I am back!!! After a long hiatus, I was able to get on a decent deer lease this fall. Lets talk Whitetail bullets.......

I have three rifles to gear up for this season since variety is the spice of life and I am thinking about what ammunition choices for each.

Savage 99 in 300 savage......Hornady Super performance ....sst 150 grain

Custom Mauser ( harry lawson ) .300 win mag......???? ( however I do have .300 win mag lite from hornady with a 150 grain sst with the idea of texas whitetails shot with the .300 win at 70 yards)

Winchester 70 .308...............????? accubond..........balistic tip.....maybe sst

Having an explosion with a corelokt back in the day looking for something else.

I’d shot 150gr accubonds/ ballistic tips in the 308. 165-180gr in the 300Win.

I shoot 150 grain GameKings in my 308’s. 165 grain Barnes in my 300 Win mag, 130 Barnes in my 300 Savage. Ballistic tips would be good in any of them for deer in my opinion, so would GameKings. Deer and pigs are not hard to kill.

I use the 168 Berger VLD and absolutely love it in my 308. It's all I use on deer now for the past few seasons and will continue to do so. I highly recommend them

I use whatever WallyWorld has on sale for my 30/06. Just make it 180 grain. I'm not picky

Bob you are on the low end of the spectrum from "Elitist". Don't be telling everyone factory .30-06 ammo just plain works.

It will confuse them....

It would be a short list to summarize .30cal bullets/ammo that do not work on deer. When you get to that diameter and are talking 150-200gr, it's really more about what shoots in your rifle and what type of trajectory/zero you are looking for than "will it be effective on deer". If a person is a 300yd and under deer hunter, Wallyworld has great deer ammo in the .308 / 30-06 / 300 Win Mag. I tend to prefer Fusions and Hornady American Whitetail ammo if hunting store-bought ammo for deer and hogs, although Federal Non-Typical and W-W Deer Season XP have also been good. All of it is sub-$23 in a .308.

I'm going to try out some W-W Copper Impact today in my AR10. Was $23 on sale in 150gr .308. We'll see how it does as a budget TTSX.

If I buy factory ammo it is with the long run intention of using the brass so I buy Winchester ammo loaded with their Power Point bullets. Used many of them on deer and hogs with never a problem and it usually shoots just fine. Thinking about it now the reloads don't have much of an edge other than I can fine tune for accuracy. Geez a room full of reloading gear...........

I've never shot any SST's, but have read posts here on the 'fire they can be frangible. Seems like there are better choices for the 300 Win Mag at short ranges, such as the Accubond or Ballistic Tip.

Shot near 2MOA in my AR. The regular W-W Deer Season XP continues to shoot really well. Like 1/2-3/4MOA. Guess I'll keep shooting them. Tough to beat for $19 Wal-Mart ammo in an autoloader.

As an aside, three rifles hated the Copper Impact, but the fourth (Rem 600 Mohawk .308) shot it sub-MOA.

You made me turn in my Loonie Card. I really don't miss it. I now just stick to shooting trap & sporting clays. I forgot about sighting in 2" high at 100yards-------then don't touch it.

I've used 150 NBT's in 30/06 for a lot of deer and now use them in a 308 and they are still working well.

My deer rifle is a .35 Whelen, for years I shot a 225 gr. Sierra Game King with excellent results. Last fall I switched to a Hornady 200 gr. RN Inter loc, worked superbly, perfect mushroom retaining 66% of its original weight on a raking shot at 100 yds.. The buck managed to run about 40 yds. though I don't see how his lungs had been liquified, tremendous hydrostatic shock.

Yep. Bad mojo. Way too simple and effective.

Poor excuse for Loony talk.

DF

Boxerdog, I have found that generally SSTs also are supper fast expanders, and often blow up. If you are trying to avoid the same thing you didn't like with that Core-Lokt I would say the SST probably is not it. I have used them in 257, 6.5MM, 270, 30 cal and 8MM. I have killed deer antelope and elk with them. They are some of the most accurate bullets I have used in my hunting rifles, but I don't like the way thye break up, and the fact they do it fairly often.

