Guys I am looking for a good bullet to take on a muledeer hunt this fall. I want something with a high BC around the 180 grain range? any and all input will be helpful. SHots could be as 500yds but more than likely in the 300 yd range. Are Bergers the way to go? I will be reloading.

Been very pleased with the 180gr Accubonds in the 300WM.

Slap em' with a 155 Scenar or 168 BT.

The last few years I have been using the Berger 210gr VLD with H1000 powder in my 300WM, great combo

Those are the first two I'd be looking at, and would only add the 155 Hybrid and the 185 Berger.

Tween those 4 you'll find a rock star of a load, if you're guns fairly intelligent that is...

Dober

Have found the 168 Bergers also rock... Two WSM's are scary accurate...

W

+1

I use them for tougher stuff, the 180gr. NBT for lighter stuff, both at 3,050 fps with RL-22. Both bullets have the same B.C. and same POI in my Ed Brown Damara. The NBT edges the NAB in accuracy, but not by that much.

DF

Slap,
Using a 300 Win Mag and you are loading you have a ton of options. If you are currently loading and shooting your 300 shoot what you have been shooting. If your gun likes 180's stuff a few with practically any 180 and it will be more than adequate.
I like the 165 Sierra HPBT. Not the highest BC but it works well. Rl 22 works well with 165's and 180's.
Good luck this fall.

Dave

Another option is the 165TTSX on top of RL19.....

I used 180 BT when I owned a 300WM and they were like hand grenades on WT deer. That was years ago though. After all the blood shot meat I moved up a notch to 200 partitions. It had plenty of reach and didn't ruin meat like the BT . I suspect those were the old design though. This was in '89.

I like TTSX's in 168 grs,and there seems to be less blood shot meat with them, but the 185 gr VLD's work great and the 180 Accubonds work well also, all three have shot 3 into ragged holes,and have been very easy to work up loads for, I'm not a big fan of BT's when used in a 300WM as others have said they can be pretty explosive at times!

Every time I suggest that the 180 gr. NBT at 3,050 fps in my .300 Win Mag is a bit friable, I get zapped by those who say that's the old NBT, not the new NBT. NBT's are super accurate. I use them on whitetails and that seems to work. Hogs I've shot, especially in the head, show a pretty explosive bullet. I've been told that a hog's head is not a good representative medium to test bullets. Maybe not. Anyway, for tougher game, I use the 180 gr. NAB, which is nearly as accurate as the NBT. I like that combo, because I have a choice, both having the same shape, B.C. and POI, both fit the numbers on my elevation turret. My turret is in yards, not MOA's. I lack the experience to tackle all that. Need to keep it simple...

BTW, my NBT's are out of the new box. Took a while to figure how to open it.

DF

They are very accurate but for me too explosive, there are to many other better choices, like you I have had excellent accuracy with the Accubonds and with the speed the 300wm pushes them they seem like a good combination!

Well let me ask this question to you guys, would I be better off to shoot a bullet that would fragment and disipate its energy into the animal or have a bullet that would remain more intact and have more of a chance of a pass through?

That's a good question. In fact, it's so good it's been beat to death up and down this forum for as long as I've been here.

Different schools of thought. The ultra long range hunters like the frag bullets to get clean kills way out there where
velocity may be dropping off. The thru and thru crowd likes the harder bullets that put daylight clean thru the carcass. Then there's the cup and core bunch that loves the old Corelokt and similar lead/jacket bullets.

And there are some who swing both ways...

And they are the ones you need to watch...

DF

Out of the three that I listed you can't go wrong with any of them and there are others that would work just as well, I would see which one shoots the best out of your rifle and that would be my choice!

All bullets mentioned here will work just fine. I like 180 gr AB's and 175-210 gr VLD's for the scenario you described.

Accuracy: 180 Nosler Accubond. Drop them dick dead in the mud: Nosler 180 Partitions. I never lost an elk/deer/moose to a 180 Hornady either.

That's good to hear about the hornady's but what about the winchester power points?????

Sierra 200gr Gamekings and a boot full of RE22�. Accuracy is king and the big 200's will bust some ass way out yonder

Just about any bullet from the 155 scenar to 200 partition will work. I've shot them with the 165's and they put them down too.....Hornady interlocks, old nosler solid base boat tail bullets and partitions are always my favorites...

Yep

dave

168/208grn AMAX and thank me later!!!!!

At that range (intermediate) the BC isn't the biggest concern unless it's gonna be real windy... a deer shouldn't strain ANY hunting bullet at 300-500, so I personally would be looking at bullets that aren't gonna make a big mess, with a good BC... in my 300 WM the 200-gn Accubond is very accurate at long ranges and I'm pretty sure it won't jelly half a deer like some of the really frangible target bullets MIGHT.

Just IMHO.

Alot of guys like jellied deer here though...Just sayin

Just me but if'n I'm shooting at 500 yds on a deer or lope it's gonna be cause he's pretty snazzy. At that time for me it's about turfing them and now!

Costco always has vaca and pollo....

