Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

I here alot of guys saying for a cheep bullet,for your .50 cal go to Speers Gold Dot or Hornaby pistol bullets.Just say if money didnt mater;). What would you shoot then??

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

My Knight just won't group the Hornadys, either in .451- 250 or 300 grs....

I shot the Barnes 300 gr copper for several years, great bullet....

Changed to the 250 Shockwave because its more aerodynamic, no problems with it as well...

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Okie48

Absolutely no doubt in the world. Nosler Partition .451/260 grain HP. This is a devasting bullet on deer and will work well on elk.

Here is an example - not a very big buck, but shot at 170+ yards - all the vitals in the chest cavity were red jello. The hydrostactic shock of the bullet passing through the chest cavity turned everthing to mush-jello. Opps! gotta switch puters....

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Okie - no matter what bullet you select, if the rifle will not shoot them accurate then they are no bargin. Hornadys, Speer, Barnes, are all good bullets. Which one your rifle shoots best will be determined by your rifle, conditions you hunt, and your pocket book.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Price matters to practice a lot, but price does matter for hunting, since we don't shoot lots of bullets for hunting. I use Nosler Partition HG Protected Point 300g bullets with a crusted rib sabot, about a $1 each. They go all the way thru, are accurate and mushroom perfect.

For my new Savage 10MLI have triedabout 10different bullets that have high ballistic coefficients for additional range:

Hornady XTP Mag 300g
TC SW Black sabot 300g
TC SW easy glide 300g
TC SW bonded easy glide 300g
Knight Ultimate Slam 290g
Barnes TMZ 290g
Harvester Scorpion PT 300g
Parker Ballistic Extreme 275g

Of those 9 bullets I shot them all at the same recommened powder and the best groups were the TC SW black sabot and the Parker Ballistic Extreme. I will use the Ballistic Extreme for hunting with my Savage. They are accurate, and loose only 10% of their weight and expand perfectly in pictures and reports I have see and read. So expensive or cheap bullet, they are the thing that must do the job, awell placed bullet in the boiler room will do the job all the time every time, it makes little difference what bulletyou use for boiler room shots, but shots that are "less than perfect", hitting shoulders or large bones then a bonded bullet or well constructed bullet makes a huge difference, holding together, getting past the bone and into the chest cavity. Accuracy is number#1, since if you don't hit what your aiming, then nothing else matter,
#2 is penetration
#3 is expansion
You want a bullet that does all 3, so shoot what is accurate in your gun (shoot a variety, not what your buddy recommends, do what is accurate),

Make shure the bullet willpenetrate, read reports on the bullet or try a basic penetration test into sand or packed top soil in a 5 gallon bucket. If a bullet fragments in this media, it will tend to fragment in flesh/bone.

expansion, you want excellent expansion so look for bullets with large HP or ballistic tips over a hollow points.

Chap Gleason

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

I like Barnes. Wonder if this'll post. None of the other tries did.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

If money didn't matter...I'd probably go for Barnes TMZs.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

If money was not the question and my rifle shot them well (which most rifles do) I think I would go for the Barnes Expanders. I like the 300 grain the best andI do not think there would be anything that could stand up to a hit from them. Even though in 99% of the cases the 250 grain Barnes would do the same job. In my rifles the 300 grain always shot a little better for some reason.

The next bullet I want to try is the Nosler that Sabotloader keeps preaching about. I shot some Noslers but they were a soft point. And they shot great. But they were not the ones he is talking about. A .451/260 grain. Sabotloader, what sabots are you loading them in? I know you like to tickle them with about 110 grains of Triple Se7en from reading your range reports. And that is all the animal kingdom would need where I live.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

cayugad

I use the HPH-24, except in the White and it uses the 12... I do shoot 110 in the White and the 26" Remington - but 100 in the short Remington, the A&H and the Omega.

You know I think the short petal regular Harvester would be another good sabot.

