For inexpensive bullets, those that are less than $30 per hundred, what do you guys prefer for general purpose hunting? The specific cartridge is 30-06 with a 180gr bullet. The choices are Hornady Interlock, Remington Ultra Bonded Core Lockt, Sierra Prohunter/Gameking and Speer Deep Curl. I guess this is more about bullets than cartridges because it could apply to 270 or 7mm cartridges.
Hornady Interlock 150
Remington CoreLokt 150
I also like the REM 150 gr. Not long range bullets, but more than sufficient for most hunting around here.
Considering 100 bullets should be enough for 10 seasons, I don't fret a few dollars.
I don't buy the Speer bullets to save money but because they are deadly on Big Game
Any of the bullets you mention should work just fine. My choice has been the 180 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter for my 06. Almost 50 years of use without any problems tells me they work just fine.
Paul B.
Interlocks and Nosler BT's run pretty close to that price range
Just because they are less than $30/100 does not mean they won't work. A heck of a lot more animals have been shot with them vs the $30 for 50 brands.
I prefer the Sierra 220 gr RN for elk in the 06, but also load the 180 gr Game kKng.Neither has ever failed me of putting animals on the gorund.Usually with 1 shot.
I'm sure the Pro Hunter will work as well.I just have never used them nor any of the other brands so can't say ,but I am they would be adequate.
I have found that most bullet failures end up being shot placement failures by the trigger man.
I don't buy the Speer bullets to save money but because they are deadly on Big Game
YEP ! ! Speer bullets don't LIKE my guns.
the nosler 180 ballistic tip is easily my choice...
they come in boxes of 50, but if you look around you can usually get them for ~$15/50 which figures into your price range...
I stock Hornady Interlocks, Speer Hot-Cors and Sierra Pro Hunter bullets. I use whichever shoots well in my rifles. Currently the 180 Hornady in the -06, the 145 grain Hot-Cor in the 7mm-08 and the 170 grain FN Sierra with LE propellant in all my 30-30's
My trouble is I can only hunt so many days so I can't shoot em all at the game I have tags for.
I guess you could say bullets aren't my problem, I like em all. I quit using the more expensive ones as the cup and core seem ok to me. To each his/her own. Shoot more/hunt more!
I buy bulk Winchester Power Points in a bunch of different calibers to load for friends, never had any complaints, these are used for deer only.
For inexpensive bullets, those that are less than $30 per hundred, what do you guys prefer for general purpose hunting? The specific cartridge is 30-06 with a 180gr bullet. The choices are Hornady Interlock, Remington Ultra Bonded Core Lockt, Sierra Prohunter/Gameking and Speer Deep Curl. I guess this is more about bullets than cartridges because it could apply to 270 or 7mm cartridges.
Hornady interlock 165gr. sp or btsp either one will work great at 30-06 velocities.
Why buy cheap? Easy, plenty good to practice with.
Why spend big money on the best bullets you can buy? Easy, its only a few shots a year, and why be saddled with a what if situation, when you can easily afford to run a premium bullet.
I rarely fire over 10 rounds a year out of any of my hunting guns on game and zero. Just today I finally verified my 308, 2 shots, dead on, and from then on its always been one round per animal. Hasn't broken my bank yet and as I've said on here many times... I suspect I'm pretty low on the pay scale compared to most that post on here. But I sure love where I live and my job is passably ok.
Hornady, Sierra, Win Power Point.
Watch the classifieds here. There were some winchester powerpoints 150 and 180 gr. at 250 /$35. They should work well for you.
the nosler 180 ballistic tip is easily my choice...
they come in boxes of 50, but if you look around you can usually get them for ~$15/50 which figures into your price range...
I have yet to see a big game ballistic tip that wasn't at least $15/50 and 270 caliber and up are usually $20+/50.
The Hornady interlock SP or SST is half the price of Nosler bullets and just as deadly. I load 165SST in my '06 and get groups under .75" and they cost $26/100.
Hornady SST. Poor mans ballistic tip. Works just as well if not better.
Win. Power Point would be hard to beat for your requirements.
in 30-06 I have using the old Remington 165 grain Corlocks with great deal of luck. I still believe for the money you cannot go wrong with these.
Chief - I have a stock of 270-130s Rem Core Lokts that are stouter than Hornady interlocks.
They do not open up AS much as an interlock
Plenty but less expansion. I think I'll keep them.
Jerry
The Hornady SP (Interlock) would be my choice in 150-180gr.
Avoid the SST like the plague.