Dober

If I am going to have to carry a 300 Win Mag for something, then I am going to go for thump capabilities, vs the long range potential...

that is why I load a stout charge of H 1000 ( over book max) with a 220 grain RN or 220 grain SMP Partition...run right around 2950 fps....

even for a round nose it is pretty flat shooting at 300 yds...

When I ran a 300 Win Mag for whitetails and mule deer,we used a 165 Nosler Partition at 3200 fps+;we killed quite a few deer with that load everywhere from Colorado to Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Plenty of crunch,always exits....After awhile,I thought it was a bit much myself but near or far it always worked.A real beast from Eastern Colorado made B&C and was killed with that load...my friend dumped him in a heap.

If you want to save a little money I can suggest the 180g Hornady Interlock. In my 300 H&H at 2950 fps I have taken deer at ~400 yards and in. Does a fine job and is accurate.

I think you a guy has to work harder to find something that doesn't work well from a 300 WM,than to find something that does.

agree with that. I have settled in with either 2 180 BT or a 180 AB in my 300s. 163bc

It is a bit much. I've found the .243 to be plenty of gun for any deer that walks (speaking of WT and MD), personally.

Pretty much any hunting-style bullet that you can load in a .300WM will be more than enough to kill a MD.

I think you could pretty much stuff a .308" marble down a .300WM case neck and do in any deer with it

Shhhhh! You're telling everyone!

R.

Hah!

There are more than enough .243's to go around, methinks.

I love the 180gr Accubonds reloads in my Sako m75ss 300WM. Set to shoot 3.5" high @ 100m.

Back when I was a 1-rifle guy (300WM) I always shott 180gr bullets. Now all I use mostly in all my big game rifles are Accubonds.

Other guys in our hunting cammp that shoot 300WM shoot the factory WS 180gr Accubonds. Their's are sighted in between 1.5 to 2" high @ 100m.

What's the BC of a cat's eye? Is it better than an aggie?

P

Aggies are way cooler which ups the BC a bunch.

I'm not very savvy on marbles, but I just shoot em as fast as they'll go BC doesn't matter anyways!

Allways liked the way Nosler cuts thru the crap and guessing.When I started loading for my old pf M70 in 300 Win Mag I started with 180 gr NPT saw the accuracy load was with Re-22 at almost the highest velocity. WW brass,Fed 215, max dose (worked up to it)75.5 grs ,chrono'ed at 3110 fps 3 shots in 1.125 or less at 100. Figured I was good to go. Figured right, many deer, a nice 6x6 bull elk with that load, proved its moxy many times over.Fair to say it is more of a load than my M700 300Win Mag will digest though. Good BC and great performance don't really know how to do it all around any better in the 300Win mag in my M70 anyway. Magnum man

Well guys back then our agenda was both elk and mule deer,sometimes same hunt,and other times different hunts but same season....we'd be back and forth out west two,sometimes three times a year.So we would set up one rifle a season for both, or "whatever".(A 300 magnum makes a splendid "whatever" rifle.

As now, the 300 made sense for the elk,and dropped big bucks like sash weights.....very gratifying....

One 300 Win Mag, a lefty action Rem 700 owned by my good pal, dropped the biggest whitetail any of us has ever taken on the Plains of Eastern Colorado, near Lamar.We call it the Truck Tire buck and there's a little story there....

While back I had the then CFO for Nozler on a bruin hunt. He thought it sort of odd that I used a 22/250 on bruins and a 340 Wby on chucks...grin

Dober

Dober I don't know why he'd think that way...

Guess he didn't know very much, huh?

Sounds like that guy really has problems....

Did he send you a couple cases of samples ?
.33VarmitVaporizers & .22BruinBusters

There's no bloody way you could down a bruin of any sort or size with a .22 CF

*grin*

You're absolutely right...

Dober

My 300 WM really likes Nosler 180gr Nosler Partitions protected points. I've taken two whitetail (a bit of an overkill) and wouldn't hesitate to use it on mule deer, elk hogs or for that matter, black or brown bear. Will be them in CO for elk hunting again this year. So far I've only used factory ammo but this year I'm working up hand loads using H4831sc powder.

That right there is how I feel. If I pull out the 300WM and am smoking things at 500 then I want to crush it. At that point I do not care about a pound or two of bloodshot meat. If I did I would be using the 243 instead.


I run 178gr AMAX's almost exclusively in the Win Mag. WW cases and 80gr of H1000. We've shot dozens of deer with that bullet and you can count on one hand how many that didn't bounce at the shot.

I shot a Muley last year that was partially hidden behind a ledge at 369yds. The only thing visible was the top half of the center of his body. With a Barnes or other "hard" bullet I would not have taken the shot because it would have been essentially a gut shot. As it were, I dialed turret and put the reticle about two inches above the ledge in the center of his body. He collapsed. The AMAX popped the diaphragm and destroyed both lungs.

I prefer Amax's because of how the perform terminally, however the 155 Scenar or Berger would be absolutely cheating in the 300 for 700 yards or so and in....

300 Win Mag?

200AB w/H1000 for everything and forget about it.

