Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The Better Bullet Weight?

Hi guys, I was wondering if someone can help me make up my mind. I have just recently started to hunt white tail deer. I do my own reloading and am getting ready to reload some deer rounds. My question is which is the better bullet weight for white tail, 150 gr. or 165/168 gr? Why? Stories? This past fall I didnt have a chance to work up any deer loads so I just used my moose loads (180 gr. Partitions). They worked fine but I think 180 is a bit too heavy for white tail. These loads will be for my 30-06.

Thanks

For Whitetails I'd use a 150 or 165 Gr. bullet. I've been using the 150 Gr. Hornady flat based bullet in my .308 reloads for years for Whitetails and have never had it fail me. Never saw the need to fix what ain't broke so I never tried the 165 Gr. bulelts. Although I'm a big fan of Nosler Partitions, you don't need a premium bullet for Whitetails. I've shot a truck load of deer with the aforementioned 150 gr. 30 Caliber Hornady and their 130 gr. bullet in .270 caliber. Both work great. I find the Hornady's have a nice balance of expansion and penetration. I usually get complete penetration with good size exit holes. If the deer don't drop where they stand they rarely go more than a few yards. I'd save the 180's for larger game.

I used 180 grain round-nosed for years. They did a more-than-adequate job on deer out of an '06. I switched to 165's in '01 and noticed a distinct reduction in recoil. 150's work best in my 30-30, and I'd tried to use 150 grain pointeds in my 308 Savage 99, but I couldn't get them to pattern right, so I tried the 165's and they worked fine.

My answer to you is this: yes, one of those will do quite nicely. One bullet, powder, brass, and primer combination will usually stand out. If you want to go lighter, try 150's. If you want to go heavier, try 180's. If you're looking for a good balance, 165 will work well. The rifle will tell you more about what you need than any of us.

A lot of guys will tell you that you need premium bullets. I use Hornady now, and I used Remington Corelokts prior to that. I've never seen a deer know the difference.

Don't think you have to have full-house loads with whitetail. Both my regular hunting '06 rifles shoot reduced 165 grain loads. At 5-8% reduction from max they get very accurate. My .308 165 grainers are loaded to be nothing more than a hot .300 Savage (about 2600 fps). Using H4895, you can make very light shooting 30-06 loads that will be very accurate, cheap and fun to shoot, and they'll still knock down deer.

I look at it a bit differently than most. To me, it's a trade-off. I can cook hot loads that can bag a deer at 300 yards, and I'll spend all summer at the range walking back and forth to the 200 yard backstop in the hot sun. Or I can cook up 50-100 yard loads and spend all September and October in the cool of the woods scouting for better spots to ambush deer. To me, a 25 yard kill with a 30-06 beats a 200 yard kill-- it's certainly cheaper (in time, effort, and money), and to me it's more fun. What's more, I'm getting to know the deer a lot better.

Most .30 caliber 180 gr. bullets don't open as fast as the lighter 150-165 gr. bullets. They are usually designed for heavier game. The Nosler Partitions are an exception as are the Pointed Cor-Lok Remingtons.
Shoot whatever works for you. I shoot premiums for deer just because the deer I hunt offer tough shooting situations and I like an edge. But, out of an '06, almost anything with work well. E

I use 165s in 30 caliber. the sectional density is similar to a 130 gr 270. I really do not see the purpose of 150 gr bullets for 30 cal. I really like the 165 hornady flat base for deer but would go with partitions if I moved up to 180 gr for elk.

The only time I used other than 180 grain bullets in a .30 calibre rifle for deer, I had terrible results on the two deer I shot with them. They were 150 gr ballistics that produced exit wounds and long/difficult trailing jobs.

I use 180 grain fast expanding bullets at velocities normally associated with the .300 Savage or .303 British, and almost always get "drop-on-the-spot" performance. However, you must note that most of my shooting is well under 100yds.

My 30-06 load is 47.2 grains of IMR 4320 behind a 180 grain ballistic tip. This load produces about 2470 fps in my 30-06's. Since they've "toughened-up" the ballistic tip, my bullets have usually exited, however, the performance is still excellent - just a little more spoiled meat.

I have hunted with 165 grain Ballistic Tips in my 30-06 for sometime now and love the performance and the accuracy.

I have used Nosler Bt's for my 30-06 in 125 gr (Oregon Blacktails), 150, 165, 180. They work great!!
I have pretty much settled on 165's for everything ecept the 125's for our little deer and antelope
Good hunting,

Mark

I used a 165 Interlock SP for years in my '06 for everything, deer, moose, bear... and had great success. I'm assuming here you are hunting in closer cover back east, a great bullet would be the 165 Partition. Shoot it for everything, it will be great on whitetail from 10' to 400+yds, and perfect for moose as well.

280_ACKLEY

FWIW:

If the 180 grain Partitions shoot well in your rifle, there really is no need to change. The Partition's softer front section will open up fine on an deer. The rest of the bullet will plow though. The Partition is a great bullet for this very reason--it covers all (or most) of the bases.

If you are comfortable shooting the 180s, you will not have to change your shooting style, hold-over, etc., when you switch from Moose to Bear to Deer. The fact of the matter is that a Canadian who can shoot his 30-06 well and is loaded up with 180 grain partitions is set. That's a pretty darn good all around Canadian Rifle, if you ask me.

