accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

I just bought my first deer rifle in 40 years. I always used a .35 Rem but I am going deer hunting down south (SC)where the shots will be 150 to 200yds. Ipicked up a newSavage in 270win.
Here is my question;
I can get a box of Remington 130gr bullets for about $17 and I can put 5 shots inside a 2" circle at 100yds. It's my feeling that this is the best I can do reguardless of the ammo used. Will the more expensive $55 a box bullets improve on this or just move the center of the bullet pattern?
Are you paying a higher price for accuracy or down range performance on the game (expansion and penitration)?

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

The only question is will the low cost ammo/bullet perform properly.More expensive ammo generally comes with premium bullets but you don't need the best.I'm certain you can do better than those two extremes.Rem Core Lokt factory ammo is very easy to find in .270 and should only cost around 25 a box.Hornady and Federal also have good or better .270/130gr loads at around the same price.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

CoreLokts are fine for deer, I've killed about 85 with them out of my .243...

If you are a marginal rifle shot the easiest way to see what the gun will do is to have a better shot see how it groups for them...Two inches inside 100 yards will kill deer just fine...Another ammo you might try is the Federal Premium 130gr Sierra GameKing SPBT...My brother and his son have killed 50 or so with this ammo but it is running about $35 a box currently...

Two moreoptions are the Winchester PowerPoint 130gr loading, and the Federal Classic 130gr Speer HotCore...They bothrun around $18-20 a box...

You certainly don't have to buy expensive ammo to get good accuracy and kill deer...I'd rather hunt with a guy that shot a couple of cheap boxes a year getting ready than a guy that didn't want to practice because he was blowing 2 bucks everytime he pulled the trigger...

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

When it comes down to how much shooting you plan to do, all the costs involved in the actual hunt with license/travel/equip/etc. the cost of ammo is very insignificant. Even at $55/20 = $2.75 per shot unless you plan on shooting a truck load of deer isn't very much money. Consider also that if you are just talking about shooting deer and they aren't really big deer, just about any factory .270 Win ammo will handle the task with little trouble. I would use whatever shoots well in your gun.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

Why waste the money on more expensive ammo when no accuracy advantage is going to be realized anyway? Like the others said, the 130s will drop any whitetail that ever walked IF placed properly.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

I've got to say that I had more deer drop instantly to the cheaper .270 ammo than I have had with the premium stuff. Sort of doesn't make sense, but then again it does. I think the premium stuff is constructed a bit too tough for the typical whitetail deer and it just zips right thru unlike the cheap stuff that will expand better and more likely to put a deer down instantly. They will surely both kill deer, but I know in some hunting areas it's preferable to have the deer drop within sight before it can run off to someone else so in these cases I think the cheaper ammo might actually be a better choice.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

For deer any standard construction cup and core bullet will work just fine. The question comes in how does your gun like it. I handload everything I shoot now but when I was buying factory ammo for deer the Remington express, Hornady Customer, Winchester PP or blue box Federal all killed deer just fine.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

I gather from what you are all saying is that if I am shooting 2" groups with $17 bullets I will probably still be shooting 2" groups with $55 bullets.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

Different bullet or weight may shoot tighter groups, only you can decide if it's worth the extra $38 per box.

RE: accuracy vs inexpensive ammo
 

More than likely you can find a better shooting bullet....and probably for a bit less than $55 a box.
If you can't I would suggest selling the rifle and getting another. While 2" at 100 yards will kill game all day I see no reason to spend your hard earned money on a rifle that should be shooting better than that.
Like I said before though, you should be able to find ammo that shoots better than the groups you are getting now.