Favorite Hunting Bullets (especially reloaders)

So, I have been a pheasant hunter all my life, but am working on branching out into waterfowl, and Elk/Deer.

With regard to the latter two, and since this coincides with my entry into metallic reloading, I am curious about ya'lls opinions on the best bigger game bullets out there.

Currently I am only doing .308, but will probably eventually get into larger calibers too (300 and/or 338 Win Mag, etc), so lay it on me.

Also, I know that Colorado regs require 6mm or larger, and 1000ft/lb of energy at 100yd, but I want to know what really does the job, as that doesn't really eliminate any .308 bullet.

Feel free to include pictures or links!

Placement is much more important than type of bullet. Go shoot the snot out of your 308 and find out which bullet you like best.

Barnes TTSX for rifle. Had pretty good luck with Winchester Blindside for waterfowl so far but to be honest haven't shot a lot of it and I do think its over priced.

Lead is best for waterfowl but............

My friend swears by Barnes and while I haven't killed anything with a Barnes, they work very well. Go tipped about 165-168 grains for a 308.

Another vote for the Barnes TSX. I've shot them at paper and they are very accurate. I've loaded them for others and they say they are awesome on game animals. There may be other solid copper bullets out there too that might work well.

I like Barnes, but I've found with the .308 TSX in my 300 RUM. Seating depth is between the canalure lands. Still accurate though.

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Originally Posted by CO Hugh

My friend swears by Barnes and while I haven't killed anything with a Barnes, they work very well. Go tipped about 165-168 grains for a 308.

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^^^^^ to this

I have used Nosler Partitions for Deer/Elk for many years. 7mm and 30 cal guns. Excellent expansion, weight retention, and very consistent

Barnes are good bullets but a bit pricey and they can be a bit annoying to find loading data for them. Don't use loading data that isn't specific to the Barnes bullet you have in hand.

For elk, I like the heavier/tougher bullets but any good quality hunting bullet will do. I lean toward the bonded jacket bullets myself.

Hunting is not paper punching, but shot placement is more critical than bullet design/brand. 12" vital kill areas are the norm so 1/4" bullet placement is not so critical unless you are trying to stretch shooting distances in excess of 300 yards. I have used just about every bullet under the sun. When shot placement is done right they all work well.
Personally my favorites for cost/accuracy are: (these were priced around $20/100 or less)
Hornady InterLock
Hornady SST
Sierra Pro-Hunter
Sierra GameKings
Remington Core-Lokt

I have loaded all the above to shoot MOA or less.

There are many great ones out there but I haven't seen where the higher dollar bullets do a better job with correct shot placement.

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Originally Posted by birddog

Lead is best for waterfowl but............

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Nice.

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Originally Posted by spqrzilla

.... and they can be a bit annoying to find loading data for them.....

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You can get load data from Barnes. You can get it from, http://www.barnesbullets.com/information/load-data/ or just call them.

Speer 165 grain Soft Point Boat Tail on top of a 308 always did the trick for me.
Nosler partitions are also good but pricey.

I have had good luck with Nosler Accu bond in several different calibers.

I have had good luck with several different bullets out there. As mentioned by someone already, I also liked the Barnes Triple Shock. However, I recently found the Berger bullets while shooting the HSM ammunition and have switched all my rifles to Bergers. They have great energy, velocity, and are very accurate out of my .300 Weatherby, .30-06, and .264 Win Mag. With all that being said, good luck in your search!

Partitions and Accubonds. Once in a while, a gun just won't shot the Barnes bullets. I have one or two like that. They all shoot the Noslers. If you are using it for Africa or strictly for big nasty critters like elk, moose, and bear, just about every guide I've ever talked to recommends the Swift A-Frame. They work just like the partitions, but the front lead is bonded to the jacket as the partitions are not. They work every time and don't lose weight.

Good hunting bullets are more expensive than than deer bullets, but it's not like you are going to burn through them like Sierra Matchkings. The extra money is worth it. Do some research on the hunting/reloading forums out there and find out what others are using as recipes with whatever bullet and caliber you are using. It will help narrow down powder selection and specs. You still have to work up the load, but it really narrows down the choices.

I have one hunting load for anything from Antelope to Elk - using 165 grain Sierra GameKing hollowpoints in a .308, at about 2550 fps at the muzzle. I've used it for a nice cow elk at 325 yards, an antelope at 520 yards, and so on. It isn't the latest, or greatest, or fancy, but if I put it in the right place it has worked every time for me.

