Decent cup and core??

Just to echo what’s been said I use cup and core exclusively for hunting deer in MI. My two are currently Sierra pro hunters in 30 cal and .243. I’ve used corlokt in the past with good results. I would expect the Speer to be similar they have a good reputation.

Around here 125 yards and in its more about shot placement than anything else. I do not like shoulder busting shots but prefer boiler room shot as VT describes.

Jeff
 
N555 said:
The only problem with speer hotcore bullets is finding them.
I just bought some 150gr speer hotcore bullets for for 30-30 at retail price last week. That's the first time I have seen them at a non-gouge price in over 2 years.
Click to expand...
I have found two boxes in two years. Bought them both. They seem markedly cheaper than all the rest. I hope they don't go price jacking.
I shoot a lot of these
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010534638
I like these just fine
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010538145
 
Anchorite said:
I personally have never had a problem with off-the-shelf common cup and core bullets over the years, be it Speer, Sierra, Remchester, or Hornady. White tailed deer are simply not that hard to kill. In this case, it’s the Indian, not the arrow.
Click to expand...


so basically whatever is cheapest?
 
I got to thinking about it and I've never killed a deer with anything other than a Remington Cor-Lokt bullet in my 30-06. I killed my first deer with my own reloads seven years ago and use 165 gr. Core-Lokts over 54 gr. of Win. 760 and it kills real dead real quick.
 
Sierra is a good cheap bullet, definitely more available than speer.
The only complaint about Sierra I hear is "their hunting bullets don't group as tight as premium hunting bullets".
I can't complain, they are my go to bullet for my 6.5 I tried everything I could get a hold of and the Sierra hame changer has been the only one that gave repeatable holes touching groups at 175 yards.
I also hear bonded bullets can do weird things accuracy wise in high powered rifles. I never tested it.
 
Walkalong said:
They are not hard to kill, don't over think it. Shot placement.. :)
Click to expand...

Well said!!!

I've shot Deer with Remington, Winchester, Speer, Sierra, Hornady and maybe a couple of others. Really have not seen much difference in performance. These were the smaller Southern Deer and some larger Canadian Deer and also some Western Mule Deer and Antelope.The Sierra shoot slightly better in all of my rifles. I shoot 150 grain bullets. I have helped track lots of Deer shot with Ballistic Tips and with Patitions. It looks like the Ballistics Tips expand too quickly and the Partitions don't expand enough. The Sierra ProHunter is my "go to"bullet and they have been out of stock for a while.

I've also killed Deer a 308, 30-06 and a couple of 300's using the Sierra 165 HPBT, not to be confused with the 168HPBT target bullet, and also with the Berger VLD Hunter.
 
Being a cast bullet caster and shooter, I find it hilarious that folks consider a jacket loss a “bullet failure”!

It’s rare that I ever recover a cast bullet from a game animal.
If a jacketed bullet expands and the core exits, I consider that adequate to excellent performance.

Just 2 months ago, I shot 2 does 2 weeks apart with my .22-250. I was shooting a 63gr Sierra Semi Point soft point as it’s the heaviest bullet the 1/14” twist 24”bbl will stabilize.

The first I shot from my front porch. Range was laser checked at 78yds.bullet entered on quarter facing deer just foward of the right front leg, impacting a short rib. Exited third from last opposit rib, 1.5”dia exit wound. Muzzle Velocity 3,650fps!

Second, broadside base of neck @ 147yds out my kitchen window. (My favorite deer stand!).
Bullet smashed the spine, at about a 30deg angle away from me. Jacket was split and spread with a small piece of lead in bottom of jacket. A piece of the core penetrated and exited!
Not bad for a “varmint” bullet! Impact was point of shoulder.



I’ve had similar performance from PPU, Speer, and Hornady 100gr from my .257Wby @3,600fps.
A 90gr Speer HotCore did fail to exit a 40lb Coyote I shot out the kitchen window with a .243 @3,150fps. 95yds.
I “DID NOT” necropsy him to see why. He defined “Stink”! Hit the near shoulder/spine.

CA86FFCE-3164-4803-AB4A-60BD269701E2.jpeg
 
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People around here hunt deer with a wide variety of calibers and bullets, from light bullets in .243 to heavy ones in .300 Win Mag (Gawd), and the ones who talk about chasing/trailing deer usually made bad shots.

Sure, sometimes dead animals run a good ways, but there is usually a good blood trail and it generally isn't far if the bullet exited.
 
GooseGestapo said:
Being a cast bullet caster and shooter, I find it hilarious that folks consider a jacket loss a “bullet failure”!

It’s rare that I ever recover a cast bullet from a game animal.
If a jacketed bullet expands and the core exits, I consider that adequate to excellent performance.

Just 2 months ago, I shot 2 does 2 weeks apart with my .22-250. I was shooting a 63gr Sierra Semi Point soft point as it’s the heaviest bullet the 1/14” twist 24”bbl will stabilize.

The first I shot from my front porch. Range was laser checked at 78yds.bullet entered on quarter facing deer just foward of the right front leg, impacting a short rib. Exited third from last opposit rib, 1.5”dia exit wound. Muzzle Velocity 3,650fps!

Second, broadside base of neck @ 147yds out my kitchen window. (My favorite deer stand!).
Bullet smashed the spine, at about a 30deg angle away from me. Jacket was split and spread with a small piece of lead in bottom of jacket. A piece of the core penetrated and exited!
Not bad for a “varmint” bullet! Impact was point of shoulder.



I’ve had similar performance from PPU, Speer, and Hornady 100gr from my .257Wby @3,600fps.
A 90gr Speer HotCore did fail to exit a 40lb Coyote I shot out the kitchen window with a .243 @3,150fps. 95yds.
I “DID NOT” necropsy him to see why. He defined “Stink”! Hit the near shoulder/spine.

View attachment 1133203
Click to expand...
i wish i could hunt from my porch! thats awesome
 
From about 1960 until 2000 most of my deer were taken by a.30-06 firing 150 grain Core Lokt bullets. About half were DRT: Very few ran over 50 yards. Last deer i shot was with a .30-06 was in 2021. The load was a very hot one using the Sierra 150 grain boat tail bullet. Everything in the chest of that huge buck was shredded and the base of the bullet exited: Deer died instantly.

90+95 percent of the deer i've taken since 2000 was with muzzleloaders.
 
" I have helped track lots of Deer shot with Ballistic Tips and with Patitions. It looks like the Ballistics Tips expand too quickly and the Partitions don't expand enough."

Reloaders need to be mindful that particular bullet types have velocity windows in which they perform best. If one expects their quarry to be close as can happen in dense woods in the upper Midwest or in the East and one is using ballistic tips driven as fast as possible your results are likely to be disappointing.
 
Whatever you can find will work, unless your rifle just hates the bullet. And even then, it'll probably still work if you're not shooting past 150 yards or so. In an '06, I'm partial to 165 Hornady Interlocks. That's mostly because I can find them in store near about whenever I want, and they are relatively inexpensive. They work fine in my rifles to 200 yards or so on deer-sized game. I skip the SSTs/BTs now because they expand a bit more rapidly than I like, and they are more expensive, but they work too. Sierras and Speers work fine too if you have access to them.

Load 'em up and shoot more.
 
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