Hunting with Match Solids?

[Fred @ Bison Tactical]

Ok, I know there is a lot of internet "wisdom" on this topic, but I am interested in feedback from people who have actually shot animals with solid match bullets.

I want to know what to expect if I were to do this. These bullets have no hollow point, they are simply lathe turned match bullets that shoot phenomenally well, and ones that I have on-hand.

Please only comment if you have personal experience shooting an animal with these type of bullets and what your experience was. If you can include:

Type of animal shot, caliber of the round, distance to the target, how fast did the animal expire and what was your experience - ie would you do it again, or did you decide to change based on your result.

 

[jzerfoss]

6.5mm 121gr lehigh match solid. 90ish yds and I'd only use a match solid if headshot was a sure thing but I absolutely hate animal suffering. The top of the skull was mush.

 

[siscoe308]

Deleted.

 

[Mr. Z]

@coldboremiracle
Did a bunch of critter killing with blackjacks a while back.

 

[coldboremiracle]

@coldboremiracle
Did a bunch of critter killing with blackjacks a while back.

Yes but those aren't solids.

But these are:

Cayuga solid copper bullets: 6mm 100 grain

Some of you may have already read about my experience with the 6.5 Cayuga from a year or two ago. That may or may not have led you to this subject, but if you are seriously looking into the Cayuga as a hunting bullet then I’d recommend reading both articles. The Cayuga All Patriot Valley …...

coldboremiracle.com

 

[Mr. Z]

My mistake, I get all the bullets I can’t afford confused

 

[BLKWLFK9]

The match solids will definitely pencil through with maybe a bent tip if you can recover it. The hunting solids with the hollow point will mushroom and retain about 80-95% of its mass, and bust up any bone it meets along the way. Buddy of mine shot a doe last season with a match solid and it did what we thought it would probably do. I highly suggest not banking on hunting with a match solid. Match jacketed bullets happen to be my favorite hunting bullet. Bergers, eld-m's, BlackJack Aces, to be exact. They all do what i want them to do. That is just my experience/observation/opinion. YMMV but i'd bet it would be close.

 

[brianf]

PVA has a line of hunting solids that are not much lower in bc than his match line…

And his 6mm monos are incredible

 

[MK20]

I wish they would cannelure a 178 hornady HPBT. Those would work great.

 

[kthomas]

PVA has a line of hunting solids that are not much lower in bc than his match line…

And his 6mm monos are incredible

@bohem

I'll tag Josh in, perhaps he can expand on his hunting mono's for the OP.

 

[Fred @ Bison Tactical]

HA, I am shooting the Warner Flatline's in matches, which is what I was thinking about. The first post actually got me thinking about something a competition friend who also hunts a lot pointed out...

"Why aren't you doing headshots?" I told him I guess I never really thought about it. The discussion then became well during competition you shoot much smaller targets with reliability and it would certain end the animal suffering issue if you make the headshot. I guess I would consider a headshot (which would also conserve meat) if the distance was around 300 yards or less. But I found a box of 7mm 168gr Berger hunting bullets, so going to do some load development tomorrow and see if I can get those going.

 

[Snuby642]

Really depends on the skill and self controll the shooter has.

If your going to do cns shots prepair to let a lot walk waiting for a green light.

The only thing unethical about it is not having any.

 

[HOOFER]

They don’t run much….. 298 yards.

I don’t see any need to use anything but the most accurate thing you can shoot. Unless you just have to punch shoulders… too much meat loss for me. I only rib them when necessary . Neck them. Or head them when possible

 

[jbuck88]

The high neck/head shot is always my first choice. If they are moving or I don't have perfect rest I'll move to the heart/lungs.

I don't hunt for trophies though, only for the freezer. So I don't mind losing the antlers.

 

[brianf]

@bohem

I'll tag Josh in, perhaps he can expand on his hunting mono's for the OP.

i forgot his screen name...thanks

 

[MikeinTexas]

I’ve shot deer with 168 SMK in 308. Head shots, always less than 100yds. They only went to the ground.

 

[Makinchips208]

Yes but those aren't solids.

But these are:

Cayuga solid copper bullets: 6mm 100 grain

Some of you may have already read about my experience with the 6.5 Cayuga from a year or two ago. That may or may not have led you to this subject, but if you are seriously looking into the Cayuga as a hunting bullet then I’d recommend reading both articles. The Cayuga All Patriot Valley …...

coldboremiracle.com

Guys. I didn’t know there were hunting solids. This is really cool!
I know the OP was asking about Solid Match Bullets, to which I know not very much, but maybe some of them behave like a Solid hunting bullet? If so I see where he might have been going with the original question. Which solid match bullets perform like a solid hunting bullet?

 

[Snuby642]

Apples / Oranges.

If you constrict your range enough to your skill level, you can get away with precision placed shots and non expanding ammo.

You can extend your ethical kill range by using expanding ammo.

It's a matter of personal responsibility to use target ammo for hunting.

I hate to see game not recovered and the meat wasted.

I will admit to not recovering two deer in over 4 decades of hunting.

Learn to shoot or learn to track better.

 

[Makinchips208]

Apples / Oranges.

If you constrict your range enough to your skill level, you can get away with precision placed shots and non expanding ammo.

You can extend your ethical kill range by using expanding ammo.

It's a matter of personal responsibility to use target ammo for hunting.

I hate to see game not recovered and the meat wasted.

I will admit to not recovering two deer in over 4 decades of hunting.

Learn to shoot or learn to track better.

Agreed!

 

[Choid]

I find it hard to justify not using expanding/hunting ammo on game. Sure, you can kill animals with just about anything, but in my experience, both personally and from what I have witnessed with hunting partners, much more game gets away when shot with OTM target ammo than with anything else. Sierra will even specifically say not to do it. There is so many good purpose made hunting bullets these days that you'd really need to have some super special circumstance to be shooting OTM or match solids on game, IMO.

ETA, it isn't only losing game, it is that they die more slowly, and adrenaline pumps through them which makes the meat worse. And they suffer more, if you care about that.

 

[Fred @ Bison Tactical]

All - well hunting this season is over for me. I found Berger Classic Hunter 168gr bullets at the local Sportsman's Warehouse since I can't order any directly (they had 1 box left).

The question was more about what I had available - plenty of match bullets but zero hunting bullets. My solid Warner Flatline bullets show phenomenally in my match rifle so I was wondering about what people had experienced if they used them.

As an aside, my Doe was around 100 yards away so my 7 SAUM just punched right through in any case - in one side and out the other -just a bigger exit wound but no bullet retention. I had an Bull Elk license in the same GMU for the same season, so wasn't sure what I was going to see, but no Bulls for me this year.

I think I am going to have to practice more before I feel comfortable taking a headshot on a animal during hunting, I just don't hunt often enough, so I plan to stick with expanding bullets.

 

[Snuby642]

Two guns I use for cns shots have went down in two weeks.

One for a scope and the other for a barrel . Un f-ing believable.
Not enough time to swap and short on that ammo.

Still leaves a couple of guns to use for deer and hog but not what I wanted.

Damn

 

[Holliday]

But I found a box of 7mm 168gr Berger hunting bullets, so going to do some load development tomorrow and see if I can get those going.

Christ I have been looking for those for a year. I’m down to my last 40. Like looking for unicorn droppings.