I have a semi auto and hornadys dont work in it but I shoot winchester premium silver ballistic tips in 165gr. it does the job very well

165 grain core lokts seem to work best for me,

180 gr PSP Express Core-Lokts

Always In almost 20 years of hunting its been one shot, one kill every season and every deer. Luck or what I'm not sure. I do know I spend alot of range time off season. I consider it a blessing......however this bullet works for me and has never failed. They are what my rifle likes to shoot and that can vary from rifle to rifle. Although my first season the deer were taken with 30-30 170 gr. hollow pts. Still one shot, one kill.

Most of the bullets listed above are great deer poison. I personally would go with the 165 - 168 gr. Core Lokt, Ballistic Tip or Partition. The 165 gr. combines the best of balance and total bearing surface in quick twist rifling to better stabilize the bullet for more accuracy.

Remeber: Shot placement is 99% of the game.

just my 2 pennies worth

All the bullets mentioned above will work fine for deer. In my humble opinion, you just need to fine the one that is most accurate in "Your" gun.

I got a new BAR 30-06 this spring and have been working up loads for it this summer. I've tried 180Grn Sierra Game Kings, 165Grn Nosler Partitions, 180Grn Sierra ProHunters, and 180Grn Nosler Ballistic Tips.

So far, the 180Grn Sierra Game Kings have produced the best accuracy, with the 165Grn Nosler Partitions a close second. The Game Kings are consistently shooting sub MOA, with the Partitions shooting about MOA.

Here is a couple of "typical" 100Yd groups with the Game Kings. (Dark squares are 1/2")



Like Cloudwalker said: "Shot placement is 99% of the game". Just find what shoots best in your gun and call it good.

Good Luck & Good Hunting!!

firstshot

my dad shoots a 150 grain winchester soft point and it knocs the heck out of them and will work anywhere you want to shoot a critter. even elk
rob k

I'll agree that 150 corelokts and some other 150s are constructed on the light side for close range (50 - 75 yds or so). I would go with 150 partition style bullets or 165s.

The "sniper" was right and wrong. Heavier bullets retain energy better than lighter ones. Heavier bullets are not necessarily better choices for game.

Just gotta go on record seconding the opinion: Use what shoots best in your rifle.

If you go with factory loads, like me, pick among the brands that are readily available - even on Friday night when you realize you need a box for Saturday morning. Therefore, I experimented a little with the absolutely most common brands around here and tried 150, 165 and 180 grain. All will be very effective with deer. I settled on Remington 180 grain corelokt PSP - because (1) they shot as good or better than any other common options (in MY gun - maybe not YOURS!) ... and (2) available in almost every store that sells ammo around here, from my favorite gun shop to the "open til 10" big box stores. If the Federal or Winchester factory loads, or another Remington weight, worked as well, I would have chosen it. I'd prefer to try a blunt nosed Remington corelokt, or similar, but it seems the PSP are the only ones commonly sold around here. I really feel the differnce (to the deer) is non existent and accuracy and confidence is everything. Even if I travel out of state and need to buy a box of shells locally, I know the 180 gr. Corelokt PSP's will give me within 1 - 1.5 inches at 100 yds, from box to box.

I go a different route - different slug - for large game such as moose.

I'm not a real "bullet head" meaning I like to shoot and experiment, but I'm not the most dedicated guy. But it was really amazing to me how much difference in accuracy there could be between same weight bullets by different manufactureres, and different weight bullets of the same manufacturer. For instance 150 remington corelokts were around 3 inch groups out of my gun while the 180s were over an inch, but consistently less than 1.5. There were a few that were in what I consider hunting acceptable for me - 2 inches at 100 yds., but the Remington 180s just seemed a little more accurate, consistently. It's also surprising how two different, say 180s, both firing within 2 inches would give significantly different impact points - side to side or vertically. Just fun looking at this stuff.

I sure hope the 180Grn Sierra Game Kings are NOT too heavy for deer since they shoot so well in my BAR. I've heard that the Game Kings are kind of "soft", so I'm hoping I'll still get adequate expansion. Another reason I picked the 180Grn is Black Bear which season overlaps our muzzleloader and modern gun seasons. Just had a bear tear up a tri-pod feeder last week. Hope to get him in my sights before season is over! I figure with the 180grn GK's I've got both bases covered.

firstshot