Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game What is the WORST hunting bullet?

For the most part I would say that the really bad bullets have already been eliminated by the manufacturers, Silvertip being an example, and for my money, the Fail Safe was overrated unless it struck bone first.

Hmmmmm...the Silvertip seems to get bashed here a lot. My experience must be unique, 'cause they've been doing a great job on deer for me for several (5) decades, mostly in 270 and 257. Wish they still made the 100gr 257.

BTW, Winchester still lists them in 250, 270, 30/06, 30-30, 308, 348, and 358, on their website.

I used one in my .358 on a deer... worked great...

-jeff

Depends on what you're hunting and what with...

Yep,

Following a blood trail in wet weather or on really wet ground is a recipe for a lost deer. For this kind of work,nothing beats my 350 rem mag or 35 whelen with 200 grain bullets at 2700-2800 fps.

This year,I'll try the 338 federal with 180 accubonds and 200 grain fusions. Last year I used a 30-06 with 180 Accubonds and it worked well but did not have quite as much smackdown effect as the 35s.

Britt

I call my .358 my "little Whelen". I get in the mid 2600's with 200-gn bullets so it's not a stretch. Which 200-gn bullet are you using, Ruraldoc? Oh, and I have this pain, right here...

:-)

What's the recoil like on a .350 mag?

-jeff

Britt, Jeff:The brush hunters back here like 35 Rems and 30/06's with round nose Rem and Win Power points.We got rain and heavy cover here, too, ya know. Plus, we got the Benoits!

I've always wanted a .35 Rem...

An '06 loaded with a heavy roundnose bullet would certainly be one heck of a deer hammer, no doubt about that!

I really like the .358 in a Model 7; what can I say.... there are many tools that will do the job but I'll tell you what, that one REALLY does the job!

-jeff

Well, in my experience, the Ballistic Tip IS the worst I've dealt with..............but I haven't read the rest of the thread

Casey

Alpinecrack: I will bet the Berger target bullet will clamor for top dog here, before a couple of seasons have pased...

Actually, the worst I've ever seen personally (in action - which is different than cleaning up what other people have started) was a 50 ( I think) grain Sierra Blitz or something similar - a varmint bullet - which I carried loaded in a M788 Rem in 22-250. (I was along for fur when we ran into a stray herd of caribou - a first at the time.) Anyhow, the first round I touched off into the chest of the first 'bou whicj peeked over the top of the hill we were waiting behind. After that, shots were at running animals. My second shot blasted another animal, but a bit back of where would have been ideal. Old lightening-250 surely dumped than animal as well in a pink haze. Not surprisingly, however, she got back to her feet and followed the rest of the herd in their effort to put miles between us. She stuck with them too for about two miles before she laid down. When I finally caught up she was hiding behind a scrawny willow. With only face for a target, I did what I could and pasted it, missing the center in my haste. Only momentarily stunned, the adrenaline she was packing allowed her to regain her feet quickly anyway and I stuck a final shot into her chest as she faced me. I have used many Ballistic Tips, always easily lethally, though not always to my complete satisfaction in terms of wasted meat. Still they work and waste is generally more a fault of poor placement. Those varmint bullets in a 22 CF were the epitome of "worst" in spite of the caliber itself. (Hornady varmints have done no better when not perfectly placed either.) I have used even smaller 22 CFs on caribou in later instances and with proper bullets to my complete satisfaction.

Jeff,

I like 200 grain Hornady spire points at 2700-2800 fps in the Whelen and 350 rem mag. Bob is right about 200 grain round nose core lokts in the 35 remington. I really can't tell any of the 35s apart at 100 yards or less. The little 35 remington in a Marlin 336 kills deer and hogs with knockdown effect that is all out of porportion to its mild recoil and blast.

For a pure woods cartidge,the 35 remington is tough to beat. When shots tend to be longer than 100 yards the Whelen and 350 Mag give you that slam knock down effect out to 300 yards or so.


By the way, the 200 grain hornady spire point gives BIG exit wounds and massive amts of blood to follow but the critters are generally right there on the spot. The amount of blood on the ground looks almost like a Charlie Manson murder scene that produces a trail Ray Charles could follow.

Britt

Yeah, I agree: that 200-gn Hornady SP makes big holes. I posted a pic of an exit I got last year, earlier on this thread... that deer happened really fast, there was a group of them sniffing a doe on the hillside above me, presumably, that I didn't see until they broke cover. A couple of them apparantly didn't know WHY they were breaking cover and ran right in front of me. It was 2 days left in the season, and I was stressed out about missing any more time from working, and I'd decided to whack the first legal buck I saw when this LITTLE feller ran in front of me at about 25 yards. I shot him, and he kept running like nothing had happened! I couldn't believe I'd missed until I went over where he had been at the time and there was a bucket of blood and lungs all over the ferns. And a blood trail about a foot wide, for about 150 yards (!), leading to a very dead, bled out, young deer.

-jeff

So does a 440 grain flat point hard cast at 950 FPS out of a 500 JRH I am holding a 300 Win Mag for size comparison

What's a 500 JRH?

-jeff

It is a shortened (1.385") 500 S&W with the rim diamater turned down enough to fit in a Freedom arms revolver.......

I have had terrible luck out of Speer Grand Slams in .308 180grs. In three different .308s, and one .300 Win Mag, I have yet to have shot one acceptable group. It doesnt matter how good terminal performance is supposed to be if you cant hit anything with it. The new ones are supposed to be better, but I already have alot of better bullets, and not much patience to buy more and try them again.

It's funny that any company would make an INaccurate bullet, considering the nature of bullets and all, but they do...

The original X bullets were like that for me. DAMN those things were a waste of money, in the two rifles I tried them in!

-jeff

I've found GS's to be very easy to get to shoot.

I honestly can't say what is the worst hunting bullet as everything I've used from Remington, Winchester, Hornady, Nosler, Swift, Sierra, Speer, and a few others has worked well. Game that has been shot has gone down within a few seconds of being shot.

I do expect some day that the law of averages will catch up to me - just don't do it when a grizzly or brown bear is charging me.