I have a Ruger Deerfield. Ive had the best luck with bullets from 240grn to 270grn. Ive shot deer withmuch successwith the Hornady 240 grn XTP's(hollow pts)and have had the best accuracy with the Speer 270grn Gold dots(flat nose). I use max load with Win 296 powder and make my OAL aslong as possible and still be able to work the action. The further out Ive seated the bullet the betteraccuracy Ive had.

There's a small window between not having them seated long enough for accuracyand being too long for the gun to cycle correctly. I wouldnt use anything buy jacketed bullets in it.

Im shooting about 1.75" groups at 100yards and am about1.5 inches high at 100 and about 2 low at 150yards with the 270's. The best Ive done with the 240grn xtps is about a 2-2'25" group(all groups with max loads). Make sure you check the screws on the rifle, mine liked to come after shooting and gotlose for awhile until I really got them set.

Make sure you are using at least a slight crimp.


I'll be happy to get exact measurements and load data if you are interested.