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As a general rule, I lean towards Nosler Ballistic Tips and Sierra Game Kings - accurate, value-priced, and effective. I do use Nosler Accubonds in one rifle and Barnes TTSX in another, both with great success. Also, I use a sprinkling of Hornady FTXs and ELD-Ms.

I'm sure to get flamed, but the only bullet to disappoint (in the last 20 years or so) was a 6.5mm 130gr Berger VLD-H.

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Favorites-

Nosler Ballistic Tips... I have yet to catch one in a deer. Two holes every time from 270, 7-08, 280, 7 RM, 308 Win.

Nosler Accubond... Same chamberings as above. I caught my first one after it traveled thru 32” of thick hog meat.

Hornady Interlock.... Great performance on deer and hogs. I’ve caught a few that had shed the jacket. Had one to explode like a grenade on a deer shoulder. Paper plate sized wound that was one inch deep. Pretty crazy.

Sierra,...The most accurate bullets I’ve ever loaded. Great deer and hog bullets.

Factory Ammo-

Federal Fusion... Very accurate and kill great.

Remington CoreLokt.... Used them for years before I started rolling my own. No complaints..

Winchester power points.... Used factory ammo before my own loads. No complaints.

Not so good results- Copper Monos
Half dozen deer with little to no blood trail. Pencil hole in and out. All critters recovered but damn!!!!

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I had bad experiences on three separate occasions with the 140 Corelokt in early 260 factory loads. Huge entrance holes and very shallow penetration. One blew a 3” hole in the side of a little buck’s neck and failed to break the spine.

Shot a big buck once right beside the butthole with a 180 Silvertip in a factory 30/06. It broke his collarbone when it exited. The next day I shot a big pig square in the shoulder with one out of the same box and it flattened out and failed to even break the scapula.

After the pig incident I started hand loading early X bullets and had great luck with them.

In the last 6-8 years I’ve returned to C&C bullets for most of my hunting and have had good luck with Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, Kodiak, Barnes Originals, Speer, and Norma.

223 My current favorite is the 77 Sierra Tipped Matchking
257 Weatherby is excellent with the 85 Ballistic Tip pushed to warp speed
270 Winchester gets 130 Hornady Spire points
270 Weatherby I like the 130 Etip or Partition
7/08 we’ve had good luck with a big box of old Norma BTSP 150s that sadly I’m out of, probably switch to Ballistic Tips or Hornadys this fall
300 Savage I’ve used more old Normas, Ballistic Tips, and Hornadys all in 150gr and all have been great on deer and bears
30/06 I have a ton of 180 Normas I like but I’ve been transitioning to the 165 boat tail Hornady and the boat tail HP Sierra. The Sierras are pretty destructive but they kill well.

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Originally Posted by TheKid
I had bad experiences on three separate occasions with the 140 Corelokt in early 260 factory loads. Huge entrance holes and very shallow penetration. One blew a 3” hole in the side of a little buck’s neck and failed to break the spine.

Shot a big buck once right beside the butthole with a 180 Silvertip in a factory 30/06. It broke his collarbone when it exited. The next day I shot a big pig square in the shoulder with one out of the same box and it flattened out and failed to even break the scapula.

After the pig incident I started hand loading early X bullets and had great luck with them.

In the last 6-8 years I’ve returned to C&C bullets for most of my hunting and have had good luck with Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, Kodiak, Barnes Originals, Speer, and Norma.

223 My current favorite is the 77 Sierra Tipped Matchking
257 Weatherby is excellent with the 85 Ballistic Tip pushed to warp speed
270 Winchester gets 130 Hornady Spire points
270 Weatherby I like the 130 Etip or Partition
7/08 we’ve had good luck with a big box of old Norma BTSP 150s that sadly I’m out of, probably switch to Ballistic Tips or Hornadys this fall
300 Savage I’ve used more old Normas, Ballistic Tips, and Hornadys all in 150gr and all have been great on deer and bears
30/06 I have a ton of 180 Normas I like but I’ve been transitioning to the 165 boat tail Hornady and the boat tail HP Sierra. The Sierras are pretty destructive but they kill well.

I don't recall ever seeing a deer "collar bone" before.

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6mm Rem. or .243 Win.-100 Grain SGK
.250 Savage-115 Grain Combined Technologies Ballistic Tips
.257 AI-115 Grain Combined Technologies Ballistic Tips.
.270 Win.-130 Grain SGK or 130 Grain Nosler BT
.280 Rem.-140 Grain Combined Technologies BT
Seven MM Remington Mag. 160 Grain SGK HP.
8mm Mauser-170 Grain Sierra Pro Hunter.
9.3x62-Speer 270 grain Semi Spitzer Hot Core. Kills like Thor's Hammer.


Failures:
6mm Remington-Speer 100 grain SPBT.
.270 Win.-130 Grain Speer SPBT.
.280 Rem.-Early Nosler BT. Blew up on deers hide causing superficial wound and he jumped a fence onto posted land.
8mm Mauser-150 Grain Hornady Interlock. I believe both Speers in the 6mm Rem., and in the .270 Win., and the Hornady Interlock in the 8mm were complete pass throughs with limited expansion.

Last edited by Filaman; 05/30/20.

