good deer bullet?
 

anyone have good luck with 165 or 180 grainfederal power shok sp?you think a180 gr bullet isbest for 100 to 150 yards? im thinking of trying a ballistic tip in sst or interbond i hear gamekingbthp dont work well for deer. i dont know any thingabout gameking btsp do thay hold up at all

RE: good deer bullet?
 

If you are talking about a 30-06 or 308 I would go with a 165 gr for deer sized game. The 180 gr in these calibers are really intended for elk sized game. Sierra Game King works well on deer. You may have been given some bad info or misunderstood about Sierra. Some people were using the Sierra Match King for deer hunting. The Match King is NOT made for hunting, and it would break up if it hit bones. Sierra warns about this in their literature, and it also use to be on their website.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I just recently got some 150 grain ones and tried them target shooting. Never shot a deer with one. As many of you have read my gun seems super picky about the ammo. I get about 2" groups or so with Federal Fusion ammo vs with these I got about a 3" group but I decided it was cheaper and still close enough to kill a deer. 3 shots were probably in a 2" group one right next the other but the one of the 4 shots was a little out that made it a 3" group. I posted pictures of targets in another thread. That's just me and my gun though. It may have been a little me too.

I've heard people really like them on deer. I shot a deer at 150 yards with the Federal Fusion. It was a large doe and it just flopped over. Didn't move at all from where I shot it. It didn't do much damage. Just left a hole about 1" in diameter all the way through the deer but it did flop it over. Someone had shot the deer in the butt already with buckshot. We learned when skinning it. Only 2 or 3 pellets had hit it so they had mostly missed it but they had hit it. Didn't look hurt at all when I shot it but when we skinned it we found the couple pellets and little dried blood from it.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

For shots on deer size game you need not spend the extra cash on the hi performance bullets like the SST or Interbond. Remington Core Lokt in 150 gr. will be more than sufficient at this yardage and this round will drop them on the spot. One of the most tried and dependable rounds ever produced at a reasonable price.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

ive killed deer with all 3 bullets in 165gr from my 3006.

killed 2 with the game king HPBT...1 at about 40yds dropped dead, the other at 25ish..blew his heart out and went 20yds and was dead...no problems, goot exit holes both times

killed countless with 165gr ballistic tips...never had problems...all exited...

killed 1 with the hornady SST..70 or so yard shot through the heart...went 15yds and dropped dead...hole through the heart was about 1/2-3/4"...lungs and everything else was a mess...

cant go wrong with any of them IMO for deer...

RE: good deer bullet?
 

the Sierra 165 BTHP is excellent for game up too Caribou in size. Very good bullet teamed up with a 308 Win or 30-06 for Deer

RE: good deer bullet?
 

Dont overlook the Hornady interlock. I shoot a 140 grain boattail interlock in my 270 at about 2960 and that drops deer like nothing else. I love the interlocks because they work and compared to a lot of other bullets are cheaper. But i have also shot deer with a 150 Core-Lokt in a 308 and that did a wonderful job on the deer as well. I would say for deer, stick to the Hornady or Remington bullets. Then again, shoot the bullet that shoots best in your gun, that is just as important.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

At my hunting camp I am still the only one hunting with regular bullets...everyone else is using ballistic tips.

I experimented with my 270 a bit over the last year. Tried 130 core-lokt, federal blue box, federal fusion, winchester, and hornady. All standard soft points non ballistic. The only ones that werent grouping well were the core-lokt bullets. still getting about a 3in group which is fine for hunting purposes. All the rest shot pretty good and the hornadys shot excellent which is why i stuck with them.

Personally i dont see anything wrong with using any kind of bullet that gives you some confidence of making a clean fast kill. Me personallyI am not going to stray away from hornady 130gr SP in my 270. They shoot almost perfect at 12 o'clock and i have em sighted in 2in high at 100. Performance on the deer is very impressive and it puts alot of energy into the animal causing an almost immediate death with a proper shot. Usually they stagger a bit andthencollapse.

I had one bad experience with core-lokt ammo and will not go back to it for my 270. It involved my 1st buck whoI shot almost near perfect. Bullet over expanded leaving no blood and had to do some tracking where i found him some 150yrds later laying on the ground. My 30-06 loves 150 core-lokt bullets, but it puts a hurting on a deer and a shot in the shoulder results in alot of meat loss.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

It would help if you would define what caliber you are talking about.

For a "good deer bullet", no matter what caliber you are talking about, it is hard to beat a Remington Corelokt for the money. I am referring to their "bullets" and not their loaded ammo.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

Sniper151
Your statement is generally true but I have a Ruger M77 in .30-06 that only likes premium bullets in the way of accuracy. I simply cannot get any accuracy from Express Core Lokts or other basic ammo. This is frustrating to me as Ihave a real issue paying $35-45 forpremium ammo. I would rather pay $16-18 for the same accuracy results...who wouldn't. Either ammo category will put them down but you have to have the accuracy to put the bullet in the wheelhouse in order to put them down. Conversly I have other rifles that will shoot Express Core Lokt's or Federal Power Shoks all day long into tight groups. From an economic standpoint these have become my working rifles because I can feed them cheaper ammo with basically the same results which is back to your point.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

idid not thing to say its a 30-06. what about burger bullets anyone ever shoot them?

