Axis buck down!
The first animal to fall to my 7-30 barrel was this dandy axis buck! Shot was fully broadside at 50 yards.
As some of you may remember, I was using a 139gr CX copper bullet made by Hornady. Hornady lists 2000 fos as the minimum for this bullet to expand. I haven't had a chance to chronograph this load, but it's supposed to be going between 2000-2100 out of my 14" barrel. Based on my autopsy, it doesn't seem like the bullet expanded at all, though. However, this guy only made it 37 yards before piling up.
Entrance:
Exit:
Upon inspection, it seems that my shot hit the forward part of his lungs and aorta. His chest cavity was full of blood. There was no blood on the ground except what came out of his mouth after he crashed.
Now, like Matthew Nash said, one kill isn't enough data, but here's my question to you guys. Should I discount this load as ineffective because, should he have made it to the woods , there would not have been a blood trail? Or should I say it's good enough to go again because he did die very quickly?
If I do return to the woods with this load, I will not be shooting at anything this big again. Gonna chase does and maybe whitetail bucks for the rest of the season.
Regardless, I'm thrilled to fill my freezer with some delicious axis meat!
Living in California where non-leaded bullets are mandatory, I whole heartedly agree with the those that recommend something else such as the Nosler BT. Federal factory loaded copper ammo performs well, but I suspect this is because the bullet is matched to the cartridge (which are loaded in the higher velocity cartridges). I have also had good luck with Hammer bullets. If not limited to unleaded ammo, I prefer the aforementioned Nosler Ballistic Tip or an old school bullet like the Remington Core Lokt.