What's everyone think, who makes the best cheaper cup and core deer bullet (smaller 130-150# deer). Will be shot out of a .308 Winchester, prefer 150gr bullets unless there is a reason to shoot something else.

Always liked the Core-lock, but don't think they sell them as components anymore. Ive had good results with Nosler Ballistic tips, but their not cheap anymore. Thinking Seirra Gameking, Speer hot core, or ?. If they don't fall right there, I want a blood trail a blind man can follow.

I want to be able to afford to shoot a bunch with the same load I'm going to hunt with.

Heck, nearly any of them should be great on deer that size from a 308Win at reasonable ranges. Find one that your rifle and budget like.

I tend to like the Interlock, the Gameking (SPBT or HPBT), the Speer BT, and the Fusion component bullets if rolling my own in a .284 to .308cal rifle with modest case capacity. The SST wouldn't be too bad of a pick there either, as they aren't supposed to be the bombs they once were. Those are all typically pretty cheap in 100ct boxes when you can find them.

In factory ammo, I like the Interlock, Fed Powershok (Blue Box), the W-W Whitetail XP, and the Federal Fusion. All are reasonably priced and death on deer-sized stuff.

Midsouth Shooters Supply has 100ct boxes of 150 Interlocks for $29.99 and 150 Speer Boattails for $26.49. Pretty cheap these days.

Last I looked, the Sierras quit being "cheap" as well.

If you're after lowest price, probably Hornady interlocks. I prefer Speer hot cores myself. Truth is, though, I haven't shot anything but premium bullets (partitions, accubonds, etc) for deer, other than in lever actions, in over 20 years. Deer hunting is a thing to be savored. I get to do it once a year. It's not a place to save money. That's like having your only beer of the year be a light beer when your heart wants a stout.

Tom

Hornady interlock- dam near as good a Partition. In years of working a gun counter, can never remember hearing a compliant about them for deer or elk, and they were our most popular bullet.

I have had mixed results with the Sierra GK. Only at distance over 200 yards out of my .270 have they worked well. That was the 130g. I have used the 165 Speer Hotcore from a 30-06 on 1 elk at 281 yards. In and out both shoulders. I did use the Speer BT a few times and thought it softer than the GK. Those were out of a .257 Roberts.

I have yet to have a complaint about the Hornady Interlock. I've used several on deer and antelope in .264 WM -300 H&H. I rarely use 150s anymore in 30 caliber but used to use them a lot and didn't find one brand that wouldn't work on deer.

Have used a ton of the Privi bullets that Graf sells . They work great for thin skinned game like deer. Been several years since I bought any but they were about half of what Speer and Sierra cost . I have them in 7mm , 6.5 mm and .243 and .223, I bought 10,000 of each the last time and best I remember they ran from about $8 per 100 for the .223 55gr and maybe $14 for the 7mm 140 gr and 6.5 139 gr with the .243 100 gr at $11 per 100 .

Just looked and they still carry them at a higher price and some by the 50 rather than 100 . The .308 is a 165 gr . At current price they might not be any better a deal than Speer or Sierra .

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/12612

I can complain about them. We had mixed results back in the 70s/80s with 180s from two '06s. A small percentage performed correctly, the rest either disintegrated or penciled through. We switched to head shots to reduce the amount of tracking needed. Others' experiences vary I'm sure, but that's how it worked **for us**. Sierras were no better but they seemed to be more accurate. I switched to Speer Hot Cores and my problems ended, my father stuck with Hornady and Sierra and his persisted.

Tom

Yep, used to get them pretty cheap but now....used a lot of the Pro Hunters, great deer bullet but the Interlock and BT's have worked great for me too. For the 270, hard to beat the 130 BT on SPS, I think there's some on there now for around $14 or so per 50,

Hornadys weren't Interlocks back then.

The 2 Sierra Game Kings I have recovered travelled from front to back through deer performed very well.. Looked like a core lokt commercial. The 180 grain 30 caliber. fired out of a 300 Weatherby. The core fell out when I skinned the deer but the cup and core were still together it was just loose. I load speer boat tails for my son's 30-06 and the deer he shoots usually drop dead and the bullet always exits.Never caught one yet.They are cheap and shoot dime sized groups out of his rifle.

never had a problem with remy core loct's

Speer Hot-Cor are hard to beat in the value dept.

Inexpensive, accurate, and effective.

Went up a notch to their Grand Slam offering for both the .270 Win/150 gr. and 6.5x55/140 gr., and am very happy w/ them as well.

