There's nothing wrong with hunting with "cheap" ammo
- Thread starter ninepointer
- Start date
My neighbour & I have our own range. We used to shoot a lot of bullets thru the summer. Then one of his camp cronys told him of the virtues of premium bullets one time when one of his deer got away after being shot. Shortly thereafter he started shooting premium$$ bullets out of his deer guns, you could watch him wince as those half dollar bullets impacted the targets. Now he doesn't shoot at the range at all. Do the premium bullets kill better when you have no practice!! I think not. Rem Corelocs in bulk bags have always worked for deer & moose for me & I don't mind killing a few targets with them either
Your neighbor needs to understand that he only really needs to shoot premiums at the range when he wants to check his zero, or when working up a load.
I'm quite the fan of premium bullets for HUNTING, but I *always* make up a similar load with less expensive bullets for practice (and shooting grouse int he head, too)
This seems like such common sense, but i guess some folks can get caught up with the marketing hype. You just gotta match your bullet to your cartridge and game. I don't 'cheap out' but I don't go nuts either.
If you're shooting a faster gun, you need to think about bullet construction. Few cheap bullets are going to do as well as a premium if they strike an animal at 3000 fps. If you're shooting something more 'sedate' like a 303 or 30-30, there's really not much advantage. If you're trying to go 'light for cartridge' and use a smaller bullet to flatten your trajectory or increase range, a premium might be a better choice.
You don't put mudders on a toyota yaris that you just drive around the city. (well - bone collector would, but most people wouldn't) And you don't put cheap highway tires on a 4x4 you intend to take into heavy bush. (well... Gatehouse might just to see how far he could get it but most people wouldn't). Just pick the right tools for the task and you'll be fine.
If you're shooting a faster gun, you need to think about bullet construction. Few cheap bullets are going to do as well as a premium if they strike an animal at 3000 fps. If you're shooting something more 'sedate' like a 303 or 30-30, there's really not much advantage. If you're trying to go 'light for cartridge' and use a smaller bullet to flatten your trajectory or increase range, a premium might be a better choice.
You don't put mudders on a toyota yaris that you just drive around the city. (well - bone collector would, but most people wouldn't) And you don't put cheap highway tires on a 4x4 you intend to take into heavy bush. (well... Gatehouse might just to see how far he could get it
but most people wouldn't). Just pick the right tools for the task and you'll be fine.
A cheapskate buddy moved up to a .270 after shooting a .308, used federal hunter specials for years, claims they were blowing up on fairly thin branches. Uses Federal premium now and no probs. In my old 06 180gr Interbonds just seemed a little more accurate than anything else and were a great price for a bonded bullet so why not?
- Location
- Vancouver Island BC
Perhaps everything improved when he stopped hitting fairly small branches and the bullet choice had nothing to do with it.......
ninepointer
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Central Ontario
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
and back to bullet selection, Nosler makes 2 types of Balistic Tips, one for varmit and one for deer, don't try using the lighter varmit on deer.
The 50grn .224 bullets I'n loading for my 22-250 have a very thin jacket while the 115grn .257 for the 25-06 are for deer sized game and have a much heavier jacket, and hold together well enough to shoot through both sholders, lungs heart and exit the far side. The light weight ones won't
The 50grn .224 bullets I'n loading for my 22-250 have a very thin jacket while the 115grn .257 for the 25-06 are for deer sized game and have a much heavier jacket, and hold together well enough to shoot through both sholders, lungs heart and exit the far side. The light weight ones won't
in a 30-30, 308, 30-06, any 150 grain soft point should yield good results on deer sized game when they stand broadside. In a 300 Mag, I'd look at a more stoutly constructed bullet, same as a 270 Winchester, 25-06, 270 WSM, etc
I like to be prepared for a less than ideal shot situation
I like to be prepared for a less than ideal shot situation
Yeah, but the problem with the BTs is that some have heavy jackets and some don't, and it's not easy to tell which are which. For example, I had a .270 150 grainer (so obviously a bullet meant for deer) from a WSM hit the back of the neck at the base of the skull, from almost directly behind. It didn't exit -- maybe 3-3.5" of penetration.
