Help choosing a good whitetail bullet
 

I shoot a 270wsm, I am wonder which bullet to reload, its between the CT Ballistic Silvertip and the Sierra GameKing in the 130 grain. Please give me pros and cons of each bullet. Thanks, Steve

I also have a 270wsm and I stay away from the ballistic silvertips.I hunt up in Maine and there is always a chance for a bear or a large bodied deer and I've heard to many things about the ballistic tips blowing up at short range when hitting something solid. Also don't like cleaning the Moly out of my barrel.
Bill

I shot a bunch of the Sierra Gamekings last year during the winter when we had 4+ feet of snow on the ground and have since found a bunch of them on the ground. I am not impressed. Most of them had the lead seperate from the jacket and the jacket is just folds of metal. Maybe I am wrong and that is how they are supposed to work? Idunno, for a deer bullet and a good all around getterdun bullet I like the old fashioned Core-Lokt. They aren't as sexy or cute as a Silvertip or Gameking, but in my experience they have always gotten the job done.

A Hornady Innerlock will do the job. Good luck.

I wouldn't shoot either, they are both known as "soft" bullets and with the speeds of the short mags, you need a tougher bullet...

My cousin has killed several deer with the 140 gr Nosler AccuBond, that or the 150 Nosler Partition would be a good starting point...

Bullets
 

Either bullet would work perfectly on deer. I would shoot which ever bullet shot the most accurate.

IMO premium bullets are a complete waste of money on deer. Especially when you are shooting a magnum cartridge. Why would you need a $1 a piece-controled expansion bullet on a thin skinned deer. The mfrs. have done a fantasic job on marketing. As was mentioned if you can get the Core-Lokt to shoot they are more than adequate. Controlled expansion bullets have their place on larger-harder to kill game, but not deer.

The premium bullets have their place. For people who want to shoot with diminuitive cartridges they need a premium bullet. Last time I checked a 270 magnum was not a "girly gun". So no need to waste your money on expensive bullts(IMO).

I shoot 130 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, sitting on top of 63 gr of IMR 4350, WW case, WLRM primer. 3250 fps out of my Ruger MK II. I have yet to recover a bullet on shots from 50 to 175 yds. I have also had excellent accuracy with the 140 gr Accubonds and 140 gr Hornady SST's. I haven't tried the regular Interlok's yet. I still have a few hundred Ballistic Tips so I don't think I'll be needing to look for another bullet for a while. Now if I were to be hunting something larger than deer I would probably stick with the Accubond. That being said I also have better tools for the job of hunting larger game like the trusty ole 06 and a 35 Whelen.

Head 001 nailed it on the head.

I am shooting the 270 weatherby, and use the 140 grain hornady. It groups well, and flattens mules, whitetail and elk.

After weeks working up a load (that my M700 .30-06 liked) for the 165 gr Sierra GameKings (that I liked), it took a pronghorn, an elk, and a whitetail to convince me that what "looked" good on paper, didn't necessarily translate downrange.

EVERY one of them shed its jacket, however it must also be said that none of the animals required more than one shot.

I'll still use GKs and that load for Prairie Dogs occasionally, but I've since switched to Hornady Interbonds for big game.

No experience with the CTs. Have used Nosler BTs, Barnes, and Swift as well as the Hornadys. All kill game equally well, none shed their jackets that I can remember. But then, I don't recall having CoreLokts or PowerPoints shedding jackets either?

As the old saying goes.. "at what point in the animals death did the bullet fail?" :D

Since when did a gameking bullet become junk? After all it did kill 'em. I did notice there was no mention of distance and shot placement or angle. Gamekings are good inexpensive bullet's that kill like all other HUNTING bullet's.

I was shooting factory Winchester 150gr. Power Points a chronographed 3200fps. in my 24" Remington. Worked will at longer ranges like 300yds. But at 85yds it blew up on front shoulder. Don't get me wrong it killed the deer also killed the front shoulder. 3" entrance and no exit. Vitals was like a gernade exploded. All I saying is do not hit any major bone with a standard cup core bullet with the 270wsm velocities if you want to eat any meat where you hit. I worked up a load with the Nosler 140gr. Accubond using Accurate Arms MagPro and was able to obtain an 1/2" group at 100yds. This is what I am going to be using for deer and elk.

You didn't know that if you shot a deer with a "MAGNUM" there would be some meat loss? If you want a magnum that will shoot out to 500 or 600 yds that is the price you pay. I have meat loss with all my mag's so i carry a handgun.

If you want a pass through shot spend the EXTRA money on premium bullet's. If you could careless about pass through's save your money for buying more bullet's and get the Sierra Gameking's. Good enough for any deer that walk's and great price.

$0.65 per bullet is not alot of money exspecially when it only takes one shot.

First off if you don't want meat loss why are you aiming for the shoulder? I really surprises me when people complain about the meat damage a shoulder shot produces. Any cartridge will produce meat damage on a shoulder shot.

Truer words have never been spoken. Tom.

I have a 300 WM that I hunt with. I shot 5 deer last year. All the deer were shot in the heart. Meaning that every deer had a partial or completely destroyed heart. The ranges were between 40 and 252 yards.

It was kind of a goal for me to hit all the animals right in the heart because my rifle was shooting 1/4" - 3/8" groups. Just something to prove I guess.

Well generally speaking I lost half a deer in total out of the five taken due to meat loss. Now I'm going back to shooting them way back. That is how I started off with this rifle. Just take out the back of the lungs. It has never failed to put the deer down inside of 25 yards.

Tom

i have never had a problem seirra gameking bullets,but i like the 140grn hornady alittle better. its not the bullets fault in most cases ,it where YOU put it.

Well to be honest, expensive bullets for deer are a waste, if your shooting them < 100-150 yards. If your shooting over that, then I would seriously look at the Berger VLD bullets. The .270 150gr has an awsome BC and sitting atop the correct powder, can produce some impressive velocities.

But also to note guys, its not all about the velocity when reloading a round, you want somthing that shoots good also.

GL

Cory

I shoot a 270 wsm also and the 140 gr accubond is all I shoot accubonds are all I shoot in all my guns from a 257 STW to a 300 RUM and I live in wisconsin. I thank nosler makes the best bullets out there.

I agree with nosler accubonds, i'm in the process of trying 130gr and 140's and then again there is the one that seems to work all the time, Partions.

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I had no luck with the gameking. Yes they shot good groups, but The same year I shot a elk and a deer. The core seperated from the jacket and broke into a couple of small pieces. I have had good luck with the hornady iterlock and even better performance with the nosler accubond.