{"id":116039,"date":"2019-09-29T09:48:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T13:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=116039"},"modified":"2025-11-07T04:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:30:16","slug":"hunt365-new-federal-284-7mm-155-grain-edge-tlr-bullet-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-new-federal-284-7mm-155-grain-edge-tlr-bullet-review\/","title":{"rendered":"New Federal .284\/7mm 155 Grain Edge TLR Bullet Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dust rose in smoky whorls from underfoot as we stalked, faces to the wind; eyes intent for the flickering movement of eland legs through the underbrush. A heavy rifle cradled in the small hands of my 11-year-old son as he stalked, the intensity of the hunt strong upon his face. The eland, moving always into the wind, continued their steady walk and we followed, our black Professional Hunter Benjamin leading us like drifting shadows behind the herd. Finally, they cleared the brush, trailing in a line across a savanna-like camelthorn flat. An old cow walked behind, age showing in the movement of rib and hipbones under taut skin. Benjamin moved forward quickly, set the small shooting sticks<\/a> to command a long lane through the trees, and waited for Josiah\u2019s shot. Steady upon the sticks, legs spread wide, Josiah watched the old eland through the riflescope as she moved through the veldt. She stopped just in time, her shoulder showing at the far left edge of the lane. Dust puffed from the exact center of her shoulder, the herd bolted, and the old eland lay still in the Kalahari sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Simply put, to perform well a hunting bullet must kill as quickly and humanely as possible. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BULLET PERFORMANCE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Bullet design and performance\nis a favored (and occasionally heated) discussion wherever hunters gather.\nDebates rage, stories are told, and facts presented. Which brings us to the\nquestion: What is<\/em> good bullet\nperformance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To perform well a bullet must\nexpand (mushroom) rapidly, but not too rapidly, throughout a wide velocity\nrange. It must penetrate deeply to access vital organs and tissues; which\ndemands good weight retention for sustained energy and momentum. And it must be\ncapable of penetrating through heavy bone without coming apart, leaving enough\nweight and mass to carry on through vitals and accomplish its purpose. Last but\nnot least, it must be accurate and aerodynamic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many good hunting\nbullets on the market. All possess at least one of the attributes outlined\nabove, some possess several, and a select few possess most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eland, Africa\u2019s biggest plains game, provides good test medium. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

TEST MEDIUM<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to test hunting bullets for accuracy and aerodynamics. It\u2019s even easy to test bullets in ballistic gelatin that simulates soft tissue. But it\u2019s nigh impossible to perform factory testing against the combined characteristics of the hide, bone, and soft tissue that a bullet can be expected to encounter. The truest test medium is shooting actual big game in actual hunting scenarios. But where can you go to hunt lots of animals of differing size and bone structure? Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW 155 GRAIN 7MM\/.284 EDGE TLR<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was recently privileged to\nspend 11 days hunting plains game in Africa with the latest iteration of\nFederal\u2019s new Edge TLR (Terminal Long Range) bullet. It\u2019s .284 inches (7mm) in diameter,\nweighs 155 grains, and sports a G1 BC of .610. The Edge TLR is the designed-for-long-range\ndescendent of Federal\u2019s legendary Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and the Trophy Bonded\nTip line. The aft portion of the bullet is solid copper and is almost\nimpossible to fragment or destroy. The forward portion of the bullet is\nlead-filled and bonded, designed to expand aggressively while still holding\ntogether and maintaining weight. Federal\u2019s Slipstream polymer tip tops off the\nassembly. It\u2019s a beautifully designed, highly aerodynamic projectile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The author\u2019s 155-grain Edge TLR handloads, developed for testing in Africa. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth noting at this point\nthat the EDGE TLR was engineered for superb terminal performance and\naerodynamics, but it\u2019s not touted by Federal to possess match-grade accuracy.