my dad (RIP) had a Reminton m760 in '06 with a factory 180gr Remington RN. he killed alot of deer with it. my grandpap (RIP) and my uncle (RIP) had the same thing. when i was 13 - 14yo, my grandpap bought me a 1972 Winchester m94 in 30-30. man, did it kill deer!!! it was factory loads before i rolled my own, it was 150gr or 170gr RN or FP. Winchester, Remington, Federal, PMC...if i could find it, i'd shoot it. then came a day when the price went up, 30-30 went from $7 or $8 to $10.99 and the '06 went from around $10 - $12 to $18.99. well, i saved up and bought a Lyman reloading turret kit. before i saved up, my dad bought 5 cases (2500 rounds) of factory 180gr Rem RN (it was $8 or $9/20 cartridges). he said your kids' kids will have them after i'm gone. right now, i have about 2200 rounds left and my sons will shoot them.
anyway, i started reloading my 30-30 with 150gr and 170gr Hornady RN and H322. i killed alot of deer with the Hornadys. i also used (one or two years) the 125gr Seirra FNHP and it was good for deer. then i went thru the '06 phase (Rem a,b and cdl, mountain rifle and Savage m116 with the adjustable brake). i loaded 150, 165, 170 and 180gr Hornady RN, FP, and SP (i loaded up 150gr RN and 170gr FP that were for the 30-30 in the '06). a few years later,i sold them and i got a Reminton m760 in 308 Winchester. i loaded up some 170gr Hornady FP and i killed quite a few deer and a 398lbs black bear. my ex-wife used a Remington m7 in 243 with 100gr Hornady RN and 105gr Speer RN. then me and gunsmith (RIP) built a custom '98 FN Mauser in a 20" Douglas featherweight barrel in 7x57. i used a 139gr Hornady RN (discontinued) and it killed deer....a lot of deer. my oldest son now has it, but his stash is getting low (150+/- bullets). my dad got a Remington m7 (18.5" barrel) and i bought two of them (1 was fer me, the other was for my youngest son) and i decided on the 139gr Hornady FP (discontinued). my brothers had a Rem ADL in '06 that i loaded some 170gr Hornady FP. the deer they killed...man, it was like a bloodbath, blood on ground, blood up in trees.......man!!!
the past 10 years or so, i've been shooting cast bullets (or boolits) for deer. they all go FN, LFN AND WFN in 7x57, 30-40 Krag, 8x57, 35/30-30, 9.3x57, 444, 45-70 and the 500 Linebaugh. i do have a 280gr RN GC in 9.3x57, but i haven't killed with it. i have a 275gr WFN GC in 9.3x57 and that one is one of my favorites. i'm not big on speed, the velocities go from 1243fps (500 L) to 1926fps(30-40 Krag). yep, speed demons them all.
Last edited by tdoyka; 05/26/23.