RH
I have tried not to like Hornady bullets, but when I packed up my loading bench before the last move, I boxed up more red boxes of bullets than anything else.
That said, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Speer bullets. I have always had good accuracy with them.
Deer aren't that hard to kill, and the performance envelope of the .30-06 is well tested and documented. I think that trouble with projectiles seperating core from jacket comes in somewhere close to the 3,000 fps mark. 165 to 180 grain cup and core bullets out of the .30-06 are good to go on game to the size of Elk, I'd say.
If I could afford to hedge my bet on a particularly expensive hunt, or on a hunt for an animal that might bite my momma's oldest boy, I might go for one of the more "stout" projectiles.
I've run the TSX and the TTSX enough to sample them. I do load them for my wife's .270 WSM, but the speed with the 110 grain bullets makes me feel like the solid copper bullets are necessary. I do know they are deadlier than lightning when you push them that fast.
With that said, I knocked off a couple of does this year with a .30-30 shooting Remington 170 grain Corelokt Hollow Points, and was very impressed with the way they dumped both deer.
In summary, I think the Barnes, et al, shine at high velocity. Cup and core bullets do what they have been doing for over a hundred years when they plod along at velocities up to 2900.
Your mileage may vary depending on the game animal, and where you shoot it.
The Hornady SP (Interlock) would be my choice in 150-180gr.
Avoid the SST like the plague.
RH
Why? I have killed 6 deer and 1 bobcat with the 165SST at 2850FPS from my '06. They dropped on the spot, and the bullets all exited without signs of excess expansion.
The very first two SSTs I used when they first came out were not up to what I want from a bullet. A 150gr SST from a 308 (MV 2400ish) hit a single rib on the buck in my avatar and came apart. Only one lung was taken out resulting in a PITA tracking job. The deer was only 25 yards away when I shot. An almost identical result with a 139gr at a slightly faster MV on my next use of an SST made me give up on them. I prefer two holes and good blood trails. There are just too many good bullets for me to chance another dismal performance from an SST. They are accurate though...
You may want to read the thread below.
Link RH
duckster - I don't know duckster, he's new TO ME but
duckster knows some stuff ! !
The very first two SSTs I used when they first came out were not up to what I want from a bullet. A 150gr SST from a 308 (MV 2400ish) hit a single rib on the buck in my avatar and came apart. Only one lung was taken out resulting in a PITA tracking job. The deer was only 25 yards away when I shot. An almost identical result with a 139gr at a slightly faster MV on my next use of an SST made me give up on them. I prefer two holes and good blood trails. There are just too many good bullets for me to chance another dismal performance from an SST. They are accurate though...
You may want to read the thread below.
Link RH
I just cut up some front shoulders from my NC deer last night, and the 165s did a good job breaking bones and messing the plumbing up. The closest deer I've shot with them was last year at about 30feet. Hit the deer in the white patch of it's neck and blow a silver dollar sized hole out the back of her neck. Maybe you just need to shoot a slightly heavier bullet? 165s for the 30cals and 150 for the 7mm.
Funny thing about bullets, everyone has different opinions and for some reason, completely different experiences. Lots of people on this site brag up Hornadys, but I have not had a gun yet that really liked them. Same thing goes for VLDs. I stick with Nosler for the most part, and ballistic tips haven't let me down yet.
dc223 - yep it is funny. I haven't had a gun and that's a lot, that didn't like Hornadays.
I've always had to tinker w/Noslers to get equal or nearly, accuracy.
Strange. Maybe we both need to tinker w/seating depths with both brands? ?
i've always gotten very good accuracy from speer bullets, but terminal performace is another story. when i was first starting out hunting and thought the cheapest ammo on the shelf would work just fine, we used federal blue box loaded with speer hotcors. over the course of 3 days we 3 deer shot with 3 different calibers. the first one was my first deer and i got excited, made a very poor shot at 200 yds with a open sighted .303 British that went in the rear left ham and popped out front right shoulder, it was a horrible gutshot and i still feel bad about it to this day. anyways, when we dressed it i was surprised to find that the bullet had gone lengthwise through the animal with out expanding, neat little 30 cal exit hole.
next day buddie's wife shoots a large doe at 150 with a .30-30, tucked it right in behind the fore leg, heard the smack and she pogo sticked in the air swapped ends and ran for the bush tail down. found hair and a few drops of blood where it had been standing, but the trail dried up almost instantly and after 2 days of searching never did find her. my friends wife was crushed and very upset that we where unable to recover it. on the last day, buddy drills a forkhorn through the longs at 150 with a 308, it runs for the bush like the doe, again some hair a very little blood. after 20 minutes we found it 100 yds into the bush , but couldn't see any sign of an entrance or exit hole until we pushed on the chest. again no expansion and the fat just seemed to close up the hole. i'd like to know if this has been a common problem with speer hotcors? working in a gunstore, i hear both praise and disdain for every bullet, but speers in general don't seem to be that popular up here.
