Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Why load for the last FPS?

The vast majority of my hunting could easily be done with a 30-30, rarely do I shoot as far as 200 yards. Why not build a nice 2700 fps load with a C&C bullet and be happy. I know a lot of you hardcore hunters don't shoot any farther than I do most of the time so why push that monometal bullet at 3350 fps?

After seeing granddaughter shoot deer with a 243 out to 250 yards I began to wonder myself. I have a Creedmoor now. I have killed a few pigs with it. I’m going to deer hunt with it this fall. A 25-06 is all that’s needed for deer. They aren’t hard to bring down.

I have a safe full of 🔥 fire breathing magnum rifles. I’m over gunned for deer hunting. I don’t load those hot anymore. I never saw the point in loading max.

Who wants to brag about a 2700 fps load with .....gasp.... plain old C&C bullets. Everybody knows that that combo can't kill any thing bigger than a rabbit, just can't penetrate the Kevlar and ceramic armor of modern big game especially at the 1000+ yards typical of today's shots 8-[[;-)

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My son killed a cow (elk) at 200 yrds with a 7-08 at 2750 fps with a Hornady 139 IL. Must have died of fright from the muzzle blast, ya think.

I don't...

Often I like heavy bullets at 2700-2800 fps -- 180's out of an 06 for instance. Penetration to the vitals is never a problem, meat damage is not excessive and if a heavy bone is hit, the bullet will still keep going. Granted I've probably shot a good percentage of game while they were running so bullet placement isn't always exact. I climbed into a hunting stand once while deer hunting, don't plan on ever doing that again.

Choice of cartridge, bullet, velocity etc. depends a lot on where you are hunting, how you are hunting etc.

If I am hunting in wide open spaces on western ranchland or if I'm hunting in thick woods or draws or still hunting or sitting on an hillside -- deer hunting is fun everywhere, but there's times when a 25-06 is better than a 30-30 and there's times when a 30-30 is better than a 25-06.

The biggest center fire jacketed cartridge/bullet I've used is a 180 grain in a 300 Winchester Magnum. The smallest was a 55 grain 22-250. With the 180 grain 300 the deer ran 100 yards, with the 22-250 the deer dropped instantly. The only bullet failures on deer I've experience was a 120 grain bullet in a 264 and a 165 grain bullet in a 30-06, in both cases a 170 grain 30-30 would have worked better, I'd bet.

Ever since I started handloading in the early 70's I have loaded mostly middle of the data never seeking to attain or surpass maximum loads. I have always gotten the accuracy I was seeking with these loads and the performance on game has been fine. My deer rifle is a .35 Whelen which for years I have shot 225gr. bullets. Since having shoulder surgery I have gone to a 180gr. Speer flat point bullet, accuracy is fine when loaded to .35 Remington velocities.

There is more people than thought, feel you don’t need 6000 fps to knock down a deer or pig.

I use both approaches. The spots where I can see less than 200-250yds, I often do hunt with cup/cores at moderate speeds. It's just point and shoot. The zipping mono bullets really come into play when you might take that same rifle out in the open and want to take a quick shot at an undetermined range. Plus, I sometimes just like to play with new bullets so I can gather for myself what might work well and what doesn't. It's interesting to me. My 260 is shooting 100gr TTSX's at 3,200fps this year, not because the 130NAB/2,880fps load didn't work well, but because I want to see how the 100's perform on game.

Oh, sometimes I'm real happy with a low-velocity load. Something like a .30-30, .45/70, .50 cal traditional muzzle loader, revolver...

Or even a more powerful center-fire rifle loaded to 2600 - 2750 fps. I've killed game just fine at 300 yards, with a 2620 fps muzzle velocity.

But sometimes, when I know the ranges are likely to be longer, I don't mind loading 'em up at all. Accuracy is more important than big numbers on the chronograph, but I do like keeping my 25-06 loads at or near max level. Makes a nice flat trajectory, makes hits out at 300 - 400+ yards pretty simple.

Guy

In my country speed is my friend.. Not true everywhere.. But here it is!! Some places the 30-30 is all that is needed.. When I was a kid the best deer hunter I knew used a .35 Rem.. but he had a .300 H & H for those times a long shot was neeeded..

Not one to push it to the floor myself, but also don't fret over what the other kids are doing for fun.

I think 7000 is the minimum for elk. With a monometal bullet. And 75 mm objective on your scope. And 30" barrel.

Or maybe not <G>

You're probably onto something!

..................Well in your case and others you mention where hunting situations do not exceed 200 yards you bring up a valid point. So why load even up to 3,000 fps let alone 3350 fps given those hunting circumstances?

Simple...... Because we can and curiosity to see what max MVs our rifles can produce while maintaining acceptable hunting accuracy. That said, it does not always mean that max or near max hunting loads are used.

I used to load to squeeze every fps of velocity I could out of a round. I'd read that a .30-06 could hit 2900 fps with a 165 grain bullet so I kept pouring in IMR4350 until the chronograph read 2900, never mind that folks next to me thought I was shooting a .300 WM from the muzzle blast and the rifle kicked like a mule.

But, generally speaking, those last few fps are going to cost you increased pressure all out of proportion to what you get. Adding another 50 fps when you're near the top already could add another 5 to 10 kpsi.

I finally wised up and realized the reverse is also true. In a typical big game hunting type round you can lose 5 to 10 kpsi and only lose 50 fps or so in the bargain, and those few fps aren't going to be missed at all. I know those numbers are generalities and individual rounds and rifles will vary some, but one can make the blanket statement that all kinds of good things accrue when you back off just a tad - brass lasts longer, you're farther away from the ragged edge of safety, etc. - and it only costs you a minute change in trajectory, not anywhere near enough to be noticed on a cervidae species within the "normal" ranges at which they're actually taken.

I like to start my load workup with a desired bullet and look for the most accurate load that jibes with the design of the cartridge/case. If I want a slower load, I find I'd rather go with a heavier, usually roundnose bullet. I want my loads to work in the field, come hot or cold as reliability/accuracy are my main goals. I'd rather hunt with a load that does that at 2950 and 1.25" than a 3100fps load and .5" but bolt lift gets 'sticky" sometimes. Nope...I keep waiting for the "herbivore wave banzai charge" and I want to be ready!

For deer rifles I usually aim (pun intended) for a MV of around 2750fps. That gives adequate energy out to 350 yards and decent trajectory. BUT if I can't get acceptable accuracy at that MV I will go faster as long as the cartridge/bullet combo allows it.

When I head out to hunt here locally, I'll take two different rifles. One will usually be my 358 Win for the 'short' shots and the other will either be a 6.5 Swede, 25-06 or the 264 Win Mag for the longer stuff. When I head to the mountains for elk I take the 264 and the 358.

And that extra 50fps we just had to have with that 165gr .30cal bullet, well, it is the difference between a 70yd impact velocity and a 90yd impact with that load. I'm sure the deer notice a huge difference. I often couldn't tell you if the animal I just shot was at 70 versus 90..... So yeah, you have a valid point there.

Geez, guys, don't you know that if you refuse to the absolute max the rifle can stand (published data be damned) then you're not a real man?