Ammo recommendations

Shooting 130 gr SGK in my 270 I have shot 3 deer in the last couple years. Two of them were less than 100 yds and one was around 150. The 2 under 100 yds were recovered BUT there was no exit wound and inside the bullet had exploded!... The third was never recovered though we blood trailed him for over a mile. I have now switched to cup/core bullets or just recently got some Nosler partitions. Good luck with your search for the perfect bullet for you.

The SGK is a cup and core bullet, but the bullet jacket (the cup) is thinner than most, and the lead core is softer than most..... it is a fragile boat tailed bullet designed to ensure expansion at longer ranges, much like Berger's VLD, just not as efficient, nor as expensive .....

If you want exit wounds on deer at under 150 yards with a .270WIN at max muzzle velocity, the a 130gr SGK is not what you are looking for. Either use the 150gr SGK at around 2900 f/sec (can still "explode" at under 50 yards on a frontal shot, but I get 2" exit holes on close broadside shots-mable the bullet does come apart, I dunno.... but all the parts exit) or pick a tougher bullet .....
 
Try the 165 grain Accubond, at those ranges and even modest 300 wsm velocity, should punch right through em.
And the trajectory difference between a 150 Btip and an165 grn Accubond is unoticeable at those distances.

Having said that, take care and make a good shot just behind the front shoulders, right through the pumping/breathing station and you will see the performance difference in those two bullets....consult the manual for accurate loads.
 
Using a 300 WSM on Georgia Whitetails is like using dump truck to get groceries. Those 150gr bullets leave the muzzle around 3200 fps. That's well over a 1000 fps faster than necessary for a clean kill out to 200 yards if you assume 1000 ft/lbs at impact is the humane minimum.

"Shooting flat" is great for selling guns, but if you launch a Nosler 150gr Accubond at 3200 fps, and you calculate a 5" radius "vital zone" on your deer (shoulder shot) then you've gained a whopping 47 yards over the sedate 308 Win launching the same bullet at 2700 fps. Arguing energy remaining at max point blank range on deer is meaningless, both are over 1400 ft/lbs and there is less than 450 ft/lbs difference between them.

I recommend you bump up the bullet mass which lowers the velocity a bit. This will ensure there is enough bullet to go through and open up, leaving a blood trail instead of disintegrating inside the animal and only having an entrance wound that can get covered up by skin and fat.

Jimro
 
If you load light bullets for caliber, and shoot at short ranges for a mag cartridge, you need a stout bullet.

I hunted and reloaded for a 300WBY. I was advised to use a heavier bullet, 180gr+. I have used 180TTX and Hornaday 190gr jspbt. One mule deer was taken at 90yds, the other at 110. One buck was DRT, the other made one bound and piled up. Both were shot through.

Some people may say you are over gunned for those tiny deer, but that just makes proper bullet selection even more important.

There are so many good bullets out there. Find one tough enough for magnum velocity. Barnes, Nosler, Sierra, Speer, Swift, Hornaday and Lapua are ones I'm familiar with.

Barnes and Nosler offer factory ammo that should be suitable. Good Luck.
 
Well fellas here is an update. I still haven't got any new ammo I did pick out what I'm going to buy though. I finally seal the deal on a deer this afternoon using my 150 gr Sierra gameking boat tail reloads. I made a bad shot on the deer but don't think it was all my fault. I'm pretty sure the deer turned the instant I pulled the trigger. The bullet entered at the bottom of the rib cage 3 to 4 inches behind the left leg went through the guts exited through the belly and lodged in the right hind leg. I was able to recover the bullet. To everyone who has been telling me that 150 gr bullets won't hold up to the speeds of my rifle I do believe that I will benefit from shooting 180s over 150s but I have shot numerous deer with 150 ballistic silver tips and I have never failed to have one though and through.
 
I've been shooting the 150 grain win ballistic Silvertip for atleast 8 years but swapped to the 150 fed ballistic tip this year because I couldn't find the win's. I have only had to track two deer. Both were very bad shots. Still recovered one late that night the other I killed exactly a week later. It was barely hit on the low backside of the front leg and barely caught the bottom of the ribs. All other shots were dead right there. I don't pull the trigger unless I have a broadside shot and I aim tight behind the shoulder. Very few shots were not complete pass thru's. My wife shot a 130 lb doe Tuesday evening at 190 yards and dropped it with a gut shot. Just my experiences but if you get a solid hit with this load it always equals dead deer. If a 300 wsm is over gunned for deer and I don't have to track one then I'm happy being over gunned. If you shoot behind the shoulder u waste no meat no matter what bullet or caliber you shoot.
 
A little more info for you guys if your interested. The bullet I recovered from my deer weighed 98.3 grains. And I what I think was the widest part (its hard to judge) it messured .64 over twice the original diametor.
 
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