Recently a couple of pards and I went elk hunting, and each of us had a cow tag. This is open-country elk hunting, and often a long shot is a necessity. I happened to take along my Kimber 7WSM/SS 3-9x42 w/MD, stoked with the 162AM at 3070fps.

We came across a herd of cows, and had the opportunity to use the 162 on 2 of them. The first cow was shot at a bit steeper quartering angle than we initially thought, at 532 meters. The first bullet entered just in front of the rear ham, penetrated the abdominal cavity, liver, lungs, ribs, and was recovered under the hide by the offside front shoulder. It penetrated roughly 4' of elk. At this point the cow whirled around and started running broadside. The second bullet hit a little further back than intended, penetrating the rear quarter, and exiting the opposite side. The proper amount of lead was used for the third bullet as the cow continued to run broadside, which hit in the ribs right behind the front leg, halfway up the body. The entry hole was 2" across, and the bullet exited the offside ribs, with a 1/2" exit hole. The cow immediately stumbled and went down for good. A grand total of about 1/4 lb of meat was lost from the rear quarters.

The second cow was initially shot at 463 meters with a 208AM fired from a .300WM. The cow was broadside and the wind gusted just a bit as the rifle fired, and the bullet hit her in the liver. It did not exit, and was not recovered. She bedded down out of sight. On the approach to finish her, she became aware of us, and got up to run. At this point a 162 hit her at 765 meters at a steep quartering angle as she was running off. It hit her in the rear quarter, penetrated diagonally, and exited just behind the offside front shoulder. This bullet also penetrated 3.5-4' of elk. She was finished off with a neck shot at 10'.

All in all, I continue to be impressed by just how deep these pills dig, as well as the wound channel that they leave.

Here's a couple of pics of the recovered bullet:

Jordan,

Thanks for the post! Impressive performance for a target bullet....

David

thanks for the report..Havent heard of that much azz shootin in awhile, but its a pretty decent bullet test ha.

They dont dig so deep at closer range IME

One in the ass is better than two in the grass...

Love those 162s.

Tanner

Those are some far shots. Sounds like a great time

Tanner, congrats. you got over the hump. 10K

Yeah, congratulations on your elk hunt. Those 162 did a good job.

Enjoy the elk meat.

Congrats Jordan! Always nice to see real world results.

Congrats Jordan and thanks for sharing the info. I'll put some chicken bones around my bedpost tonight and say a small chant to keep the nay-sayin schitt storm away!

Never been one to care much what part of the critter happens to be between me and the vitals...but this was a fair stage for the 162 to strut its stuff.

Having smashed bone as close as 40 yards with the same load, I've seen consistent deep-digging performance. What makes you say they don't do so well up close?

Much abliged. I was wondering when that was going to begin...

I really like the bullet, used to use it a bunch.But had a few zook and moved onto others. I have been told that they fugged with the 162 around the time I had issues, and that it is now sorted out?

I will still use them,as I said i think highly of them.

I shot a buck this year with a 162 Amax at 18 yards outta the .280.... Impact velocity would have been about 2825fps. That bullets zooked big-time..... entrance wound in the ribs was about 3".... no exit.... no big bones hit. Deer went down in a hurry.... and the insides were soup. But, I was very surprised to see less than 12" penetration.

I've used them before, and I'll use them again..... but this time it definitely didn't act like a bullet that'd go through 4' elk.

Entrance.....

They probably like rear entry and firm up accordingly....

Sounds like VLD-esque performance on that one. I'm sure IV had a lot to do with the penetration that we saw on these particular elk...

I have never had a VLD blow up on entrance. Had lots of AMAXs grenade on contact but it was expected and wanted. The 75gr AMAX at 3500fps is awesome coyote medicine if fur is of no interest.

Not a slam on AMAXs but they will without question open quicker than VLDs. That's what a poly tip does, opens on contact.

Yep, John. That's why I said VLD-esque. I was referring to the similar depth of penetration, although the method of entry was very different....

I've had mixed results with the 162. This was a close range shot...7WSM


Same bullet, same gun, but 100ish yards...

Congrats on the elk. The 7mm 162 grain Amax appears to be better penetrator than the 208 grain Amax .308 bullet.


It is good to know differences exist. It is like the difference between a 120 grain 7mm ballistic tip and the 140 grain ballistic tip. If I recall correctly, Scenarshooter reported something similar between the .308 155 scenar and a heavier scenar bullet in .308. My good friend has had similar success with Hornaday's standard 162 BTHP 7mm.

Do that mean you would rather wound something than have a clean miss? Just being flippant or would that make you feel better about missing the vitals?

I guess the follow up to that would be this quote from the Outlaw Josey Wales "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms."

After some of the crap I saw people doing while huntingwhile shooting at antelope this season that saying pizzes me off.

