Hunters, what bullets are you using?

[DocGKR]

TSX/TTSX, GMX, TBBC, CLUB, God Dot/Fusion, Accubond are all good choices, as are Partition.

[SLG]

Some good info here. When I moved out to MT, all I had ever hunted were Whitetails in NY and small game. I used my 1911 with 230gr Hornady XTP's exclusively, and it worked very well. So, I called Doc and asked him what he thought for "Big Game" out west, for my 308. He gave a slightly abbreviated list of the ones he mentioned above, as not all of them were really available.

I picked 168 TSX, since that is what I had, and they worked really well that first season on Mule deer, as well as big Whitetail. Never recovered a bullet though.

The next year my wife and I switched to some lead traditional stuff, Federal, I think. It killed very quickly on all sizes of tasty quadrupeds. We then switched to 168 TTSX, with basically identical results to the TSX. We stuck with TTSX for a while, though we found them to be overkill on deer and pronghorn, and did not kill as fast as the traditional lead core bullets.

Along the way we tried some 168 FGMM, as well as Remington 150 PSP. They both got the job done, but not as well as we would have liked so we stopped using them. I think we tried a couple others but they escape me now.

Today, I'm about to step out with my 6.5G. It has 123 SST's in it, and I hope to get a nice Whitetail. My 10mm 1911 has Federal TBBC, which it shoots very well and they hit hard.

[Unobtanium]

Some good info here. When I moved out to MT, all I had ever hunted were Whitetails in NY and small game. I used my 1911 with 230gr Hornady XTP's exclusively, and it worked very well. So, I called Doc and asked him what he thought for "Big Game" out west, for my 308. He gave a slightly abbreviated list of the ones he mentioned above, as not all of them were really available.

I picked 168 TSX, since that is what I had, and they worked really well that first season on Mule deer, as well as big Whitetail. Never recovered a bullet though.

The next year my wife and I switched to some lead traditional stuff, Federal, I think. It killed very quickly on all sizes of tasty quadrupeds. We then switched to 168 TTSX, with basically identical results to the TSX. We stuck with TTSX for a while, though we found them to be overkill on deer and pronghorn, and did not kill as fast as the traditional lead core bullets.

Along the way we tried some 168 FGMM, as well as Remington 150 PSP. They both got the job done, but not as well as we would have liked so we stopped using them. I think we tried a couple others but they escape me now.

Today, I'm about to step out with my 6.5G. It has 123 SST's in it, and I hope to get a nice Whitetail. My 10mm 1911 has Federal TBBC, which it shoots very well and they hit hard.

During my foray into the African hunting forums, this was a refrain I heard repeated over and over and over. They penetrate very well, and allow a step down in caliber for the same game sometimes, but as for killing FAST on things like pronghorn, antelope, etc. they just don't compare to even mediocre cup and core.

[flux]

During my foray into the African hunting forums, this was a refrain I heard repeated over and over and over. They penetrate very well, and allow a step down in caliber for the same game sometimes, but as for killing FAST on things like pronghorn, antelope, etc. they just don't compare to even mediocre cup and core.

Defanitely true on blesbok and smaller game here, monos generally zip straight through. While bonded and monolithics certainly give some insurance on larger game should bone be encountered, there are some lead core combos that just do superb even on our larger game. The 180gr 308/30-06 combo comes to mind, not too fast so cup and core bullets mushroom beautifuly and penetrate deeply.

[butler coach]

Most common bullets used for us is the Nosler partition, Barnes Triple shock, and the Hornady XTP or SSt. depending on caliber and what is being hunted. Kind of funny how this is my fathers obsession loads and bullets are changed just because he feels like it and trying to gain every ounce of accuracy out of hunting guns. This years deer gun will be the remington 30.06 pump running a hornaday sst bullet. and him a ruger #1 in 30-40 kraig with nosler partitions.

[okie john]

I've used plenty of standard Speer, Sierra and Hornady offerings in the 270 and 30/06 over the years. I've also used the 270 Speer and 283 Partition in the 9.3x62, plus the 220 CoreLokt and the 180 Trophy Bonded in the 30/06 on feral cattle and hogs.

With handguns, I prefer a cast SWC. This year, I'll take either a 140 TTSX in a 7mm Magnum, a 165 Partition in a 308, or a 180 Partition in a 30/06 after elk.

Gotta update this to 225-grain Nosler Partition in the 338 Winchester Magnum for Roosevelt's elk. Killed like a lightning bolt at 110 yards.


Okie John

[okie john]

During my foray into the African hunting forums, this was a refrain I heard repeated over and over and over. They penetrate very well, and allow a step down in caliber for the same game sometimes, but as for killing FAST on things like pronghorn, antelope, etc. they just don't compare to even mediocre cup and core.

I've seen this reported as well. People say that Barnes bullets need a LOT of speed and heavy resistance from the target to work properly, and just swapping from a 180-grain lead-core design to a slightly lighter (like 165 grains) in a 30-caliber cartridge may not get you enough velocity to do the trick. You might have to go to 150 grains or even lower. I've even seen recommendations of a 130-grain TTSX in the 308 for elk, but I can't quite get my head around the idea of an elk bullet that light.


Okie John

[flux]

I've seen this reported as well. People say that Barnes bullets need a LOT of speed and heavy resistance from the target to work properly, and just swapping from a 180-grain lead-core design to a slightly lighter (like 165 grains) in a 30-caliber cartridge may not get you enough velocity to do the trick. You might have to go to 150 grains or even lower. I've even seen recommendations of a 130-grain TTSX in the 308 for elk, but I can't quite get my head around the idea of an elk bullet that light.


Okie John

The general recommendation is to go lighter with monolithic, but if you compare standard cup and cores to monos, the monos are generally long for their weight. I have seen bull elands hammered by TSX 150gr from both 308 and 30 06 so I won't hesitate going after Elk with that combo.

[Harry Watson]

I use Honardy lead bullets for hunting. These come in several calibers and have the perfect bullets to meet your hunting needs.

[DocGKR]

Yup--you need to go lighter with monolithic projectiles compared to traditional designs. For example, if you typically shoot traditional 165-180 gr .30 cal projectiles and move to a monolithic design, consider dropping to 130-150 gr.