Bob is correct. Nowhere I have offered opinions on what bullet should be used for what game.
I picked three bullets to illustrate the differences in projectile selection and that even though they all have exactly the same "energy" they perform very, very differently. The Barnes is used because it is one of the deepest penetrating, narrowest wound channel bullets, the AMAX because it is one of, if not, the most violent heavy for caliber expanding/fragmenting bullets, and the Accubond because it is right in the middle and approximates what almost all controlled expansion bullets will do.
This is how I select what bullet to use in what cartridge and caliber and on what animal. First I want to be able to use the rifle to its limit. Which for just about all normal centerfire, bolt action rifles is +/-600 yards. So for me that bullet has to be able to expand/upset at 1,600 to 1,800 fps. Then I want it to exit the animal most of the time on quartering shots. I'm talking from the back of the ribs, to the offside shoulder.
Once those parameters have been filled I will choose the bullet that offers the biggest wound channel available while still meeting the expansion/penetration I want.
Quite a few have asked what bullets I use and so below are the cartridges and bullets I use the most for deer, for the results I want. That doesn't mean I'm saying they are the best for you.
223/5.56- Just about any of the controlled expansion, blind to barrier 62+ grain bullets available (Federal 62gr Fusion, and the identically constructed Speer 64gr Gold Dot, 60gr Partition, Federal MK318 SOST, 62gr TBBC, etc. The Barnes TSX (esp. the 53gr, and 55gr) offers good performance out to 200 or so yards as velocity drops too low past that. The Hornady 75gr AMAX is good in bolt actions and at long range.
243Win/243WSSM- 95gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. This bullet offers nearly perfect penetration and expansion for deer in my experience. That bullet was designed, made, and tuned for the 243Win by Gail Root from what I understand and deer just collapse at the shot. The Barnes 85gr TSX with its narrow wound channel does not damage enough tissue for me and we get a lot of runners. In addition past the 250 to 300 yard mark wounds are small due to low expansion. It does offer great penetration for bigger game, though oddly enough we have caught more 85gr TSX's in deer then any other bullet. For specific LR bullets the 105gr AMAX and 105gr HPBT from Hornady, the 105gr Berger VLD, and the 115gr DTAC have all worked well.
7mm WSM- these are our dedicated LR guns and we use bullets for that. Mainly the 162gr AMAX and 162gr HPBT from Hornady.
308Win- 168gr AMAX. This bullet performs like a larger 95gr NBT in the 243. Nearly perfect IMO. If I wanted a bit less expansion and more penetration the 165/168gr Nosler Ballistic Tip is wonderful. Of course almost any bullet works great in this cartridge though.
300Win Mag- 178gr AMAX. Most devastating cartridge/bullet combination I have seen. I rarely use it anymore as the meat damage can be extreme.
Those are what I and the group I hunt with tend to use for deer. For Elk and bigger things might change. When I have an Elk and deer tag in my pocket I use a bullet that is good for the bigger animal and it will work on the deer too. Even though I can specialize a bit because I mostly hunt Whitetails and Mule deer, Bob, Mule Deer, etc have it right. For an all around bullet the Partition, Accubond, Bitterroot, and other similar bullets are most diffidently the best performers across the board from Moose to Antelope. if I had to pick one type of bullet for everything those would be it.