Just my 2 cents . . . .

BMT

I shot the 130 gr Ballistic tips at mule deer for over 10 years, had great performance on muley's. Most on this board profess they arent a good bullet, but I always had great performance and never lost a deer. However, I finally moved to the bonded bullets, partitions, and also am now playing with the x bullets. There are a few other things you might consider; where I hunt, is it possible to have a bear encounter, am I also hunting Elk or larger game, and as E states, do I hunt tough terrain, and get challanging shots? If you answer yes to any of the above, it seems you might want one of the newer, higher weight retaining and deeper penetrating bullets. One consideration I left out also would be; will I hunt wild pig with the bullet? There are a couple of bullets that I consider pretty darn good performers to this day, that is the Hornady Interlock, and the Remington Corelok.

I use Remington 150 gr. Core Lokt bullets in my 308 Win. I've shot two deer with this set up. They were both about a 125 pounds or so. The first one was shot in the shoulder at around 75 yards, he fell as quick as a heart beat! There was a golfball size exit wound. The second one was shot in the heart/lung area, destroying them both, leaving a baseball size exit wound. He was about 45 yards away when shot, then he ran about another 45 yards!
I like the ligher 150 gr. bullets over the 180 gr. bullets for deer hunting. The 150 gr. bllets will expand faster and will transfer their energy better. And the most important thing is this set up shots "one inch" groups at 100 yards. Thats the only reason I haven't tried another brand of bullets. But if I do try something else, it will be "150 grainer" that for sure. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I've been partial to 165 gr. bullets. I have used both Remington Core-Lokts and Nosler BTs with good results. The ballistic tips are alot more dramatic in the expansion category when compared to most bullets. I believe that a 165 gr. pill is a good balance of velocity and weight for penetration/performance. Then again, a good 180 gr. bullet in 30-06 will take about anything that I can think of, including moose and elk. Something to consider if you plan on using your '06 for everything. Good luckl.

I mostly agree with Shaman...

Any decent bullet in the 150 to 165 grain range will do a fine job on deer. Deer just aren't THAT "tough". That said, I use 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for my deer loads in my Model 99 in .300 Savage calliber.

However, most 180 grain or heavier .30 caliber bullets are designed for larger, heavier boned/muscled game such as elk, moose or bears and, therefore, tend to have heavier jackets that cause them to open up slower. They'll often shoot THROUGH deer and leave only a small exit wound which doesn't let out much blood.

However, 180 grain Nosler Partitions work just fine because the front end is designed to open up fast while the rear portion stays together and drives deep into the game.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Whichever one shoots more accurately. I used 150gr Hornady Interlocks for years, but have used the 165 SST the last couple seasons. MY 30-06 shoots Hornady bullets better than anything else.
No real difference in how the deer reacted, bullet placement is everything.

Agree with Norske and several others.

1. Shoot what is most accurate - within reason - I favor 180 Partitions for everything, including sheep, goat, caribou, black bear & moose. 165's would be my minimum "all-round" load.

2. If you are a one gun hunter - use the same (accurate!) load for everything, unless your gun shoots different deer/moose loads to the same point at 100 yards. Then memorize the differences at greater yardages. Saves a lot of range time, fiddling with scope settings, etc.

In my 30.06 i use Hornady's 130grn Spire pts and can honestly say i've never lost a deer using that bullet. I've always gotten complete passthroughs with the exception of a couple that hit shoulder bone and they were lodged in the skin on the opposite side. I've killed a lot of deer with this bullet here in NC but the deer here aren't really big deer in my neck of the woods. If i were going on a paid hunt i would use a Nosler Partition 150grn.

Why not pick a bullet like the Hornady SP's in 165 gr and use them for both!!!! This bullet will double both critters off very well and will not comprise each other in anyway. I used the 154 in .284 last fall and harvested both moose and deer with the exact same load with absolutely no problems. Best part was accuracy was great, as I have come to expect with hornady mo. Also a guy in our group dropped a nice 46" bull using the 165 gr Inerlock SP out of an 06', it did a perfect job and required no tracking what so ever. Another option would be the accubond or interbond, heard a lot of guys singing praise about this combo for moose and deer out of a variety of calibers.

When asked by a new customer on what I would load in an '06, I say the same thing, 165 grain, sight it in for 3" high at 100 yards , and shoot anything in Northern Alberta!

That way, A person doesn't wind up with 150's in his rifle when he happens upon a moose.
!80's would take a deer okay, but why punish yourself. Most that I handload for agree that they are more accurate with the 165's because they don't hit at the back end so hard...
Catnthehat

I think more of us should note where Avid Outdoorsman lives. Light, quick-opening bullets work great on smaller deer in more southerly places, but up in Ontario there's a very real possibility of a 300+ pounder.

I've used 180 Partitions on lots of "deer-sized" animals all the way down to 100 pounds in the .30-06, and the bullets all opened up nicely and dropped the beasties very quickly, without the vast amount of meat damage common to lighter "deer" bullets.

If the 180's shoot well, and have done fine on deer so far, why bother using anything else? You can use the same rifle with the same sighting. Unless, of course, you just want to dink around with other loads, a common yearning.

MD