On my northern Maine deer hunt this fall, I want options. I am sold that my Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 CM with my Hornady 160 grain round nose is great for a shorter range woods hunt. The round nose has more knockout punch inside of 100 yards and is not as deflectable in brush as a spitzer. However, it limits me to just short range of say 150 yards.
Ok, suppose I am in an elevated stand that overlooks a clear-cut that is 300 yards of open stumps and out walks a wall hanger buck at 280 yards.
With just the 160 grain set-up, I would not be able to attempt a shot. Accordingly, I loaded up some 129 grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range bullets that I had in my cupboard to see where they would impact my 160 grain round nose scope set up at 100 yards. Guess What? The 129 grain heads hit the exact same spot as the 160 grain heads. What? Yes they did! What does that mean? It means that I can use either bullet at closer range but, more importantly, it means that I can use the 129 grain Nosler ABLR for longer range open shots with minor elevation adjustments. Wow!
I hand loaded the 129 grain Nosler ABLR’s with a near-max load of Hodgdon H4350. COL was set at 2.75 inches. The bullets exit the barrel at just over 2800 fps and group at 1 MOA at 100 yards. I put the data into JBM Ballistics Trajectory calculator. And if I adjust the elevation to 1.8 inches high at 100 yards it is basically zeroed for 200 yards. My maximum point blank range (MPBR) is 280 yards. At 280 yards, as seen below, that 129 grain bullet delivers 1500 ft-lbs of energy. Plenty for a big whitetail deer.
UPDATE: After writing this article, I bench-rested one cold shot of each load at 150 yards with a 100 yard zero waiting 10 minutes between shots and degreased the already clean barrel at each shot. The 129 grain Nosler ABLR was dead center low by 1 inch. The 160 grain RN Hornady fell just over 2 inches from dead center. Both bullets were just over an inch apart.
Honestly, I think it is astonishing that both a light and heavy bullet of different head designs and loaded with different powders, different speeds/ballistic coefficients and cartridge overall lengths can be so close to one another, essentially striking the same spot out to 150 yards. I think a clean barrel that has been solvent degreased contributed to the accuracy of these cold shots as well and eliminated a barrel cleanliness variable. Gravity and the aerodynamic drag (BC) of the round nose beyond 150 yards will make it fall faster (19 inches) and lose deer killing energy at 300 yards. The 129 grain Nosler ABLR will lose little energy, and drop 7.5 inches at 300 yards. And can reach beyond 400 yards with sufficient energy as seen in the 129 grain data below. Which bullet do you think, inside of 100 yards will deliver more energy inside the deer? I think the round nose wins that one. But from say beyond 150 yards the 129 grain Nosler takes over the most energy delivered inside the deer.
See the JBM Ballistics Output Data below. https://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi
| Output Data | |||
| Elevation: | 5.314 MOA | Windage: | 0.000 MOA |
| Atmospheric Density: | 0.08269 lb/ft³ | Speed of Sound: | 1073.7 ft/s |
| Maximum PBR: | 280 yd | Maximum PBR Zero: | 239 yd |
| Range of Maximum Height: | 135 yd | Energy at Maximum PBR: | 1549.1 ft•lbs |
| Sectional Density: | 0.264 lb/in² | ||
| Calculated Table | ||||||||||
| Range | Drop | Drop | Windage | Windage | Velocity | Mach | Energy | Time | Lead | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (yd) | (in) | (MOA) | (in) | (MOA) | (ft/s) | (none) | (ft•lbs) | (s) | (in) | (MOA) |
| 0 | -1.5 | *** | 0.0 | *** | 2810.0 | 2.617 | 2261.4 | 0.000 | 0.0 | *** |
| 25 | -0.2 | -0.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2764.4 | 2.575 | 2188.6 | 0.027 | 0.9 | 3.6 |
| 50 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2719.3 | 2.533 | 2117.8 | 0.054 | 1.9 | 3.6 |
| 75 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2674.7 | 2.491 | 2048.9 | 0.082 | 2.9 | 3.7 |
| 100 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2630.6 | 2.450 | 1981.8 | 0.110 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| 125 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 2586.9 | 2.409 | 1916.6 | 0.139 | 4.9 | 3.7 |
| 150 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 2543.7 | 2.369 | 1853.1 | 0.168 | 5.9 | 3.8 |
| 175 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2500.9 | 2.329 | 1791.3 | 0.198 | 7.0 | 3.8 |
| 200 | -0.0 | -0.0 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 2458.6 | 2.290 | 1731.1 | 0.228 | 8.0 | 3.8 |
| 225 | -1.3 | -0.6 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 2416.6 | 2.251 | 1672.5 | 0.259 | 9.1 | 3.9 |
| 250 | -3.0 | -1.1 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 2375.1 | 2.212 | 1615.5 | 0.290 | 10.2 | 3.9 |
| 275 | -5.1 | -1.8 | 5.0 | 1.8 | 2333.9 | 2.174 | 1560.0 | 0.322 | 11.3 | 3.9 |
| 300 | -7.5 | -2.4 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 2293.2 | 2.136 | 1506.1 | 0.355 | 12.5 | 4.0 |
| 325 | -10.4 | -3.1 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 2252.9 | 2.098 | 1453.5 | 0.388 | 13.6 | 4.0 |
| 350 | -13.7 | -3.7 | 8.4 | 2.3 | 2212.9 | 2.061 | 1402.5 | 0.421 | 14.8 | 4.0 |
| 375 | -17.5 | -4.4 | 9.7 | 2.5 | 2173.4 | 2.024 | 1352.8 | 0.455 | 16.0 | 4.1 |
| 400 | -21.7 | -5.2 | 11.1 | 2.7 | 2134.2 | 1.988 | 1304.5 | 0.490 | 17.3 | 4.1 |
| 22-Jul-21 07:55, JBM/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi |
Even if I don’t make any adjustment to the scope for the 100 yard zero using 160 grain scope setup , I am only 3.5 inches low at 200 yards with the Nosler, still in the kill zone, but I need a steady field rest to make those distant shots. I have a walking stick with a pop up V rest that I have used before from an elevated stand that works well. I used it similarly from an elevated stand to take a lone spike buck at near to 300 yards a few years back. It looks like I will take both bullets on this hunt. Brush hunt with the Hornady RN and Clear-Cut hunt with the Nosler.
Good Hunting!
©Copyright 2021