Until you shoot an animal with one though, you will never appreciate how well they perform.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Are these the one your talking about Sabotloader??http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...amp;t=11082005

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=554567&t=11082005 I think he means these.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Okie48

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=197816&t=11082005

These can be a great elk or thick skinned animal bullet, acutually Chap Gleason prefers these 300 grain...

Usually when i am shooting 300 grain for elk I shoot the .458/300 grain rifle bullet

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=342378&t=11082005

I put these in a MMP HPH-.458/50 Orange sabot... shoot about the same
velocity as a 45-70 government

These are what I use on deer - but make no mistake about it - if i had one of these loaded up and an elk were to appear - i would not hesitate a second to pull the trigger... might think a slpit second more about placement... but i would probably have the trigger pulled before I finished the thought... They are amazing - and that is not to say that the Barnes or the Swift A-Frame is not, but i grew up shooting Nolsers so it is really hard to think of anything else - until I look at prices - they are cheaper at Natches - but maybe freight equals them out...

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=554567&t=11082005#video

If you have the time to wait look at the video.... Someone not to long ago remarked that a pistol bullet was not the best way to go, but these partitions are built for pistol hunting and ML's...

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

cayugad

Them are the ones...

Note how the copper is rolled over the nose just a bit... you hit something fluid they are going to open... you hit something hard the second part of the partition will drive them through. You might loose the lead in the nose but only after ithas opened and become a cutting machine. The Hydrostatic pressure they create in the cavity is tremendous... Lot of people suggest there is no such thing as Hydrostatic pressure - well I do not know what else to call it - i use to call it Hydraulic pressure - but someone did not like that term either.... All I can tell you is I have seen it....

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Actually Natchez is cheaper.. I was looking in the wrong place... also they are listed as Hornady Partition handgun bullets.. What is with that?

http://www.natchezss.com/brand.cfm?contentID=productDetail&ammoGroup=&a mp;brand=NO&prodID=NO45260

if these are the ones your talking about?

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

cayugad

Yep! i just checked - you are right - i just bought them a month ago for $39

Let me check the sale flyer..

Yes, they are still 39.99 for 260's (product no. F78NO45260 & 44.99 for 300's F78NO45350 in the flyer - good til the end of October...

Catalog Key #F802102

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

cayugad

The top of the sheet says to Nosler - i do not where the Hornady came from????

Ding ding - just saw what you are talking about must be a typo on the part of mid south....

Wolfhound and I think Big 6x6 think these are one of the really good ones if you can find them - but they look like Noslers to me....

http://www.winchester.com/products/catalog/handgundetail.aspx?symbol=SPG45WM&cart=NDUgV2l uIE1hZ251bQ==

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

thanks.. I think I will order a couple boxes of them.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Dave - if you do not like or do not use 'em - just let me know I will take them off your hands....

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

These shoot the best out of my gun. Wouldn't matter to me if I had to pay twice what they cost when I'm pulling the trigger on a deer. Knight Red Hot 250 and 300 gr. Same as the Barnes Expanders MZ

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Actually Jim Shockey is the big spokeman for Noslers, not Chap Gleason!!!!The artice that convinced me to go Noslers was this:

http://www.cabelas.com/information/cabelasfieldguides/BlackPowderTechniques/AninterviewwithJimShockeyaboutmuzzleloadersbiggame andhisquestfortheUltimateSlam..html

and a personal conversation with Jim Shockey at the Eastern Outdoor Show. I figured ifhe killed big buck and moose in Canada, they would kill very big Va whitetails.Chap

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

gleason.chapman

Well, actually all these adds and differents spokes people for all thse different products - really do not do much for me... they are making money to say what they say... I have a whole more faith in what I read or see from ordinary people like you, Dave, Lee, Patrick, UC and a whole of others. You tell me you are using a 300 it means something what's his name tells me it has a whole lot less meaning....

That is why you probably would never catch me on the Hawk's sight - anybody getting paid to advertise is getting paid to sale... Remember what ever Shockey is saying about TC now he has already said about Knights...

