Just wondering what everyone’s favorite “non-premium” deer ammo was? Where I hunt in north Georgia, long shots are 100 yds, maybe 150 if you are on a power line. Don’t need super-strong bullets to take down a 130 lb buck with my ol’ 30-06. Just wondering what your thoughts were on ‘standard’ hunting bullets like Core-Lokt, Win Power Points, Hornady Interlocks, and maybe Fed blue box or Fusions if you want to get fancy?
Let the comments roll!

Fed blue box as always been accurate.

100gr power points always worked well. Now I'd use the 90gr eldx.

S&B 8x57 would hit the easy button for me when the sentimental favorites get a nod. Now if we're getting into the serious deep cut that is the 38 WCF when it comes to deer hunting, gonna have to go with hand loads for that one. The factory stuff Dad's had since the '50's is a bit wonky.

180 grn cor loc

i do handloading for about 30+/- years, i used to use 180gr Remington RN factory ammo in my '06 and 150gr Remington RN factory ammo in my 270 Win. the 30-30 was whatever is cheaper, Federal, Remington, Winchester...

Hands down Norma whitetail. Better than my handloads in some instances. For domestic, Fed blue box.

Hornady American Whitetail

Had good luck with green box 150's in two .30 cal chamberings for mulies, whitetails, black bear and hogs going back 34 years or so...

Its all 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

This worked with the same via 308 Win.

I don’t think I’ve ever killed a head of big game with factory ammo…. But I’ve killed stuff with both 150 . 308 Rem C-L and various WW PP. I’ve killed more deer with Hornady interlocks than anything. A few Sierras and Hotcores too.

I did buy 200 rounds of Norma 308 ammo loaded with 180 Aframes for cheaper than I could buy the brass.I might use them this fall.

Fusion (165 gr) in my .308.
Fusion or Federal Blue Box in 30/30.
Fed Blue Box when I can find it for 300 Savage, Remington Corelokt when I can't.

Hornady American whitetails in 7-08 with 139 Interlocks.
As accurate as my handloads with that bullet.

+1 on the Federal blue box in 300 Sav.

Our deer camp never lost another deer hit anywhere after I switched them to round nose 180 grain Remington Core-lokt bullets. The Hornady Whitetail ammo uses Inter Lock bullets and those have been very good as a 165 grain from my .308.

I have always had good luck with Hornady Ammo.


6.5 CREEDMOOR - 100 Yards

6.5 man bun

Did a barrel switch on my T/C Dimension, then sent 3 at 100.



It shoots great in my T/C and my Howa

Same here. At 25 bucks a box it was worth buying 100 rounds. Even if I pull the bullets and throw all the rest away I still did okay.

I’m guessing the cases might work just fine as well

Federal Blue Box in my 308 and 30-06

x3, those A-Frames shoot great out of my M70 EW

i would add Hornady American Whitetail to the list. I don't know how I forgot about that when I mentioned the Federal stuff.

When they were more available Winchester Power Points did great things.

After some apparent C/L failures I got away from using the Remington 180 grain in my '06. I use I/L for deer and Partitions or elk, sheep and antelope in the '06.

In .243's, 6.5's, and .308 Winchesters I load mostly Hornady for deer. Of these, he .243 has been used the most. Hornady 100 gr I/Ls have ruled here.

95 grain Federal Fusions from my 243 are accurate and effective on deer sized game. I used to love the Federal High Energy 180 grain Partition from my 30-06. Wish they still made it. I couldn’t duplicate it.

Federal Fusions , Hornady American Whitetails and Winchester Deer Seasons all have been used by me with great success when I'm not rolling my own. All are decently priced. Which one I choose depends on how my rifle likes them. Have also used Fed blue box, Rem Coreloks and Win PPs. Deer are not hard to kill.

I tend to favor Hornady if I am more interested in brass harvesting. FED Fusions probably give me the most consistent best groups. In the end though its just really what that particular rifle likes best.

I always liked Federal blue box, worked great before I loaded my own.

I just did the same about a month ago, saw a sale of 270 Win and '06 Norma Whitetail sale for $21 and $24 a box so I bought them for the brass. Did the same quite a few years ago with 270 Win and 280 Rem RWS with the H Mantle and ID classic bullets for $17 a box...wish I'd bought more.

Fed red box .280 has done the job.

It depends on the rifle for me. Some factory ammo will group extremely well in one and not another. But with some trial and error you can find the one your rifle shoots best. Federal blue box, Federal Fusion, Hornady American Whitetail have worked well for me. I have 270 that really likes 130gr Fiocchi Field Dynamics. It shoots it better than anything else.

