I dont know if we've done a "Pick One Bullet" survey.
(Probably but I've not seen it)
We've done "Favorite Rifle" "Favorite Cartridge" and so on..



And we've heard a couple things here on the 'fire, experienced some results in the field, and therefore based off the two truths listed below, I'd like to hear from those of you that would/could pick JUST ONE BULLET for all your Big Game (Deer through the largest toughest Elk/Moose) hunting.

1) "Headstamps don't kill game."
2) "Cartridges are more similar than different."


You can only choose one (weight, diameter, make).
So what's your pick.?

Nosler Partition

338 Barnes TTSX 210gr

Ha.!

Good call CRS.!

6.5 140 Partition

Which one.?

Toss up between the 165 NPT and the 168TTSX in .308

I see where ur going there Hank..

Doesn't really matter what cartridge either one of those are loaded in, they will reliably kill anything in north america.

Hornady interlock
.38-.4 BC
PUSHED AT 85% max velocity for any cartridge

I load for a dozen or so rifles and when it comes to a hunting bullet all I currently use is the Barnes TTSX

I've long been a fan of North Fork bullets - solid and grooved shank, bonded front core, awesome accuracy. The rather blunt, protected point tip gave them a lower B.C. that other bullets that were available and was the one thing I would have liked to see changed. Talked to Mike Brady about adding a tip. Instead, he created prototypes with a match-style (tiny) hollow point and sent me a bunch of .284" 140g prototypes. those prototypes have been awesome performers on game.

While the North Fork bullet of all types have been very accurate in my rifles, the new Federal Edge TLR would get my vote for the "one" bullet I would use. I think of it as an improved North Fork bullet.

.284

Federal Edge TLR, 155g, .284", .61 B.C., and sell all my bolt rifles except the .280 Rem and 7mm RM.

129 LRX

.30/06 and a 180 grain Nosler Partition.

270, 150 gr, Partition.

The again, maybe 6mm, 100 gr, Partition.

Although, the 180 gr Partition out of an "06 would be tempting.......or the 165 gr, or possibly the 200 gr.

Then again, if I chose the 6.5 cal, 140 gr Partition I would have another reason to by a Creedmoor.

+1 from deer to Grizzlies, a Partition of some size and weight will take care business.

For my .375 H&H a 270 grain Swift A-Frame. For my second .375,a 300 grain Sierra BTSP. For my third .375,a 300 grain Swift A-Frame. For my .375 RUM,260 grain Nosler Partition.

Then there is the 3 .270's I own.....

The only bullet I have shot for years is the Barnes .308 dia 165gr TTSX .....Very accurate and impressive on game performance, These bullets have impressed my hunting buddies so much that now almost every one of them hunt with Barnes TTSX bullets in one flavor or another........Hb

150 Nosler Accubond, or Partition in .308. I want it to shoot 165s but it wants 150s.

6.5 140 berger vld. Second place would be a .530 roundball.

I could get by with a 180gr TTSX out of my 300 H&H, or 130gr TTSX from my 270's.


I do not have enough experience with 7mm or 6.5 on game to make a choice, but I imagine a TTSX would not be wrong there either.


so far this year we have used:

300gr 375 TSX 5 African critter

400gr 423 TSX 1 cape buffalo

130gr 277 TSX 1 bighorn sheep and deer

180gr 338 NAB 1 deer

150gr 277 NPT 1 elk

100gr 277 NAB 1 deer

130gr 277 Hornady IL 1 deer

100gr 243 Factory blue box federals 2 deer

255gr RMS gear Cutthroat broadheads 2 deer

For the lower 48.....300 win, 200 grain accubonds cover all bets. It's become my "go to" combination for Idaho deer and elk.

Toss in Alaska, and I'd go with a 338 rum, with 225 grain accubonds. It's also a hammer on African plains game.

Andy3

7mm 160 Accubond at 3k

6.5mm 140 nosler partition or accubond

+1

If you look close, you could probably see it in this picture...

For everything I’m going to hunt, a .284” 120 grain Ballistic Tip or a 120 grain TTSX. If only allowed one, it’d be the TTSX.