A blow-up on a deer is not usually going to give you a long tracking job like it would on an elk just because deer are not all that big, but I have seen a few times they have gone a long ways with wounds that have been inflicted with bullets that break up. I have seen it with SSTs, a few Speer Hot-Cores, many Sierras, and several Burgers. And yes I am talking about deer, not just elk here.

The faster you fire a bullet, the faster it's likley to be going on impact and therefore the more likely to break up on impact, except for the solid/expanding types like Barnes X and Hornady GMX. I have had fewer blow-ups with mid velocity hits then I have high velocity hits with standard type bullets, so I am going to venture a guess here it may be best for you to go with one bullet for your 300 Savage and 308, and another for your 300 mag. I have had very good results with most flat base bullets from 300 Savage in both 150 and 180 grain, but the exact bullets I used I cna't say because it was so long ago I don't remember. In my 308s I really like my handloaded 150 gr Winchester Power Points, but Winchester seems to have quite making them for sale to handloaders. 150 and 165 grain Nosler Partitions will be good in either one of those shells.

In my 300 Mag I like to use 165 and heavier. I usually leave it zeroed for 200 grain bullets, but I usually use it for elk, not deer. Slowing down a bit makes for more reliable and straighter penetration in my experience, but as I said above, I doubt it would matter much on a deer.

I used a 110 grain bullet in my 30 06 one time at max load'' the buck I shot went down but got up and ran toward me , passing me at about 4 feet. I diden't see any blood on him and wasen't sure he was the one I shot. he ran about 40 yds past me and went down . when I gutted him his heart was blown to pieces as was part of his lungs.. how do they manage to do that? the bullet never came out..I went back to the 160 gr bullets that I usually used..that was an experiment to see if hi speed would stop them from running.

Nosler Ballistic Tips are the best for Whitetails. Never seen anything better as long as they are kept around 3000 fps or less.

Too many good bullets to try! I've used Bergers (really accurate, but as others mentioned they're designed for break up), Sierra Gamekings (highly accurate but didn't seem to get consistent results) and Nosler Accubond and BT. Accubond was giving straight through with minimal expansion on SC whitetails, mainly due to the size and thin skinned nature we have. Switched to Nosler BT and having good results so far. I'm currently using 168gr BT in a 300WM, but I got the rifle during season last year and didn't have much time for load development. Looking to go up to 180 and 200gr this year. The 168gr shot last year was a head-on neck shot and complete pass through with DRT results. Exit wound wasn't overly large so was happy with it. Took another with a Nosler 90gr BT in 243 at 50 yards, didn't have an exit would but turned everything in the chest cavity to non-working order and DRT.

Speer Hot Cor is my first choice for a good deer bullet. 150gr in .308 Winchester to .300 WIn Mag has worked as good as anything. SO has the 130gr in the 270 WCF and the 200gr in the 8x57is.

I think you'll have a harder time finding something that doesn't work for deer in those three rifles than you would finding something that does work well...barring the extreme ends: that being FMJs/solids and extremely light varmint bullets.

That said, I'd avoid anything sierra and the SST in the .300 Win Mag unless you don't mind a wound that looks like Madonna's crotch. The .300 Sav and .308 should be fine with those bullets though.

Matt Foley!!

The one load I have for the .300 win mag is the hornady lite custom with the sst bullet....it’s down loaded to .308 levels....but I am thinking about factory accubonds in 180....yet again I bought this rifle because of the rifle and not the caliber.

Sell the Mod 70, keep the Savage for jackrabbits.

Everyone knows you need at least .300 win mag, and preferably a .300 rum to kill a 110 lb Texas buck. The only bullets that don't bounce off whitetails are monolithic vlds that MUST cost you $3-4 each, more would be better.

Then you have to shoot every powder and primer combination possible to get .25 inch group, so you can reliably hit said 110 lb deer at 85 yards, standing broadside, the kill zone being less than 1 inch square.

I shot 8 animals (deer and hogs) this past season with the 150 SST out of my .300 Savage. All died promptly. That bullet worked well for me in that chambering.

Pretty much all of the above, plus some others, notably Partitions.