I have shot several elk with a 25-06 with Accubond bullets, ranging from 20-350 yards. I only shot one twice, and she didn't need it. As said before, placement is everything, but a decent bullet is still good insurance.

encorehunter,
What kind of performance were you getting with the accubonds? Did you get complete penetration of the animal in most cases? I am torn between them and the 100gr ttsx. I am also considering the 120gr partition.

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Originally Posted by wrestler034

encorehunter,
What kind of performance were you getting with the accubonds? Did you get complete penetration of the animal in most cases? I am torn between them and the 100gr ttsx. I am also considering the 120gr partition.

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The one white tail buck I shot, I got complete penetration from a frontal shot out through the rear ham. It was a 220lb buck, and it tore up a lot of meat. Of all 7 elk I have shot, only one complete pass through. Six of the elk dropped in their tracks. Shot placement was behind front shoulder and shattering opposite shoulder, all of the bullets were stuck in the skin on the opposite side. The seventh and last elk was shot at around 20 yards (may have been closer), quartering to me. The first shot was a complete through and through, never hitting any bones. She stood there, so I shot her again. She walked about 15 yards and fell over. The second shot hit ribs on both sides, the bullet was stuck in skin on opposite side.
Do NOT use ballistic tips on elk. I made the mistake once and I am still regretting it. I tracked the elk for about 4.5 miles and never found her. I found lung fragments close to where I shot her, but she kept going and going. Bullet choice is still important, though maybe not as important as shot placement.

Only two things I don't agree with posted above...Remington Core-Lokts are crap and shot placement is not everything.

I have well over 100 head of big game in the books with deer from 4 yards to 1010 yards and elk from 30 yards to 505. I have been present for shots on more than 400 additional head of big game with all variety of cartidges.

Powder...if 4831SC is suitable for your cartridge, use it. VERY temperature and altitude stable.

Rem Core-Lokts, of the 30 or so wounded game I have seen in person, long trails or never recovered, at least 20 have been with CLs. I will buy someone a box of Federal Fusion before I let them hunt with CL. If you want to go cheap, the Fusion is a decent inexpensive slug.

Here are some to consider that I have a lot of experience with.

Winchester Silver Tips. Hard as heck to find, but they were one of the best before all the polymer tipped stuff came out. The aluminum tip did not deform and they had excellent terminal ballitics. Cow elk at 425 yards had the slug (.30-06) just under the off side skin, perfect mushroom, 89% weight retention.

Nosler: The Partitions have great terminal performance, above average accuracy, but the lead tip is easily deformed which does affect accuracy. While I have used them a lot, the thing of making sure the chambered round is perfect became a PITA for me. The Ballisitc tips are too fragile, especially on big game, but I do use them for Antelope in the .243. The Accubonds have performed well for me, however I have talked to one guy that hated them. When pressed, I beleive it was an unskilled hunter with very poor placement.

Barnes TTSX is a very good bullet. You might lose a little barrel life and they are a bit harder on the throat, but for a hunting rifle, that is of little concern to me. Had one cow elk at 80 yards take 3 shots from a .30-378 and only the third one opened up based on exit holes. We think the first two went straight through the lungs hitting no bone on the way in or out. Only one bullet path had significant damage. All three were fatal, but new jacked up hunter dumped three rounds in like 6 seconds. He tried a 4th, but was out of ammo. I had to grab his hand to keep him from reloading.

Hornady: While the SST is good, the InterBond is better. The Interlock is a no-go for me for the same reason as the Partition.

I would pick two 50 round boxes of the following (all silimar in performance) and use the one that is the most accurate: Nosler Accubond, Barnes TTSX, Hornady InterBond, Swift Scirocco.

While shot placement is certainly important (gained by practice), big game does not hang out at the range. The conditions and positions affect a lot of things and sooner or later, you will not have perfect shot placement. That is when the better bullet might be a benefit. If I knew i was going to have a bad shot behind the diaphragm, give me a Ballistic tip. If I knew I was going to have a hip or shoulder shot on a bull elk, give me a Woodleigh or a Bear Claw. The 4 I listed above bridge the gap between the Uber tough and explosive and are therefore the best for big game IMHO.

