Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .30 cal. bullets for longer distances..

Before I retired, I laid in a supply of bullets for my .22's and .30 cal... Now many new bullets for .30 have appeared on the market.. I would like to move to a more streamlined bullet, but don't want to spend money and time trying 3 or 4 brands... Some of the bullets I have heard good things about are Hornady.. My pals like the Hornady 7mm bullets, but they have not used the .30 cal..He favored the 178 if he were buying for a .30.. With the 178, 190's, 200's, 208, 210, 230 grain bullets on the market what is a good pick???.. Berger has an accurate line also.. I would mostly use this bullet in one or all of my .30 mags.. Mainly for big mule deer, and elk.. Although most of my elk hunting days are over.. What is a good bullet to try.. I was thinking of the 208 gr. Hornady.. Thanks..

WCH

Wish I could be more help but.... the 190 HBTSP is the heaviest I’ve used in my 300 WMs.
SAD - imo that Hornady discontinued them.

I’m reluctant & nearly adamant against using ‘match’ bullets on medium or larger game. I don’t have a recommend but would look at that 208 too.

Good luck

Jerry

While not much of a Hornady fan, I have been having some pretty good luck with 208 gr ELD Ms in both 30-06 and 300 Win Mag.

Ted

What do you consider "longer distances"? That plays a large roll in bullet selection.

I wouldn't really look to ELD's unless you were looking to shoot over 500 yards. The 178's offer a high BC for a .308 but if you're shooting a 30 cal magnum, you'll be better suited with something like a 208. The wind is fight you need to win and the higher BC bullets, even though started slower, help with that battle.

I shoot 180 Accubonds from my .300. I shoot it out to 600 yards. Heavy, high BC bullets would help me a bit with the wind but I'm really only hunting within 400 yards with it. I'm better suited with a sturdy hunting bullet. I've shot a bunch of deer with lightly constructed bullets. They get the job done but I prefer the way something like an Accubond does it.

I shoot ELD's in my .260. This is mostly because I developed the load for long range target shooting for my heavy barreled .260 and found the loads to be extremely accurate in my sporter .260. They are relatively slow and heavy for caliber, which reduces the need for a stout bullet.

I've been using the Berger 230 gr. OTM in my .300 WM for elk with results that are not lacking in any way.

Heck, from a 300 any good 30 cal spitzer flat base bullet in the 165 to 200 grain class is still super-sonic at 1000 yards.

I personally would not shoot that far at game (anymore) because of the fact that a 180 grain bullet at (lets say) 1300 fps is still only as powerful as a hot 357 magnum handgun load, which will kill elk and deer fine, but the placement has to be very good, and at 1000 yards too many things can cause the bullet to hit a foot off from where you want it, even at times when you held perfectly. Wind and mirage always guesses. Educated guesses but still guesses. I have too much respect for the deer and elk to shoot at those ranges anymore. I guess I grew past that stage. But because I have done it, I can't condemn those that still do.

But to stay on point >>>>> I found the old Nosler Partitions would still expand well out to the ranges they were at about 1400 fps and the flat base bullets are as accurate and often more accurate to every range until they get to trans-sonic speeds.

The Bonded bullets are also soft enough to open up well all the way down to about 1250 fps because the bonding process anneals the copper based jackets and makes them soft, but the bonded core still holds to that jacket well.

From about any 300 mag I don't think there is a problem here. Such things may be an issue from 308s, but not so much from 300s

For what it is worth, I settled on the 200 gr Nosler Partition as my all purpose , do everything , bullet for my 30-06 and have used them on everything from Dall sheep at over 400 yards to in my lap brown bears and have never been dissatisfied

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I use the same one in my 300 H&H and see no room to improve.

WyoCoyoteHunter,

As others have suggested, it depends on what you mean by longer distances. A well-known "accuracy" gunsmith I've used more than once told me a year or so ago that a guy called him and asked, "Do you make long-range hunting rifles?" The gunsmith talked to him a little, and discovered he rarely shot much over 400 yards.

This is just about the only testimonial you need to pay attention too and why I bookmarked SPS as a favorite and visited it 3-4 times a week until they offered the 30 cal 200 gr NPT for $15 /50 and bought 6 bags. Somethings I don't need to learn the hard way. MB

It's all I've been shooting in my 300 win mag for 15 years.

Thanks guys... This give me some good infor... Years ago when elk meat was important, I shot a couple at over 600, but not now.. I have some 200 gr. Partitions and have about 40 loaded from my trips over seas... Maybe I have what I need.. Thanks again..

WCH, I think most of us "have what we need" but I think that most of us like to think about what else we might need as creative thought and expression if nothing else.. I think even more valuable is finding out what others do and how that works for them, we learn a lot from them just for the time it takes to read what they say...…… MB

There are bullets for this and that, these bullets will kill game. Tho for a big game hunting, I really like the Nosler Partitions. I hardly ever shoot pass 400 yards. I have fun getting in close for the shot. The 200 works great in my 30-06, no complaints here.
I have a 300 Win. I have not worked up this bullet yet (200 grain Partition) in my 300.

Take care.