You can find a site someplace on the internet that will tell you exactly what you want to hear...

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Thank you for including me in that very select group of people who you have a lot of respect for. I am honored. I agree with you on Shockey with regard to TC and Knight. I don't ever recall him shooting any other bullet however. Chap

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Luckily, for me, my Savage prefers cheap bullets:). Xtp's 250 and 300grain, Remington .458 JHP 300gr, and Hornady .458 HP 300grain. The only "expensive" bullets it cares for are 250 grain Parker Ballistic Extremes and Bonded Shockwaves. I've hadn't much luck with Barnes.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

I truely think the various Barnes bullets are the best performing bullets out there. On the other hand, good old Hornady Great Plains bullets have never failed me and Lee REAL's kill deer about as dead as they can get.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

What has really got to me is the cost to try all the different bullets and powders. Two different types of Barnes bullets, two different types of T/C bullets, and Powerbelts all in the 250 grain range. Then the Pyrodex pellets in 30 and 50 grain size, 777 in pellets and loose Pyrodex powder. In the end the Pyrodex pellets worked the best (both 30 and 50 worked well) at 150 grains but I’m shooting the T/C SW Bonded 250 grain bullet and using the sabot off the regular T/C SW (black sabot) bullet for my best accuracy.

Speaking of the black sabot from the T/C SW can these be purchased in bulk (the bottom of the sabot has the 3 concentric rings)?

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

AZBear

The black TC sabot is a MMP HPH-24 sabot

www.mmpsabots.com

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Quote:

---

What has really got to me is the cost to try all the different bullets and powders.

---

Me too. But if you just think of it as recreation, a good selection of bullets and powdercosts less than a round of golf at one of those spiffy clubs. Tried golf a time or two - would rather make smoke any day.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

I'm a whole lot better at this than golf any way!

Sabotloader thanks for the info...

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

On the subject of Shockey, I'm no fool and don't get me wrong I know he is paid to be a good salesman, but he uses some pretty darn good products. Nosler bullets: been hard to beat since the sixties, TC muzzleloader: me like, APP: well maybe not the greatest black powder replacementbut it has some good points and if it shoots well in your gun it is very nice to deal with. Leupold optics: me like. Jim has put this combo of products to real world hunting tests that most of us will never see and if you can't tell I really like Jim. Jim's show is a class act, unlike most hunting TV shows that give us a bad name. I have a Pro-Hunter on the way and my set up will be: Leupold VX-III 3.5x10x40, APP J.S. Gold powder, and a 300 grain Nosler PP... now with all this butt kissing, maybe Jim will invite me on one of those Whitetail hunts or Moose hunts...;)

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

One more question on the sabots...are there many different manufacturers for sabots or is there just a small few? How do you tell who makes for a specific company? Don't mean to hijack the thread but it is bullet related sort of...

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Harvester and MMP are the two big ones, I do not know if there are others. Chap Gleason

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

Tried a lot of different ones overthe past 18 years...settled on the following and they're allI use:

Hornady (or Speer) .395"/.440"/.490"/.530"/.570"/.600"pure lead balls.

RE: Best Bullet for the Buck?
 

While I like to hunt with roundball loads as well; I tend to keep my shots with them under 70 yards or so with them. If I were to use the dollar a bullet stuff; I would use the Barnes Spitfire (hollow point) style bullets. I use blackpowder so I don't think my rifles would get them up to the 1100 f.p.s. at impact requirements much past 100 yards. Your inlines would with the powders you can use. My 1/28" twist RMC flintlock loves the damn things (245 grainer) but it also loves the 250/300 grainer Hornady XTP's and they are cheaper, work well, and expand down to 900 F.P.S. plus the 300 grainer just kicks the tar out of a deer under 100 yards. I really feel these are the perfect load for fast twist blackpowdershooters because they fit perfectly within the expansion and velocity parameters provided by Hornady. They work as well as pure lead and don't have the nose distortion at loading.