Jordan thanks for the thread,and to dog shooter and clark for the photos Had never seen a thread about the 162Amax recovered from game.

It means I'd rather hit something through the ass and end up killing it, AS JORDAN DID, than completely whiff something or hit it elsewhere and have it go unfound.

Don't read too far into stuff Phas...

Tanner

Don't make it too easy on him.

I'm glad you clarified - I wasn't sure what to make of that at first, thought perhaps RC was rubbing off on you (no pun intended)...

David

Despite having shot critters as close as 40 yards with the 162, this is why I tend to carry this particular rifle stoked with the 140 TTSX, and swap out a few rounds for the 162 if I come to realize I'm going to have to go long.

I've only seen a couple of 208 AM hit critters so far, so I can't draw any firm conclusions about how it compares to the 162 when it comes to penetration as a general rule, but in this case you're quite right...

Congrat's on your successful hunt! Looks like the 162 worked well.

Thanks for the clarification. I shot a critter in the "hind shoulders" once by accident and I did eventually kill it but it sure wasn't pleasant to do or to field dress.

I should have known that even though you attend CSU that you didn't want to ass end anything on purpose

Jordan,

Finding a bullet you have confidence in is good. I suppose that the lead core alloy and jacket composition of the 7mm and .308 amax would be the same. I would guess the .308 amax has a slightly bigger hollow point under the plastic tip that might lead to more rapid and wide expansion, reducing penetration. I suppose that the moment of inertia or some other physical property of bullets change as cross section increases. I can't remember much from physics classes about calculating sectional modulus or if it would even matter as the bullet distorts after running into flesh.
Enough ballistic gack. Enjoy the elk meat! I doubt I will get out again to hunt for one here but I still have some left over from last year.

Scott

Hey Jordan, just out of curiosity, what twist rate do you have? I'm getting ready to order a new bbl for my next project. A Ruger #1 in 280 Rem. I want to shoot 140's, up to the 162. Will a 1-9 do the trick?

9.5", and yes that'll do just fine.

Great! Thanks. Looking fwd to getting this project rolling!

Impressive shooting! Actually connecting with moving animals at those ranges... Thanks for posting. I love hearing more stories of animals being taken with 'target' bullets.

I've loaded up some 155 A-max in 30-30, 14" Contender to take out for deer next year. MV should be 2100. I think they'll do well. Planning to practice, practice some more, and then try to get on one at 300.

Interesting stuff Jordan. 4' is farther than I would have expected one to dig.

My 162 A-Max report for the year:

280AI, 400 yards, complete pass through of both shoulders (that'd be front shoulders for those that count hips as shoulders). Grabbed about 1/2 inch or so of the spine on the way through. Exit wound was about 1".




280AI, 160 yards, complete pass through on both shoulders (still front) on the first shot. Little back of there grabbing spine again on second shot. I found a chunk of the jacket in the hair on the off-side. May have been more but he slid/fell about 700 yards, and that would have to knock a bunch of stuff loose. Both exits were 3/4 - 1". Ruined all the meat that the bullet touched.



If the damn things didn't shoot so well, I probably wouldn't use em.

Nice critters and some great bullet performance! Congrats!

Chris,

Were you able to salvage the front shoulders on the sheep? How bad were they using the 162 A-Max?

There was certainly some bloodshot, but not bad. Both sheep and goat were shot through the shoulder blades, and I probably tossed about 1-2" radius around the hole.

I did centerpunch the spine on a blacktail a few years back with a 162, and it must have made a 2.5" hole on the way out. Lost more meat on that one, and it was backstrap too. That was 7SAUM, so should have been around the same velocity.

Yep, looks like a heck of a season, Congrats.

Thanks. I got a Montana 280 AI now and got a bunch of 162's to try. Hoping to get a good load dialed in here soon so I can use this combo for sheep and goats next fall. You using RL22? And you loading your rounds to mag length?

Great pictures too! Sheep and goat country is for the hardcore.

Thanks all... it was a good season, just shorter than I wanted as always.

bearstalker, Yes, I'm loading them to mag length. The 84L mag is not terribly friendly to sleek bullets, but the overall package is good enough to make up for that IMO. I'm shooting 62 grains of RL22 in Nosler/Norma AI brass with moly.

Will be interested to hear your results.

Just FYI....

One of the few Amax's I've caught. 30cal 178gr., Mule deer 409 yards. Quartering to, impact through onside shoulder blade and then traveled through the spine for approximately 16-18 inches of spine.






They's wicked.....

Bet that was some good backstrap.....grin

Was fantastic.

I bet this bullet would be perfect for a 7-08 and would find out I could ever find some.

Several people on here would say that you are correct. The 162 at 2700 flies very, very well. I plan to try them in 7-08 in the next year or two. It is time for my to begin to move my fun into various 7's for a while.