Paid ~ $0.22/pop, w/ rebate, a while back.




GR

Like most here so far, I’d vote for the Hornady Interlock. Hornady wouldn’t load them in their “Whitetail” white box commercial loads if they weren’t outstanding in that role. I would move up to a 165 grain Interlock instead of a 150 though. I started a thread once asking what bullets people recovered in deer and the 150’s were often mentioned. Lane Simpson wrote a VERY comprehensive article for one of the gun magazines that I have going over the best powders and bullet weight for the .308 and he named the 165 as the ideal, most balanced bullet weight for that cartridge.
I killed my best buck ever (210# dressed) with a 165 grain Interlock from a .308 and I had good blood starting within feet of where he stood and that didn’t happen with some other more premium offerings. Doa within 50 yards. Nose battering in the magazine was the only reason that I switched to a plastic tipped bullet.

I use 150 GameKings in my 308’s. My boy and I have shot a dozen deer and untold pigs with them. I’d use them or a ballistic tip. A partition is a good choice if you aren’t shooting a lot, but they ain’t cheap.

I've shot a lot of deer and elk both with Speer Hotcores with excellent luck. 150's in a 308 will handle deer nicely. Those Gamekings would be very good, too. For deer, whatever shoots well in your rifle is the best way to go. Any of them will kill readily if you can hit them.

Hornady 150 interlocks, number 3031. No need to look any farther.

federal terminal accent nothing else needed

Shot many hogs, Blacktail & Elk for the past 30 years with some version of the Hornady Interlock - in various cartridges but mostly .30 & .270 variations.

We all started with the HotCor early on because they were super cheap (late 70’s) but moved (for no reason really) to the Interlock then Partition because they were deemed superior…the animals never did give me their opinion. I was a youngster in the group so I didn’t push my thoughts too far back then. Partitions are marginally better than Interlocks which seem slightly, marginally better than HotCor but my sample size isn’t enough to even draw these conclusions. I’m an interlock man.

C&C work great at impact velocity ~2900fps unless you have laws or preferences otherwise.

Speer hot cores would probably be the cheapest and as good as anything for deer.

I havent bought any for a couple years since I still have about a hundred so I'm unsure if they are still somewhat cheap.But I'm a big fan of the Hornady SST. The 180's shoot really good out of my rem 700 in .30-06

Hornady and Speer 30 cal 150 gr are both available right now on Gunbroker for $30 per 100 or less. Looks like lots of each for sale. Take your pick. Deer die easily when shot in vital places. At those prices, bullets will never be a significant portion of your hunting/shooting budget.

Thanks for the suggestions fellas. Sounds like can't go wrong with the Speer or the Hornady. The Hornady seems a lot easier to find, maybe I'll start with them.

I don't shoot .308 but I shoot .270. The Speer gold-dot's are great bullets at a very affordable price. They are the same bullets used in Federal Fusion ammunition. The soft lead core has the jacket plated on & then die formed. Nothing to come apart or separate. Weight retention is very high if you can ever recover one to check. If you can't get the GD's go for the Speer Hot-Core flat-base (the boat-tails version are softer).

There isn't a deer alive that can survive a 150 gr Hornady in the lungs. They don't cost a lot and they work.

Winchester Power Point

Put me in the 150g Hornady Interlock camp too.
Not only do they work, they also tend to be very accurate.

Interlocks

I would also recommend the Hornady 3031 for your criteria.....Good hunting ..Hb

My favorite C&C bullet is the Ballistic Tip with the Hornady Interlock running a close second!

Don't think you'd go wrong with any of the name brand cup and core bullets in 150-180 gr weight for whitetail. I lean hard toward the Hornady #3031 myself but have also had good luck with all the others I've tried. The key, as always, is to put the bullet where it's supposed to go! If we had larger game in Alabama, I would look into the premium bullets, but they just aren't necessary for deer.

With the same thought as the op, I picked up 5 boxes of Hornady #3035 150 grain round nose. If velocities are kept reansonable. They are usable in many 30 caliber cartridges, 30-30,308,30-06 and such. Not my first choice for moose. But they will do.


Edit to correct item #

For clarification the 150 RNs are #3035. Great bullets, too!

Why in the fink would you ever consider using a CHEAP bullet.....what is there to gain not one thing.....the only time to use a CHEAP bullet is to punch holes in paper or shoot non-living targets.....