\nGroups from my Nosler Liberty M48 averaged 1.17 inches at 100 yards. Is that\ngood enough? Read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I handloaded my bullets over 60 grains of H4831SC in Nosler .280 Ackley Improved brass, backed by Federal Gold Medal large rifle primers. Velocity averaged exactly 3,000 feet per second (FPS) at the muzzle. Between Josiah and I, we harvested eight species with the ammo, ranging from tiny steenbok to massive eland. Here are short stories of each, complete with informal autopsy and performance observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEENBOK<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This was the first animal I harvested with the new bullet, and the tiny antelope presented no challenge to the bullet\u2019s penetrative ability. Bullet placement was another story, as the little buck only offered a 222-yard shot – which is tough to make on a vital area the size of a baseball. But make it I did, dropping the old steenbok in its tracks with one well-centered shot. The impact was in the crease behind the shoulder, with the exit exactly opposite and about one inch in diameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At 4.5-inches, this steenbok is actually a big old one. But his vitals are roughly the size of a baseball. The author was understandably elated when he placed his shot perfectly into those vitals at 222 yards. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SPRINGBUCK<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

My second animal happened to be\na cull black springbuck. We surprised him on a plain, and before we got set up\nhe\u2019d stretched the distance to 270 yards. My shot took him at a very slight\nquartering-away angle, entering behind the shoulder and exiting center shoulder\nopposite. The buck sprinted roughly 60 yards, leaving a massive blood trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Springbuck is one of the quintessential African plains game species. Their standard coloration resembles our pronghorn antelope, but they also come in black, white, and copper themes. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BABOON<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This hunt happened fast and was one of my favorites of the whole trip. We\u2019d been looking for a troop of baboons that had been raiding feed from the farm\u2019s lambing pens. While grinding our way up a rough mountain road we spotted the troop making a break for a rocky ledge on the opposite side of a canyon. They were pretty far off already and busy stretching the distance even more as I ranged the lead male with my Zeiss Victory RF binocular, dialed my scope to the ballistic solution it provided, and settled in for the shot. He stopped at 413 yards and sat smugly, apparently believing he\u2019d outrun the danger. My shot took him through the chest, very effectively convincing him to leave the lambing pens alone. I was stoked, and beginning to believe that my rifle\/scope\/bullet combination was pretty deadly medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fidgety and restless, baboons can be hard to shoot. They\u2019re also very destructive and sometimes dangerous, having been known to attack people. That becomes scarier when you learn that they possess the largest canines per pound of any animal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

GEMSBOK (ORYX)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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This is the bullet from the oryx hunt below, recovered from underneath the skin on the far side of the animal. As you can see it expanded very nicely while still maintaining almost all of its weight. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My first shot on an animal of significant size and toughness came while stalking the sands of the Kalahari. Just before dark, we found an old cull cow oryx, stalked within range, and I took the 245-yard shot. She made it roughly 40 yards before piling up. Now, oryx are known for being tough and very hard to kill; in fact, I personally am of the opinion that they are as hard or harder to stop than a big bull elk while being only 1\/3rd the size. My shot on this animal was the least perfect of the trip, entering just ahead of the crease behind the shoulder and angling rearward to stop under the hide just over the second-to-last rib. The heart and lungs of most African plains game reside much further forward than our American deer and elk\u2019s vitals, making it important to place your bullet through the shoulder rather than behind the shoulder. I failed to recognize that this oryx was quartered toward me, and so my bullet placement was less than ideal. Even so, the animal went down rapidly to the single shot<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black wildebeest are tough, and almost always offer a quartered-to shot. Place a TLR on the point of the shoulder, though, and they become happy to pose like this one. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BLACK WILDEBEEST<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Another tough animal, the black wildebeest has a reputation for being hard to kill. My opportunity at a big bull came at 270 yards, flat on my belly in the Kalahari sand. The bull had seen us and was quartered toward me hard, giving me only a narrow shot angle at the point of his shoulder. I rested my rifle over my binocular and squeezed the trigger. Dust puffed from the bull’s shoulder and the herd erupted, disappearing in a cloud of dust. The bull ran about 70 yards and went down, but struggled back to his feet as we approached. A thick screen of brush all but obscured him as I tried a follow-up shot. Turns out the follow-up shot was unnecessary, as my first shot was spot on target, breaking the shoulder where it entered before traveling through both lungs and stopping somewhere in the bull\u2019s opposite flank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The author and his son were elated at the opportunity to take an ostrich, and even more excited about the author\u2019s 275-yard head-shot. