I got some 150 7mms to try in my STWs, but I may as well have thrown them at the target. That may be due to throating, but the fact remains that those were some of the worst groups I'd shot in years.

How far were you from the lands? My 270 wanted a flying leap.

About a half a mile off the lands. My Cooper has a 3.7 mag box and it would take 3.9 something to reach the lands. Even if I wanted to shoot it as a singleshot there wouldn't be enough bullet left in the case.

No big deal, the rifle shoots great with other bullets. Among those are the 150 NBT and 160 Accubond.

The accuracy is fine but under 200 yds they expand violently. The Accubonds become Accubombs. Much softer makeup than regular Accubonds.

That's the compromise for a bullet that is designed to expand at very low speeds at long range.

My understanding is Bergers do the opposite at short ranges. Never used them for any game though...

I used the 190 Berger in the .300 Win once. It was my F-Class load at the time and since guys were using it for hunting I thought I'd give it a try with the same rifle.

I got a shot at a small buck at exactly 440 yards, zero wind. Easy shot. The bullet hit the rear of the shoulder, just nipping the meaty part without touching bone. The bullet blew up before making it through the ribs, with a few fragments finding their way through. The jacket was a flat piece more or less the size of quarter under the hide. The buck went down, but was standing again when my son and I came up to it. He plastered it with his .257 Weatherby and 100 grain Ballistic-tips at maybe 30 yards and his bullet exited. We have worked out a short gun, long gun system when hunting together to cover all bases without really being in conflict with each other.

If I had 100 successes with the bullet then one failure I might write it off as a fluke. Starting with a failure on the first try was enough for me. I have trouble imagining any hunting bullet that wouldn't have given satisfactory results. A quarter mile shot isn't far on the grand scheme of things but it should be far enough for the velocity to drop down to something workable.

Around the same week a friend shot a whitetail into a ragdoll with a .270 Weatherby if my memory is correct and Bergers. He shot it and it went straight down, then kept getting up as he walked up to it. About the time his gun was dry it stayed down. He won't touch a Berger either. I know others that seem happy enough, but I'm not sure that you always get the whole story.

On the long range 6.5, 7 and 30s I've drifted back to Ballistic Tips and Accubonds. They may not be the latest word in BC but they quite predictable. I drove a 180 Ballistic tip through a Yukon Alaskan moose, and have shot dozens of animals on an Australian cull hunt with 180 Accu Bonds out of a .300 RUM. Amoung those were a over-sized waterbuffalo and a scrub bull that would place in the top 5. Some of those were taken at powder burn range.

I had high hopes for the LR Accu-Bond but until/if I can make them shoot, they are on hold.

I use SMKs in my Edge and Cheytac, with great results so far.

I had high hopes for the LR ACB but I think they are way to frangible for an all around bullet. Midway had some very disappointing reviews on this bullet. I think I'll stick with the standard ACB for the longer shots.

Mark

Read a comment that Partition construction with ABLR BC and a plastic tip would be the cats ass.....

I don't know, the best long range bullets as far as accuracy seem to be the simplest. If you only have to do one thing right its a simpler task than doing a bunch of things right. A lathe turned bullet is as simple as it gets. A simple high quality cup and core bullet isn't that hard to do with just 2 pieces but by the time you get into an extruded body with a partition, two cores, a tip and bonding there are too many variables. That's not to say that some of the premium complex hunting bullets aren't going to be great from zero to 600 or so but there is a point where bullets start dropping out of the running and some boreing target bullet be the last one standing.

Or to put it another way, its easy to get great accuracy at ranges where accuracy doesn't matter much.

Love mine

I'be been using 168 VLDs in my 280 AI this year. Worked great on my Mountain Goat Billy. One shot kill, no cliff or other death dive.

I'm set to experiment this spring with 150 gr LRAB and 168 LRAB. FINALLY got the bullets so I'm set to begin.

When people say they blow up or don't expand the way they want, that doesn't help me at all.
I need to know which bullet and at what speed it impacted, plus I would like to know where it hit and what it went through on it's failed path?
Otherwise unless I know you, your bare opinion that LRABs are too soft etc., is meaningless to me.

I shot a midlin whitetail buck a year ago with a .277 150 gr. ABLR. Shot was about 95 or 100 yards away, broadside, and entered a little too low and a little too far forward (I damn near missed!). It grazed the heart with either bullet or bone shrapnel, and exited the opposite side. Lung damage was minimal; but again, I didn't hit the deer as well as I should have.

The deer made it all of 25 or 30 yards. I was impressed enough to forgive my own poor shooting!

and btw, muzzle velocity from a standard model 70 22" was about 2900 (estimated).

Hope this helps,

friar

Friarmeier,

Thanks for that. Solid helpful report.

N

NAVALUK

I would be interested on your load work up on your 168gr ABLR. I just picked up a box today at a local store while looking for the 162gr AMAX. I have heard great things about the Accubonds but never shot them before.

I was looking for information on loading my 280AI but the info seems a bit scarce.

Thanks