You want to use a bullet to shoot and KILL use Cutting Edge Bullets......they may cost more than cheap junk bullets using old technology and are nothing but JUNK....

https://cuttingedgebullets.com

Cheap bullets be good for hogs.

Funny, when I punch holes in paper I want premium, match bullets.

Here's some of those "cheap ole interlocks"

I haven't used all the Cutting edge bullets; but have shot a lot of cull buffalo and smaller ferals with the Safari Raptors in the 458. For buffalo they are total junk, if you so much as touch a twig they break into 7 pieces before they get there, if they get there which they seldom do. I often saw little shaving nicks, occasionally with CEB tinsel stuck to them.

Used them in the 375 a bit, the joke ones that you can load backwards. (ESPs?) Just for deer and bear. You wouldn't think that an animal could bleed so much; but if they killed any faster I sure couldn't tell. If anything they kill slower than cup and cores.

Higher price is a poor indicator of performance. You can double the price by buying your bullets in a different country, but they don't work better because of it.

Yeah…The ‘fire is right! Those ‘cheap’ bullets don’t work at all 😜

(Great pics!)

Can you name any 30cal 150-165 grain soft points that will not do a good job on deer in the 308? Me neither. I’ve been in on the kills of at least a hundred deer in your state. They just aren’t that hard to kill.

You gotta love the stuff you read on the fire.

interlocks or power points would be my choice.

He wanted "cheaper" Those aren't.


Great bullet though.

Hornady interlock would be my choice.

The Hornady or Speer work well and will do what you want. I just added 1500 Hot Cores to my pile.

Probably one of the dumbest comments I have ever read. Tell you what, you go stand 150 yards away from me and let me take one shot at you with a 150 gr Hornady fired out of my 308. We'll see how you feel about the "junk" after it hits you. Deal?

308/150gr.

Unlike the small caliber guys, you are in the sweet spot.
More than "enough" (always a good thing) oomph.

Not so much as to be hard on shooter or bullet.

Stay away from any bullet designed for the 30-30 and you will be fine
with C&C bullets.

Ballistic Tips, Sierra Pro-hunters pointed or RN, Game Kings, or Interlocks.
In that order, IMHO. Personal opinion only, any order would be fine.


Anyone thinking you need or want some mono premium bullet for deer in a 308
is just looking to "have the best"(most expensive)


Have shot deer with Partitions from 7mm and 300 magnums.
The results were slower kills than traditional bullets in a 308.
(Rib shots)

I felt the same way about the one I shot with a Partition with my 308. Also, even though they get rave reviews, I haven't been crazy about the 130ttsx in my 308. All deer died and didn't runt far, but not much blood to follow. Got me to thinking about the performance I used to get before I was a reloader and just shot Core-locts and Power Points. I love the premium bullets if I'm shooting deer with my 223, but I'm going back to cheap bullets in my 308.

You. Can’t go wrong with Hornady. The flat base spire point with the lead tip. The number of deer I kill a year it would not matter if bullets were 25 bucks a pop. Hasbeen

Do Gold Dots count as "cheaper"? I think those things are the cat's ass if they are made in the size you need, getting pushed fast enough, and sufficiently accurate for your gun.

It doesn't take much to kill a deer. I've shot quite a few and any C & C will do a great job on one. If you think any of them mentioned are junk, you really haven't shot many deer with any of them.

It was Ross Seyfried that described the flat-based Interlock as the cheapest of the premium bullets, but I get endless entertainment sort of slipping that into conversations. Some people get this wild-eyed look like their world got rocked, but those who have some meaningful experience transition to this pondering look where they concede that if you can't do it with an Interlock you probably couldn't do it anyway.

Sort of like asking if the 375 is the biggest small gun or the smallest big gun. On a windless day, you can smell brain clutches smoking.

The 150 Hornady SP is my favorite currently produced bullet for my 300 Savages, it has worked to perfection on a bunch of deer and bears.

I can’t think of anything that would be a better inexpensive deer bullet for a 308.

I shoot the Hornady 150 gr. Interlocks and 150 gr. Speer Spitzers. Both will go clean through and make a decent hole if a behind shoulder shot but, heavy shoulder or neck muscle will a lot of times stop them under the skin of opposite side. They kill quick though and shoot great. The longest shot I've made with either was about 225 yards. Up close in the woods they will a lot of times not go all the way through.

Holy szchit, this is pete53-esque.

I've killed a pile of deer with the Speer Hot-Cor – zero issues.

