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Match ammo for hunting? Let the debate begin

armorpl8chikn

Colonel Angus
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 17, 2010
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Face Slapping Distance
I have already advocated using what is MOST accurate in your rifle no matter the application. Shot placement is what is most critical in using a rifle, I would think that is inarguable. A badly placed shot is innefective no matter what the energy or terminal performance.

Before the TSC match on Saturday there were a couple of us at the range doing final prep for the match. As we were standing around shooting the bull I noticed movement down in the edge of the woods at 210yd line. There were 2 half grown yote pups eating something just out on the berm at about 2 yards behind the line proper. I ran to the car and grabbed the MPR and Curtis grabbed his MPR. We agreed I would take the one high and he would take the one down lower on the berm. I quickly dialed my last known 210 setting of 26.75MOA on the MK4 16X. I settled the crosshairs behind the front shoulder for a double lung shot. I told Curtis to count it down, our shots broke perfect on 3. Mine yelped and disappeared. The lower yote came back out briefly giving Curtis a second shot. On inspection mine had went a few yards in the woods and expired. The other left a very heavy blood trail up a draw that was thick and impassable. The amount of blood confirmed he was not long for this world. Both of us were shooting Lapua Center X from the same lot. 212 yd cold bore from a rifle that hasn't been out of the safe since the second Saturday in April, the dope was still good. Thios confirms the rig and ammo is up to the task.

Now I am not one to advocate shooting game animals in this manner. However, eradicating two fledgling killing machines gives me no pause whatsoever. The only thing I regret is mine was a male and I wish I would have seen momma yote first.

The shot was a complete pass through and there was blood everywhere. Proving as far as I am concerned, 40gr RN sub sonic match ammo is deadly when delivered with precision.

The view from the Dog Box, the pile of blue board next to the woods is where the yotes came out.

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The results:
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As long as I stay within my limits of effective accuracy,
with whichever brand of ammo I have available, the results are always lethal.
Have to determine, in advance, what that limit is for each rifle/ammo combination,
but as grandad said: "Any rifle can hit a dime every time...if'n ya' get close enuf!"
AR15firing.gif
 
I use match ammo for squirrel hunting and it works great. My longest shots on squirrels were at about 100 yards and they still had enough power for clean kills. It also knocks coon's out of the trees too.
 
I am with Armorpl8chikn. My most accurate rig to 200 meters is my Anschutz 64 MPR with Lapua Center X ammo. If something needs to be hit, I will hit it within 1 inch of where I am aiming. And that match bullet is going to due some damage and penetration at any reasonable distance.

Nice shooting Joe!
 
Good shooting! I have been practicing on clay pigeons at just over 200 meters recently, and have found quality ammo to be the key (as with everything in the precision game.) I have been shooting nothing but center-x for the past six months or so, and my hit percentage at that range is much higher than with standard velocity and the like. Kudos to you for the first round hit though, while my elevation data is dead on at 9.0 mils up from my 50 yard zero, I can't read the wind well enough to hit the target on my first round consistently. I am pretty reliable at hitting on the second round, which again, wouldn't be possible if the accuracy of the ammo was inconsistent.
 
I wanna move in ! Sweet piece of property.

Send me your address and a photo of my room !

Nice kill shot...

vfin
 
Nice shooting and great to be rid of a couple of game killers.
About the ammo, it is hard to argue with results like that. I use 10X for small game hunting in my rifle. Shoot mostly squirrels and crows. I take only head shots on squirrels due to not getting quick kills with lung shots. The HVHP's are clearly quicker killers in body shots but accuracy suffers. So, I guess I agree, but the target ammo has limitations as well. It is also quieter which makes a difference as well. Very quiet in my 28" 52 C Winchester.
 
Nice shooting and great to be rid of a couple of game killers.
About the ammo, it is hard to argue with results like that. I use 10X for small game hunting in my rifle. Shoot mostly squirrels and crows. I take only head shots on squirrels due to not getting quick kills with lung shots. The HVHP's are clearly quicker killers in body shots but accuracy suffers. So, I guess I agree, but the target ammo has limitations as well. It is also quieter which makes a difference as well. Very quiet in my 28" 52 C Winchester.
 
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I have already advocated using what is MOST accurate in your rifle no matter the application. Shot placement is what is most critical in using a rifle, I would think that is inarguable. A badly placed shot is innefective no matter what the energy or terminal performance.

Agreed. I use Eley match for groundhog elimination because, shy of 10x (which just costs to much and is only slightly more consistent) it is the best performer. So called hunting and varmint rounds I have tried have simply not proven to be particularly accurate especially when the sound barrier transition often occurs at ranges less than those at which I regularly shoot at the pests.
 
angle shooting, not so much IMO.

going from .22mag to .22lr last year for squirrel here in the east was a nightmare, as for the majority of the time you are shooting upwards at extreme angles from ground level to the tree tops.

when testing on a "spot" on a tree, the difference in POI from POA differed by several inches just by moving a few feet away on ground level.

switched to HV, although there was some POI difference, it was still minute of squirrel noggin.

so in that instance, in the squirrel woods, i'd go with HV. (fed HP same zero at 25 Yds as CCI Std vel at 50 Yds).
 