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OSTRICH<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, you can shoot an ostrich.\u201d\nI was surprised to hear my PH\u2019s heavily accented assent, but not slow to accept\nit. \u201cOkay, I\u2019d love to, should the opportunity present.\u201d Unsure about shot\nplacement, I asked where to aim at an ostrich. He explained, leaving me with\nvague concepts of shooting at wing butts, breaking a leg down, and where a\nTexas heart shot was located on 300-pound birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just at dusk, an ostrich ran across the dusty road ahead of our land cruiser as we traveled toward the lodge. It stopped about 100 yards distant, so I jumped off the truck, settled my rifle into the shooting sticks, and tried to squeeze the trigger on the big brown body. Before I managed the bird was off, running through brush so high I couldn\u2019t see its body, just the head and neck periscoping away across the veldt. A grunt from the PH signified that the jig was up, but I kept my crosshairs on the bird and it finally stopped, way out across the brush, only head and neck showing. I received an affirmative when I asked if I could shoot at the head, so not knowing the precise range I held on the bird\u2019s noggin, reasoning that my bullet might hit the head or drop into the neck somewhere. The trigger broke and a loud pop coincided with the disappearance of the ostrich head and exclamations of surprise from my PH and tracker. I had just shot that big old bird through its little tiny head\/neck at 275 yards. I was now convinced that my rifle\/scope\/bullet combination was fully invincible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every animal the author and his son shot with the 155-grain .284\/7mm Edge TLR in Africa was a one-shot kill. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ZEBRA<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Not possessing a toughness reputation akin to that of oryx or wildebeest, zebra are nonetheless big, heavy-boned animals. Bullets must be tough and penetrate deeply in order to do their job well. One early morning we spotted a small herd of mountain zebra high on the side of a steep, rocky, brush-covered ridge. Several hours of stalking later I waited, rifle across the shooting sticks, for a zebra to offer a shot through the brush. Finally, it came, a tiny 200-yard window to the animal\u2019s quartered-on shoulder. My shot broke the heavy bone at the point of the shoulder and angled through lungs, heart, and innards before stopping in the front edge of the opposite hindquarter. Much to my chagrin, we were unable to find the bullet, but we did follow its remarkable path through some 45-plus inches of zebra bone and tissue. The animal was down in less than 30 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the bullet the author\u2019s son\u2019s used to kill his eland at 200 yards. Performance and expansion were exceptional, and the eland only lasted 10 yards and three seconds till down and out. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ELAND<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The biggest of all African\nantelope species, a cull cow eland was to be my final test for the new\n155-grain TLR bullet. It was my 11-year-old son Josiah\u2019s turn to hunt, so he\nput away his 6.5 Creedmoor and took up my .280 A.I. He made a perfect 200-yard\nshot, and it turned out to be my favorite hunt of the entire trip. I\u2019ve penned\nthe story in the opening paragraph. I was shocked at how quickly the eland was\ndown; she only made it 10 yards and went down immediately. The bullet took her\nin the center of the heavily-muscled shoulder, passed through both lungs and\nthe large arteries atop the heart, broke the opposite shoulder bone just above\nthe joint, and came to rest under the skin. Impressive performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The author would like to give a huge shout out to Leopard\u2019s Valley Safaris and ARU Hunting Safaris for hosting his bullet-testing adventures. If you\u2019re interested in a low-fence South African hunt packed with gritty adventure, hospitality, and opportunity, check out Leopard\u2019s Valley. If you\u2019d like the ultimate Namibian adventure packed with teeming game, huge animals, and spoil-you hospitality check out ARU. Both are awesome. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CONCLUSION<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We harvested eight animals in Africa from the tiny steenbok to the massive eland with my .280 Ackley Improved and Edge TLR bullets. All were one-shot kills. Bullet performance in every case was very, very good. I would be glad to use it again on anything short of brown bear and Cape buffalo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n