Hunting bullets what did you use

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My hunts this year contained nothing spectacular. I used the same rifle I have for the last several years even though I have a ton of new rifles I could have taken. A 1960’s 1894 in 44Mag. Loads were the same they always are. 240gr Sierra JCH over 22.5gr of H-110. Shots were 15-40 yards and the bullets did what they always do. They went where I aimed, and made two good sized holes. No deer ran farther than 40 yards. The coyote dropped.

It may be boring to some. But there is an element in having COMPLETE faith in one’s equipment. And hunting with a trusted friend. It’s hard to leave that friend in the safe when they have always been faithful. Maybe next year I’ll try something different. I’ve got a year to work up loads for my new rifles.

I agree nothing like having faith in your equipment. I was a little apprehensive about the 223, I know many hunters kill game with that caliber, just didn't have first hand experience. I trusted the nosler partition to a point, the trust is based on their reputation for tough construction. I had complete confidence in the accuracy of the rifle and it's Leupold optic.

Years ago, I shot these in a NEF Handi Rifle in .280 Rem (They were all that darn rifle liked).
All I ever killed was does, but most were DRT.
I used the factory loaded Winchester Supreme.

I really like the 280 rem on paper it's a great round. I've been on a quest to be able to shoot larger rounds without pain. It's a slow process. One of the steps in my quest is 280 rem.
 
Yeah them .243's are one of the best kept secrets when it comes to taking deer and varmints. It was supposed to be a dual-duty cartridge, and boy it sure looks like it.

LD

I've got to get another 243 or 2. It'll add another gun to my shooting as well as for my grandson and granddaughter. One is already asking when I can take him hunting.

Boar hit in the snout by a .490 round ball that exited behind his ear. Distance was about 60 yards:

View attachment 876067

This buck fell to a .490 round ball at about 35 yards:

View attachment 876068

Both bang flopped.

It's been a while since I used a 50 cal
To ed last one I took with a 50 was at 109 yds. Had a Kentucky Flint lock and shot a 285 gr buffalo bullet, hollow base hollow point.
 
Used a .30-06 with Federal factory ammo with the 150 gr. Sierra Game King.
Bang flop. Hit the #2 rib going in and deflected hitting the spine. Blew out 4" of spine and 6" of backstrap. About 70 yards.
I am beginning to really like the .30-06. It has bit of a ways to go to eclipse my .270, tho. Just plain love the .270 and 130 gr. Berger bullets with IMR 4350. 140 grainers with IMR 4831 are great, too.

Not sure what to take next year. What a dilemma! Ain't it great? :D
 
My dad has a nice syn stocked savage in 243 he may part with.
Love the Savage in .243! Last one I had would shoot dime sized 5-round groups AND SMALLER with its preferred handload. Was so consistent it was boring.

Like a fool, I sold it and I am still kicking myself almost 10 years later..... :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:
 
My dad has a nice syn stocked savage in 243 he may part with.

Send me a pm I'll see what I can do.

Used a .30-06 with Federal factory ammo with the 150 gr. Sierra Game King.
Bang flop. Hit the #2 rib going in and deflected hitting the spine. Blew out 4" of spine and 6" of backstrap. About 70 yards.
I am beginning to really like the .30-06. It has bit of a ways to go to eclipse my .270, tho. Just plain love the .270 and 130 gr. Berger bullets with IMR 4350. 140 grainers with IMR 4831 are great, too.

Not sure what to take next year. What a dilemma! Ain't it great? :D

Well don't choose until your in the field. Take them both it's a win either way.

Love the Savage in .243! Last one I had would shoot dime sized 5-round groups AND SMALLER with its preferred handload. Was so consistent it was boring.

Like a fool, I sold it and I am still kicking myself almost 10 years later..... :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:

I agree, mine had some throat erosion, bought it used, wife thought-out was her axis 11 and sold it. I was disappointed to day the least. I had to load long to get it to shoot but, as long as I did my part it would shoot quarters at 175.
 
