thanks all. some good advice here. im going to grab a box of rem core locks, win silver BT's, and maybe a federal and shoot them all.

Be sure to report back to us how well each did.

I used to shoot 150 grain core lokt out of my ruger 30-06 with "adequate" results. Just not ever real happy with them. I tried the new winchester XP3s this year and I and sold. Between them and a new timney trigger, I was was shoooting moa groups at 100 yards. This past Monday I dropped a sitting down coyote at a ranged 310 yards. That was enough proof in the pudding accuracy for me.

I use hand loads in my '06. 150gr Hornady IB going 3000fps. They seem to work really well on deer and group excellent out of my savage. I also have barnes XTC 150gr which I also use (haven't shot any deer with these yet). I have some 165gr Hornady SST's (reduced load) for varmits and such)