Been a long time now, I believe, since most Core-Lokts went straight cup and core. The 180gr .30/06 factory stuff I killed my biggest deer with in 1996 failed to penetrate through his shoulders, a far cry from the elk, moose, and bear load, I thought it was. DRT nonetheless. Since I try for the chest just above the heart, bullet choice isn't critical for me.

Mohawk: Was that the 150gr SST specifically designed for the 300 Savage, or was it the "standard" 150gr SST? thanks

The bullet I have been loading in my 300 is a 180 gn Grand Slam. I have only shot Bucks that were 3 or older with them. Every deer I have shot has dropped at the shot and they don't even twitch. They don't bruise up the meat. Even if they hit big bones. A couple of the bucks were moving at a good clip when I shot chasing does and I hit them too far back and they still dropped dead. I have killed a bunch of deer with different guns and bullets and buckshot. Nothing I have used work like these yet.

My initial experience with SSTs was they were way too fragile but they have been re-designed since the early ones with a tougher core and maybe thicker jackets. The SST may be good in the Savage and 308 but I'm not sure I would trust them in the 300, but the improved ones might be fine. I rarely use my 300 for Texas deer but when I do I use the 150 BT as it is a good balance of fast expansion and penetration. It works well for South Texas as there is usually no tracking involved.

If you are talking factory ammo just about all of the standard brands would work. I usually buy Hornaday interlocks if I ever use factory loads. I will use the Remington ammo but the older version of the core lokt was better in my opinion. Federal ammo is usually truer to the advertised velocity and they have a variety of good bullets. The accuracy is usually acceptable to very good. I like to look at what ammo the old time hardware stores carry to see what people are using. If not Remington or Winchester then Hornaday or Federal seem to be the most popular.

Now that is an extreme visual [b]

It was the one designed specifically for the .300 Savage.

It’s hard to go wrong with Hornady, inter-locks.

In my 308 I like 150gr Barnes TTSX, 150gr Accubonds and 150gr Interlock. In my 30-06, I’m shooting 180gr SSTs. All of them will work, as will just about anything else 30caliber. You can honestly use almost any bullet 150-200gr and have performance so similar on deer that you’ll barely notice you’re using a different bullet.

Whitetails at 70 yards?? Don't over think it.

AMEN

What is factory ammo?

I've shot them, and am not a fan. If you want ruined meat, then that would be my pick. Any old cup and core I'll take over a SST.

I'm inclined to go back to the Hornady InterLock myself after stopping an SST in my last whitetail. The best blood trail with the earliest blood on the ground was with a .308 165 grain InterLock bullet. I want an exit every time and while that SST deer was a down right there, I actually prefer a 50 yard tracking job up to a bled out animal than watching one breathing their last right there in front of me. While I like those plastic tip bullets not battering in the magazine during recoil, our deer here are close and bullet shape doesn't matter. I'm sure that the plastic tip promotes earlier expansion. I tried an Accubond on a deer once and I got a larger entrance wound than the exit wound and backtracked it to the first blood and it was farther than I thought that it should have been given the double lung shot placement. My .300 WM deer have all been with 180 grain Nosler Partitions and the exit wounds with those have been small and tracking more difficult. I try not to shoot shoulders if I can help it, but our deer where I hunt show up fast and close and they don't give you much to shoot at for very long. In Texas you may want to drop them where they stand because as I understand it if the brush and pickers don't get you, a snake might.

I probably wouldn't choose any of those bullets for those calibers. But you seem to really like the super performance. Of the bullets you've listed, I'd use the Accubond.

I'd consider a Hornady 150 interlock for the 300 sav. The other two, I'd use a 165 or 168gr bullet.

.

This has made my morning.

Over the past 20 years, the bulk of our whitetails have been taken with Hornady IL's in .308 as well as and Remmie PSPCL's. Most of it has been 30-somethings (30-06, 308WIN, 7.62X54R, etc) and I've yet to see a whitetail walk away from a properly delivered bullet of this ilk. I mostly shoot 165 grainers. My sons mostly shoot 150 grainers.

