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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Does a heavier bullet kill better?
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<blockquote data-quote="nicholasjohn" data-source="post: 1735137" data-attributes="member: 109113"><p>I have shot a boat-load of whitetails with the 308, and have used 150, 165, and 180 grain bullets. Most have been garden-variety soft-points, and the only thing that made any noticeable difference in how fast the deer dropped was whether or not I hit a shoulder bone. Hits involving big bones also killed somewhat more quickly, due to more damage to the internal organs from bone fragments. On rib cage shots, the heavier bullets made smaller holes, but killed just as well as the lighter bullets. On shots from a sketchy angle, one might do well to use a heavier bullet, but you can shoot through most deer that are broadside to the gun with regular soft-points of any normal weight. If you're really interested in seeing different performance between bullets, the construction of the bullet will likely make more difference than an extra 25 or 30 grains of weight. </p><p></p><p>I've also shot a lot of deer with bullets designed for much larger animals, and they kill them just as fast as your standard "deer bullet" does. For a while, I used my elk/moose rifle on deer, a 30-06 with the 180-grain Swift A-Frame. Some guys told me that this bullet was going to drill right through deer and not do much damage. While they did make smaller holes than lighter soft-points, none of the dozen or so deer I shot with them ran off. All were dead as a hammer right now. I don't think one has to blow up very much heart & lung tissue to kill a deer handily.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="nicholasjohn, post: 1735137, member: 109113"] I have shot a boat-load of whitetails with the 308, and have used 150, 165, and 180 grain bullets. Most have been garden-variety soft-points, and the only thing that made any noticeable difference in how fast the deer dropped was whether or not I hit a shoulder bone. Hits involving big bones also killed somewhat more quickly, due to more damage to the internal organs from bone fragments. On rib cage shots, the heavier bullets made smaller holes, but killed just as well as the lighter bullets. On shots from a sketchy angle, one might do well to use a heavier bullet, but you can shoot through most deer that are broadside to the gun with regular soft-points of any normal weight. If you're really interested in seeing different performance between bullets, the construction of the bullet will likely make more difference than an extra 25 or 30 grains of weight. I've also shot a lot of deer with bullets designed for much larger animals, and they kill them just as fast as your standard "deer bullet" does. For a while, I used my elk/moose rifle on deer, a 30-06 with the 180-grain Swift A-Frame. Some guys told me that this bullet was going to drill right through deer and not do much damage. While they did make smaller holes than lighter soft-points, none of the dozen or so deer I shot with them ran off. All were dead as a hammer right now. I don't think one has to blow up very much heart & lung tissue to kill a deer handily. [/QUOTE]
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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
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Does a heavier bullet kill better?
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