Spend your time practicing your marksmanship and scouting your area.

DICK dead?........Damn! Don't know if I've EVER killed anything DICK dead. Sounds like a REALLY bad way to go though...

I don't understand why people use A-Max as a hunting bullet-ITS NOT- as clearly stated on Hornady's website "Match bullets are not recommended for hunting."
A-Max are match bullets. Yes, they may kill an animal, but so will a stick. You can't guarantee proper expansion. And when hunting at any distance- this is not ethical hunting.
Just my .02

If I were to use my 300 as a deer-only rifle, I'd probably load 150gr TTSX and zing them right out there. BC may suck, but flight time will be short enough that I don't care.

Don't worry so much about the best bullet, make sure you can put the bullet exactly where you want it!

Which is why the A-Max is a good hunting bullet

So with that logic-a FMJ would be a good hunting bullet-and its not!

This speaks for the 208gr A-MAX. 6X6 bull taken in the Missouri Breaks at over 500 meters by my brother in law with a meek and mild .308. If you look close, you'll see the exit on the bull's left front shoulder....both front shoulders were broken. He dropped right there and never kicked a leg.

Wow, that AMAX did it's thing for sure!

Pat... how'd the damage indoors look?

That's not ethical!!

Neither a FMJ or a Varmint Grenade are great choices for shooting game like elk or deer...

I didn't say they were.

Never seen a Amax fail to quickly kill any animal it was pointed at whether put behind the shoulder or into it. Sample of probably 25 animals which isn't huge but enough to get a good idea.

Don't see how it's a worse option then the NBT, Berger or the like.

My point is: If they are not recommended my the manufacture for hunting, then why use them? There has got to be a reason why they would say this.
Thats all.
If they work, great, but I personally would stick to an SST or Interlock.

Have you ever used an SST, and on what?

Yes-deer

I used the sst once on deer and will never again. it was a small WT doe and it literally exploded on a high shoulder shot. it worked and killed her right there, but it was messy with lots of meat loss. I use a 70 grain NBT now in my .243 and everything (deer,coyotes, antelope) flops right there. I use the 208 amax in my 300 win mag for long shots and bigger stuff.

I've never made a bad shot with one, so I can't say how they would do in that case. With all the lung.heart shots I've made, they have performed as they should.

me either, mine was right behind the point of the shoulder angling down through the vitals destroying the heart. so shot placement was perfect, but the hole it left going in and out was huge. I prefer a small hole in, medium size hole out and DRT, I get that with the BT's. granted it was a sample of 1, but after what I saw I didn't want to continue.

That's priceless..... Please continue with your imagination.

Thought I just heard Stick say something...

DF

I used a 150 gr Hornady Interbond on my last muley. I've also used 165 gr Grand Slams, 180 gr Hornady Spire Points, Remington Corelokts and Nosler Partitions. They all worked fine on deer, elk and hogs.

178gr AMAX




178gr



168gr




178gr




178gr





178gr





178gr
[img]http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx87/Vereor1/Charles200710pt218yds178grA-MAX21.jpg[/img]

I don't know what you mean by that, but what ever. Nothing I said wasn't true.

On the bloodshot meat thing....AMEN Brothuh!

The 168 gr VLD Hunting's are extremely accurate on my 7mag. Hoping to prove you right on their performance.

I've killed lots of mule deer with SST's, Partitions, Interlokt's, Barnes X, and corelokts. Their not very hard too kill really.

I think that after all of the imput from everyone I am gonna try the 185 bergers and see how then work. If I can work up an accurate load I think i should be set. If not, I'll try some accubonds. Thanks for all of the input guys!

I shoot 180 Nosler Partitions out of my 300 WBY Mag, most stuff DRT!

I shoot 180 Nosler Partitions out of my 300 WBY Mag, most stuff DRT!

ive been hopin for a thread like this to come around...been tryin to decide what i wanna use out of my 300..the 155 grain scenars look pretty legit, and the amax's will prolly be my first attempts

Anything in the 180 gr. weight range will work for cup and core bullets. My 300 winny likes 180 gr. win powerpoints so that's probably what I'd use. I'd probably substitute for a partition if elk were on the agenda though....although I've killed deer with the 300 winny using bullets from 165gr. to 200 gr. and they worked great.......Hard to go wrong here....

Congrats NM20, you chose perhaps the last 2 bullet's I would EVER shoot in a 300WM, good in a 308 though....this is the long range forum RIGHT ???.
Shoot the Berger 210gr VLD and throw your training panty's away

long range is kind of a subjective thing tho...i wont be playing at a grand with this one..but chances are i will prolly end up with something in the 165-180 grain range..depends what the gun likes...i want to have a good 5-600 yard beanfield rifle..nothing too crazy

X2 on the 180g Partitions... dick dead in the mud, now that's funny!

Gotta say; been shooting 180's for a few years and will be going to those 165 Barns babes in my 300 WSM. (for Moose)

Jim

180 gr. Barnes TTSXBT. 200 Gr. for elk.

I guess it doesn't get any deader than "dick dead"......don't know that from experience, just sounds funny.....