RE: Ideal bullet performance on game?
I'll tell you what I want on deer with my .243...Center lung, broad side shots, I want a bullet to blow out the other side for tracking purposes...
Broadside high lung shots where you put the bullet through the shoulder blades, I don't care if it doesn't exit as the deer will drop...
During a 10 year period, I tested about 10 different factory loadings, killing 5-6 with each to see the performance...What I learned is that on center lung shots where the bullet stayed inside the deer then the deer dropped quicker than one that exited...
A bullet can be too "hard" leaving a small exit hole...The old Remington Premier 100gr BTSP would leave and exit about the size of a dime and the deer would run 100-125 yards...The Federal Permium Sierra GameKing 100gr SPBT was a fairly soft bullet that usually stayed inside a deer and the deer would drop between 25-35 yards...
The Federal Premium 85gr HPBT actually exited more than the Federal Premium 100gr SPBT on deer that I shot, giving a better blood trail...
When it came down to it the 100gr Remington CoreLokt, the Hornady Custom 100gr InterLock, the Federal Classic 100gr HotCore, the Federal Premium 100gr Nosler Partition and the Federal Premium 85gr Sierra BTHP would almost always exit, especially once the range was past 50 yards or so...So, they were hard enough to exiit and be used for high shoulder shots if needed but soft enough that the lung shot deer dropped within 75-80 yards...