I have two boxs of Winchester 180 gr. Power Points. I have the Winchester cases and Large Rifle primers to load some TTSX 168 gr. bullets. The rifle (Sako A7 Tecomate 300 WSM) will be here tomrrow so I'm gong to use the 180 gr. factory ammo to sight the rifle in with. If it shoots good enough with the factory ammo,
I might just use it for a week or two.
I can load the 168 gr. TTSXs later.

Is this to much bullet for whitetails?

dead is dead, but a 300wsm is certainly sufficient. 180gr factory stuff will work well.

It's alot of rifle for a whitetail, but hotsoup is right "dead is dead". You already own it then use it.

If you're gonna handload, get some 125 gr. Sierra SPs and boot them out at about 3,600 fps.

Want to ensure a visible blood trail down there in the piney woods, brother.

I've killed a fair bit of game with the 300 WSM, from antelope to elk. I prefer 180's in the round. Load em at 2,950 and you're set. Personally I can't see the point of lighter bullets in the round... to me, 180's and 200's are what 30 cal Magnums are all about, and the difference in recoil between 165's and 180's is fairly negligible.

naw, I can't see how it would be "too much." I'd think it would do a really, really good job killing whitetails. I'm agreeing with brad that 180's-200's are the way to go with the .30 mags.

nice rifle choice, btw, I like those tecomates.

Where you hit them is more important to me than what you hit them with. I wouldnt be concerned about shooting them with a 300 Mag. I shoot them here with a 45/70, dead is dead.

My primary rifle for southern deer is a 300 saum. Ive killed a pile of them with 180 accubombs and it was impressive. Have shot 2 this year with 150 BTs and it works too. They are both "too much" for sure but both seem to drop them on the spot so i am not in a hurry to use anything else

That said, I am on the front end of building my ultimate southern deer rifle - a 6.5 rem mag. Then the 300 saum will be retired for heavier work with the 180s or for when i just want a change of pace

Edited to add: No flies on the 300 WSM for southern deer or anything else. It is a wonderful cartridge that i think can be used for just about any big game animal with confidence.

I know people that use bigger cartridges than the the .300WSM to shoot whitetails with. I have a buddy in NE currently that loves his .300WSM for deer. Granted it's NE and not AR where we used to both live, but he will more than likely end up back home in NC hunting whitetails there with it when he retires from the AF in a 3 more years. Shoot it and don't look back.

Around here we hunt such small lots of land that we like to drop them on thier feet.
see we dont have right of retrieval laws, so if the deer makes it accross the property line its very likely he's gone. dead or not.
So overkill is considered a minor sin.
Personally, I prefer less bullet and surgical placement over massive energy any were brown.

I have used it on Alabama deer and it works well. I just aim it thru the slats..20-30 yard death run followed by a drag to the truck.

This is a valid point, and it's likely lost on all of us Western guys on here.

If I lived in Alabama and hunted whitetails there, I'd probably be shooting 165 Speer BTSPs as fast as I could make them go. Think of it as a premium fragmenting flat shooting death ray.

If it doesn't have horns (B tag), I generally brain it.

Elk can take the additional "killing." In bow season here, I've been a part of more than one 100 yard plus bloodtrail.

Load up some 168gr ttsx and you won't lose a lot of meat. I have used them on quite a few blacktails (smaller than whitetails) and they work well with minimal meat loss.

I have shot about 8 deer with 180 Partitions and a 300 WSM.

Zero mess, works great.


2-3 coyotes and a tomcat, DRT but hides were ruined.

150gr BT, 180gr PT both work well on Okla WT....

Apparently a lot of the posters misunderstood the OP. He has two boxes of FACTORY AMMO.

25-06 Lilja,

The 180 Power Point is a fine bullet, but not particularly fast-killing, unlike some other cup-and-cores, though it will kill reasonably quickly on deer, especially at .300 WSM velocities.

If you want to stop deer within the boundary line I'd definitely use something other than a TTSX or other non-fragmenting bullet. A Berger VLD, Nosler Ballistic Tip or Sierra GameKing will drop them quicker, on average.

Somebody mentioned "surgical precision" to drop deer quickly. That's great, if it can be done, but for non-surgical hunting a softer bullet like those I listed will drop 'em quicker.

Some hunters doubt this, but it has been proven over and over again by culling in North America, Europe and Africa.

25/06 Lilja-the 180 PP's will do just fine as well the 168's. Tough to go wrong on deer with about any bullet out of your rig.

Now like JB said, if someone wants to end things now and put them down quickly with ideal or non ideal hits then the Berger is your choice as is the NBT's. IME both of these bullets will turf critters on average faster than most all other slugs.

Dober

I have taken a real liking to Accubonds. NBT's on steroids. CAn't seem to find one though, they all go through. Have used tsx's and they will run some, but you can eat up to the hole. Shot plenty with PP's, core locts, Sierra PH's, Hornady's, all cup and cores seem to shoot about the same. Unless you hit em in the CNS, they will run some. Shot a few with Partitions, too, they still seemed to run some. 300 mag velocities didn't help either. You really want them to be DRT, high shoulder them. Very little meat loss and no tracking.

I had one used it on PA whitetails now I use a 300 RUM cant tell much more damage between the 2

Killed some WV deer with mine and 180-grain Power Points, worked fine for me! Sight it in and see where it shoots, you'll be good to go!

A 25.06 will drop northern deer in their tracks as good as any rifle made, and from what I've read these whitetails and/or muleys are probably at least 50% larger than their southern kin...if not bigger. Enough DRT kills with Federal 117 Sierra Gamekings BTSP to make me a believer.

So, if I were going to use a 300 WSM for southern deer, I'd be thinking along the lines of TTSX 130s. Long, flat, and lethal...with less recoil, which is noticeable in something like an A7 or T3, even with a LimbSaver installed. I'd use the TTSX (or the equivalent thereof from other makers) over the TSX for assured expansion on such relatively thin skinned and light weight game.

I use 130 TTSX for elk in my 300 WM, and can't come up with a single reason to use anything bigger. Sure makes my Vanguard a lot more enjoyable to shoot more than a half dozen rounds at the range, too.

FWIW.

We hunt the same 90 lb deer on south arkansas timber company land. I've loaded my father-in-laws 300wsm with 165 nosler BT's for the last 3 years. I don't think it's soft enough for these little deer. Very few DRT's. Quite a few pass thru's without big expansion. Gonna switch to 150 Sierra Gamekings for next season. In my 7RM, the 140 GK absolutely pulls the rug out from under them. As does the 130 in my .270 Win. Where we hunt, mainly power and gas lines, long straight shots surrounded by super thick vegetation and pine plantations. Either DRT or lose them.. Quite often that is the case. A TTSX would not be ideal, unless you were breaking bones, shoulder shots.

GameKings are excellent for deer, as would be Fusions. For 90 lb deer, they'd indeed be better choices than TTSX and the like.