You had trouble with a bullet 40 years ago so you're going to complain about them? LOL

That's a hellova buck. You have anymore pics of him?

I've read where the Hornady Interlock was referred to as the "poor man's Partition". I can't think of a much better compliment than that.
I use the 165 grain Hornady #3040 in my 30-06 with excellent results. I'll be switching to 150 Hornady #3031 in my 308 when I run out of Partitions.

Absolutely correct. I have shot a lot of deer with them. Not expensive and shoot as well in my rifles as the pretty bullets.

Plus 1 on interlocks

A few. Disregard the facial expressions. Probably not likely to see it outside of an asylum.

Have been shooting 165 grain Gamekings in my .308 for about 30 years and have accounted for scores of deer. Almost all of them shot under 50 yards, most front high shoulder shots. Have never had one go more a couple steps. Always leaves a good amount of blood. Can't speak from experience about the 150 grain Gamekings but wouldn't think they would be too much different performance.

Nosler B-tip, Sierra gameking, Hornady interlock, Barnes X, all have worked well for me. Whatever your rifle shoots best will be your best bullet for deer

My first concern when choosing a bullet for whitetails is how consistent will they pattern..... can i find a load which shoots small enough groups for my hunting situation----east central Minnesota brush.

Have tried Speer, Hornady, Remington, Sierra, and Nosler in different rifles.

when I find a consistent load for a rifle i stick with it.

Hornady Interlocks, 150 gr work very well in my '59 Savage 99..... 300 Savage featherweight. Not a very hot load, but it is consistent ... about 1+ MOA. Not gonna change that load unless I have to.

The 130 Interlocks shoot really well in my pre-64 Model 70 270. MOA. Formerly used Partitions, but when I ran out, switched to the Hornady. No regrets.

Find a bullet weight/ brand & load which shoot well in your rifle. there are a lot of good choices. Hornady certainly is one of them.

Any cup & core in the 26-2800fps range at impact will be just fine unless it’s directed poorly.

I consider Hornady Interloks the non-premium price, just about premium bullet and for deer that means the optimal combination. Killed several deer , pigs, and three cow elk with Hornady Interloks. Never a complaint.

I always kinda chuckle when I hear about bullets "blowing up" on the shoulder or "pencilling thru" and the animal was unrecovered. The first thought that comes to mind is..."based on what actual evidence" and "your denial of poor shot placement is not evidence"

Hornady SST are the most underrated and under used bullet. They flat out perform, however most pass them by believing they don’t penetrate and over expand, which is BS. I use 165 grains exclusively, most are pass throughs on deer. 150s would be fine as well. The 165s however are calibrated for my 308 Win having a drop compensation scope out to 700 yards. They flat out shock and awe deer, just as intended. Another luxury is relatively high BC and excellent accuracy. They perform in the 308 Win like they were made for that chamber and velocity range. Not terribly expensive and easy to find on shelves. For long distance work on antelope and mule deer the 168 gr A-Max is another good one.

The Hornady Interlock is a favorite of mine, regardless of caliber.

My uncle had always hunted with a pre-64 243 that he used nothing but the cheapest Winchester Super-X PSP style bullets. I believe that they were 100gr variety. He shot whitetail and mule deer, antelope, goats and occasionally an elk when he would draw a tag. We hunted outside of Van Horn when all of us cousins were just boys thru our teens. He would shimmy up in a Mesquite and shoot his limit at distances we thought impossible, he'd carry a few extras in a shirt pocket, but generally used just what he loaded in the rifle.

I would be willing to bet, that a soft point style bullet has accounted for the greatest majority of game animals, probably 3 to 1 of its closest competitor.

I agree. 90% of the time, you don't know that it's poor bullet performance unless you can examine the deer. If you can examine the deer, it is a dead deer, so...

Yep. if John Nosler were a better shot, he wouldn't have invented the Partition.

No longer made but I shoot 165gr and 180gr Speer Deep Shocks. In my opinion, the best cup and core ever made. Bought just under 3000 of them when everybody was getting rid of them. Still got a couple of thosand and along with a couple of thousand of 150gr Partition Golds I"m set for life.

