Looking for a new hunting bullet... Which one!??!

[JAYgs8163]

^^^^ I think if you read the entire thread he discusses this in detail through the 11 pages.

 

[Gravel Road]

Do not succumb to the, "bigger is better syndrome," which seems to be popular here. The bullet needs to be sized to the intended prey. Using an Elephant cartridge on a deer does not work to your best advantage. If you hit it, it will blow the deer apart. Conversely a properly place deer cartridge can drop an elephant in it's tracks. Many times it's not the caliber of the cartridge, it's in the ability of the shooter to place the proper bullet in the exact place where it will do the most damage.

No offense, but this is backwards. "Elephant cartridges" aren't going to blow a deer apart, but being stoutly built will most likely not expand very well on a deer and just punch a nice sized deadly hole through them. The "deer cartridge" would most likely blow apart on the elephant and not penetrate enough. I would much rather use a 270 gr 375 softpoint on a whitetail than a 6.5 140gr on an elephant (WDM Bell 160 solids don't count). I get your argument, but it lacks in this explanation.

To the OP, I have had amazing luck with the old 30 cal 200 partition. It will kill everything you ever desire in the 500 yard limit, it's just not sexy. Having said that, in the future, I'm moving to the Hammer bullets, as they seem to be able to duplicate or better the partition performance.

 

[OCHO505]

The partition and hammer seam to have the most votes. I am looking into them also.

Any input on the Norma Bondstrike?

 

[dave_halsey]

190 berger vld, 180 accubond, 180 scirocco or a partition will all do what you need. Just gotta find them haha. Ive got a partial box of 212 eldx bullets on the shelf if you want to try them out. shoot me a text.

 

[marcos0901]

So I have a 300 WSM I love but last few animals I have shot I am not seeing the results I want on animals and I actually lost a buck in Colorado this weekend. So I am looking to try and switch things up. Currently shooting the 190 ABLR. Recently scored some 200 grain ELDX before this all happened just to try them out. I just hear good and bad about every kind of bullet so looking for some insight. A buddy of mine says for smaller game like deer or antelope I need a softer bullet or possibly the speed of the gun and bullets are too much. I forgot to add... Seams like the closer the shot the less I see great results but the further shots seam to do better. 200 yards and in are not great but 300 out seam much better and my AR10 stones most things so I am trying to figure out how to solve the situation. Thoughts??

I shoot 168gr hornady bthp out of my 308 and it always does nasty work. I also love vlds but they are a little proxy for my pocket book.

 

[Teri Anne]

No offense, but this is backwards. "Elephant cartridges" aren't going to blow a deer apart, but being stoutly built will most likely not expand very well on a deer and just punch a nice sized deadly hole through them. The "deer cartridge" would most likely blow apart on the elephant and not penetrate enough. I would much rather use a 270 gr 375 softpoint on a whitetail than a 6.5 140gr on an elephant (WDM Bell 160 solids don't count). I get your argument, but it lacks in this explanation.

To the OP, I have had amazing luck with the old 30 cal 200 partition. It will kill everything you ever desire in the 500 yard limit, it's just not sexy. Having said that, in the future, I'm moving to the Hammer bullets, as they seem to be able to duplicate or better the partition performance.

The comparison of the elephant cartridge and deer cartridge on elephant are all relevant to shot placement. I have seen the damage that a 458 Win Mag does on a deer when it hits the shoulder bone and literally tears the deer in half. I have also seen pictures (no not in real life since I cannot afford an African or Indian hunt but have to rely upon the words accompanying the photo of an Indian Elephant shot dead with a 30-06.) In either case, if the deer had been hit behind the shoulder the 458 would have zipped through and while destroying the heart/lung area and killing the deer, the 30-06 on the elephant would most likely have been no more than a pin ***** if not properly placed. Gentlepersons...no matter what anyone wants to say it's all in shot placement, not what kind of firearm you are shooting. A .22 Long Rifle has probably been responsible for the demise of many more deer and antelope than can ever be imagined. Don't believe me ask any Poacher or Game Warden.