Sierra's- Gameking, Prohunter or the little 63 gr SMP, all kill deer fine cost under $20 per 100 (around here) and shoot tiny little groups...
I've never had a deer run more than 50 yards using anything more than the standard old Core-loct, Federal Hi-Shok (Hot Cor) and Winchester Power Points. I'm not saying I'm a great shot or that these bullets are the holy grail, but maybe I'm a little more patient than some with shot selection. Also haven't done a lot of traveling that would, to some, necessitate poor shot angles in order to take an animal.
Could be the reason that standard cup and core bullets have worked well for me.
kevin - There are a lot of guys who like/praise Speer hot cors
so I've not said a lot (some) but I have not had satisfactory performance from them either.
My experience has been they're too fragile. I'll only give 2 examples.
Several yrs ago I was hunting with a friend in Alabama, gun 270 Win. 130 gr hot cor. I shot a small buck in open woods but up close. DEER DROPPED but no exit. Bullet exploded. I wrote it off as being too close. Repeated performance a couple of times at moderate range.
In 08 I bought a 300 WM and didn't intend to shoot or hunt it a lot. I bought a couple of boxes of Fed 180 hot cors. NO deer was shot at close range. From 150 - 287 yds all lasered.
Every one seperated, some partial bullet exits, some no exits.
I didn't loose a deer but I feel fortunate about that.
I pulled those 180 hot cors and seated Hornaday 180 Interlocks. Check group, excellent; check sight in - same. Totally difference performance. I couldn't ask for any more from them.
MAYBE I'm just unluky w/hot cors, but that's my story....
I diden't know we had that many Gunwriters on the fire. would each of you list the mags you write in. thanks
Hubert - I write for the 'Campfire' under an assumed pen name of jwall. My real name is AL CAPONE !
Like dogcatcher said..people get completely different experiences..kevin wood gets no expansion with hot-cors and jwall gets over expansion
I'm in the middle..I like them
wes - I truly don't understand the difference in performance. It is a mystery to me.
If I just didn't like Speer, I wouldn't have tried them, MORE THAN ONCE or maybe not at all.
Now on PREMIUM bullets the DIFFERENT reports on Barnes TTXs is THE reason I haven't and PROBABLY will not try them.
Some report repeated success, others repeated failure. From my experience w/Speer, I lean toward believing both sides.
I diden't know we had that many Gunwriters on the fire. would each of you list the mags you write in. thanks
Do you want real world answers or answers derived from a MFG's bank account? The average shooter here has no skin in the game and will give you the true measure of a gun, bullet, powdrr, scope, etc.
While I really like the Hornady Interlock for most of my rifles (no magnums), I could never get the SST or Interbonds to shoot very well for me. That seems to happen with others as well, as I have read posts that talk about that as well. Kind of strange but most of my hunting is deer sized game and the standard Hornady are plenty tough for that, given what I am pushing them from, generally in the 2800 fps range.
The only bullet I load in my .250-3000 Model 99 is the 87gr Speer. Consistent accuracy and deer-dropping performance. Farthest they have made it is about 30yds. Used a few in my '06 when I first started using reloads, and had no issues.
dms & Anyone interested:
I normally don't shoot WW power points, even tho I know they're good.
This a.m. I busted a 130-140 lb doe at less than 40 yds. It was raining and wanted NO TRAILING. I shot her HIGH SHOULDER w/270-130 gr P.P. Not only did it drop her. It EXITED having penetrated the front shoulder blade, backbone, & then behind the left shoulder. Meat loss was minimal. At that range you couldn't ask for more from any bullet.
dms & Anyone interested:
I normally don't shoot WW power points, even tho I know they're good.
This a.m. I busted a 130-140 lb doe at less than 40 yds. It was raining and wanted NO TRAILING. I shot her HIGH SHOULDER w/270-130 gr P.P. Not only did it drop her. It EXITED having penetrated the front shoulder blade, backbone, & then behind the left shoulder. Meat loss was minimal. At that range you couldn't ask for more from any bullet.
Good shooting.
I've fiddled with the 150gr PP in my variuos 7mm guns, but could never get the accuracy I was looking for. But, they have been killing critters big and small for decades and will contiue to do so if allowed.
