Are "Premium" bullets worth the expense ?

[alsaqr]

I think a lot of the people answering here have very little experience hog hunting. At close range hogs are extremely dangerous and can absorb a lot of lead.

Oh, i have lots of experience killing hogs, dozens and dozens of them. About half of my hogs have been killed with a .50 muzzleloader. Most of the rest have been killed with a .22 LR, a .22 Magnum, a .22 Hornet and a .223. A few have been killed with a .30-06. 90% of my hog kills are bang flops. Pick your shot and the hog will die every time.

The premium bullet is not made that will turn a gut shot hog into a bang flop every time.

I have never heard an experienced hog hunter recommend a .243, with any kind of bullet.

You have heard it now.

 

[TCB in TN]

There are large differences in types of hogs and types of hunting. If you are hunting this
http://www.rw.ttu.edu/sp_accounts/feral_hog/WILD_BOAR.gif
on foot in heavy cover then you might want a bit more gun than if you are hunting this from a stand
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0gz52r5bGtd5G/610x.jpg.

 

[alsaqr]

In the early 60s I hunted boars in western NC and eastern TN on a private preserve.

Most of the hogs in this area are the descendents of 100 breeding pairs of German boars that a rich guy ordered from Germany and turned loose all over this part of OK about 15 years ago.

Have been charged three times by hogs. I wounded a big sow that ran into a plum thicket; she let out a blood curdling distress call and a big boar came after me. Dropped him at about 15-20 feet with my .50 muzzleloader: He weighed 302 pounds field dressed. Then I went after the sow and got her.

Being charged by hog is just part of the hog hunting experience. Am not too quick at age 69, that's is why I wear chainsaw safety pants when going into thickets after hogs. Would recommend that you do the same.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I've found Corelokt bullets to be about as good as it gets for the money.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I really think that "primium bullets" are a waste of money. As was stated. Most "primium bullets" are gauged against the Remington Core-Lokt. One of the finest "non-primium bullets". Remington Core-Lokts are the standard. Using Speer, Hornady or Sierra will do the same job as any...

 

[TCB in TN]

Core-Lokts are fine performing bullets, but I have found to many guns that do not shoot them well. I have had far better success with Winchester silver tips.

 

[steveno]

I'm not sure if they are really needed sometimes but the best shooting bullet by far in my Ruger #1A in 270 winchester was the 160 grain Nosler partition. that is all I kept loaded for it

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Most of the time, no. But if hunting grizzly for example, I should think that a bonded and/or partitioned premium 180 is superior to a non-bonded 220 even, in penetration power. That's penetration.

As for consistency/accuracy, how much accuracy do you need for hunting? A good hold and shot selection is 1,000 times more important than the marginal accuracy attributed by a premium bullet.

And lets' not forget that you can put the fine non-premium Rem Core-Lokt bullet (and similar) into actual good loads, with consistent brass & powder charges and get better accuracy than Rem's "Express" ammo gives you.

 

[jeepmor]

Whatever shoots best is my thinking as long as the bullet is designed for game, not just match FMJs for example. The most accurate round through your rifle may pay off for that looong shot.

I've owned my hunting rifle for 3 years now and have yet to go through three boxes of rounds. Only two rounds fired into quarry, the rest at targets. Or, like this year, a buck fever miss on an eastern Oregon whitetail that would have been a personal best.

jeepmor