Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

I have been hunting whitetails for 15 years, mainly bow and shotgun. I will be going on my first rifle hunt early this fall and am now working on a set-up. I purchased a new Ruger 7mm rem mag and now am trying to find the best round to put through it. From my understanding the shot range for the hunt will be between 75 and 150 yards, looking for the best bullet type and weight. Thanks for the help.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

The winchester ballistic sivertips (140 grain),Failsafe (150 gr), and partitions, along with the Remington Scirocco's, are fairly popular for the 7 RM.

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RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

If you want to drop deer in their tracks the ballistic point is an excellent bullet.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Greets,
I have to agree with stubblejumper, the ballistic tips are the way to go.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Funny, if you go over to the deerhunting forum, there's a good discussion about ballistic tips going on. Many are disputing their effectiveness.

-Mike

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Some claim they do too much meat damage but few have had deer shot with them run away.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

I WOULD AGREE WITH STUBBLEJUMPER ON THIS I HAVE SHOT BALLISTIC EVERY YEAR I HAVE HUNTED AND NEVER HAD A DEER RUN, I WAS SHOOTING 150 GRAIN BULLETS. BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR HUNT.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

TRY A HORNADY 139GR. SST-HM. MY WIFE USES THEM IN A 270 LM WITH DEADLY RESULTS. ALTHOUGH THIS WOULD NOT BE MY CHOICE FOR A 7MM DEER CARTRIGE I DO BELIVE IT WILL DROP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS.

CERTIFIED GUN NUT--

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

i do not like balistic tips,just too many problems with them especially at the ranges mentioned. now if the shots where longer or the barrel was short then maybe.i did use the 130 hornady for years but again at close range the bullet exploded.my vote would be for the nosler,sierra boat tail,scirrooco, something with a softer point than a bear claw or partition gold.as a post above mentioned accuracy is gonna probably be your determining factor, especially when you see the buck of a lifetime and the only shot you have is between 2 tree's, tree's don'tlook as good on your wall as a nice buck or doe in the freezer.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Nosler Ballistics Tips will &quot;drop&quot; a deer no problem...<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Hunt Safe!

Jack

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Mark in NE...I hate to disagree, and mean no disrespect, but from what I've seen, the Fail-Safe's are a terrible deer bullet.

I posted on another thread about how my buddy shoots Fail Safe's out of a 300 win mag. He's ruined more meat than a broken freezer.

This year he hit a huge buck behind the shoulder...and the Fail Safe left pencil holes on both sides. The deer ran and he hit it a second time in the pelvis. I'm not kidding...it nearly blew the deer in half. When we skinned it, it pretty much came in two.

That's not the only deer he's mangled.

Now I did use the 140 Fail Safe's in my 270 for a bear a couple years back. Performed perfect.

GOOD HUNTING!

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

I like the Federal Premium with Sierra GameKing BTSP in either 165 or 150 grains. My third choice would be Federal Premium with 150 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

I would use just about any bullet designed for deer size game . The one I wouldn't use is the ballistic tips . I know a lot of prople do and thats fine but I see to much damage and not enough true stopping power for me . I tried them on antelope and muledeer and way to much bloodshot meat .

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

First thing you need to do is pick up a variety of bonded core bullets ie. nosler partition, bear claw, grand slam, barnes X, failsafe...Then shoot them through YOUR gun to see which one groups the best. Sight your rifle to be 2&quot; high at 100 yds with the tightest round. Wait for the broadside shot, then hold dead on out to 350 yards. Dead deer!

Edited by - tikka 300 on 02/15/2002 13:00:34

Edited by - tikka 300 on 02/15/2002 13:07:25

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

With a 200 yard zero, even the typical 7 mm RM load has about 6.9&quot; of bullet drop at 300 yards, and 21&quot; of drop at 400. I'd guess a dead center hold at 350 yards would be at least 11-12&quot; low. For shots beyond 300 yards, a laser-rangefinder has it's utility, as guessing between 300 and 400 yards can cause the shot to be as much as 14&quot; off at that range.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Mark in NE, I guess your response is directed to my post. By sighting in a 7mm mag to be 2&quot; high at 100 yards does not mean that the rifle is zero'd at 200 yards. With 2&quot; at 100 yards, the rifle is actually zero'd at 255 yards. With this same rifle the bullet is impact at 300 yards is -2.6&quot;. At 350 yards the bullet is impact -6.7&quot;. Given that most bucks have a chest height of 16&quot;, one can safely hold dead out to 350 yards with a 7mm mag.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Nosler Ballistic Tips are great deer bullets. I’ve shot over 50 deer with them, and never had a bullet failure or an animal that wasn’t recovered. The deer ranged in body weight from 100 lbs. to well over 300 lbs. Shooting distances were between 30 yards out to 300+ yards. All were taken with 7mm Remington Mags. If your rifle shoots them well, and most do, you will not find a better deer bullet!

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

as for me I use .54cal Black Powder round ball all weights work well for me...

Live to Hunt.....Hunt to Live
NAHC & BuckMaster Member

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Tikka300 I believe you would have to know the exact bullet speed you have before you can reference to a ballistic table . Not all guns shoot the same bullet at the same speed . The same as what loads you have in a loaders manual are only a reference . They can be faster or slower in different guns .A bullet that is going 3000fps in one gun might only be 2900fps in another gun ,so 2&quot; high doesn't mean much . A chronograph helps a lot .

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Tikka: &quot;By sighting in a 7mm mag to be 2&quot; high at 100 yards does not mean that the rifle is zero'd at 200 yards.&quot;

True; a 2.2&quot; high at 100 yards will usually equate to a 250 yard zero for a 7 RM with 140 grain bullets. It is indeed one flat shooting SOB, of that you are correct. But, if a target is pushing 350 yards or more in range, I'd want to know the range precisely, as hitting even 7&quot; low for a behind the shoulder shot might result in a merely wounded buck. Eventually, even the 7 mm RM is going to require a little holdover (half a foot), which at 350 yards, I would do. If you knew your target was a precise 350 yards, would you?

Holding dead-on out to 300 yards with a 7 Rem Mag, I'd agree with. :)

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

As long as your shots are going to be inside 200yds I would load up the hornady 154gr round nose.I prefer the round nose at close ranges they seem to drop deer quicker than pointed bullets. This is from my own experiences hunting in the last 40yrs.

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Although everyone list great deer bullets. I use remington core lokt pointed soft points in 150 grain. They shoot accuratly and they expand excellent on deer. They also are around ten dollars a box!

RE: Bullet choice for knock down whitetails?
 

Well, truth be told, at 75-150 yrds with a 7mm, any bullet will rip a deer apart, hollow points or partitions. I feel that balistic tips are a little too explosive for whitetails, but that said, I still use them quite often for close range whitetails. At longer distances, the bullet isn't moving fast enough to maintain its momentum upon impact and fragmentation, it changes direction and you'll walk a ways before you find your deer. I think Win. power points or softpoints would be better for you in any case, but any bullet will do at that range.
Good luck.