More American Gunner coyote

[imaguy3]

Had an hour this morning and setup a stand. Big dog came trotting in and I hit it head on about 75 yards. The little pup then came trotting across from my left at about 50 yards, smoked him. I was using American Gunner again. I love this bullet for predators but I am going to stand by Hornady's recommendation of not good for big game hunting.

The big coyote I couldn't even find an entrance wound. I wasn't going to really search the fur hard (nasty with fleas and ticks out here), but I didn't even see a droplet of blood in fur. This tells me the bullet went in, violently expanded, and shut this dog down instantly.

The small coyote is self explanatory, a tiny pup not much bigger than a jackrabbit, torso shot at 50 yards, damn near cut it in half.

[Double Naught Spy]

Good kills.

For locating entry and exit wounds, I find that it is usually productive to use a combination of gravity and pressure. Lay the animal down with the wound side down. Now step on the animal. For a small animal like a coyote, one foot will usually do, exerting enough pressure to compress the animal but not crush it. Pump the animal in this manner and blood will usually be forced from the wound, exposing its location. Turn the animal over and repeat to try to locate the wound (if any) on the opposite side.

[imaguy3]

yeah I did a little, accidentally when using my foot to flip it over to search.. it was a straight on shot so the shot went in somewhere near the base of the neck... either way it stoned him... I pulled the trigger and he just dropped behind the bush without a twitch.

[imaguy3]

For comparison I had a similar shot last year using 75gr TAP in my .223... The dog was about 100 yards away... the exit is about the size of a racquetball behind the front right shoulder. Similar angle and entry... however this dog didn't die nearly as quickly.

[Sticks]

A through and through CNS shot that does not frag or expand will DRT anything, whereas a poor shot with a violent expansion or frag will let them linger for a bit.

All about shot placement.

Regardless - nice shooting, and thank you for posting your results. It's a HPBT so even medium game with proper shot placement might still make it an acceptable round. Just depends on what happens if the HP gets plugged with fur/meat on a less than optimum shot.

[Double Naught Spy]

A through and through CNS shot that does not frag or expand will DRT anything, whereas a poor shot with a violent expansion or frag will let them linger for a bit.

True. It is hard to know exactly what went on inside the animal with the bullet without actually looking inside the animal, particularly if no external wounds are located.

[imaguy3]

True. It is hard to know exactly what went on inside the animal with the bullet without actually looking inside the animal, particularly if no external wounds are located.

Well next time I'll make sure to take some gloves and my knife... I was just running out quick before the kid woke up.

I have to say though, the odds of the bullet ice picking, hitting the cns and dropping it are low, considering on the other two dogs I've shot with this it blew up completely.

Having seen how terminally inconsistent OTM style bullets are while hunting... I still wouldn't use it for anything bigger than predator/varmint personally.

[imaguy3]

Well I was curious and bored, so I grabbed some water jugs, a sandbag, shooting sticks and my rifle with Gunner ammo.

Setup 100 yards away. 3 jugs back to back with a small 6" gap then a sandbag to catch anything. The pictures tell a pretty dramatic story with the fragility of American Gunner ammo.

My gun has an average muzzle velocity of 2350fps with this ammo.

Shot entered the 1st jug right above the "D" (it may seem off to the side but it's centered with the other jugs by the end). 2nd jug got thrown way off to the side and completely destroyed, pretty sure the bullet had already broken apart by the time it hit this jug. 3rd jug got pushed backwards 6" and came to a stop against the sandbag. It caught fragments of jacket with a tiny piece of lead core perforating the rear (which I found on the ground in front of the sandbag). Nothing penetrated the bag.

[imaguy3]

[Goochylogic]

I wonder how the AG ammo compares to the American Eagle 90gr tnt. Is one more explosive than the other? I have cut both bullets in half and they appear to be very simular in their construction.

[rickt300]

This could be the answer for night hunting feral hogs in the HOA I trap in. Is this bullet available to reload?

[imaguy3]

I wonder how the AG ammo compares to the American Eagle 90gr tnt. Is one more explosive than the other? I have cut both bullets in half and they appear to be very simular in their construction.

The tnt is designed to expand consistently. This bullet was just designed as a target bullet per Hornady. They can look similar in terms of jacket thickness... but other factors such as the different alloys used and hardness of jacket and core need to be measured, not just looked at.

[imaguy3]

This could be the answer for night hunting feral hogs in the HOA I trap in. Is this bullet available to reload?

I definitely wouldn't... you'd be the unlucky bastard to have one not expand and pass through damaging a house or something.

[Goochylogic]

The tnt is designed to expand consistently. This bullet was just designed as a target bullet per Hornady. They can look similar in terms of jacket thickness... but other factors such as the different alloys used and hardness of jacket and core need to be measured, not just looked at.

Imaguy3, I understand what you say about the ag and ae ammo. Just a shame because the ag ammo shoots so well in my gun. Thanks for the feed back.

[oyster]

This is what Hornady says about the ammo, "Hornady American Gunner Bulk Rifle Ammo - Made in the USA with premium components, American Gunner ammunition combines generations of ballistics know-how with modern components and technology. Preliminary offerings feature legendary XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) bullets that have been favorites for decades. Designed for hunting, self-defense and law enforcement applications, the XTP bullet is exceptionally accurate, and is the choice of many top competitive shooters around the world."