Originally Posted By: orkanOriginally Posted By: SnowmanMoI had a guy once ask me about the 6.5 Grendel. Great cartridge. I have shot a lot of coyotes with it, never had any of them complain. But when he started using it he complained of runners. Turned out that he was using Amax ammunition. That is a target bullet designed for accuracy and not stopping power. When I pointed that out to him he said that he wanted a caliber that he could use that would put them down on the spot when he shot them in the GUT. That ended our conversation.
What's wrong with wanting a cartridge that will still anchor them if you make a bad shot?
... and "target" bullets are often extremely good hunting bullets. Several of the SMK line are almost unrivaled in terminal performance in certain cartridges. The Amax was THE bullet of choice for quite a lot of state trappers I've spoken to. Many have since switched to berger or sierra match bullets. I shoot 80gr 22cal yellow box berger target bullets and they are the hardest hitting 22cal combo I've come up with to date. The first runner I've had in 3 years happened as pictured above. That's the exit hole.
Back when I was shooting vmax bullets and other lightly constructed bullets that were marketed toward varmint and predator hunters... I had tons of runners. Big cartridges pushing them like lightning, little cartridges barely popping them out, didn't matter. Splash. When I moved to heavy for cal target bullets... all of that stopped.
This guy wasn't "making" a bad shot, he was intentionally shooting them in the gut. We all make bad shots from time to time, but I don't do it intentionally. I know that we make good shots that end up as runners, but we do not intentionally take a gut shot. It is about ethics. Many of us pride ourselves in a clean kill. If someone doesn't, and they are trying to inflict pain, then I won't deal with them. You are welcome to do as you choose, but I won't deal with folks like that.
Orkan, I know that you hunt a lot of wide open areas from some pretty extreme distances and there are a LOT of variables that you have to account for to make a good shot, so sometimes a bad shot happens. I also know that at longer ranges bullet weight is important in putting them down and you have seen a lot of different things from different bullets.
As for bullet choice, sure, there are always exceptions to the rule. I too saw the Vmax's fail to anchor them. But the Amax is specified as a target bullet. It has very thick walls, that most often fail to get expansion in something like a coyote. I know hog hunters who use them on hogs, because there's enough animal to get it to expand.
I have seen a lot of good results from Berger and SMK, as well as Scenar. I think that their accuracy comes from the way that they manufacture their bullets and not on just the the thickness or weight.
Personally, we found a big variance in the weight of the Vmax's, which might account for their failures.