George

I tend to gravitate toward Sierras for no good reason except I never seem to have a problem getting them to shoot well. I've used tSGK's in .224 65 grain, 6mm 100 grain, 6.5 130 grain and Pro Hunter and SGK's in.308 150 and 165 grain for killing deer with no problems. This year I went to the HPBT 130 6.5 and 165 .308 for the first time. It was easy to get sub-moa in both 6.5X55 and .308 with those bullets. I didn't end up using the .308, but I did kill one deer with the 6.5 HPBT SGK. Nothing spectacular to tell, just a one shot, short run dead deer. I've also used other bullets for killing deer, the OP being about .308 I'd add I've used the 150 and 165 grain NBT quite a bit in .308 and some 150 Speers back in the 80's (not sure now which one.) They all work like they should.

Way back when I shot only factory, or when time prevented me from loading my own, I shot mostly Core Lokts or Winchester PPs. They killed fine, but were never particularly accurate. After that, I generally loaded Sierra PHs or Gamekings, especially the 165gr BTHP, a killer-diller for sure, but pretty brutal at the ranges I often shot stuff. Now I buy BT or Partition blems when they go on sale, but don’t think it makes much difference on scrawny WV eating deer.

I use different stuff for fun, but a .308 is hard to beat IMO.

I never had any problems getting CLs to shoot respectably. Here are a couple of inexpensively made groups, fashioned from 150 and 180 grain Remington CLs shot at 100 yd. I think some of it has to do with when they were made. They still make both as components, but the price gap has narrowed. You can often get Hot Cors or Interlocks for almost the same money.



These are fired from a 30-303 barrel. The targets below are 180 grain CLs. Re 17 and Re 15 did very well. These groups were made "cold". That is, I didn't monkey with the seating depth. And really, I won't bother. I rarely shoot past 300 yards except at the range. For me at least, this is good enough.

Your avitar pic is creepy Steve.

"Yep. if John Nosler were a better shot, he wouldn't have invented the Partition."

Now that's funny!

Buckshot77;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was good to you and you're well.

I'll add my vote for the Hornady Interlocks.

We've used the .308" 150gr in a .308 Carbine for a good double handful of BC whitetail and mulie bucks with complete satisfaction.

As an aside, we've also used Interlocks in .257", .264", .277", .284", assorted .308" weights other than 150gr and .338" on mulie and whitetail bucks as well as a few black bears, a California Bighorn and a moose.

The ones we recovered were typically at least double the diameter of the original bullet and I want to say between 50% and 60% of the original weight - usually.

They work fine and I had to hunt with Hornady Interlocks for the remainder of my hunting days I'd not feel handicapped one bit.

Hopefully that was helpful to you or someone out there. Good luck with your hunts whichever bullets you go with.

Dwayne

Sure - but they taste better if you kill'em w/ woke Cutting Edge Bullets.


Just sayin'.




GR

I've used Game Kings, Pro Hunters, Interlocks, SST's, Core Lokts, Power Points, Silvertips, Fusions, Power Shoks and probably a few I don't remember right off hand. Tough to find a .30 caliber bullet of 150 gr. or more that won't kill the shyt out of deer. I haven't found one that doesn't work yet.

My experience is about the same. I’ve shot 150 Sierra pro hunters, hornady IL, 150 partitions and BT’s, Remington C-L from my 308… I settled on the hornady because it was the cheapest and very accurate and killed the $hit out of every deer I ever shot. Not sure any 150 soft point in 308 is a bad bullet for deer.

I shot four deer with 150 grain interlocks out of a 308 last year. Bang flop, bang flop, bang flop, bang flop

The Speer bullets have been about 5 bucks cheaper than the Interlocks. I saw a box of Speer in 243 ( 1220) for $21.99 the other day. Not bad. Last year I saw soem .277 150 gr. ( 1605 and 1604.) They were $20 and $21 a box . There were 6 boxes. I bought 2, then 2 weeks later the other 4 boxes were still there so I bought 2 more. Two weeks later the last 2 boxes were still there so I bought them too. DOnt know why they didnt sell, the Interlocks were selling much faster and more money.

I’ve always shot the cheap federal or remingtons. Most of the deer hunting I do around home is less then a 200 yard shot. No need in spending a fortune on the ammo just taking the time one the shot placement.

Just getting things set up to start loading for my M1A SOCOM, so I'm in the same boat.

I've got some pulled surplus bullets (Nosler 150 gr BT's, 165 gr AccuBonds) and some Sierra 168 gr TMK's in supply, but I'll want some inexpensive hunting bullets, sooner or later.