2 deer with 130 grain accubonds in 264 win mag. First was a doe at a little over 100 yds. Bullet went in around diaphragm and exited a few inches behind offside shoulder. Got lungs and nicked the heart. She went about 75 yds with very sparse blood trail.

Second was small spike at about 40 yds quartering to me. Entered in front of left shoulder and exited behind right shoulder. Dropped in his tracks with extensive damage. Got most of the meat off the shoulders but none from the ribs.
 
Shot 30 or 40 deer with 130 gr. Speer HotCors out of 270 and and couple out of 338 Federal with 200 gr. Speer. My 243 has taken over a dozen with 95gr Ballistic Silvertips. The 6.5 Creedmoor has taken a bunch with 130gr Accubonds and a couple with 143gr. ELD-X. The 300 WSM likes 165gr Accubonds.

I think 8 or 9 deer fell to 180 gr XTP out of my GP100 357 and the 7mm TCU took a couple with 120 gr Ballistic Tip.

I have used other bullets, but these are what I have used the most. If I was told to pick one bullet for everything and I had deep pockets, I would go with a Partition. Never really needed them, but they work the way they are supposed too.
 
and couple out of 338 Federal with 200 gr. Speer.

This cartridge has always intrigued me. When I was deciding on what cartridge to build a dedicated 'hog gun' around...I looked at this very hard. I ended up going .458 SOCOM...but I bet a .338 Federal on an AR10 platform would make a dandy pig popper.

I'm sorely tempted to build one.
 
win mag. First was a doe at a little over 100 yds. Bullet went in around diaphragm and exited a few inche

That is a real nice cartridge.

One thing I see a lot guys that tend to use cupandcore bullets tend to shoulder shoot, while the guys using bondeds seem to go for the behind the shoulder shot. Kinda backwards.

I try and pick the best shot that I'm presented with. Took my first neck shot a couple years ago.

Shot 30 or 40 deer with 130 gr. Speer HotCors out of 270 and and couple out of 338 Federal with 200 gr. Speer. My 243 has taken over a dozen with 95gr Ballistic Silvertips. The 6.5 Creedmoor has taken a bunch with 130gr Accubonds and a couple with 143gr. ELD-X. The 300 WSM likes 165gr Accubonds.

I think 8 or 9 deer fell to 180 gr XTP out of my GP100 357 and the 7mm TCU took a couple with 120 gr Ballistic Tip.

I have used other bullets, but these are what I have used the most. If I was told to pick one bullet for everything and I had deep pockets, I would go with a Partition. Never really needed them, but they work the way they are supposed too.

That's a lot of deer put in the freezer. What was/ is your favorite bullet so far.
 
That's a lot of deer put in the freezer. What was/ is your favorite bullet so far.
I like the Accubonds . They are basically a BallisticTip so they are accurate, but are bonded so they don't come apart unless they are pushed really fast. I tried the 150gr in my 300 WSM and it was nasty. 165gr and 180gr worked swell. I have even used the 100 gr in a 257 Weatherby on a doe at 40 yards. The bullet traveled the from the shoulder to the pelvis and was a classic mushroom.

I have been blessed to have the job of thinning the deer herd on a large farm. I almost have things under control now but one year I took 25 head off of it. Out of the 72 head I have taken off that farm only 8 were antlered bucks. They were either big or culls.
 
This cartridge has always intrigued me. When I was deciding on what cartridge to build a dedicated 'hog gun' around...I looked at this very hard. I ended up going .458 SOCOM...but I bet a .338 Federal on an AR10 platform would make a dandy pig popper.

I'm sorely tempted to build one.
I too was intrigued. The loading manuals are deceptive. Most loads are compressed and a 200 gr max loads runs 2500-2600 fps. I took a couple deer at ranges of 30 yards and 70 yards with a 200 gr Speer at 2450 fps. The shoulder on one was completely pulverized.

The Federal Fusions claimed 2700 fps with the 200 gr. They were wrong. I got 2750 on my chrono. Recoil is a push and not a sharp slap.
 
