What is the best hunting bullet?

[shawn2010]

From deer to elk what is the best bullet? Is it Barnes's XlC or is it Noslers Partition, partition gold or failsafe. Or could it be hornady's Interbond. If there are any others bullets that maybe a better let here it. Which is the best bullet for game in North America.

[Bait Bucket]

To each his own but for me I have reloaded with Speer Grand Slams for years and they are the most accurate bullet out of my rifles and they have always done their job when I have done mine.

[ORoutdoorsman]

For handloads, I like the nosler partition for elk. You know it isnt going to break up before it penetrates to the vitals. As far as deer go, any quality bullet will do. If you want one round for both deer and elk, it is hard to beat a nosler partition.In my opinion.

[Fish Hawg]

300 ultra = 180gr nosler partition for elk, bear

280 =140gr nosler ballistic tips for deer, antelope

7mm08 = 120gr nosler ballistic tips for deer, antelope, coyotes, cougar

[ 01-14-2004, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Fish Hawg ]

[tailchaser]

.300 mag = 180 gr. nosler partitions for everything in N.America. I haven't had one walk away from it yet.

tc

[ICHTHYDEMON]

For my rifles,

.338 225gr. Remington Core-Lokt (the cheapies)
.270 140gr. Ballistic tip
.300 WSM 180gr. Speer Grand Slam
30-30 170gr. Remington Core-Lokt (the cheapies)

Generally I pick the most accurate load I've tested,as long as its appropriate for the game I'm hunting.

[Flatfish]

The one that just went thru the lungs.

Never very far from wrong with a Partition.

The X and Failsafe make little guns bigger. They also make bloodtrails. Which are easier to follow than tracks. really nice when dealing with herds of animals.

Mark and the dog.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Out of my .270 the 150gr Nosler partition doesn't work well on deer at all. My rifle shoots them real accurate but they just poke holes through deer. Holes the size of my little finger going in and coming out. I noticed Remington quit loading them for the .270. Wonder if that is the reason.

Dale

[Fishbone]

As a reloader, I have been pleased with Sierra's GameKing bullets. Not necessarily a tony brand name, but good performance in my opinion.

http://www.sierrabullets.com

[salmurai]

One gun, One load? Nosler Partition gets my vote.

[Flatfish]

Cosmic,

I gather you are gutting the deer when you discover what appears to be a lack of damage caused by the partition.

Mark and the dog.

[C-lice]

The BEST bullets are the ones you recover from the animal while you're skinning it.

"At what point in the animal's death did the bullet fail?"

Nosler Partitions are designed to loose 1/3 of their weight and then act like a solid. They work but I prefer a bullet that retains a higher % of its original weight, Swift A Frame.

[Steeliehunter]

To me there are three factors a look at when I am choosing a bullet. 1.Type of game, 2.Range of shot and 3.Bullet integrity upon imopact. When I know I may have to take a shot of over 400 yards I perfer boattail bullets fro better aerodynamics. With that said my first choice would be Bitterroot Bullet Company bonded bullets then Nosler Partition and Swift A frame or Swift siroco. Just my .02

[James in Idaho]

Partitions, I shoot 'em in everything I own except my 30-30, but that could change soon.

Try the 130's in your .270, I load my at 2900 (not at all even warm by .270 standards), only had one deer get out of the tracks it was standing in when hit, and he didn't go far.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Flatfish, as regards the 150 partition out of my .270 on deer. Taking them right thru the pump house (heart lung area) and they aren't dropping.

Internal damage is minimal compared to when I shoot deer with a 130gr PSP. I used to always use the 130gr on deer and dropped many right in their tracks or they went a very short distance.

I started using the 150gr partition after sighting in with them for elk. They shot so darn accurate I decided to try them on deer. I've shot four deer with them, all good shots through the heart lung area and all they all required a follow-up shot to finish them off.

Like I said before, little hole in and little hole out with very little damage in between. Out of a .270 the partition doesn't open up enough on a critter as light and small as a deer.

In contrast I hit a deer through the heart with a 130gr PSP and it actually carried the bottom part of the heart through the chest cavity and left it between the ribs and hide on the other side. Deer dropped in its tracks.

