135 gr A-Tip Failure?

[260284]

Shot this large Kansas whitetail doe at 165 yards a few weeks ago. Pictures are heart entry, heart exit, inside entry through a rib, inside exit through another rib, and outside exit after breaking the off upper leg. She ran 90-100 yards out into a wheat field and there was no blood until 10 yards from her. I expected more damage with it still going almost 2500 fps.

The rifle is a Tikka CTR with an 18" Bartlein 6.5 Creedmoor, 2737 fps at the muzzle suppressed. The bullets are one hole accurate at 100 and I had no trouble with a 8" plate at 635 yards.

I used the old Prime ammo last year with great results past 400 yards out of a factory CTR barrel. I am switching back to that bullet in handloads for the anterless season.

The week before I shot the doe, I shot a 170" buck broadside at 340 yards with the A-Tip with worse results. He ran over 200 yards onto private ground. Looked for over 2 hours with no blood, but knew the shot was good. He did the classic mule kick and ran with the off side leg broken like the doe. Looked for over 2 hours and found zero blood. I couldn't get ahold of the land owner for permission to look. Finally went in a few days later and found what was left of him. He fell on the entry side and there was a hole in the rib right over his heart. The shot was taken with little to no wind, and I was rock steady.

I went with the A-Tip after seeing results from others, but I feel with 6.5 Creedmoor speeds, it needs to be a shoulder shot to get the expansion needed. I have used the 143 ELDX with decent results, but it comes apart pretty fast inside of 150 yards.

 

[clark33]

Well, technically not a failure considering the a-tip is not a “hunting” bullet. Got the job done though, I’ve read mixed reviews on a-tips. Some deform or fragment, others seem to pencil

 

[260284]

Well, technically not a failure considering the a-tip is not a “hunting” bullet. Got the job done though, I’ve read mixed reviews on a-tips. Some deform or fragment, others seem to pencil

There are a lot of match bullets that are excellent killing bullets and there used to be a thread on here for match bullet kills. I have personally used the SMK, ELDM, 130 Norma Golden Target, and the 120 gr PRVI BTHP with great results. I will stick with the 130 Norma out of my Creedmoor.

 

[clark33]

Oh absolutely, not dogging you at all, I personally use Hornady eld-m’s. Just not sure you can call it a failure. But it killed so good work!

 

[260284]

Oh absolutely, not dogging you at all, I personally use Hornady eld-m’s. Just not sure you can call it a failure. But it killed so good work!

It definately killed both deer, just didn't get near the damage I was expecting after seeing golfball to baseball sized exits from others.

 

[Ram4402]

Thanks for the info. I have seen some pretty decent results on here too with that bullet.

 

[Rookie]

Try winchester super X or Sierra game kings. Maybe not as accurate but great expansion on deer.

 

[hlee]

Looks like the bullet did exactly what it was designed to do- fly straight and true to the target. There are no design considerations for what the A-tip bullet does once it gets there.

The only thing you can say with certainty about shooting game with match bullets is that terminal ballistics are uncertain. They will certainly kill, but you don’t really know what the bullet is going to do when it hits flesh. And, that is coming from a guy that has shot the last 5 or 6 years’ worth of deer with eld-m bullets. No “failures” as all deer were recovered. All bullets were pass throughs so I can’t say with certainty how they expanded, but at least on was fragmenting upon exit.

I expect body shots to run, so I shoot for the high neck or head, except on a buck I might want to shoulder mount. Neck shots mean no runners. Being somewhat color blind, minimizing the necessity for blood trailing is a real consideration.

 

[diggler1833]

^ Agreed.

The problem with match bullets isn't that they can't kill well...some of them do that very well. The problem is that they are less consistent in terminal performance than bullets designed for killing game. Some guys get fantastic results, and then there's the 20 percent who make a seemingly identical shot and then spend hours tracking or even lose their animal.

I know that man has been killing game with far less efficient methods since we learned how to paint on cave walls. I also know that we had a very successful thread on here years ago regarding SMK kills. However, after losing* my second coyote in tall grass after it ran ~ 80 yards after taking a 69gr SMK directly in the chest (frontal shot) from less than 100 yards, I put the match bullets up for hunting. *I did find that coyote about a week later...it had made it another 150 yards or so into a hay meadow and died in the tall grass. The only reason I found it was I was cutting hay and saw it from the tractor. No chance at a necropsy, but there was a big, rotten hole right in the center of the chest where I had aimed.

Again, I'm not bashing match bullets or their ability to ethically kill...I'm just stating that that my results were not as good as I had with bullets designed for hunting. YMMV.

 

[xdeano]

I took a doe and my dad did as well with the 135 atip out of a 6.5saum. They did very well. Exit was a half dollar sized hole. Made the shoulders unsalvageable. The insides were mush.

Ive had really good luck with them on coyotes also. Quarter sized exits on broad side shots.

Xdeano

 

[260284]

I took a doe and my dad did as well with the 135 atip out of a 6.5saum. They did very well. Exit was a half dollar sized hole. Made the shoulders unsalvageable. The insides were mush.

Ive had really good luck with them on coyotes also. Quarter sized exits on broad side shots.

Xdeano

I think I would have been ok with a high shoulder shot, but I usually go for the crease behind the shoulder. I may try one on a coyote to see what happens.