Staggering 160gr mono and 162gr lead ammo in your mag

[PRSHunter]

So here's a neat thought experiment.

7mm Rem Mag. On the left is Hornady's factory 162gr ELD-X lead core bullets. On the right are my hand-loaded 160gr monolithic CX bullets.

The scenario is brown bear hunting. I am hoping to try this next month when spring bear opens over baited stations. Since these 2 bullets are so damn similar in their trajectories, and I'm shooting at distances from a tree stand <200yds, my thought was to load the first shot with an all-copper CX monolithic bullet to punch through both sides, entrance and exit wounds, hopefully piercing lungs and heart. Then load the rest of my mag with ELD-X rounds in case follow up shots are needed, hoping the expansion of the wound cavity would cause the bear shock to whatever I hit as it is running away.

Opinions?

 

[rcook10]

Why? The ELDXs will easily give you adequate penetration and expansion at the ranges you specified. I have yet to catch a 162 ELDX on elk sized game.

 

[PRSHunter]

Why? The ELDXs will easily give you adequate penetration and expansion at the ranges you specified. I have yet to catch a 162 ELDX on elk sized game.

25-32" or more of chest cavity is what I'm worried about on the size of the Brown bears i'll be hunting locally and on Kodiak this year.

 

[Formidilosus]

25-32" or more of chest cavity is what I'm worried about on the size of the Brown bears i'll be hunting locally and on Kodiak this year.

25” of which 90% is lung. Their muscle depth isn’t vastly different than large herbivores, and their bones are not nearly as thick as an elk or moose. They kill them with pointed sticks nonstop.

An ELD-M, or ELD-X is a way better killing bullet than any standard mono.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Your zero between loads probably wouldn't be the same. You can plug the offset into a ballistic app to compensate for that but if they don't have the same zero they don't have the exact same dope despite the trajectory being similar.

 

[PRSHunter]

Your zero between loads probably wouldn't be the same. You can plug the offset into a ballistic app to compensate for that but if they don't have the same zero they don't have the exact same dope despite the trajectory being similar.

I zero at 50yds but that gives me a near perfect redundant zero at 200 yards. The differences between the 2 bullets is 0.02" at 50yds. I'd say that's pretty close at 1/64 MOA lol. Thus this question.

 

[PRSHunter]

25” of which 90% is lung. Their muscle depth isn’t vastly different than large herbivores, and their bones are not nearly as thick as an elk or moose. They kill them with pointed sticks nonstop.

An ELD-M, or ELD-X is a way better killing bullet than any standard mono.

ELD-M!? I thought the match grade bullets have a super thin jacket and fragment quickly.

 

[jzeblaz]

ELD-M!? I thought the match grade bullets have a super thin jacket and fragment quickly.

Here we go...

 

[nobody]

ELD-M!? I thought the match grade bullets have a super thin jacket and fragment quickly.

Welcome to the refiner’s fire new guy. I would suggest some “light reading” regarding how bullets kill vs. what “the science” wants you to believe how bullets kill. The longer you’re here, you’ll see there’s a healthy majority of us who hunt EVERYTHING with cartridges every gun counter cowboy would have you believe to be “too small” to kill anything, with bullets those same guys say “will bounce off an elk shoulder.” If you read up with a truly open mind, you’ll see how much BS the hunting industry feeds us on a regular basis.

I’d start here:

.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...

rokslide.com

 

[Formidilosus]

I zero at 50yds but that gives me a near perfect redundant zero at 200 yards. The differences between the 2 bullets is 0.02" at 50yds. I'd say that's pretty close at 1/64 MOA lol. Thus this question.

You’ve shot both loads and the zero is only .02” off between them?

 

[PRSHunter]

You’ve shot both loads and the zero is only .02” off between them?

Pretty neat, eh?

 

[GoatPackr]

First of all if you are going to run a mono at a short range you won't need one that heavy. Drop way back in bullet weight and that will give you way more speed and kill much better. Crank it up and send it as fast as you can.
I have a load with a 215 berger and 180 HHT that shoot very close also. The HHT shoots .5 moa higher at 100 yards and 250 fps faster. The cool thing is it's flatter shooting beyond my hunting range. If I wasn't looking for long ranges with it I'd be shooting something around 130- 150 grains.

Kris

 

[Formidilosus]

Pretty neat, eh?

You didn’t answer the question.

 

[PRSHunter]

First of all if you are going to run a mono at a short range you won't need one that heavy. Drop way back in bullet weight and that will give you way more speed and kill much better. Crank it up and send it as fast as you can.
I have a load with a 215 berger and 180 HHT that shoot very close also. The HHT shoots .5 moa higher at 100 yards and 250 fps faster. The cool thing is it's flatter shooting beyond my hunting range. If I wasn't looking for long ranges with it I'd be shooting something around 130- 150 grains.

Kris

I have 150gr CX and 160gr CX options that my barrel shoots well. Both go 2975-3050fps depending on my charge weight, so not a whole lot different there toggling between grain size. Figured why not shoot the 160's since they carry more energy and buck the wind just a bit better.

 

[GoatPackr]

I have 150gr CX and 160gr CX options that my barrel shoots well. Both go 2975-3050fps depending on my charge weight, so not a whole lot different there toggling between grain size. Figured why not shoot the 160's since they carry more energy and buck the wind just a bit better.

How far are you shooting?
Never mind I see you are shooting 200 yards.
Energy is useless to begin with. Speed kills not Energy. Second BC won't matter at that range.
Pick the bullet that will have the faster speed at impact. Don't kid yourself with wind drift at that range either. Get a light fast bullet cooking and see how the wind compares at that distance.

Kris

 

[PRSHunter]

You didn’t answer the question.

How far are you shooting?
Never mind I see you are shooting 200 yards.
Energy is useless to begin with. Speed kills not Energy. Second BC won't matter at that range.
Pick the bullet that will have the faster speed at impact. Don't kid yourself with wind drift at that range either. Get a light fast bullet cooking and see how the wind compares at that distance.

Kris

How far depends on what I'm hunting. With these 160-162gr rounds, I'm comfortable plinking steel out beyond a mile with this setup.

Wolf and Coyote - 700yds
White Tail/Mule Deer/Black Tail - 500yds
Caribou and Elk - 450yds
Moose & black bear - 350yds
Brown Bear - 200 yards only because my backup shooters have limit of 200yds

 

[atmat]

Wolf and Coyote - 700yds
White Tail/Mule Deer/Black Tail - 500yds
Caribou and Elk - 450yds
Moose & black bear - 350yds
Brown Bear - 200 yards only because my backup shooters have limit of 200yds

This is such a random mix of distances with no rhyme or reason. If your bullet carries enough velocity for expansion, you should feel way more comfortable on elk (which are large) at 700 yards than a coyote (which are small).

 

[MattB]

You are overthinking it.