High dollar ammo and "BOOLITS"

H

hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
So would anyone be willing to enter into dicussion regarding the "Premium" VS. "Cheap" ammo? I buy Winchester .30-30 or shotgun ammo in the lowest price scale for either round.

For the sake of discussion we will just say that your rifle/shotgun puts any and all ammo into a sub 3 inch group at hunting distance to avoid this becoming an accuracy discussion. Strictly a kill performance discussion.
I understand them cheap rounds may not have a 100% consistent flower petal shaped mushroom.
So have at it folks... From "JUNK" To jumpin' juniper berries... What determines what you buy? I am yet to pay 16 bucks for a box of ammo but Junior bought some of them Hornady LR...
Brent
 
If you are happy with a cheap ammo for your .30-30 shoot it. Hornady's Leverevolution ammo isn't going to make your rifle better at killing animals when hunting, but it might extend your effective range. I see no point in making the .30-30 into a rifle it is not. What the I see the .30-30 as, is an effective medium game cartridge out to 150 yards that I can extend to 200 if needed. Especially since I just shoot an old M94 with buckhorn sights.
 
Havent bought new ammo since starting reloading.... no need to.... I feel that one will kill just as good as the other reguarding factory/reloaded.... only mushrooms i worry about dont come up till spring... got a morrel last spring big nough I nearly had to cut it down with a chainsaw and drag it up the hill with my honda civic...
 
HD, before I start - I always enjoy your posts. My experience has shown that the bullet, at 30-30 velocities, is not important. The most impressive kill I ever witness was a 12yr old boy shooting a doe at 50 yards with a 30-30 using 150 SuperX. She bounced off the ground at the shot. Full penetration and heart, lungs, liver jello. I considered using premiums when I was using 145 Speers in mine and a friends 7mmRM. At 3130, the kills were impressive, but the damage was horrific. In on instance, a front quartering shot almost disemboweled a 150# buck. Lost some of a front shoulder, both tenderloins and most of a rear quarter. The only time I'd use premium bullets would be hunting quarry that weighs more than 500#.
 
If it works in YOUR gun for what YOU need it to do, and you're happy with the results, then it doesn't matter. You didn't want this to be an accuracy thread, but in many cases, that is EXACTLY what separates the inexpensive from the more expensive ammunition
 
If accuracy was identical then I'd buy whatever was cheap. Expansion means nothing to me. I've shot enough deer with 12ga slugs that don't expand a millimeter to know that a hole of any size in both lungs beats a great big mushroomed bullet through the guts.

The only thing I hunt with a rifle is woodchucks with a 204. I have seen fairly considerable accuracy variation with different brands but it's not price dependent so I buy whatever is most accurate, I don't care if it's $12.99 a box (them were the days) or $22 a box. Again, assuming equal accuracy, I'd buy whatever is cheap. A 40gr bullet at near 4000fps does wonders on a woodchuck, expansion or not.
 
I usually research several bullets that will work for intended purpose and start with the cheapest.
FWIW I run plain old Hornady 170gr Interlocks in my 30-30 they just work like they're suposed to every time.if I want to shoot beyond it's range I get the 308 out.
 
to avoid this becoming an accuracy discussion.
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Well, yeah but accuracy is a factor for some people.

I feed my 870 Remington Sluggers. I don't get shots much past 75 yards where I hunt and I have never had a lick of trouble from my gun/slug combo.

My uncle uses a Ithaca Deer Slayer and Copper Solid sabot slugs. The accuracy he gets from this combo (he's been shooting the same gun as long as I can remember) must be seen to be believed. He kills deer at twice the range I ever take shots at.

But I am talking about 12 gauge slugs here. It's a big hole all the way through. My cheap slugs kill 'em just as dead.
 
For most game deer sized and under any modern SP bullet, of normal for caliber weight, is going to work well. In thirty caliber anything from 150gr to 180 gr CoreLokts or Power Points are going to kill a deer. On the other hand, how many bullets do you need to shoot while hunting? Why not have the best and most accurate for a few dollars more?