The .308 is a decent mid powered round and what my 11 year old will be using on his first big game hunts in 2013. When you leave the .308 in search of "more power" avoid the magnumitis. There are several very good rounds with more horsepower in standard length actions. The .338-06 is my personal favorite, bu the .35 Whelen and .338 Federal are also good options for larger bores. Some of the .30 caliber magnums have short barrel life, very high bolt thrust and are a PITA to reload. The belted magnums headspace off the belt and are a little trickier to keep accurate with full length sizing as opposed to the rounds that headspace off the shoulder. If you have no desire to shoot big game past say 400 yards, there is not really any big benefit either. Personally, with a quality bullet, I like to use a rule of thumb of at least 2x body weight for energy levels. Meaning, for a 500 pound cow elk, the max range for me is where the energy hits 1000 ft-lbs.

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Originally Posted by encorehunter

The one white tail buck I shot, I got complete penetration from a frontal shot out through the rear ham. It was a 220lb buck, and it tore up a lot of meat. Of all 7 elk I have shot, only one complete pass through. Six of the elk dropped in their tracks. Shot placement was behind front shoulder and shattering opposite shoulder, all of the bullets were stuck in the skin on the opposite side. The seventh and last elk was shot at around 20 yards (may have been closer), quartering to me. The first shot was a complete through and through, never hitting any bones. She stood there, so I shot her again. She walked about 15 yards and fell over. The second shot hit ribs on both sides, the bullet was stuck in skin on opposite side. Do NOT use ballistic tips on elk. I made the mistake once and I am still regretting it. I tracked the elk for about 4.5 miles and never found her. I found lung fragments close to where I shot her, but she kept going and going. Bullet choice is still important, though maybe not as important as shot placement.

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Awesome. Did you ever happen to weigh any of the recovered bullets? I know the accubond is designed to shed up to 40% of its weight to facilitate penetration but I am curious about the results on an animal as stout as elk.

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Originally Posted by wrestler034

Awesome. Did you ever happen to weigh any of the recovered bullets? I know the accubond is designed to shed up to 40% of its weight to facilitate penetration but I am curious about the results on an animal as stout as elk.

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With the 110 gr bullet, the two that I weighed were in the mid 80s. The rest were in the same shape, but I did not weigh them.

MarkCO:
It was not my intention to use a ballistic tip on the elk. Out of pure luck, we crossed the cattle guard into the wildlife area and there is the herd of elk standing about 125 yards off the side of the road. In haste, I put the wrong load into my encore and made the shot broadside at around 90 yards. I carry 5 rounds when hunting elk, 4 accubonds and one ballistic tip. I carry the ballistic tip for varmints. After destroying a coyote with an accubond, I decided it would be worthwhile carrying the different load.

I use ballistic tips on pronghorn and white tail now. This year I shot a doe pronghorn at around 110 yards with a frontal shot. The others had already run, so I didn't fell I had much of a choice left. It went through the sternum and came apart. I was pleasantly suprised to find the bullet did not enter the abdominal cavity. All of the damage was in the chest, where I found multiple bullet fragments. The diaphragm was still completely intact.

encorehunter, no worries. My post was not directed at you at all. I started writing before I read your post. Looks like we both think the same way as it relates to BTs and hunting.

I just wanted to explain myself, because I still feel guilty and that happened 4 years ago. Just out of curiosity, has anyone used ballistic tips out of a 45-70? I've been seeing the 300gr bullets lately and was wondering if it would be a good elk load.

These photos are from my most recent elk. 185 yard shot with .300 WSM - 180 gr Nosler Accubond. The animal went down at the shot and the bullet passed through. The shoulder blade photo is from the entry wound. I forgot to take a photo of the exit wound...

I used to be a big fan of the Nosler Partition, but as mentioned previously, the bullet noses in your magazine get deformed after your first shot. I only use Accubonds now and they have never let me down.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psf4214666.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps0709d3d9.jpg

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Originally Posted by ray1970

Another vote for the Barnes TSX. I've shot them at paper and they are very accurate. I've loaded them for others and they say they are awesome on game animals. There may be other solid copper bullets out there too that might work well.

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and another thumbs up for Barnes TTSX. The polymer tip gives it a better ballistic coefficient and the rest of the bullet is solid so it will almost always keep its weight or darn close. Their website talks about the rings having cutting capability and such but I have no idea on that. I shoot 6.8 SPC so I am running either 95 grain or 120 depending on the chosen quarry.

