premium bullets

speer hot cor. 165 gr. a superb bullet, i use speer hotcor for all my deer shooting, no need for premium prices

Reloaded Remington Core-lokts are fine. We have dozens and dozens of deer and elk taken with them and only two bullets recovered. One from a elk after passing through two bones that still weighed 90 something grains of it's original 150, and another from a deer that was shot at very close range.
So called "Premium" bullets are not necessary for thin skinned American game. Why spend upward of $2 for what will do the same job at under 20 cents apeice? Hunter confidence for some I guess, but thats about it.
IIRC back when Core-Lockts were introduced they were the top of the line, Remington spent a lot of time and money developing a bullet that worked excellent for hunting, they were good then, and they still are.

Ditto what "eliphalet" said. They may, or may not, always shoot MOA but the do a splendid job on game.

They have shot MOA for me in every rifle I have ever owned that would shoot MOA, Remington, Ruger, Savage and Winchesters.

I load the 140 Barnes for hogs in .308 and .30-30 for my Contender. I have shot a few hogs in the 200 lb range. Now, I probably would have had no problem with the Nosler BT I normally shoot for deer and paper, but they did the job admirably. I never recovered a bullet, but that's a good thing. Hogs are pretty dense animals. If it works for hogs, I would trust it for larger game.

In many calibers like .30-06 and on much of the game that is hunted with 'em, premium bullets aren't really necessary, but I like 'em anyway, why not? They're a little more expensive, not a big deal to me in a hunting bullet. They really shine when you wanna use a marginal caliber on larger game, they'll let you do that with good penetration. I'm not sure why you'd want to use a .223 on deer or a .243 on elk, but hey, a Barnes bullet will help you do that successfully.

I never liked Remington ammo or core lokt bullets, but to each his own. I'm sure they work. In normal, non-premium (or rather not controlled expansion), I've used Hornady Interlock (good penetrator), Sierra Game King (always superbly accurate and works on thin skinned game like deer), and Nosler Ballistic Tips. Accuracy, for deer, is more important than controlled expansion so long as the bullet weight is adequate. I've shot stem to stern, in the butt, out the neck, with a Nosler BT on a decent sized 8 point buck of about 120 lbs dressed (that's decent down here). If it'll penetrate 5 or 6 feet of venison, whadda I need a controlled expansion bullet for? LOL That Nosler is pretty impressive in 150/.308 Win on deer. I like the boat tail bullets for their BCs and accuracy. The Sierra, Hornady, and Nosler do that in normal bullets and the Barnes is a good high BC bullet in controlled expansion. BCs are down a bit on the Nosler Partition, but it's very accurate in 160 grain version in my 7 mag and good to over 300 yards anyway, so I'd probably tote that one if I ever get to go elk hunting. That, or just my .308 with the Barnes. Not sure I'd need more and that rifle is lighter to carry afield.

One thing I really like about Barnes is they'll expand rapidly even at .30-30 levels, yet will NOT lose bullet weight and will penetrate. Also, they're solid copper. A 140 Barnes X bullet is as long as a 160 grain lead bullet, but velocity is up with the 140 grain bullets due to the weight. So, with a Barnes, you're going to have penetration akin to a 160 grain lead bullet with the velocity of a 140....win, win situation there. Barnes bullets are pretty awesome.

When I used an '06 for deer & elk years ago in Montana, I loaded 165-grain Hornady spire points & they worked well for me. Rounds were accurate & everything I hit ended-up in the freezer.

I've killed a fair number of deer with Mr. Sierra's 150-grain SPBTs. For one bullet weight where elk are part of the deal, I'd go with the Sierra 180-grain SPBT with no qualms whatsoever.

The last load of 180s I worked up for my '06, I had a three-shot 0.4 MOA group. I've had a few half-MOA groups, before, and a ton of 3/4-MOA groups, but that was a new "best". And Justin used the rifle with that load to kill an elk...

Several answers, all good, all from hunters, and nearly all about different brand bullets.

I tend to think this is the state of the bullet selection for todays hunter, probably all are good. My guess is all of your top bullet makers are producing good quality hunting bullets today. Just buy a bullet that is made for the intended use and you should be fine. That along with proper shot placement and you'll be in great shape, no matter the manufacture.

I personaly would avoid bullets for hunting from Russia and some of Asia. Not that they aren't good, more that they are a unknown factor to me and other products from that part of the world have fallen short of expected quality. I wouldn't risk loosing a perhaps once in lifetime animal, so wouldn't hunt with them, although what few PMC's (Korea) I have used were a quality product.

Exactly. I'm not a brand specific kinda guy. What shoots straight in MY gun, I'll try. Bullets are very, very good now days. Not too many bad ones out there.

I'll get back with you when I get to shoot a pig with the 154 Wolf 7.62x39. What I've been able to determine, they look like they'll do the job. We'll see. I've got so many pigs down there and they're so over-populated, if I did lose one, I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over it, not like losing a huge racked buck or even a doe for that matter, LOL.

I've taken quite a few deer and elk over the years. My elk rifle is .308 Remington. Not a 30-06 but animals can't tell the difference.

Winchester Fail Safe 150 grain bullet will get the job done while ending up weighing about the same as an un-fired bullet. No kidding. This ammo shoots flatter than most 180 grain stuff with less recoil.

My wife's custom 6.5mm Swede has taken many elk as well. 140 grain Nosler Partitions will break right through heavy shoulder and neck bones yet still keep on going. It's common to see the front 30% of bullet missing and rear portion bent from the process of smashing heavy bones but this does not hinder lethal performance. After all, most hunters want lethal performance more than pretty mushroomed bullets.

Hornady 165 grain Interlock is a little less costly than most but it is a good one.

TR

I use the Hornady 165gr SST for both deer and elk with excellent results, shots ranging from 70 to 300 yards and not one has gone more than a few yards. I always go for a heart/lung shot, if you prefer a shoulder shot I would use the Interlock or Interbond instead.

I like Barnes TSX, although they take some experimenting to get to shoot really well. They don't explode at short range, and will drill deep on large animals. They also don't destroy a lot of meat.

Accubonds have great terminal performance IMO. I have shot several hogs with them and they open up quick but don't blow apart. Shoulder shots on hogs usually result with the bullet under the hide on the offside. I would imagine that they would exit on deer. All the ones I recovered weighed 70-75% of thier original weight and were perfectly mushroomed after striking bone 3 times.

partitions are an excellant bullet.

I use Hornady 180gr BTSPs... About 16 a box of 100... I have never found a bullet... Have taken black bear, large and small deer, taken heads off of turkeys, groundhogs, and yes even the aggrevating squirels (head shot and the squirrel was eaten)...