For my wife’s rifle......338 cal. 225 TTSX
For my rifle.... .375 cal. 295 TTSX ( which is not produced....yet).....until then, a 250 TTSX. memtb

Pending on my needs, nosler partition. AccuBond or Barnes LRX nothing else. By the way, this is for hunting only.

150 gr. Partition .308 diameter out of 30-06, 30-30 AI and 308.

depends on which weatherby I am using

.223-62 gr. Barnes TTSX in my AR/50 gr. Nosler BT in my CZ 527

.257- 90 gr. Barnes X bullet ( no longer in production) I'm going to try the 90 gr . Interbond when I run out of the Barnes

.277- 130 gr. Barnes TTSX

.264-130 gr. Swift Scirocco

.284-140 gr. Barnes TTSX or 140 gr. Accubond

Anywhere north of 2,850 suits me. Great bullet.

100 grain Nosler Partition in my 6mm-06.

Likely, if I could pick only one, I'd pick a 200gr Partition in 30 cal. I could hunt the world with that out of an '06.

But why would I limit myself to one bullet? In 30 cal alone, I load for 4 guns, using over 2 dozen different bullets, including 11 different cast bullets. I'll never understand you "one bullet" guys.

285 or 286 Swift or Woodleigh .366

.30 Cal 168gr TTSX for big game smaller than big bears or DG in Africa.

.375 Cal 270gr TTSX for the big stuff.

1st choice for me ..... 200 gr Nosler Partition 30 cal pushed at 3000 FPS 😁

I guess you’d really struggle with one rifle/caliber hunters then! memtb

Hornady interlock spire point. Whatever dia. At this point in time Id have to say the .277 150 grain. Just as an " in case". The 130 is probably all I would ever "need". Boxed by the 100. Affordable. Practice,hunting,one and done.

You sound smart so I will take your first choice.

On second thought I might drop down the the 130gr VLD as I like it a bit better in the CM and it would still work fine @ 3200 fps in the Mag.

Split the difference with 140's. Better BC too.

Nosler partition

Yeah...I've been wondering lately if I have gotten too materialistic. The kids are my excuse for collecting more nowadays. They can't handle the recoil of the 30-06 with 200gr Partitions yet.

Of what I’ve used, .277 Federal Trophy Bonded Tip 130gr. But the TBT would be good in other weights and calibers, and I have some Nosler Accubonds on order for my 308 and those might become my new favorites.

Mine would also have to include African hunting, that being said, the great 300gr .375 cal Nosler Partition at 2680 fps would get me by on all game anywhere till I'm too damn old to pack a rifle and hunt game, big or small, they all would fall.

Same here, or a 168gr ABLR

Brand: Nosler
Bullet: Accubond
Diameter: .284
Weight: 140

I could use this bullet in soooo many different deer rifles with complete confidence. 7mm-08, 7x57, 280 Rem, 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm WBY just to name a few.

This bullet would work on deer or elk. Close or long range.

7mm 150 grain Scirocco at 2900 fps in my pet 280. A pointy BBC, about as good as it gets.

First Pick: .277" 130gr Partition (or Accubond)

Second: .308" 200gr Accubond (or Partition)

A 200gr Nosler out of a .300H&H is easily a do anything, anywhere, load for NA. However, the 130gr Partition out of the .270 should cover everything left on my dance card. And do it in a lighter package.

180 hornady interlock

200gr 8mm Speer Hot Cor. If I can't put it down with one of those at 2600, I don't need to be messing with it.

Homemade lead, .309", 185 gr.

Unlikely I'll shoot jacketed bullets again in this life.

See my Sig line.
It answers the question and the cartridge question.


Funny thing,
I don't use either very much.
But, if limited to one bullet, one gun?

Easy!

TTSX

168gr in 300 win mag will kill a lot of critters

I only hunt WT's, so if I hunted larger game things might be different. But if I had to choose today, I would have to pick the .277 130 gr. Barnes TTSX. However, I hope this is a fluid situation as I just bought a box of Barnes ammunition for my baby '06 with 100 gr. TTSX bullets. I have never shot deer with 100 gr. bullets out of the 25/06, but am very interested in seeing what they will do. If they perform like the 130 gr. out of the 270, that will be my choice at that time!

