Expensive bullets for whitetail?

in a word...nope. in four...not even a little.

JonathanE said:

Can anyone testify to the benefits of using a premium bullet (Barnes TTSX, Hornady GMX, Nosler Silver Tip) on whitetails under 150 yards?
Do they kill more cleanly or quickly than a plain-old soft point?
Do they make tracking easier?

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Yes and no

For a 30-30, 270, 06, 308 ect ect no not at all


But for a 223, 22-250, 243, 7.62x39 or 6.8 you bet they do!

^^^
a valid point!

Also depending on the caliber, speed and bullet construction, they may hold together better through shoulder bone if your shot is off a bit.

Craigman said:

Also depending on the caliber, speed and bullet construction, they may hold together better through shoulder bone if your shot is off a bit.

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Or in the case of magnum calibers close in mean the difference between deep penatration with controlled expansion OR blowing your deer in half

When using chamberings that are borderline for the job at hand they help. Otherwise standard bullets are just fine. But, you don't always know. For example here in GA a deer or bear is legal on the same license. If I were deer hunting with a 243 in an area where a 500+ lb bear was a possibility I'd look hard at the premium bullets.

Their advantage is that they give much better penetration than would normally be expected. For example a solid copper bullet weighing 130 gr will often equal or beat a comparable 165 or 180 gr bullet in penetraion. They often don't expand as well, especially if impact velocity drops below about 2000 fps. so often take a little longer to bring game down compared to conventional bullets.

A 243 with standard bullets is fine on deer, might work on a standard 200 lb bear, but I'd feel better with Barnes bullets if I stumbled on one of the really big ones. Rather than have to work up several different loads, and learn several different trajectories many hunters just use the premiums on everything.

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[CODEn a word...nope. in four...not even a little. ][/CODE] I totaly agree. Ive killed 46 deer this year so far, all with cup and core bullets in both mag and standard rifles at ranges from 100-500 yards and have cleanly killed every one. Only thing premium bullets do for your deer hunt is insure you can afford less beer and the only one that will benifit from that is your wife.

The bullet does the damage.........the choice is yours.

JonathanE said:

Can anyone testify to the benefits of using a premium bullet (Barnes TTSX, Hornady GMX, Nosler Silver Tip) on whitetails under 150 yards?
Do they kill more cleanly or quickly than a plain-old soft point?
Do they make tracking easier?

Click to expand...

In a word; No. Here is a little secret for ya, now don`t tell nobody.......Core-Lokt now you got a great bullet.

I've had very good luck with Winchester Power Point, FEDERAL, and Remington Core-lokt ammo. By good luck I mean to say lethal results every time. Deer are not armor-plated at all.

Premium bullets were initially designed for high velocity magnums. "Plain bullets" in these magnums had poor penetration due to blow up.

Some cartridges have been improved a great deal by advent of Premium bullets. .243 is one which comes to mind. Better overal perforamnce with 100% penetration being typical. .243 with 95 grain Premium bullet actually behaves more like a 25-06 with 117 grain bullet.

TR

Yes and no

For a 30-30, 270, 06, 308 ect ect no not at all


But for a 223, 22-250, 243, 7.62x39 or 6.8 you bet they do!

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ding, ding, ding...Best answer...

Use enough gun and you don't need no stinkin' Barnes.

I shoot a 100 grain Sierra Game King in .257 Roberts and it does a great job on deer. It's a bit light for large hogs, but it knocks down anything I'd wanna eat. I shoot Game Kings, 150 grain, in 7mm Rem Mag. Great bullet for long range out west, BC of .535. I shoot Nosler BTs in .308 and .30-30 (Contender Pistol) and they're deadly on deer or hogs in either gun. I'd worked a load up with Barnes 140s, but I've been quite impressed since then with 150 Nosler BTs on hogs and deer, great penetration and expansion. Sorta makes the penetration problems I've read about them seem like myth. I trust 'em fine.

As for Core-Lokts, they've been around for a long time, work fine in cheap factory ammo if you don't handload. But, I prefer what I shoot to them. They've never impressed me for accuracy. I handload so that I can shrink my 100 yard groups to under 1MOA. It ain't that the bullet kills any quicker, but I'm more confident I can hit with it, especially in West Texas or New Mexico where I might be on the far edge of my 400 yard self imposed limit. If you never get out of the woods, boring, but if you never get out of the woods, you don't need such demanding accuracy standards. I really don't "NEED" it where I hunt now mostly, but hell, I've got a fetish for accuracy in a rifle and handloading helps this fetish a lot.

Oh, 7.62x39, hell, I don't need no stinkin' high priced bullets. I've used the now extinct 135 Sierra Pro Hunter (.308 caliber) in the woods successfully, but I get better accuracy out of cheap Wolf 154 grain soft point and they're cheap. At woods ranges, they work, though I'll never brag about 2.5 MOA. ROFL It's a truck gun, knock about, not a hunting rifle for me. But, I took the scope off it and it's a beat around gun now, sort of a semi auto .30-30 utility rifle. It'll take anything the .30-30 will to 150 yards.