 

[Gravel Road]

Yep, it all comes down to bullet construction, velocity, distance and shot placement. There's no magic, just math.

 

[lancetkenyon]

A couple of things, you have to look at bullets doing their job correctly in terms of velocity. The eldm does a great job, generally at less than 2300 fps (300y and beyond) GENERALLY!! the eldx has a stronger jacket and does not perform as well below 2000 fps meaning I tell guys if your hunting 300y and inside, stay with the eldx. The TMKs and TGKs have the same performance respectively. Again, it's what your gun like for accuracy as well. Also, a great shot with the wrong bullet can be a nightmare situation. I see so many people build a phenomenal rifle and have zero understand of bullets and terminal ballistics. Good for you to notice the problem and seek to rectify it.

TMK and TGK are different construction. TGK jackets are about 3x thicker than a TMK jacket.
Although they both shoot identical in a couple rifles I have loads for in same weight.

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

I would recommend the hammer hunters.by far the best bullets I've used.there easy to load for.all ways in stock and great customer service if need be.and they will help you pick a bullet for your needs and from what I've seen so far there spot on for what grain weight bullet vs what type of game and at what ranges.two of my rifles already loaded for hammers and the other two will be soon as they get here so far I'm really impressed with them.and terminal performance is by far better than any other bullet I've used.just my two cents

 

[RuninL8]

TMK and TGK are different construction. TGK jackets are about 3x thicker than a TMK jacket.
Although they both shoot identical in a couple rifles I have loads for in same weight.
View attachment 320725

I understand that's what sierra says but, I have a friend that is way up the food chain at Sierra, and will tell you different. I didn't just make that up. And I'll go so far as to back the boat out of the water a little and say, it's all about velocity for the 2 bullets.

 

[NeedForSpeed]

I shoot a .30-338 wildcat and am shooting a 200 gr. Sierra Game King. I killed my elk this year at 167 yards and I have a 900+ yard kill on elk. As for smaller animals Deer and coyotes have never escaped unless my shot placement was off.
I have only shot paper with the ELDs. They shot great groups but remember ELD = extra long distance.
The Sierra GK have been around a long time and have a longer track record.
I would keep practicing to make sure my shots were true.

S Fandrich
Colorado

ELD stands for Extremely Low Drag.

 

[WildRose]

I have shot up to 450 -500 dont plan on shooting further.

Hard to beat the Accubond or ABLR for those ranges.

 

[WildRose]

So I have a 300 WSM I love but last few animals I have shot I am not seeing the results I want on animals and I actually lost a buck in Colorado this weekend. So I am looking to try and switch things up. Currently shooting the 190 ABLR. Recently scored some 200 grain ELDX before this all happened just to try them out. I just hear good and bad about every kind of bullet so looking for some insight. A buddy of mine says for smaller game like deer or antelope I need a softer bullet or possibly the speed of the gun and bullets are too much. I forgot to add... Seams like the closer the shot the less I see great results but the further shots seam to do better. 200 yards and in are not great but 300 out seam much better and my AR10 stones most things so I am trying to figure out how to solve the situation. Thoughts??

The biggest problem I think is that with all our magnums which most of us push to the limits of, we need much more heavily constructed bullets than the average guy tot'n grampa's .270 or 06.

I'm picky, I want a hole on both sides without the backside looking like it was hit with a grenade.

The other consideration is bullet placement. If you're punching through the shoulders you need a very tough bullet at any velocity and tougher with 3000fps or higher MV.

We eat what we shoot and so I'm very conscious of being able to recover everything we shoot and have the maximum meat remaining for the table without excess blood shot.

Thus I tend to prefer solid copper or heavy jacketed well bonded bullets.

Since I try to run extremely fast velocities in everything I have to be very mindful of all of the above.

 

[snox801]

Hard to beat the Accubond or ABLR for those ranges.

Not really pick any hammer