Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A Close-in Deer Rifle

tdoyka,

I've killed a bunch of big game with cup-and-core bullets, and still do on occasion. In fact I just published an article on 'em in a recent issue of Sports Afield, citing around 2800 fps as a good maximum muzzle velocity for consistent performance, whether on deer or even larger game.

May have taken more deer with the 150-grain Hornady Spire Point from the .270 Winchester than any other single bullet, handloaded to around 2850 fps, including one 300+ pound mule deer buck--and I started using it several years before the Interlock ring was introduced. Back then Spire Points already had a reputation for being one of the tougher cup-and-cores, and I later learned this was due to Hornady using a somewhat harder lead alloy for the cores than most other bullets. Have also used various Spire PointInterlocks in calibers from .25 to 9.3mm to take deer and quite a bit of larger game, from bull caribou to elk-sized.

But have also taken a bunch of animals with Sierras, usually but not always GameKings, and have probably used the 160 7mm GK started at 2700 fps from the 7x57 to take more deer-sized African "plains game" than any other bullet at ranges out to 400 yards, during 8 safaris. Never recovered one. Am not exactly unfamiliar with Speer Hot-Cors, especially the 105-grain 6mm and 165-grain .30. Have a 165 in my collection that took a running whitetail buck at around 100 yards, using a .30-06 handload that got around 2800 fps. The buck was angling almost directly away, and the bullet end up in the far shoulder, retaining 85% of its weight.

Yes, I also use quite a few "monolithic" bullets for hunting, partly because I live in Montana and they tend to penetrate deeper on elk if the angle is a steep one--but also because they work fine at a wide range of velocities, and much of the local country can result in shots from 25 to 400+ yards. And they do tend to ruin less venison on closer shots, even when started at 3000 fps or more.

The other factor is that due to my job I have to try a wide range of bullets in significant enough numbers to get a good idea of how they work.