I'm going to try some 130gr Ballistic Tip Supremes and see how my gun likes them. I might go back to the 130gr PSP but I don't like the way they get their noses flattened out in the magazine.

Dale

CLS,
Sounds strange, my experience with Partitions has always been that they open up rapidly. I criticize them but they do work quite well. I have no use for Balistic Tips.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Keta,
What caliber are you shooting?

I've thought about this alot and was wondering if the 150gr partition out of a .270 doesn't have an adequate frontal area (cross section?) to open up or if the .270 doesn't push the 150gr fast enough to get it to expand.

I really wanted them to work well and keep using them as they shoot sub-MOA out of my rifle but the terminal performance just doesn't seem to be there on deer.

Might be great on a larger animal, like elk but alas, no elk has been in my sights when I was loaded with them.

Dale

[outdoor.spec.ops]

HUGE TOPIC...but I shoot the Noslers

[Flatfish]

The Partition is the softest bullet I know of.

It makes as big of splash in the onside as any Bal Tip. And it will continue to penetrate if it runs into a shoulder...Something Bal Tips are not really known for.

How quickly do you feel the animal should drop?

I understand that many times a deer will simply fall to the shot. Many times they will not. But if they die quickly, even if they run a few yards, what is the problem?

If you poke a buch in the ball joint in his shoulder with a ballistic Tip, I would bet 50/50 odds he runs off. If there is no blood trail, you got a cripple on your hands.

Change from deer to elk, and they DO run from every shot spine/brain hits excluded). But the wonderful blood trail makes finding them easy.

I do not bow hunt. But I have learned a few things frim the stick flingers in my life...

1- Keep the wind in your favor.

2-Animals die with 7/8" holes in their lungs.

Good Hunting.

Mark and the dog.

[ 01-15-2004, 08:54 AM: Message edited by: Flatfish ]

CLS,
264, 270, 284 (several), 308 (300win), and 338 with the Partitions, before going to the Swift bullets. Mostly on deer and black bear. I don't think I have ever seen one fail to expand and usualy they over expand, loosing the front 1/3.

[Firedog]

Hard to say what is the best bullet but I shoot 180 grain Partitions out of my .330 wby and 140 grain partitions out of my .280 rem.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Flatfish,

I expect them to drop as quickly as the first forty deer I've killed.

Sure, I've only killed four deer with the 150gr partition. Maybe I need a bigger sampling.

For deer, I like a quick expanding bullet. I know I'd be in trouble if I hit a deer badly with a quick expanding bullet but, knock on wood, I try for good shots and fortunately have been successful.

Not knocking anybodies bullet choice. They just don't seem to be for me.

Thanks,
Dale

[James in Idaho]

CLS:

Try the 130's for deer. I have shot a few deer with the 30-06 165 Partition, and even with similar shots, I don't get the drop 'em in the tracks that I get with my .270. No way I can explain why. My .270 is not picky, it shoots any 130 grain bullet well. It is borderline on headspace, so I load it down to the 2900 fps. Heck, I even shot my moose with that gun, took 4 partitions, and I only found one of them. I know a .270 is a "little" light for moose, but my .35 Whelen is a lot heavier rifle, and I was tired of carrying it! But I'll bet the 250 grain partition that I shoot in that would have stomped the moose a little faster. Elk are the toughest, and the 180 in the 30-06 has dropped 2 of 3 in its tracks, and the other was not the bullet, but where I put it. That cow went maybe a quarter mile before I caught up to it and finished the job.

[Flatfish]

Cosmic,

if you shoot carefully, ( and it sounds like you do) then by all means shoot away. :smile:

I like partitions because they allow me a larger variety of "careful" than bal tips or other soft bullets.

But if you have shot 40 and not lost any, who am I to tell you any different?

Mark and the dog.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

James,

Your experience sounds like mine. My .270 shooting 130gr performs quite well on deer.

Just not getting the same results with the 150gr partition with similar shots.

If anybody wants some factory load .270 150gr partitions I'll be happy to sell what I've got.

Dale

[Tilla]

Partitions
In a weak moment, even Mr.Nosler will say so.