So while I don't dispute that SOME BTs are better constructed -- certainly there's enough anecdotal evidence here to support that -- I won't use them, because I don't trust them, and I don't feel like sectioning a bullet to find out whether it'll blow up when there are other just as accurate choices out there.
Wadda ya mean "moved up"? I consider that a lateral move!
Not really (I hunt with .375 H&H so they're both pipsqueeks
). He used the cheap Federal .308s for years and was very successful, but thought the added velocity and possibly lighter construction of the .270 bullet was causing grief. Maybe as was mentioned by .303carbine he just hasn't hit a branch yet. For the record, this will be his third season on the same box of bullets and he always fills his tags.
IMO any of the "economy" brands with a midweight bullet is just fine for deer. i have never had a factory bullet stop inside a deer, this includes using ammo made by igman (8x57), federal (7x57 and 30-06), remington (22-250), dominion (303 british), winchester (7.62x39) and S&B (7.62x54R). that said, right now i have in my pocket tags for whitetail, muley, elk, sheep, and black bear (and i missed out on draws for grizzly, goat, and moose) so my go to bullet is a 200 grain nosler partition in the 8x57. they are not all that expensive and i don't go through that many as there are other cheaper bullets that i use for plinking.
btw, reloading a nosler partition is comparable in cost to buying the factory 8mm mauser that is not far ahead of the 30WCF.
btw, reloading a nosler partition is comparable in cost to buying the factory 8mm mauser that is not far ahead of the 30WCF.
NBT caliber 20 through 25 cal have varmint style jackets (55,70, 80 gr 243" & 85 gr .257")
from 24 cal through 30 they are designed for deer sized game (90,95 gr 243" & 100,115 .257")
Nosler used to make NBT in 8mm through 375 that were designed for larger game like elk etc, but they're being phased out in favor of the Accubond. IIRC only the 8mm 180 grain Ballistic Tip remains and for how long who knows
If we want to talk about the effectiveness of inexpensive ammo on big game, can anyone provide me with their experiences hunting deer with cast bullets. I've been loading reduced loads for 185 and 205 grain bullets in my Enfields, Mannlicher straight pulls and Mauser 98s, having thusfar gotten some really accurate results with IMR3031 in both my M95 rifle and at least one of my Mauser 98s, the latter with a velocity of around 1700 fps. The original cast fired from my enfields seem to have been a bit small to take full advantage of the potential accuracy, but my newer bullets will be of a larger diameter.
Has anyone here successfully loaded cast lead (WW with tin) at the 1800-2200 fps range and used them successfully on deer. If that could work, then we've really economized on our hunting ammo, while having alot more fun in the process.
Cheers,
Frank
Has anyone here successfully loaded cast lead (WW with tin) at the 1800-2200 fps range and used them successfully on deer. If that could work, then we've really economized on our hunting ammo, while having alot more fun in the process.
Cheers,
Frank
I know a guy who switched to premiums cause he was 'looseing' too many animals cause of the sh*tty bullets in cheaper ammo. Got himself some TSX's, figures they have special powers or something and got it in his head that he can shoot twice as far, hit twice as hard...bla bla. Now he takes even stupider shots than ever and wounds even more game. i don't care what kind of bullet you use, its useless unless you put it in its proper place, and when put in the proper place, cup and core bullets are all you need.
- Location
- Guelph, Ontario
As far as the TSXs are concerned I like the idea of 100% copper. If there was a choice Id probably use steel shot in lieu of lead for waterfowl aswell. Personal choice.
Ammo is like food, some like Mc Donalds, others prefer steak, now what ever you gun eats up and does what you want goes where you wanted it to use it, some will just leave more of a mess behind than others to clean up
