Bullet of choice for whitetail/muleys??

heiner39

heiner39

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Now that the draw results are out and I'm starting to get really excited for the upcoming season, thoughts have turned to gear. Just curious as to what bullets are going to be flying at deer this year.

I'm undecided on my bullet of choice this year. Last season I took my whitetail with a 165 grain Federal Fusion and it seemed to do the job. A little range work this spring showed 150 grain Hornady Interbonds to be more accurate so I may go down that road. Last season's hunt was my first with a rifle and the guy at the counter recommended the Fusion as I didn't have a clue what to use.

Just curious...what bullet are you guys using for your deer?
 
I've been loading 130 TSXs for my 270 WSM and use it for all of my hunting now. Of course a TSX is not needed for deer sized animals, but I feel confident using it on larger game like elk. They are expensive, but they shoot very well out of my rifle. I can use the TSXs for hunting and shoot less expensive bullets for practice.

Either of your bullet choices should do the job nicely.... I've heard a lot of good things about the Fusion line of ammo, especially for deer.
 
I use a 165gr. JSP by Hornady with H335. Can't remember the grains offhand... Oh, that's in 30.06.
Nothing fancy or expensive, but gives good controlled expansion.
 
If your ammunition costs less than $50 per box, the deer will probably just laugh when you shoot them. If you actually want a dead deer, you'll need both premium ammunition and a magnum rifle. Be certain and practice until you are shooting .5 MOA, as shot placement is everything.

:D
 
I am a staunch proponent of the Sierra GameKing.

I've found them to be as accurate as match grade bullets in some rifles, and for deer and like sized game, they've been performing just right for years.
 
For deer this year, you will need a WSM cartridge and an" e-tip TTSX Partition BearClaw" bullet. Today's deer are much smarter and tougher then before, they know what's goin' on.
 
I actually avoid using most "premium" bullets for deer, especially in larger calibers over .30 As very broad generalization, they tend to be a little too tough for quick kills ( Nosler partition excepted) and are not necessary and more expensive. Shoot what fits your budget and is accurate in your rifle.
 
i dont reload yet, this year ill be shooting prolly basic igman softpoints 6.5x55 sweedish in my AG-42 rifle mainly becuase i dont have much choice in ammo with this rifle....

deer dont seem to mind what they are shot with ive seen hits with premium ammo and the deer are no more dead than with hit with Wolf softpoint ammunition or other cheaper brands.
 
"...dont have much choice in ammo with this rifle..." Nearly all the major ammo makers load 6.5 x 55. Hornady, Federal, Lapua and Norma all load it with hunting bullets. Neither of the latter two will be cheap though. Mind you, which brand will shoot well and cycle the action is something else. Epp's carries it. They don't say what brands on their site.
 
As i reload my ammo and what i use for my 30-06(winchester) is neck sized only fireformed brass 165 grain hornady sst /cci large rifle primer/46.6 grains of winchester 748 ball powder( as it flows real nice thru my dillion 550 b press) and have found that with my bullet touching my rifling around .020 in best results and very reliable expansion as i just took down a very respectable 4 x 4 mulie wednesday about 300 yards out and recovered the bullit against the hide on the other side and 25 % bullit retention observered.......my personal choice of bullit
 
"25%" ??

You mean it lost 25%?

Or it only weighs 25% of what it started with?

And I support the idea that any big game soft point bullet that shoots well in your rifle will do the job. All you have to do is put it through the boiler room.
 
GANDERITE said:
"25%" ??

You mean it lost 25%?

Or it only weighs 25% of what it started with?

And I support the idea that any big game soft point bullet that shoots well in your rifle will do the job. All you have to do is put it through the boiler room.
Click to expand...


well what i was refering too was that my bullet retained about 25 % of its original shape or in other words 75% of it mushroomed flawlessley......cheerz!
 
Hornady Interlocks, 165 gr in 30-06. Have had good results from 10 feet to 250 yards.

Have tried Hornady SST's. Can't see any difference to Interlocks and SST's cost more.

Nosler Ballistic Tips work well except when deer runs a ways before dropping. No blood trail makes tracking in dense bush a problem. Switched to Hornady's after almost losing a deer that ran 25 yards.

My brother swears by Barnes bullets. The deer don't seem to know the difference between a Barnes and Hornady if hit in the heart/lungs.
 
I don't think it matters too much on deer either, use whatever shoots best in your rifle. Deer haven't evolved enough to grow the heavy armour plate like moose and elk have.
 
in my 7mm rem mag ...... nothing but nosler partitions 165/168 gr

in my number one deer killin rifle, out to 300 yards, a trusty lee enfield bsa, .303 british, I have always just bought those "hunter packs" , 25 rnds of federal classic 180gr...... not sure what bullet they loaded them with but they killed everything i squeezed the trigger on..... and they did it very well. Last year i bought 1000 rounds of igman 180gr sp in .303 and have been extremely impressed with it's accuracy and with it's performance on all 5 of the big game animals i dropped with one shot last year. I'm hunting with it for the next few years..... being that i bought a thousand rounds LOL

I think though, that my favorite game killing bullet, in .308 , 7mm , and 300 win mag are the nosler partitions. for the 338 and 375 i load up with bonded bearclaws.
 
Old30-06 said:
Have tried Hornady SST's. Can't see any difference to Interlocks and SST's cost more.

Nosler Ballistic Tips work well except when deer runs a ways before dropping. No blood trail makes tracking in dense bush a problem. Switched to Hornady's after almost losing a deer that ran 25 yards.

.
Click to expand...

I use Ballistic tips in my .270 with similar results, enormous damage to the lungs and meat at close range but no exit so tracking can be a problem.
These are Federal Premium by the way.
I've tried loading SST's with 2 different kinds of powder with no success in accuracy so far, but I have high hopes as Federal Premium Ballistic tips are 32$ a box. I think the SST is quite explosive too.
 
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