I have used many calibers for deer hunting over the years from 22 Hornet to 7mmMag and like and use the 243. I have a old Remington 788 and I just bought a H&R Handi-Rifle In 243, both tack drivers. I exclusively use the H&R this deer season and shot five deer with it and could of shot another ten if we had use for them.

I love handloading for my rifles and then testing them out. I am buying a 223 barrel for the H&R from a hunting forum back in Washington State for $50. It is a NEF barrel and might fit my H&R. if it fits I will put a 3x9 Leupold scope on it and try it next year unless I cash in my chips before next deer season.
It all comes down to shot placement with the smaller calibers. For me I only rake deer that are walking orcstanding still so I generally get to pick the point of impact which equats to dead deer.

I have a Remington Model 7 in 6mm Remington on lay away at a pawn shop I might bring back to New York for shooting deer with..
I really enjoy my three weeks of deer hunting every year.
 
I used old stock 7mm 154 Hornady RN interlocks in my .280 Rem this year. I was running a reduced charge of 47 gr IMR 4350 which should put me in the 7x57 wheelhouse. Dropped a good sized deer, about 160 dressed weight in his tracks with a low neck shot. Decent but not excessive damage with pass through.

Wife shot the same Speer Hot Core Mag tip she has used for several years now. 150 gr .308 win, reduced a few grains from max to ~2600 FPS over IMR 4064. Small doe, good expansion, pass through quartering away with exit through center of off side shoulder. Some meat damage here, but no "poof" or excessive fragmentation noted. This deer also died in it's tracks.

Both were less than 50 yards distant.
 
7MM-08 Hornady 139 gr SST (my reloads)
300 Win Mag 178 gr Hornady ELD-X(my reloads)
243 103 gr Hornady ELD-X (my reloads)
12 gauge Winchester 1oz BRI sabots 2 3/4 in
Black powder Powerbelt 245 HP over 100 gr Pyrodex

I load the 139 sst's as well for 7mm08 I have some loaded up now for hunting, but decided to use the 140 nbt's this hunt.
 
Few hours ago my 16 year old son tagged a small racked (7pt) buck out back. Used a 120 Nosler BT from a .260Rem M7 at 2924 MV. 110 yds, buck jumped, broke into a run, made it 25 yds and crashed so hard he broke one antler off. Behind shoulder shot, lungs & top of heart were toast. Exit wound is lower due to box blind height.

TsnsKxKh.jpg

I'm still waiting to connect with a .270 loaded with 130 Nosler ABs. I've killed 30+ deer with the 130 BTs and wanted to try something diffrent this year.
 
Few hours ago my 16 year old son tagged a small racked (7pt) buck out back. Used a 120 Nosler BT from a .260Rem M7 at 2924 MV. 110 yds, buck jumped, broke into a run, made it 25 yds and crashed so hard he broke one antler off. Behind shoulder shot, lungs & top of heart were toast. Exit wound is lower due to box blind height.

View attachment 876563

I'm still waiting to connect with a .270 loaded with 130 Nosler ABs. I've killed 30+ deer with the 130 BTs and wanted to try something diffrent this year.

Congratulations to you and your son. That's a nice looking buck too bad about his antler.

I would actually prefer the 260 rem to a 6.5 creedmoor. Those m7's are nice rifles almost picked one up in 7mm08 to go with my 700.
 
Would have been a good choice. I didn't deer hunt this year, but have some 55 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmints still left over from three years ago. I like your report on the 60 gr. Partition, I will be loading some of those up for next year.
 
Would have been a good choice. I didn't deer hunt this year, but have some 55 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmints still left over from three years ago. I like your report on the 60 gr. Partition, I will be loading some of those up for next year.

Thank you.
 
I shot a 7 point buck yesterday with my 7mm08. 140 nbt 46.5 gr imr 4350 at 2.805" coal. Shot was almost straight on and hit high shoulder. Got no exit from the nbt, bit a lot of internal damage lungs were goo detached from the trachea, and hit aorta filling chest cavity with blood.


Edit I just talked to my SIL and told me that the front shoulder, scapula, was destroyed and had to be discarded.
 
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