140 gr Barnes TTSX.

donsm70

.277 or .284?

.30 caliber 180 grain partition

.22 caliber 55 gr. Hornady sp. I shoot 100 times more varmints than deer. The 55 Hornady has proven deadly for both and is economical.

.308 168 TTSX

If I ever go back, my choice will work just fine as I do not foresee another buffalo or ever going after an elephant.

The bullet I use by far the most of, and which I've used on everything from rabbits to red stag, is quite a prosaic one really: the Winchester Power Point, 150 gn, in either .308" for .30/06 or .284" for 7x57R. I buy them in bulk and despite being low cost and not at all fancy they shoot very accurately and kill very effectively. I have dropped truckloads of game with them.

I'd have to rethink hunting bigger stuff though, or else go with Woodleigh's 286 gn RNSP in .366" from my 9.3x74R double rifle as my one and only, if that was what I was limited to. It certainly does the job on pigs, deer and buffalo, and would no doubt do for everything down to bunnies too, though there are some trade offs (cost, shorter range)

Either the 100gr .257"cal or the 160gr .284" cal. or the 180gr .308" cal. or the ..........

Yeah, between those 2 I would opt for the roundball. Much more dependable.

I think I’d almost rather have one rifle than be limited to one bullet.

A 6.5 139 Scenar maybe, or possibly a 30 cal 180 Partition? Though the .338 160 TTSX is pretty wicked...

Just shooting the 6.5 CM for a short period I’ve had fantastic accuracy with the 140 Partition, 139 Scenar, 130 VLD, 140 VLD, 127 LRX, and 147 ELD-M. How could I pick just one!?

Yer' killin' me........

Never an issue with the 140 vld on large deer, large black bears, mountain goats, antelope. May shoot an elk someday. Course I don't shoot uber magnums or past 800 yards. And yes, the roundball does great too.

Wow, that was epic! Had no idea the 160 accubond was a COWARDS special

Laffin.....

You publicly call me a child molester.... referencing my daughter.... and I’m the Coward?

Should we pull up the post?

If you guys want to discuss pet names and insults, please start ur own thread... we're talking "Bullets" here.

Thank you.

prm,

That's the challange, pick the bullet and then work backwards to cartridge and rifle platform...

I know you love that .338 160

Still waiting for his 2" at 500 yard Tikka groups that he shoots all day long when he does his part....

One ????? Seriously ???

Hafta go .375" SGK 250 grainer so as to have all the big bases covered and slap the chit outta the little ones.

If you pick the right bullet then you can have multiple rifles to cover multiple scenarios.

For my following rifles I choose:

-Forbes 6mm Remington - would be the Barnes 95grain LRX, the 85g TSX would be 2nd choice

-Kimber Hunter 7mm-08 - would be the Barnes 120 TTSX or 139g LRX

- Forbes 270 Win - would be 129g LRX

-Brno 21 30-06 - would be 168g TSX

-Brno 21 9.3x64 Brenneke - 250 TTSX

If I could only have one of the above it would be a hard choice between my Forbes 270 or my Kimber Hunter 7mm-08, would depend on the day I guess........

180 Nosler Partition would do darn near anything, except DG in Africa. Can use it in any of my .30-06s or .300s.

130 nosler partition out of a 270 win. Boring but lethal.

I always thought I could rule the world with the .308 155 Scenar.

A Woodleigh .411 400 grain round nose.

Nosler Partition no matter what caliber.

That sure was a favorite before the Campfire learned that BC was a thing.

Still waiting for him to go away...😎
142g LRAB

One bullet implies one rifle, one cartridge. That's never going to happen at my house but I'll play. My 45-90 with a 480 gr. bullet cast of 25-1, lead/tin alloy from my NEI, 458-475 mold.

We actually have two different calibers (firearms for hunting) at our home......however, they both use the same brand, and bullet type, for all of our big game hunting. There are several other calibers and bullet types we use for more specialized needs/wants, but for hunting....one caliber, one bullet, and one zero. With the exception of my handgun for hunting......again a specialized use! memtb

Nosler partition, any caliber

Partition or Barnes TTSX

I’d choose the 6.5 142gr AccuBond Long Range. That bullet maximizes the range of the 6.5 Creedmoor and doesn’t blow up at 30 yards. Best of all worlds, and I’d have no issue putting one in a moose or a Kudu or a Pronghorn or a Steenbok.