[id. painter]

I shot Partitions for about 15 years in my 270.
I took 10 bull elk with it . I actually knocked the core out of two bullets.
One ,on an elk at about 20 yards when it hit the sholder. The other was at long range , I shot thru a branch , the bullet spun around and entered the elk going backwards. It opened the back end enough to let the lead fall out .
I shot 150 grainers at 2900 f.p.s. and killed the heck out of things with them.
I absolutly noticed the shock effect difference when I shot 130,s at high velosity 3200 f.p.s..vs. the slower 150. Knocked those deer on thier butts.
I now shoot a 150 Barns in a 7mm mag.3200 f.p.s. Havent retrieved a single bullet . In and out, with big trouble between the two. The new Barns are awsome. id. p.

[Fish Hawg]

This may be a dumb question [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] But here it goes. I thought it is best if the bullet does not exit the animal, If it does the bullet is not delivering MAX ballistic energy. Any how that is what I heard on the discovery chanel watching a show on Bullet Ballistics.

All I know is that my 300 ultra mag with 180gr nosler partition ;flat knock the elk down. The one I got this Year was 310 yards and he went down like a steer geting Slaughtered. The bullet did not exit the other sholder....Ross

[ 01-15-2004, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Fish Hawg ]

[nerta]

Ok my 2 cents. Failsafes, Swift A frames, Grand Slams. I stay away from partitions to much weight loss. I've used lots of hornady bullets with better success than noslers for retaining bullet weight.

[ICHTHYDEMON]

Fish Hawg,
There are two schools of thought on bullets. Some want a lightly constucted bullet,that expands violently,and dumps all its energy in an animal. Others want a stout bullet,that expands less,and is insured of an exit wound. Its like Ford vs. Chevy,everyone has their own opinion as to which is better.

Personally,I'd like to have an exit hole in all my animals. I think there is a better chance of a blood trail,with two holes,if the animal doesn't drop where shot.

[Gun Rod Bow]

The answer to this one depends on the bullet weight and velocity alot IMO.

I still shoot the same .270 that I shot when I was 19 yrs old. I have killed lets just say dozens of animals with it. Including well over a dozen elk prior to going to the "string gun".. My partners all shot .270s and I've seen probably 40 dead elk from that load.

Killing a deer/antelope has never really been an issue, having something left to eat that wasn't bloodshot was.

I used Nosler 130gr partitions on elk that were a "compression load" and went right at 3,000 fps. On a broadside chest shot on an elk they'd pass through, on an angle with a shoulder to exit through they'd be in there somewhere. They had planty of weight left to break a shoulder on the off side which is what I was after.

I discovered on deer the partiions opened up less and cause less bloodshot and meat damage which I read as good.

If I had it to do all over again I probably wouldn't select that caliber, but when you've packed the same rifle that long, well nothing else really fits my hands anymore.

That's what works for me.

[ 01-15-2004, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Gun Rod Bow ]

[StickFish]

In my 7mm STW I shoot 150 grain Swift Sciroccos

In my 300 WSM I shoot 180 grain Swift A-Frames

Trophy Bond Bear Claws are excellent
Nosler Partitions Are Pretty Good, but I've decided to use only bonded core bullets.

Never tried the Grand Slams, but have heard nothing bad about them.

There is a guy down in Medford that makes some really good bullets - Elk Horn. They made using Corbon tools and are bonded core - spendy though

[ScottD]

I'm switching to Barnes triple shock bullets, but I never have had any trouble with Grand Slams other than they just don't group as well in my rifle as I would like.

Another good bullet not mentioned above is the North Fork bullet. They retain a bunch of weight (90%+) and mushroom really nicely from the pictures I've seen on their website.

[Grantspastor]

For large game in my .338 Speer Grand Slams have been extremely effective for me, including knocking down a charging moose at 15'

For deer in my .270 I use a more frangible bullet, usually Speer spitzer boat tails

[Killertraylor]

For deer, I think bullet design really doesn't matter much. Hit them in the right spot and they go down with just about anything from a .17 hmr to a 600 nitro.

Elk - harder to penetrate and kill, I think a good bullet matters, but still not as important as shot placement.

I've killed elk with coreloks, X-bullets, Grand Slams and Partitions. I think the key is finding one that shoots sub 1 inch groups at 100 and then having the confidence to put it where it needs to go. I think most modern jacketed bullets will do the job if you hit them in the vitals.