I roll the same way/choices. I still think we could be brothers....:)

Me too, but it seems nothing is foolproof. I'll settle for "exits most of the time" pertaining to shots without hard angles.

The words; a brush - to paint a picture I really wish you hadn't.

I said something about the SST being too fragile a while back and some guy acted like I had shot the pope. Refused to believe it. Anyway, I have gone to 150 grain Barnes TTSX bullets for my 308. I do not reload for my 300 Win Mag and found the Federal Trophy Copper shoots really well in it. No game shot with the Trophy Copper, though. I have been reloading Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets for my 308 and 35 Whelen for several years now and never had an issue. I see no reason to change.

Anyone tried the Hornady GMX in the 308? I use the 110 grain GMX in the 300 Blackout and it has performed very well on both deer and hogs.

no to the hornady, but I concur on the SST being fragile. I had a bad experience a few (10) years back, and my mom did this past season. they may be fine for many, but empirical evidence to me says stay away, there are plenty of other options. hence why I go with the VLD's and NBT's for hunting. no cup and core, sst or ttsx (although those that use the ttsx I've seen worked great). I just haven't had reason to change. I hand load everything though so my preference might not work for everyone.

I’d use a 155 Scenar in all of them. Buy a few thousand of the same lot number and you’d be set....

nosler partition,nosler accubond or hornady interlock in whatever caliber or weight you want. i'd pick whichever out of those (3) shot the best in my particular rifle and not look back. i too prefer an entry and exit due to wayyy easier blood trails if the animal runs. if'n ya like to take out the front axles then the (3) i recommended will suit that too.
good luck,
Ed

150gr Hornady Interlocks - in your .308. Accurate and cheap enough that you can shoot lots of them in practice so when you need one for real you will be ready. Unless the Whitetails you are shooting are as big as elk, then go with the 180's.

It can't be that simple. IT CAN'T BE.

K.I.S.S. of death.

Yep it can. Embrace the simplicity.

30 caliber ??

Anything other than paper thin jacketed vermin bullets.........… Newsflash : Whitetails are pretty fragile critters and die really easy with a well-placed ANTHING .30 caliber.


Yep.

i have used only two brand bullets for deer hunting Nosler Partions or Swift A-Frame , the last 25 years both brands are 100 grain in my 257 Weatherby Mags. i just hunt bigger bucks these days out west and in Minnesota,sometimes i don`t even fill my Minnesota tag every year, since i try to just take a larger buck. i also believe speed kills as Roy Weatherby said when Roy wrote about his cartridges that he invented.

150's and 165's in .308 and haven't had any take a step. However, this year buddy of mine worked of some hand loads with Nosler 125 BT (green tips) at 3180 fps. Said he uses them under 400 yrd shots and their devastating due to the velocities. I'll found out this year.

many of you guys may think I'm on drugs for saying this ,
but I have used similar loads hunting deer as I use for elk,
I've used mostly heavy for caliber bullets,for 5 decades,
I don,t shoot unless I have a precise target,on the deers vitals
and to the utter astonishment of many people,
deer generally drop within a few yards... dead as a stump



for deer hunts I'm a fan of the browning BLR carbines


117/120 grain/257 roberts (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/bullets/rifle-bullets/grand-slam-rifle-bullet/1415
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/25-cal-257-117-gr-interlock-btsp#!/


180/200 grain /30/06 (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/bullets/rifle-bullets/hot-cor-rifle-bullet/2211
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/30-cal-308-180-gr-interlock-sp#!/

250 grain/ 358 win(BROWNING BLR)
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/bullets/rifle-bullets/hot-cor-rifle-bullet/2453


350 grain/450 marlin (BROWNING BLR)
https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/45-cal-458-350-gr-interlock-rn#!/

I hear ya 340.....I rarely have a deer run more than 5 to 10 or so yards, with about any bullet, exit or not, when hit on the shoulder or tight behind it. A far back lung or liver hit and they'll often run a 100-200 yards, if that far, then bed down.

I am always amazed when people tell me a solidly hit deer runs 100 or more yards. Elk running downhill maybe, but not deer. That's just not been my experience.