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My most hated deer bullet ever is the Sierra pro hunter. I shoot these animals to eat them, not blow them up. I think the Sierra would make for a great terrorist bullet however, given the destruction. Disclaimer: I've not used them started at less than 2700 in anything so maybe that's a problem.

I really like partitions, accubonds, and Barnes in various .277-.375 bore rifles. The consistency is addictive, and it's great being able to kill one at any angle presented if one needs to.

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My favorites are:

1) Hornady .308 Interlock 165 grain
2) Remington .308 PSPCL 150 grain

These have accounted for the most kills at our camp over the last two decades in 30-06 and 308 WIN.

Before I retired it, my Rem 7600 Whelenizer had the camp record for most deer taken using Remington .358 200 grain SPCL.


Genesis 9:2-4 Ministries Lighthearted Confessions of a Cervid Serial Killer
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The last few years all of my hunting has been done with hand loads. I have yet to shoot a deer with one that hasn’t died very quickly but I do have a favorite. The 150gr Barnes TTSX out of my 308 is definitely my pick. The TTSX is “overkill” for deer in that it’s a tougher construction and costs more than a normal soft point. But every deer I’ve shot with it has dropped in its tracks, one was running towards me and the shot went through the entire body. It’s tough enough to ensure exit and good blood trail (if needed) but I haven’t noticed excessive meat damage.

My favorite factory load is Federal Blue Box, it’s nothing special but it’s the only factory ammo that seems to shoot well in all my guns.

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Yes
Originally Posted by Wrapids
How about putting most any current design 'medium game' bullet behind the front leg?

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Accubonds and Ballistic Tips are my favorites in .264 or above. Partitions in smaller chamberings.

Tough to beat a Fusion or Interlock for factory ammo.


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I load either Barnes TTSX or LRX for all our rifles so that's what I shoot deer with. I understand most bullets work great on deer, but the barnes works well for me both in accuracy and on game performance and I like having less bloodshot meat as an added bonus.

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Used Nolser Ballastic tips 243 to 8mm and Speer 150 30cal Spitzer for years. Had problems with Hornady 150 gn out of a 30-06. They we not loaded hot but splashed twice on deer between 60 and 80 yards. Pretty much soured me. My Dad used to buy 150 30cal from Zero bullet company that did really well on deer.

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The newer Nosler Ballistic Tips,150gr in 7mm and 165 or 168gr in 30 cal are about as good as it gets for deer.


~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............
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Never had a failure with Barnes TTSX or old Trophy Bonded Bear Claws and way back the 165 Speer Grand Slams. Happy Trails


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I am not a Hornady SST fan. They killed every deer I shot with them. But they expand excessively and ruined more meat than I wanted to see lost.

Partitions, Barnes TSX & TSXT, Hornady Interlock, Speer HOT-COR, Remington Core-Lokt have all worked for me.

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I've killed a ton of deer with Sierra Game kings, Nosler ballistic tips and Partitions as well whatever bullet is in federal blue box


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Nosler Partitions. Used them in four calibers so far: .308 150, 6mm 100, .257 120, and .277 160s.

For those who like big burping wounds, Sierra 165gr .308 holler points.


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My favorite is the Hornady Interlock .308 165 grain SP flat base out of a 30-06. Every deer I've shot with them has dropped either on the spot or within a few steps.
When I used factory loads I pretty much stuck with Remington Core-Loct's. Good results when I did my job.
The best factory loads I used were Winchester Ballistic Silver Tips, 168 grain 30-06. Same results as the Hornady's.
I don't think I could blame the bullet for any deer I've lost.


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I have killed ~ 50 animals...... so what I have to say is just a few anecdotes..

Nos Bal Tip.... the best

Nos accubond..... ok
Hornady SST...... ok


Berger VLD hunting... no good


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Originally Posted by TheKid
I had bad experiences on three separate occasions with the 140 Corelokt in early 260 factory loads. Huge entrance holes and very shallow penetration. One blew a 3” hole in the side of a little buck’s neck and failed to break the spine.

Shot a big buck once right beside the butthole with a 180 Silvertip in a factory 30/06. It broke his collarbone when it exited. The next day I shot a big pig square in the shoulder with one out of the same box and it flattened out and failed to even break the scapula.

After the pig incident I started hand loading early X bullets and had great luck with them.

In the last 6-8 years I’ve returned to C&C bullets for most of my hunting and have had good luck with Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, Kodiak, Barnes Originals, Speer, and Norma.

223 My current favorite is the 77 Sierra Tipped Matchking
257 Weatherby is excellent with the 85 Ballistic Tip pushed to warp speed
270 Winchester gets 130 Hornady Spire points
270 Weatherby I like the 130 Etip or Partition
7/08 we’ve had good luck with a big box of old Norma BTSP 150s that sadly I’m out of, probably switch to Ballistic Tips or Hornadys this fall
300 Savage I’ve used more old Normas, Ballistic Tips, and Hornadys all in 150gr and all have been great on deer and bears
30/06 I have a ton of 180 Normas I like but I’ve been transitioning to the 165 boat tail Hornady and the boat tail HP Sierra. The Sierras are pretty destructive but they kill well.




Hate to break it to you Kid but deer don't have collarbones. Not sure what animal you were shooting.


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