Old thread but I throw myself behind the Nosler Partition for serious hunting bullets in magnums. For non magnums Ive used cup and core bullets with no isssues, but I also did not perform shoulder shots with them. I can not say how well Barnes or the other premium bullets do on game, as I haven't used them, but Ive read plenty of good and bad things on mono-metal bullets. Accubonds and ballistic tips shoot good in my guns, but no experience with them on game either. Range practice is essential, and practicing in multiple positions and weather conditions is strongly encouraged. Bullet placement is key, however things happen and shots dont hit where they should. In those cases, Partitions will pull thru. 200gr 308 partition for the 300RUM, 180gr for the 300Win, 160gr 7mm partition for the 7mm rem mag, and 260gr 375 partition for the 375H&H. I have inspected cartridges in the box magazine of my 300RUM while at the range, and have seen after each shot(3+1) that the tips start to flatten. I've also seen my groups not change at all whether its one shot loaded at a time, or 4 loaded and shot. I would have to say that from my experience the minor deformation of the tips from recoil has no effect. If it does in someone elses gun with handloads, I would suspect bullet setback.

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Originally Posted by birddog

Barnes TTSX for rifle. Had pretty good luck with Winchester Blindside for waterfowl so far but to be honest haven't shot a lot of it and I do think its over priced.

Lead is best for waterfowl but............

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I hate blindside waste of money IMO. But if your gonna pay a bit extra for waterfowl i do like to use Black cloud. as far as rifle i like nosler balistic tip. But have wanted to try the TTSX by Barnes. Going to reload some of those for elk this year.

I use sst's in open country, ie speed goats/deer:168gr for 308, and berger 210's for elk out of my 300WBY/300WM. 270WSM gets 130gr sst's. Gotta listen to the rifle, Sierra's are good, but from some reason, all my guns like Horn's or bergers...

For shotgun, upland game birds get my favorite reload of all time:
longshot + 1.5oz of 4/5/6's+WinRedWad+ WSGP
This load performs where our hunting buddies just shake their heads and will pass up a shot. For geese, it's a mix (in preferred order), BlackCloud, Blindside, Heavyshot, or just good old drylock steel.

For vamint cong (Poodles and Dogs)
vmax or amax PERIOD!

Sportsmans in Loveland had some 168 gr TTSX on the shelf earlier this afternoon.

Hornady SST 165 grain for my 30-06. just loaded a bunch today.... I have had very good success with these.....
..21

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Originally Posted by Herman

Placement is much more important than type of bullet. Go shoot the snot out of your 308 and find out which bullet you like best.

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Amen to this. I've taken two elk, one bull @ 175 yards, one cow @ 110 yards with a .243 using 100gr BTSP in the past. Single shot for each.

For my .308 I've been using Hornady Interlock BTSP #3033 at 150gr on top of 44gr of Hodgdon H4895. These have given excellent expansion, weight retention and devastating results out to about 400 yards (furthest I've put anything down with this load.)

Lately I've started loading some Hornady SST 150gr #30302 again on top of 44gr of H4895. I have not had a chance to shoot anything but paper but the accuracy has improved about 15% over the Interlock. I was keeping about 2.750" at 200 yards and that has dropped to about 2.375".

I'm shooting out of a Howa 1500 stainless with a Bushnell Elite 3200, 3-9 x 50. I think I can dial this thing in even better once I get a chance to shoot more.

My .30-06 I've been using Hornady Interlock BTSP in 150, 165 and 180gr for years, but am starting to load the SST in those same weights. Again, have not had a chance to shoot anything but paper with the SST's but have seen similar improvement in accuracy.

I'm also starting to transition my .270 to SST in 140gr.

My .243 I will probably leave with the Hornady Interlock BTSP at 100gr since it is a tack driving fiend. Why change what isn't broken.

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Originally Posted by mcsurveyer1361

I hate blindside waste of money IMO. But if your gonna pay a bit extra for waterfowl i do like to use Black cloud.

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Ive not had any luck with either of these. Winchester has always left me with alot more wounded birds then anything. I bought a box of black cloud to try and never connected on anything with it. Pattern was probably to tight for decoying ducks? We've been hooked on KentFasteel & Heavy metal. Both me and my buddy shoot a Benelli M2. Remington Hypersonics have been good to Little bit more spendy then the Kents though.

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Originally Posted by Icecoldviper

Ive not had any luck with either of these. Winchester has always left me with alot more wounded birds then anything. I bought a box of black cloud to try and never connected on anything with it. Pattern was probably to tight for decoying ducks? We've been hooked on KentFasteel & Heavy metal. Both me and my buddy shoot a Benelli M2. Remington Hypersonics have been good to Little bit more spendy then the Kents though.

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My old man loves heavy metal also...and also use a m2, but in 20ga. Kents are his first shot...wait this is weird....I'm glad my dad doesn't use a computer...whew