Remington Core-Lokt

I have been loading and shooting the Sierra 63 grain semi point in .223. In Iowa, we don't have many options about what we can hunt with a centerfire rifle. But the 63 grain Sierrra has been nicely accurate in my .223's.

kwg

Whatever happens to be in my rifle when an opportunity is provided. Within reason of course. No azz shooting elephants with a 22-250 and a V-Max.

To me, the TSX or TTSX in any caliber.

.458 Winchester Magnum, loaded down to 1700 fps. 483 gr Gardner's Cache cast flat point gas check.

I have taken a lot of big game with this combo and it has been fantastic.........but if I could only choose one bullet like the OP asked (not 10 like some have answered) it would be the 338cal 300gr SMK. A devastating end of the line for anything it hits !!

Did a quick tally. Of approximately 70 responses, so far:

By bullet:
> 19 NPT's
> 12 TTSX's
> 6 NAB's

By brand:
> 28 Nosler
> 16 Barnes

Excluding Barnes, Nosler had more responses than the 9-10 other brands combined. Also interesting that all but one of the Barnes responses were for a "tipped" bullet.

I've shot my last 5 or so big game animals with the 215 berger hybrid at 2800 fps mv from a 300 wsm. Rifle is a 24" fluted #4 brux on a predator action. It works well near to far.

Bb

Depending on the caliber either TTSX or Accubond will work for anything

30 cal the 180 gr NPT is the best, f**k the rest. I don't have any cows or horses so who needs a Barnes.?

The question was settled with the first answer, all other were wasted space.
To refine the answer, 210 gr .338

Nosler Partition for me as well...has always worked.

Hammer Sledgehammer 6.5 130 grainer.

The real question might be "why don't you do it then"

The real answer might be “because I don’t have to”....

Preposterous! Yet Ill play along. Hornady # 2620 to be fired from the 6.5 Grendel. This is there 129 grain flat base spire point. My CZ527'sin 6.5 grendel love them. Was honestly surprised to see this bullet out perform the 125 grain Nosler Partition in terms of expansion and weight retention at blistering Grendel speeds only achievable w Leverevolutin propellant.

Expect this modest bullet would do well from a 6.5 Creed or 260 Rem and more.

.308 168 gr TSX

No caliber ?? no grain weight ?? ....still a better answer than tsx-ttsx...........

I always used Nos Bal tips, but in 2018 I used Nos Accubond on 4 animals.............they both work... Hornady SST worked for me too.

Nosler Partitions are never a mistake.

Nosler Partition. I've been loading and shooting them for close to 40 years and they've never let me down. I shoot "heavy for caliber" regardless of the cartridge; 115 gr in 25-06, 150 gr in 270, 180 gr in 30-06, 250 gr in 338 Win Mag.

Currently using 150gr in my 270 Win, my wife uses 140gr in her 7-08, have used the 180gr in various 30-06’s and the 115gr in a few 25-06’s.....

.284" 180 ELD...............

swift Scirocco II in caliber of choice. Love on game performance
Currently loaded in 338 RUM at 3200, aka the Dragon Slayer

A pointy one....yeah, I like the pointy ones.

200 30 cal partition. From a 300 win mag. And I did pick just that one and use it at least several times a year.

I think I might answer this in a number of different ways depending on what day the question is asked.

Of all my rifles I've killed anything with, I like the 140 Accubond out of my .264 and I like the 150 Partition out of my .280 the most, but I have rifles tucked away that have yet to be blooded. I was going to put a sweet little Model Seven custom in 6mm Rem slinging 95-grain Partitions to work this fall, but I lost my lease and had to have everything off the property one week before deer opener. Maybe next year...but damn, I ain't getting any younger.

Hornady interloks....

Looking at the replies, it's a 30 caliber by a wide margin.

284 in second.

277 and 6.5 are tied for third.

Across the spectrum........



Accubonds!

ya!


GWB

195 EOL