Heavy for caliber bullets do seem to hit harder, but lighter bullets up close when they still have their speed have treated me well.

I'm generally aiming between C and D somewhere, which works well with cup/cores and bonded bullets, although things do tend to run a little bit. Add some angle in there and catch a shoulder, and stuff is less likely to run so much. In my experience, the mono-bullets seem to work better with the shoulder shots between C and B.

This year I have narrowed my deer bullets down to the 117 gr. Sierra BTSP out of my Roberts, the 145 gr. Speer BTSP out of my 7-08, the 150 gr. Speer flat nose out of my 30-30 improved. Oops forgot the 270 is in the lineup, 130 gr. Sierra BTSP.

I aim between D and A trying to be a little back of the shoulder, but still have enough shock to stun the spine. by the time the game can get their legs under them they bleed out. the result is DRT most of the time and little meat damage. I too use the same load for elk as Deer, elk aren't bullet proof or armor clad like many think. I've killed them with bullets as small as 6mm in diameter (95 gr NBT) and 90 grains of weight (25-06). both elk were DRT as well.

Draw a line from A - C and D - B.

X marks that spot I try to aim. It's pretty forgiving and they often drop within sight or on the spot. I have shot a few bucks that took off for some distance after the shot. One was a marginal shot that hit the liver. One was on the shoulder from 10 yards. He went 80 yards on 3 legs and died without much blood except where he died.

I've shot them with bullets from .223 on up to .30 cal.

hit the deer with a 358 win, 250 grain or 350 grain from a 450 marlin caliber rifle
and place it in that (X) you've described and you'll seldom find you have any issues,
yes the 257 roberts and 30/06 BLR work just fine , both are lethal,
but I've personally got a bit more confidence in the heavier projectile and larger caliber options.
with potential tracking, or deer running more than a few steps,
the more I hunt with the 358 win and 450 marlin chambered BLR carbines the more impressed Ive become

I sight all my rifles in to impact 3.5" higher than the cross hair in the scope indicates at 100 yards
this allows a very easy no calculations required hold,
for consistent shot placement, in the first 150- 200 yards where an easy 75-80%,
of all the deer and elk Ive shot for decades are shot at

what about the Texas heart shot ? sometimes things are not perfect in the real world .

it's called restraint, do you also ruffie chicks when you've hit a dry spell?

Is that a serious question? How about not taking a shot?

Best buck I ever saw only gave me that shot, and I passed. It was pre-LRF, he was far, and I was hunting with a 243win. Had he been closer though, I would have put that little Partition right under his butthole.........

Whitetails in the woods (which is the only place I've shot them, mostly) have bitten the dust by my hand with a bewildering variety of bullets, to include round balls from .40 to .69 caliber, .58 Miniè balls, cast lead bullets from 6.5 to .45 caliber, and more different jacketed bullets from .22 to .35 than I can begin to remember. Net score: whitetails, 0, me, all the enchiladas. The only jacketed bullet I never used was a FMJ because they're illegal everywhere I hunt, but I doubt that a well placed FMJ from a Garand or Springfield would fail to kill one PDQ. Like I said earlier, don't overthink this. Close your eyes and pick one, and spend more time honing your marksmanship and woodscraft skills.

This matches my practice and experience.

[quote=rickt300]If I buy factory ammo it is with the long run intention of using the brass so I buy Winchester ammo loaded with their Power Point bullets. Used many of them on deer and hogs with never a problem and it usually shoots just fine.

In my early years I was this way with Remington Corlokts. After I started working with magnums more often, I switched to Winchester. The only thing Remington I stuck to was for the 35 Whelen. It fireformed well in the 35 Ackley. I felt that Corlokts/PPs were about the same too.

"Texas heart shot" >last fall 2018 i had only one shot at a huge whitetail buck running away at 30 feet, in a tamarack swamp,i took the Texas heart shot and dang glad i did . using my Ruger #1 in a 257 Weatherby Mag with a Swift A-Frame 100 grain bullet very little damage to the hind quarters meat or any other place ,that old buck went right down. would i do it again ? only if i had too ,sometimes you just don`t get that perfect shot hunting in these thick-wet tamarack swamps.