RE: good deer bullet?
 

A 150 or 165gr bullet is more than sufficient for taking down deer sized game. Just find something that shoots good in your rifle, it doesn't have to be a super expensive bullet as long as it shoots well and is meant for hunting. Remington Core-Lokt and Winchester Powerpoints have been killing deer for a long long time. They may not be quite as accurate in all guns, but they are still plenty enough medicine for deer. Also don't count out the blue box Federals either.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

have you ever shot a deer or hog with the federal blue box soft point in 30 cal? i might try sierra gameking BTSP i think thay are made for fast expansion. i hear a lot of otherhunters say hornady interbond makes a nice hole a turns guts to mush. what u think?

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I have shot a few of deer with federal blue box sp bullets. My sons 30/30 shoots them very well and the deer cannot tell the difference between them and Hornady interlock bullets. Dead is dead and shot placement means much more than shooting expensive bullets at your target. Now I wouldnt use the blue box stuff on an elk or dangerous game, but deer are not all that hard to kill. The hogs, well thats your call, but I shot one with a Winchester power point, which is on the same level as the Federal blue box stuff and it went down with one shot.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

good point i will just use blue box ammo, my gun shoots 1 inch groups withit. i think i might try the sierra gamekingsbtsp to. just got a new 243 for shooting coyotes thay are all over the place!!! might try a noslerballistic tip or core lokt thay are cheeper but i dont know never shot coyotes. have you ever recovered any bullets from your deer?

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I have only recovered one30-06bullet from a deer, and that was a Winchester Silvertip in 150gr. I shot a buck in theshoulder areathat was running up a steep hill some distance away. The bullet did not have quiteenough energyto exit the bottom of the chest cavity.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I like 180g Remington Core-Lokt's.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I have never recovered a bullet from a deer. All of my shots on deer have been 125 yards and under and where very much a pass though. I have seen the differences in bullets though in shooting water jugs and recovering the bullets in the spring time after the snow has melted. Core Lokt's dont hold together quite as well as the Hornady Interlock bullets do, but none of the deer that I have ever shot have been able to tell the difference. Its all about shot placement on deer. Now your larger deer, like the high mountain muleys and the large white tail, some will say that you need a high end bullet and for my money I would probably want to use one too. But for your run of the mill residential deer that I get a close shot on, I just use the old tried and true cup and core bullet. My guns seem to like them well enough and they dont break the bank.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

what about federals fusion,i think its abondedbullet. anyone ever shot them at deer or hogs?

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I have been shooting the Fusion bullets for about 4 years now and love them in my 300 WSM i have killed around 30 deer with them and have had great luck at close and long range and in my gun they have been the best ones as far as the bench goes also.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

This was part of a post from earlier on in this thread that I made

I shot a deer at 150 yards with the Federal Fusion. It was a large doe and it just flopped over. Didn't move at all from where I shot it. It didn't do much damage. Just left a hole about 1" in diameter all the way through the deer but it did flop it over. Someone had shot the deer in the butt already with buckshot. We learned when skinning it. Only 2 or 3 pellets had hit it so they had mostly missed it but they had hit it. Didn't look hurt at all when I shot it but when we skinned it we found the couple pellets and little dried blood from it.

RE: good deer bullet?
 

Depends on what your criteria for "good" is...

If dead is the only criteria, and "collateral damage" isn't an issue, then you won't go wrong with any of the inexpensive generic 150-165 grain soft points (Rem Cor-Lok, Win Power Point, Fed Blue Box, etc...). They are the cheapest and they will do the job just fine from a .30-06.

I, personally, plan on going to a stouter bullet with little or no chance of fragmentation next year like the Barnes TSX or the Winchester SX3. The reason is that I don't want to be picking chunks of lead out of my venison hamburger. The 150gr Core-Lok (form my .30-06 at ~125 yards) that I shot my deer with this season literally disintegrated on impact. The hit was a bang-flop, but there were bullet fragments all over the carcass, including many in the near side shoulder. I got most of them out, but found a few little chunks in the hamburger despite the fact that I trimmed all of the visibly bullet damaged meat. I also didn't recover any significant portion of the bullet and it did not exit. The premium ammo with the lead-free or encased lead bullets is a lot more expensive, but if it means my kids won't be biting into and/or ingesting lead bullet frag, it's worth it to me.

Mike

RE: good deer bullet?
 

I have shot numerous deer with the sierra 165gr bthp out of my 06. They are fine bullets for deer size game. Great expansion with complete pass through. I've shot the nosler bt 165gr with very good results as well. I load for both my wife prefers the noslers in her 06 because she thinks there prettier shells lol. The 165gr gives the best velocity and downrange energy for the 30-06 thats why I use it. Also my Remington and her Ruger both love that grain.