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110 lb doe taken at 52 yards with 123 A-MAX. (30.3gr CFE 223/Rem 7.5/2.245" OAL) I chronied this round a few days ago with the average around 2375 fps, needless to say at this range it probably impacted at over 2300 fps. My Red Lab is about 102 lbs.
deer1grendel1.jpg
The shot hit a little lower (2-3") than I would have liked, both lungs and the heart were hit but the deer still managed to make it 40 yards even with a flat tire. A piece of lead from the base of the bullet was found just under skin on this side, but the actual entry hole was nearly impossible to find.
deer1grendel2.jpg
From the looks of the wound channel and the small piece of lead from the base of the round recovered on the entry side, I think the projectile nearly exploded as soon as it made contact with the ribs. There was no large gaping hole on the exit side where all the shoulder damage was done, but I never found a large slug. There were some smaller pieces (.1" chunks at largest) found in several places along the wound channel as well.
deer1grendel3.jpg
The heart could have definitely been hit 2-3" inches higher. Shooter used a dead hold on preferred chest kill-zone instead of holding higher. 50 yards is a moot point when you can shoot sub-MOA @ 200 yards right? Wrong. POI @ 50 yards with a 160 yd zero is atleast 2 inches lower. Lesson learned.
deer1grendel4.jpg
All this being said I'm not sure what to think about the A-MAX as a hunting cartridge. It performed well in this instance but the bullet's tendency to frag after minimal penetration on a small deer makes me wonder if it would cause superficial wounds on larger deer. Further experimentation is required.
Unrelated Side note: Does anyone have the numbers for CFE 223 that I need to plug into QuickLoad to create a new powder and use it in QuickLoad? PM me please.
deer1grendel1.jpg
The shot hit a little lower (2-3") than I would have liked, both lungs and the heart were hit but the deer still managed to make it 40 yards even with a flat tire. A piece of lead from the base of the bullet was found just under skin on this side, but the actual entry hole was nearly impossible to find.
deer1grendel2.jpg
From the looks of the wound channel and the small piece of lead from the base of the round recovered on the entry side, I think the projectile nearly exploded as soon as it made contact with the ribs. There was no large gaping hole on the exit side where all the shoulder damage was done, but I never found a large slug. There were some smaller pieces (.1" chunks at largest) found in several places along the wound channel as well.
deer1grendel3.jpg
The heart could have definitely been hit 2-3" inches higher. Shooter used a dead hold on preferred chest kill-zone instead of holding higher. 50 yards is a moot point when you can shoot sub-MOA @ 200 yards right? Wrong. POI @ 50 yards with a 160 yd zero is atleast 2 inches lower. Lesson learned.
deer1grendel4.jpg
All this being said I'm not sure what to think about the A-MAX as a hunting cartridge. It performed well in this instance but the bullet's tendency to frag after minimal penetration on a small deer makes me wonder if it would cause superficial wounds on larger deer. Further experimentation is required.
Unrelated Side note: Does anyone have the numbers for CFE 223 that I need to plug into QuickLoad to create a new powder and use it in QuickLoad? PM me please.
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