The inexpensive soft point rounds work just fine. Shoot whatever is most consistently accurate in your rifle. If that's expensive ammo, then use it.

I shoot Nosler BT's for my 7mm. Velocity is 2950fps. Not hauling out by Magnum velocities, but it works and I havent shot a deer where the bullet exited yet. Im not fond of the price or the idea of a expanded partition or Barnes bouncing around the countryside after a through and through on a deer. Its just not needed.

I shoot Nosler BT's for my 7mm. Velocity is 2950fps. Not hauling out by Magnum velocities, but it works and I havent shot a deer where the bullet exited yet. Im not fond of the price or the idea of a expanded partition or Barnes bouncing around the countryside after a through and through on a deer. Its just not needed.

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Taht's where I differ. If the shot doesn't put him down, a large exit wound gives a nice blood trail. Now, you may have had all bang/flops, but some day, you'll have to trail a deer that didn't bang/flop and a blood trail sure is nice to have. I've never needed premium bullets to get a good exit wound, though, but I use enough gun. If I insisted on .223, I'd use a partition or Barnes or something.

If I insisted on .223, I'd use a partition or Barnes or something.

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Definitely use enough gun, unless your shooting them dog sized deer in Texas

303tom said:

In a word; No. Here is a little secret for ya, now don`t tell nobody.......Core-Lokt now you got a great bullet.

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Although I shoot several different calibers and load my own stuff with Nosler Accubonds I have to agree with 303Tom. The old Remington bullet works great on deer and I wouldn't be worried if an elk came by as long as I had a 270 or up.

The premiums come into play when you are shooting max loads in your super mags, especially at close range. Large critters that bite would be another reason for them, but deer are easy to put down with a well placed shot. I have taken many whitetails with the old Speer HotCore.

Core-Lockts work fine, but they seem to suffer in the accuracy department.... many of the ones I've had are a little funky looking at the tip which might be what throws them off. As long as you don't shoot at long distances, they work fine.

I like the Federal Power Shoks better. They seem to group better for me.

I just don't understand anyone whineing about the extra, "expensive bullets" cost??

When i buy NP's, there's 50 in the box, and once i have a HUNTING load worked up, (which i did nearly 30 years ago) how long does it take to shoot 50 animals????

My "go to gun" shoots 8mm bullets, i shoot 200 NP's for all of my hunting with this gun. For practice i can shoot 200 Speers if i want, but at 2 or 3 deer a year, how long will it take to use up a box of 50 bullets???

With my "go to gun" loaded with NP's, it's sighted in for anything i come across, and because i use the same bullet/load all of the time, i know exactly where that bullet will go! No guessing/re-sighting/looking at drop tables or anything else needed!!

I've shot everything from moose on down to coyotes and LOT'S of deer with this load, it works EVERY time! I like being ready with one gun and one load that will work for everything!!

Do they REALLY cost me all that much extra??? I think not!

DM

Well, it's just that there ain't a lot of Moose in Texas and I mostly hunt Texas, so I don't need no stinkin' NPs. They do shoot great in my Savage 110 7 Mag, though. All I ever shot with 'em is paper, deer being killed with the 150 Game Kings. More gun than I need for Texas game, but it still kills just fine with 150 Game Kings.

+1 apiece for 627 and MCg... and +1 apiece for cheap bullets and dog-sized deer. +1 for exit wounds an blood trails while I'm at it.... bottom line: Fancy bullets- if you put small bullets in big deer, you might need 'em... I put big bullets in small deer, and I don't need 'em.

sure they may not exit but in my experience its pretty rare. Ill give you an example from this year. Ive shot a dozen deer with the 257 wby so far and the load is a pretty hot one using 100 sierra prohunters. Two nights ago i shot two deer neither exited but it was the first ones i shot with that combo that didnt. Ive shot probably another 10 with the 7rem mag and 7stw. Both this year are being fed 150 nos bts and believe me there not idleing. Ive yet to shoot a deer that the bullet didnt exit using them. shot another at least 10 with the 264 mag using 120 ballistic tips wth the same results. My buddy has shot well over a dozen with his 257 (my old gun) using sierra 100 boat tails and hes yet to have one not exit. Hes not a gun nut, he loads his own ammo but does it on my equitment. He was talking the other day and was more conserned that they havent been opening up enough because of the small exit wounds about the size of a nickle. I checked out a few of his kills while he was gutting them and found that they sure did ample internal damage before they exited. Weve shot 62 deer now so far and the only tracking weve done was one with the 7stw. It blew a hole about the size of a 50 cent peice out the off side but some of the lungs went with it and plugged the hole. Ive shot enough deer at about any range to know for a fact that if your loosing deer due to cup and core bullets you need to spend some more time at the range, not spend more money on fancy bullets.