Bullet type?
 

We're looking for a bullet type that will work well on whitetail deer, black bear and wild boar. A bullet that will work good for hunting all three species. We don't want to have to re-zero our rifles with different ammo/bullet types when going from one species to another.

Our rifles are;
Two Remington 700's, a 270 Win. (son's, w/24" bbl) and a 280 Rem. (mine, w/22" bbl).
Two Remington 30-06 Carbines (18.5" barrels), a 7600 pump (son's) and a 750 Woodsmaster semi auto (mine).

My 280 Rem. and 30-06 shoot Federal Fusion's pretty well, 140 gr. and 165 gr. respectfully. We haven't tried the Fusion's in either of my son's rifles yet.

Would the Fusion's be a good choice for hunting all three?

Thanks, NYH1.

do you intend to use only off the shelf ammo, or are you open to handloading for your rifles?
obviously, hand loading opens a huge increase in potential ammo choices , not easily available to non-handloaders
and will over time save you a significant amount of cash
yes it adds to the expense up-front for hand loading tools but the greatly reduced cost of ammo,
that results will over time greatly offset and amortize the initial cost,
youll also find you can use bullets not available in off the shelf ammo.

https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/.../rifle-bullets

https://www.starlinebrass.com/

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/#!/

https://www.nosler.com/bullets

https://www.barnesbullets.com/components/

http://www.reloadinginternational.com/search.php?s=Berger+Bullets&mid=2

I plan on getting into hand loading. However, I have a few other things to take care of first. So for now it's factory ammo.

NYH1.

My focus would be on something tough that would penetrate the thicker bones and muscles of bear and hogs, either something bonded or solid copper. I'd personally go with a Barnes TTSX or similar bullet, whichever weight shoots best.

you don't need a premium bullet for any of the game mentioned, just a mid weight cup core bullet where it needs to be, if your shooting close you may want a bullet that holds together to try and reduce meat damage, but I would shoot what shoots well in the rifles.
RR

IIRC, the Federal Fusion bullets are fused or bonded, not sure which or if there's a difference. I figured they'd be a step above the regular Core-Lokt, Power Point and/or Power Shok type bullets. Without going with premium bullets.

I forgot to mention our rifles will be used for deer hunting far more often the black bear or boar hunting. Just want to try and stick with a bullet that will with all three.

Thanks, NYH.

Accuracy is more important to me than bullet design. I realize some bullets are labeled by the manufacturer as "target only". I would take that recommendation into consideration. However, I prefer to have confidence knowing the bullet will hit my aiming point each time I do my part.

I would be surprised if you find one bullet make and model that shoots accurately from all four rifles across three calibers.

It is my opinion you need to buy multiple boxes of ammunition and test each with each rifle. Hand loading should be a big improvement over factory loads. But, hand loading is a deep rabbit hole not for the "faint of heart" i.e. wallet.

For example, I recently bought a new to me Tikka T3X in 6.5 Creedmoor. I bought two boxes of Hornady ammunition. One Precision Hunter and one Precision Match (I believe). Both were in the 143 to 147 grain bullet range. Going from memory, so may not be 100% accurate. One shot less than 1-MOA at 100 yards. The other bullet shot over 2-MOA at 100 yards. Same gun, same conditions, same shooter. Guess which one I would take to the woods no matter how the ammo shot out of any other firearm I own.?.?.? Fortunately, I reload. Hopefully 1-MOA moves towards 1/2-MOA.

This is an unpopular opinion these days....

Aside from the difference between accuracy and precision.

And I admit, it sounds bad saying it.... But hear me out.

How much accuracy (precision) do you need? In the not so distant past if a deer rifle shot 4 moa it was plenty good to go. And people killed allot of deer that way. I wouldn't be satisfied with a 4moa rifle as my primary deer rifle.... But I could certainly kill deer every year with it if I wanted to.

Now... HUNTERS strive for an extra half moa. That's great stuff off a bench in prime conditions. It's necessary for competitive shooters. And there's certainly NOTHING wrong with being more accurate or precise.

But is there a difference between 1" and 2" under hunting conditions at standard ranges? I'm guessing, and this guess is backed by observation at plenty of ranges and in the woods, that if you set allot of these guys up to shoot under field conditions that their 1/2" moa rifle is suddenly a 6moa rifle.

And you can probably guess how well they'll shoot by how they hold the rifle and their body position behind it when they get set up. Allot of guys have no idea how to fire offhand, sitting, kneeling, etc. They have no idea how to fire when they're breathing hard, or when they're shivering. But they'll spend thousands of dollars squeaking out another 1/4moa and think they're good to go. But if the rifle isn't in their "lead sled" it's about worthless to them.