When I get a new rifle I test at least 5 or 6 different types of ammo in it. Its easy to tell the winner, but for each particular rifle it's usually a different brand of ammo. It might take some time but the results are worth it.

What's factory ammo?

Last week I helped a guy check the zero on two of his 7 mm Rem Mags with his Remington factory ammo. At 100 yds we couldn't get one rifle to keep two consecutive shots within 3" of each other and the aiming point.

When we were done, I laid down prone and shot 3 shots that you could cover with a quarter, with my handloads, in my rifle, at 200 yards.

I bought my first centerfire rifle, a .30-06, in 1967 and have been handloading for it and all of my other rifles, pistols, and shotguns ever since. Many of my guns have never had a factory round fired through them.

Federal Blue box works for me.

Used coreloks for may years. Just switched to norma whitetail when I found a good deal. Shoots great in my rifle.

I’ve killed 2 moose with federal blue box. Caribou and several big bears with core lokts. You can spend a lot of $$$ on loaded ammunition for no reason other than marketing people brainwash you to .

Well then his rifle or scope is a POS, something is loose or that rifle just hates that particular ammo. Just about every rifle in my safe will shoot sub MOA with one factory load or another and some will do it with several different brands and bullet weights/styles.

I've downed many mulies and whitetails with 170 grain Power Points. 30-30 is a keeper! - Sherwood

Whatever brand shoots the best groups in a particular rifle and has an appropriate bullet design for the intended purpose.

Remington 100gr Core-Lokt in a very finicky .243 Weatherby rifle. Everything else is premium ammo or my handloads. If you can't get a rifle to shoot sub moa with factory ammo it needs to belong to someone else.

Back when I used factory it was always blue box.

I used remington corelok green box ammo for decades. More recently I been giving Norma whitetail a shot in my 270.
At my ranges they both work to my satisfaction.

Federal fusion works well for me.

I have a Marlin 336 that I bought new….a 1992 that will put 3 on a 3/4” square at 100 yds with Hornady 160 gr LVR ammo….with handloads or factory don’t make any difference. Out to 200 yards will take whitetails down and probably a little further, amazing bullet in a 30-30.

Hornady Interlock or anything with Nosler Ballistic Tip has worked well on deer for me

Fusions, NA Whitetail from Hornady or old school Core-Lokt works too.

Federal blue box for me.

I've had great accuracy and terminal results with Fusion ammo in multiple calibers

My favorite old go to was Winchester Power Points. My current favorite factory ammo is Hornady American Whitetail.
However i reload so mostly shoot them .

Winchester power point or Hornady american whitetail mainly, they both preform great for me used in several different calibers. I use to shoot fusions and they did good too but are harder to find around here. I’ve only used rem corlokt 2 or 3 times and wasn’t impressed personally. I cant count the deer I’ve dropped with power points or american white tails. I checked zero on my rifles today
30-06-180gr power point
7mm rem mag -139gr hornady American Whitetail
308-150gr power point
30-30-170gr power point
300 win mag -180gr fed blue box (never harvested game with this load so can’t comment on preformance but it dose shoot well)

If that is the case and you are shooting whitetails about my only requirement would be….do the bullets come out the end of the barrel when I pull the trigger. Other than FMJ, there isn’t much that wouldn’t work in your ‘06 as long as your rifle will shoot them under 4 or 5 MOA.

Have had good luck with Federal blue box and Winchester in 243 (100gr) and 270 (130gr) on deer.

Have recently shot the Norma whitetail in 270 (130) at the range, no deer on the ground with this one yet. Thought some Norma ammo would go great with a Husqvarna rifle.

Currently I’ve been most impressed with the FederalFusion!

Lord knows I’ve used more than my fair share of Winchester Powerpoints and Remington Corelokts too however!

Hornady American Whitetail or federal blue box

Remington yellow/green and Federal blue box.

“Federal blue box for me.”

This used to be it for me. Then b/c of the input from y’all it became this - “I've had great accuracy and terminal results with Fusion ammo in multiple calibers”

Then members said Fusion was for chitt and I said to hell with it and kept loading 4350 behind 165s (non-premium) for my 06 and killed deer. I stretched my OAL just a whisker and the groups have tightened to under .75 at 100 yds.

I started using Norma .308 150 gr. last year groups well, my second choice that is accurate Hornady American Whitetail.

Norma Whitetail. 150gr 7mm-08, 140gr 6.5 Creedmoor, 100gr .243. When you're done shooting it, you have high quality Norma brass to reload. That's a nice bonus.