Recovered Amax

For those who maybe interested here is 30 cal 178grain recovered from a red deer.
Launched at 2975fps at a touch over 400y for an impact velocity of around 2170fps.

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Shot hit some bone there was an exit hole presumably from bone or flesh pushed out in front of the bullet, found just under skin on off side.
Retained weight is 70 grain or 74 grain including copper shard.
My first recovered amax(I think?), have shot fair few with the 168 and usually don't get an exit and don't find anything other than tiny copper fragments.
It was expanded right back to the base and the lead fell out when cleaning it.

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Good shot that one.

Very typicle VC almost if not every A max ive hit with has done the exact same thing and looks identicle.

yep same, 168amax launched at slightly faster than that looked the same after connecting with a bull tahrs front shoulder at 475yards.

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Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

yep same, 168amax launched at slightly faster than that looked the same after connecting with a bull tahrs front shoulder at 475yards.

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Interesting , I was launching the `168 at only 2750fps and they usually completely disintegrated without exiting less than 300y and more than that they would sometimes exit. Never recovered one.

Yeah i have had good results. Exited all the chamois that ive shot from 50-400yards (big exit)

Both mature bull tahr that have been shot they havent exited, both projectiles found on offside shoulder after punching through quite a bit of bone. one of the projectiles had shed a fair amount of material tho. Guess there is just so many variables aye.

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Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

Yeah i have had good results. Exited all the chamois that ive shot from 50-400yards (big exit)

Both mature bull tahr that have been shot they havent exited, both projectiles found on offside shoulder after punching through quite a bit of bone. one of the projectiles had shed a fair amount of material tho. Guess there is just so many variables aye.

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Yep always variables, everything has died with the 168 but some of the close ones could have died a bit quicker :ORLY:

Its the plastic bits at the front that results in such poor performance lol. I think I would much rather have complete penetration of the biggest part of the projectile. It results in much quicker break down of the vital functions when there is heaps of air getting in. Lungs do not operate well unless in a vacuum.

Interesting vindication of my beliefs about target projectiles terminal performance on game animals

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Originally Posted by 260hunter

Its the plastic bits at the front that results in such poor performance lol. I think I would much rather have complete penetration of the biggest part of the projectile. It results in much quicker break down of the vital functions when there is heaps of air getting in. Lungs do not operate well unless in a vacuum.

Interesting vindication of my beliefs about target projectiles terminal performance on game animals

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I certainly don't advocate their use at close ranges in 30 cal(they seem to be more explodey than the 6.5 and7mm variants probably due to the low sectional density IE short for weight)
I love 130ttsx barnes up close 0-350y but when distance is getting out, velocity and energy is dropping off, a very frangible projectile that will dump most of its remaining energy in the animal and cause as big as wound channel as possible is the only humane option.
While this was "close" for an amax even at moderate velocity it dropped where it stood.

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

While this was "close" for an amax even at moderate velocity it dropped where it stood.

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Can't ask for more than that :cool:

Here's the 162gr (7mm) A-max that was recovered from the offside shoulder of the red stag i shot a couple of weeks back.

Muzzle velocity of 2,990 fps, shot at 470 yards, impact velocity of approx 2,360 fps, the jacket and lead core were found 3 cm apart in the offside leg, didn't quite make the skin. Total weight of both pieces is 76gr.

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I guess some would say the bullet failed by separating, but i was quite happy with the performance, it smashed through both front shoulder blades, poleaxed him, he didnt take a step, just 2 cartwheels down hill and didn't get up. :thumbsup:

Mean. I am running the 168gr A Max in my .308. What sort of impact velocity can I expect them to open up down to? Spitting them out just under 2700fps with 2208 in a 24". Want to chop it to 18" and experiment with 8208 and 2206H

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Originally Posted by Beavis

Mean. I am running the 168gr A Max in my .308. What sort of impact velocity can I expect them to open up down to? Spitting them out just under 2700fps with 2208 in a 24". Want to chop it to 18" and experiment with 8208 and 2206H

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I still had impressive wound channel on nanny Tahr @705y launched at 2750 (I shan't be repeating that in anything other than perfect conditions)

Your range limit with 168s out of 308 is more dictated by wind(the slightest breeze) and abillity to accuratly land the shot than impact velocity.

Thanks, I want to be able to humanely despatch stuff at 500m and in with that rig

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Originally Posted by Beavis

Thanks, I want to be able to humanely despatch stuff at 500m and in with that rig

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Have you shortened your 308 yet Beavis ?

I have it is 16" and sitting in my safe not doing anything lol. I got good speed loading with 155's but I haven't done anything with it.

Am I the only one that think that performance is rubbish? Or am I expecting to much?

I mean that projectile has lost more than half of its weight!! The last projectile I recovered and weighed was a 130gn Speer shot out of a 7mm-08. Taken from the shoulder of a Red Stag. It had mushroomed well and weighed 123 grains. So going through the animal it held together and only lost 7 grains of weight.

So this sort of set the benchmark for me as Speer are not in the top lot of favourite or expensive projectiles. So I thought if they can do it surely all the fancy expensive ones should be able to do the same.

GWH that's not a bullet fail...the animal died quickly and cleanly...end of story.

Performance was perfect, it expanded well at a low velocity and it obviously killed the deer. A harder projectile might not have expanded much and just penciled through with minimal damage.
The a-max is a projectile that you need to think about before you pull the trigger. They are not the best projectile for a south - north shot on a big stag at close range, but they are awesome on a broadside shot at 300 yds plus.
I personally use an accubond or barnes up close but my longrange load is an amax.

I used Barnes. Up close with 308. The took time to die.

The 168 Amax are not a patch on the 165 game kings in my 30cal mag the amax are slow killers.

Interesting, the 168 amax kills really well in my friends 308. For you it is possibly something to do with velocity. What velocity are you running them at, an what range are you shooting at?

3000 fps 400 plus Meters .lacking the shock factor.Easy to see when the skin is off.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by H&K MAN

The 168 Amax are not a patch on the 165 game kings in my 30cal mag the amax are slow killers.

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Based on how many kills ??

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Originally Posted by Pengy

Based on how many kills ??

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Now Mr Pengy, I hope you're not stirring ;)

Who, Me? Never!
Purely interested in how H& K man came to his conclusion.

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Originally Posted by H&K MAN

3000 fps 400 plus Meters .lacking the shock factor.Easy to see when the skin is off.:thumbsup:

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Would have thought they would have killed well. Very similar to my .284 162 amax and they killed really well, nearly every animal dropped on the spot with a solid shoulder shot.

I used the 168 fairly extensively out of 308 at 2750 fps. They were much more frangible than the 178 for some reason even tho going 200 fps slower. Lightning kills out to 500 od.. lacked penitration inside 300y on stags shoulders and needed to be neck shot or slipped in behind the shoulder.

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The way I look at it is that 70grains still smashed its way through both shoulders. If a tiny little 50grain bullet from a .222 can kill so effectively, then 70grains of intact bullet must be more than enough.

That's without even factoring in the massive hydrostatic shock that the other 100grains did in shedding off along the way.

Kj

This 162 gr A-Max was recovered from a large red Hind shot at 40 meters, dropped instantly, got up and staggered 25 meters then fell over. I forgot in the rush ( 3 deer on road) to shoot behind shoulder and hit her dead center in the shoulder. Not the ideal performance as the bullet all but blew to pieces but it did work and internal damage was massive. Shot out of my 7mm Mag at just under 3000 fps.

Photo did come through try againAttachment 47261