I'd much rather see a person spend time practicing field position shooting, and lots of it, over shooting boxes off the bench to find which one shoots 1moa vs 1 1/4 moa

Obviously the best answer is to find the load your rifle shoots best and then practice practice practice.

But that is not realistic, financially or time wise, for many people.

That's a long post to not say anything really related to the OPs question. Other than don't necessarily get caught up on chasing that MOA need. If you have a load that shoots "well enough" in each rifle, buy a bunch and practice, then go kill some deer!
​​​​

-Jake

It should be noted that I am a reloader, and have chased that 1/2 moa Mark in hunting rifles.

I'm just not so sure that it's helped me in real life- on game performance.

Should also be noted that those that frequent hunting forums aren't your typical "shoot 3 rds before season at a milk jug" type of hunter/shooter and it's expected that most members here prefer more precise and accurate equipment.

I'm just saying it's not necessary to kill deer. As is proof by the thousands of "weekend hunters" that fill their tags every year.

-Jake

Bocajnala , you bring up a point that very few hunters will even admit, its also been my observation, that guys are under the obviously erroneous assumption that ,
if they can shoot 1" bench rest groups at 100 yards consistently they will shoot similar groups under field conditions,
most guys can,t accurately judge ranges, or shoot worth a damn at ranges past about 150-200 yards.
its the skill and confidence and experience of the guy using the rifle that tends to mater more than the rifle or caliber selected, in many cases.
yet you can,t easily ignore physics, and a fairly heavy projectile moving at moderate of reasonably high velocity can retain it inertia and impact energy to rather long distances, far better than a smaller and lighter mass, and ballistic drag, with a decent sectional density and ballistic shape at a similar velocity.
If I hunt dark timber, a rifle that will consistently shoot 1.5" bench rested groups , but one your very adept at using that will regularly shoot 3" groups from a sitting position, at 100 yards
is a damn good choice as youll seldom be forced to shoot that far. my 375 H&H sako has been very consistent and lethal, but still hunting thick timber jumping game seldom requires shots over 70 yards in my experience




if your going to watch a meadow or search rim rock, you benefit from having more accuracy potential.
the truth is without a sling and bi-pod on your rifle of choice groups shot under field conditions tend to be significantly larger and inconsistent.
I have for decades taken a ton of verbal jibs from guys I hunt with over the rifle I carry frequently, as it heavy and I use a bi-pod



years ago I saw a game department survey made where they asked hundreds of hunters at a western BLM check point, to look out at 5 different colored flags placed at random but carefully measured distances and write down what each person estimated the distance too be from the check point, they were handed a pen and a survey card, they were told NONE of the colored flags were at an even 100 yard multiple but that was the only info , each flag was a different, color, placed in a
different direction and at a different distance.
the survey taker pointed out each colored flag and asked them to write down their estimated range!
they tabulated the actual hunters field estimates being made on the spot, vs the carefully measure actual distances.
.
.
the results were about what Id have expected..after decades of listening to guys claim they killed deer & elk at 400 and 500 and 600 yards.......
the vast majority were very VERY bad at estimating distances correctly past about 150 yards, some estimates that were over 70% wrong were not uncommon



the funny part is that most of the guys Ive hunted with eventually see the wisdom in my choices, especially once they see how selecting the correct tool for the job at hand
makes the job so much easier.
if you want to make some cash put a full coke can laying, end on on a stump ,
back off 100 yards and bet your buddies $10 that they can,t hit the can on the first shot shooting off hand
youll win that bet far more frequently than youll be forced too pay out cash

Thanks guys!

NYH.

It will do just fine for hogs. Hogs are extremely overated as far as being difficult to kill. Any rifle caliber suitable for whitetail will kill hogs. We have a plague of them on our land. I have killed them with every type of firearm I own. Even shot them in the head with a 22 on multiple occasions. I'd stay away from ballistic tip bullets but then I don't like them for deer either.

Agreed.

Agreed!
The mid-to-heavier weight Remington CLs should preform well for all 3 of NYHunter's needs.
150s in 270
165s in 280
180s in 30-06

As would the Winchester Super-X Power Points
150s in 270
180s in 30-06

A quick price check on: https://www.grafs.com

Shows box of 30-06 180 grain:
Fed Fusions $22
Rem CLs $20
Win Super-X PPs $18

I'd try the Win Super-X PPs.
I use them in my 270 they work!!!