The AC/DB point is pretty much what I aim for. I hit somewhere on the AC line depending on the actual range.

I sight in so I'm 2 inches high at 100 yards. That way I'm good to 230+ yards with my 30-06. Most of my shots are inside 155 yards. Most of the time, both lungs are destroyed and the top of the heart has been taken off.

Hornady Interlocks (American Whitetail factory rounds) have done the job for five consecutive whitetails now. I've dropped one doe on the spot, and the other doe and three bucks all went 10-30 yards with clean exits and nice bloodtrails. Ranges varied between 20 and 125 yards. I highly recommend them.

I'm trying Nosler Partitions this year since I'm hoping to tag a fat alpine blacktail with this gun in August, and wanted to try out the PTs. I can't imagine they'll kill a whitetail any better than the Hornady Interlocks though.

Cartridge?

Sorry, 25-06. Shooting 117gr Interlocks.

My G F has 5 Teddys. I like variety.


Jerry

TeddyFive06, You can't imagine that Partitions will kill a deer any better than an Interlock. Having shot dozens of deer with Nosler Partitions I can tell you that they won't or even as well if you like having a good blood trail. Oh I've never lost one, but too many times I was looking for traces of blood at last light or reading scuffed up leaves to tell me where my deer just ran off to. What happens or happened with my .300 WM, 7mm RM, 7mm-08 or .308 NP deer is that the front soft half of the Partition blows the insides into pulp and what goes out the back side is the back half of a folded tight to the shank remaining Partition. I never got what I wanted to see for a bigger diameter exit wound with a Partition. I should have learned from my first buck, a nice 200 pounder that took a double lung Partition. No snow and all I had to go by was how that cross hair looked perfect when that big .300 recoiled. No blood and kind of dejected I walked where I thought the buck had gone. Then what looked like a piece of brush about 80 yards up ahead turned out to be his right side antler. Contrast that to another 210 pounder that took an Interlock to the chest from my .308 and I had blood spatter on the trees and an immediate blood trail for 50 yards and a $.50 cent piece size exit. That is what I want. Reconsider the Partition if you want a good blood trail.

I don't! Maybe I wasn't clear on that. If all I ever shoot with this 25-06 Tikka is whitetail, I'd happily keep feeding it Hornady American Whitetail cartridges with the Interlock. The only reason I'm trying the Nosler PTs this year is because I'm taking this rifle to Prince of Wales. Last year's Sitka buck had a nice layer of August fat and was shot at twice the range of my normal Texas whitetails (with a 7mm-08), so I want to see how the Partition handles a thicker target at longer range.

I've had your same experience with Interlocks...quarter size or bigger exit wounds, excellent (and short) blood trails. I'll be shooting Nosler PTs this season but if I get poor performance on whitetails I'll switch back.

GOOD POINT!
many guys don,t grasp the concept that the projectile design, jacket thickness and just diameter and mass,
has a very pronounced effect on the results, you'll see.
lots of the guys I hunted with used the premium bullets, they would quote chapter and verse on the need for deep penetration,
but over time I realized the guys demanding the deeper penetration were generally using
rifles providing over about 2800 fps, and less than 30 caliber rifles and less than 150 grain projectiles,
the, the guys using the 308 win, and 30/06 and larger caliber rifles with the 165-200 grain bullets rarely had issues with lack of penetration,
or complained about game running off and longer tracking jobs ??
and no one I ever talked to using a 200-400 grain 338-45 caliber rifle seemed at all concerned.
while it was true the guys with the guys using the 308 win, and 30/06 and larger caliber rifles with the 165-200 grain bullets,
and those 338, 358, 375 and 45 caliber rifles, might not have the flattest trajectory on those ballistic charts,
but over time it dawned on many guys they tended to shoot game at under 250 yards where that more curved trajectory was not a major concern.






notice that either choice if youll seldom get any shot even close to 250 yards has zero issues with flat trajectory
heres my flat shooting 340 wby I used for decades


heres my late hunting partners 358 win