa (mostly 165 grs .308 cal), makes me wonder if it is really the same bullet my friend tried out... Your experience seems to match ours. I'd say the jury is still out.

Given the bullet options you list, I think I'd go with the Swift for your red stag hunting. The Accubond would probably work as well, but I'd personally stay away from the BT.

- mike

P.S. Once you find the time, the newly introduced 165 grs (or even the classic 180 grs) .308 cal Accubond might do what you are looking for in your .30-06. Worth a try in any event.

I'm going to try 154gr Interbond is my 7mmRM,as two mates have been using 165gr interbond in 30/06 and 300WM.

One mate is getting 3300 with his 300WM and all interbonds have exited in sika deer which i know aren't very big.

Other mate is shooting them in 30/06 shot a bull moose at 40 yards and the all 3 shots exited,the bull was heading for a pond so he kept shooting.

I really wonder if plastic tipped bullets can ever match the consistancy of the lead tipped bullets.
The performance of the swift a frame is legendary and probably always will be. Also let me highly recoment the NF bonded.
If you want a mushroom that penetrates these bullets are without a doubt the mercedes benz of their time.