I'm looking at putting the 150gr Interlocks or Speer Hot-Cors in inventory...these are still the better priced offerings. That said, if I see a surplus stock of Federals or Noslers for a comparable price, I wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Add me to the Interlock pile. Best basic cup and core lead tipped bullet out there IMHO. I have yet to get one to stop in a deer here in Alabama. Accurate, good expansion without fragmenting. Kill deer rather well. What more could you want?

Whether it's a CL, Hot Cor, Interlock, Game King or similar, if they weren't good, production would have stopped years ago. I think it's fair to say that any C&C bullet recommended by the manufacturer for use on deer would be all you need. It's just a matter of finding the best price. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand name.

Bullet selection is a lot like the Ford vs Chevy debate.

How about a Lee 309-170 mold and the cheapest gas-checks around? Once in awhile they go on sale. You can make a pile at around a buck or two per pound. Labor intensive but that's what rainy days are for. Can't beat em for fun blasting ammo. I hunt with them too

GAschekt, I never did that with rifle, but I make a roundball as , or more accurate than factory and it is very cheap , especially when I got the 100 lbs of lead for free.

Bet it'll start happening more and more as the economics of casting own starts winning. There really isn't much this bullet can't do out of a 308. I lube them up and seat gas-checks and load 42.0 grs imr-4895 for 2700 fps, no leading and 1" groups. I had no idea performance like this was possible for cast bullets. I do have close to the correct #2 alloy with antimony and tin as the castings weigh 169grs. Finished bullets weigh 173gr. I can bang steel plates all day long at 300 yds with them

https://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-c309-170-f.html

180 grains, Lyman 311041. Pound of lead runs ballpark $2 these days, do the math.

50 yards with a Winchester 94 during load work up.

And you can eat right up to the gas check!

Winner winner

Speer seems to always cooperate with me in the accuracy department

The Hornady Interlock flat base would be my pick, 150gn in the .308.

Been thinking about that. Not to hunt with, but just to make shooting a bunch cheap. What would lead bullets do in a gas operated auto though (Browning Bar)? If it would make it unreliable or a pain to clean, I think I'd rather just pay for bullets. If not, I'm all for it. I already cast and I have a buddy with that mold I could borrow.

I've encountered zero problems running these in a gas piston semiautomatic Sig. Far from the notion that lead bullets require more maintenance I've found the opposite is true. It's my copper bullets that copper foul, hence the need for cfe powders. A properly lubricated lead bullet is what I call a shoot forever load. They run clean, the barrel is still shiney after a range session and leaves a protective film. Kinda like a well used cast iron skillet used over and over. I must admit to making my own bullet lube. 60% beeswax, 30%avocado oil, 10% hoglard. Smear it on toast It's perfectly edible.

Most guys do the powder coating method and there's a ton of information out there on that. Old forums and articles are abundant. It takes a little research and experimenting. I read and read until i stumbled upon a lube recipe I found worthy to try with ingredients that were on hand

That's good to hear. I think I will see about borrowing his mold. I already powder coat buckshot pellets and pistol bullets I cast. Thanks for the info.

Those Speer bullets are not nearly as popular but they dont play second fiddle neither.

Can't get them as components

I bought a couple boxes of Hornady # 3031s. Haven't had a chance to load any up yet. Going to try the cast bullets for pinkers too.

Mine too. That is the easy button, but just about any 150gr bullet works in the 308.

Uh-huh. And likely true. Moose don't take a lot of killing, just a bit of time to get there. I've killed them with .22 Mag (road-hits) .243, 12 Ga slug, 270, 30-30, '06, .338WM, and maybe some day, my 7X57 and/or .260.

I won't ever use a .338 210NP on moose again, I'll tell you that! Blew up on the near-side shoulder blade, nothing ever got to the far side lung, never found the back part- probably went back out the large entry wound. An anomaly, probably, but still....a moose lurching back to it's feet when you are 10 feet away on the walk-up is not a good thing. Gets the juices going tho!

The 225, 250 NP's , yes, but several C&C shoot better in my rifles, and I don't need Premiums anyway. I have some (at least two calibers) , but I don't "need" them, when C&C do everything I ask of them.

If a good blood trail is mandatory, the SST's will definately do it, but so will several others. I won't use Federal Hi-shoks anymore on large animals tho. Explosive, almost. Probably very good on 150# deer. And accurate, in my rifles. Good for target practice, large entry wounds and shrapnal inside the body, but I'm a blow--hole-to-daylight guy.

Speer Hot Cor and Hornady Interlocks are my go to since Remington components dried up.

Hornady 150 sp interlock
Speer 150 hot core
IMO