Great shot!

And hell they are going to tear up the local bird population and anything else they can get, so go for it. I was out for a drive and found a den with 7 fox around it..... will be there saturday morning to try and "break them up".
 
If you can live with yourself AND your not breaking the law....do what you will.

The country as a whole is too concerned with offending people.

I woulda tried dome'ing that lil bastard. ;)

No laws broke here. One of the guys at the range had a few things to say about shooting a pup, but he neither hunts nor has a very firm grasp of the food chain. We have Turkeys and deer on the property and there is no hunting allowed, a preserve if you will. We like to watch the deer and turkeys and protecting them inside the fence is the way we like it, which is exactly what I was doing. We heard a bunch earlier this year but had no idea they were INSIDE the fence!
I may would have domed him but the rifle had been in the safe for 2 months and I did not get to shoot Friday to confirm dope so I opted for a bit more leeway with a 4x4 square instead of a 2x2 square as an aiming point. Plus he made excellent test medium for bullet performance.
 
TP, as I believe I said in your thread on angle shooting, and with all due respect. Iron sights, a pistol(iron sights), or a slingshot in those instances are all that is needed. The slingshot is no joke, you might be surprised at how many people hunt squirrels with one.
 
my rimfire hunting ammo is either Wolf MT or CCI SV's. never had a problem killin critters with either one

this was Wolf MT ... out past 50 yds, no less:

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Paco Tool and you can have the best of both worlds.

You have completely missed my point in my post. Why fix what ain't broke? Dead is dead. Recovered is recovered. What would a Paco Tool have done to my ammo besides possibly made it worse? I guarandamntee you it wouldn't make it any better.
 
Yes, if you can ice pick your target in the vitals, good on you, but if you can hit your target in the vitals, and leave a quarter sized hole in it on the way out, all the better. But we are getting into ethics then.
 
Then the questions remains.. which cartridge would be the best use on a coyote at 211 yards? A Lapua Center-X or CCI Velocitor? Which of these is going to give you a 90%+ confidence hit of the vitals? I think the Lapua gives you the biggest advantage of shot placement, hands down.
 
No, the original quote is " 22 LR ". NOT "rim fire". Just because the Eskimo kid killed a full grown polar bear with a 22 short does not make it the weapon of choice for hunting polar bears.


OFG
 
OFG if I may,

I made that shot because I have spent the last 3 years, and countless bricks of ammo, hammering hell out of steel, withing FEET of exactly where I was offered the target of opportunity.
The distance was KNOWN.
The dope was KNOWN.
The law was KNOWN.
The threat to our deer and turkey population was KNOWN.

The lethality of plain jane match ammo was certainly already known to me. Yes there was a small axe to grind with those who think the only way a 22lr kills effectively, is if it has balls to the wall speed and/or a rip snorting hollow point. I posted this to give them something to think about, not to go out and lob errant shots at game. Was it a great shot or was it one hell of an unlucky coyote? The next time I get an opportunity like this I will let you know. I did not post this to brag about my shooting prowess. I am quick to name more than a handful of personal friends that I look up to as shooters. I probably couldn't tote water for DFoo, and expect it would be quite something to know him beyond the internet.

Getting torqued about what bunny huggers think is wasted energy. No matter what is done, beyond the total outright ban of killing animals, will make them happy. And no matter how humane you think you are it isn't humane enough to suit them. The fact that I have to defend myself against a fellow shooter makes me want to vomit. There are plenty of yahoo hunters out there that are worthy of your sneer but I ain't one of them.

I would have been supremely pleased to have had my 223 rifle with me that day, but I didn't. I used the tool at hand, and to great effect. Arguing semantics at this point is puerile.
 
OFG if I may.

The question was "why would anyone shoot at a coyote sized animal at 211 yards with 22 LR?" (Might not be the exact quote) The detailed information you have supplied answers the original question. Thank you.

I would have been supremely pleased to have had my 223 rifle with me that day, but I didn't. .

That is the whole point.

OFG
 
Yes, if you can ice pick your target in the vitals, good on you

I honestly don't shoot unless I know that I can do exactly this.

to the OP, that's some impressive shooting. I always think these arguments that dead critters aren't really dead enough are interesting.
 
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There is always going to be someone who isn't going to agree with the way things are done, even if it works exactly like it should! I very much appreciate the information given here by the OP as I have been curious lately about the use of target ammo on varmints. I liked reading your story about the kill of the coyote! Sounds like quite an impressive shot! Thanks for sharing!