I would use premium bullets if I expected unusual circumstances. If I wanted a light for caliber bullet for reduced recoil for a new shooter I would look to a Barnes TSX or a bonded SP. Or if hunting bear, elk or moose even though heavy for caliber bullets can achieve much the same performance. But hunting deer out to 200 yds I don't see the benefit of premium bullets if you use a decent weight. When I buy hunting ammo I generally just get the Remington CoreLokts. But when I buy bullets for reloading I get the heavier Ballistic Tips or Partitions. :D
 
For anything shot in quantity I go cheap. With ammo for hunting I get the best I can find. My reasoning is that I may take 3-4 shots a year at deer and I expect each shot to result in a quickly dead deer. The cost for premium stuff is negligible considering a box of 20 may last me 5 years.
 
I think that you usually get what you pay for. However, the cheapest (American made) hunting bullets today are probably better by a long shot (pun intended) than the best bullets 50 years ago.

I do buy premium shotgun ammunition. I have seen alot problems with patterns and shot to shot consistency in the 100 round special packs of shotgun ammo. Not to mention that most of my shotgun pursuits require a little more powder or larger shot for quick clean kills.

Evan
 
If accuracy is not an issue then I shoot the cheapest rounds that I can find that do the job that I want them to do.

My dad has a .22-250 that loves win white box 45 grain hollowpoints. 3 shot groups at .5" are common and 5 shot groups are always under .75". He has no need to step up to premium ammo for dispatching woodchucks or other small game.

My pet rem 700 VSSF perfers win supreme CT/NBT 50 grainers to really shine. They are expensive but well worth it when a chuck is 300+ yards away...and all you can see is his head sticking up in a field.

So I guess it all depend on the rifle and what the intended use is. I always used regular corelocts for deer hunting and never had a problem with them ever...Now I use accutips in my .308 because they are more accurate, but not significantly better in terms of terminal performance on deer.
 
Brent, accuracy, shoot placement and reliablility being equal: deer, hogs, etc won't know the difference between a cheap 150 sp or the LE ammo. If you can hit your mark use it.

LK
 
I'm with you HD, mostly Winchester @ Wallyworld. I DID buy some LEVERevolution's in .44 Mag last year but Mom was sick and I only got out one day.

Mom passed away the first week of Feb. and I'd give up a lifetime in the field to have her back but that's not the way the wheel spins.

My son gave me some .243 Fusion's for my B'day so it looks like I'll be using the premium stuff this year.
 
In factory rifle ammo I tend to gravitate toward Remington Corelokt. 2 reasons. Inexpensive, and it works. I've never lost a deer to a Corelokt bullet. It also tends to be fairly accurate from my guns. What's not to like??

In buckshot I tend to buy the premium flight control stuff, only because I've seen the difference in patterning. I also only buy it when I can find a good sale and I stock up.

In slugs, I buy Brenneke and Federal Tru-ball and they both tend to be fairly cheap.
 
I reload using Hornady 150gr SP. They have worked fine both for hunting and targets. I've also used 150 and 180gr corelokt on deer and elk.

If an inexpensive bullet doesn't do the job, then shoot again.
 
Brent,

For me I guess it'd depend on what I was hunting.

For deer and such, just about any "hunting" type ammo will kill just fine. I've long thought that the "premium" ammo/bullet craze was crazy. Never needed them myself for shooting deer and such, although I've shot some "premium" bullets at times (I got 250 Speer Grand Slams some years back from my dad as a gift, he bought them at a great price, and they do shoot and perform good).

But, I do like a decent bullet, and I can load decent bullets for far less than a fella can buy even the cheapest factory ammo.

Last time I bought bullets, I could buy 100 "good" bullets for about $15, or I could buy 50 "premium" bullets for about $22 (Now they're more like $22 and $32 dollars or more, respectively). At those prices, I'll shoot the "good" bullets every time.

Daryl
 
+1 for the Remington Corelokt. I get em cheap at Walmart and they do the job as well as I need them to. In fact they're about the only reason I go to Walmart. If I were hunting grizzlies I might consider some of the highend controlled expansion stuff. But for deer etc. the Corelokts make em DRT. Accurate too.
 
Last time I bought bullets, I could buy 100 "good" bullets for about $15, or I could buy 50 "premium" bullets for about $22 (Now they're more like $22 and $32 dollars or more, respectively). At those prices, I'll shoot the "good" bullets every time.
Click to expand...

You are in for some sticker shock next time you look for bullets.
 
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