Hunting bullet choice, please. One for them all.

I have lost a lot of confidence in the Accubond bullets. Last year was my first use and I thought they were the answer to bullet blow up problems with the 257 Wby. This year I was far less impressed. The bullet didn't blow up nor did it expand as I would expect from such high velocity at impact.
I shot an average body size buck high behind the shoulder but well below the spine. He walked around for a while before finally toppling over. The lungs had a thumb sized hole with very little damage and there was minimal external bleeding.It was a very good thing he was in an open area where I could watch him fall since followup even on snow would have been difficult. This performance is very similar to what I'd expect from a .308 FMJ.
I feel this bullet would be problematic at longer ranges on deer sized game. The buck I shot last year @ 340 yards showed far less internal damage than I expected(required a second shot through the vitals). With these observations in mind, I'm not going to recommend the Accubond for deer especially in moderate velocity cartridges.
 
165gr Nolser Partition, not only do they penetrate deep but they expand as fast as some poly tips due to the very thin jacket on the front half of the bullet, that makes them about the most versatile bullet around for everything from deer to bear. 165gr is a pretty good match for the 308.
If your rifle does not like Partitions I would say Accubond, TTSX, and interbond in that order, though if you go with the TTSX stick with 150gr.
 
Make em Yourself

Since you are thinking about casting for your other needs get a Lee 155 grain double mold and a sizer and gaschecks and make your own.
 
Hornady Interlock, Nosler Partition, GMX, Sierra Gameking. All very capable of taking any of those animals.

You won't find an SST in any of my ammo cabinets (although that may have to change as I am considering trying the new Hornady Custom Lite ammo in an Encore pistol and it only comes in SST in the caliber I shoot).
 
Mobuck what kind of muzzle velocity you getting in that 257 weatherby?
Because thats just not what Im used to performance wise in four different rifles and calibers. The 6 deer I have taken since I srarted using them all went down with significant internal damage and I've shot deer up to 200 yds and as close as 60 yards.
And I'd have to say a thumb size hole through both lungs is more than very little damage, they aren't supposed to explode on soft tissue as some other bullets do...you might try the Ballistic Tip and see if that creats more damage for you...
 
If I recall correctly the european elk are similar in size to ours so I would say that you would want something either bonded or monolithic, like a nosler partition, or barnes TTSX or TSX type bullet. my primary go to would be a hornady interbond or speer deep curl but they haven't made them in dang near 2 years so they are nigh on impossible to find.
 
My family has seen too many critical failures of Accubonds (before and after the "fix"). There's no way I can recommend them, in good conscience. All too frequently, they fail too expand (or just fold in half).

My picks would be:
Nosler Partition (165s preferred, but use what shoots the best).
Barnes TSX/TTSX (130s, maybe 150s).
 
Mobuck what kind of muzzle velocity you getting in that 257 weatherby?

Since it's only a 24" barrel, I'm in the 3400+fps range with those 110 Accubonds. This year's buck was the first animal hit under 300 yards and I certainly expected more damage. Meat damage using 115 Ballistic Tips and the "generic" 100 grain Normas was the reason I switched to the Accubonds. Hopefully I'll come up with a suitable alternative.
 
Mobuck try Berger hunting VLDs, they throw some kind of shock down, but I dont use them because of the terminal damage to surrounding meat.
Frankenmauser I guess I been living right, everthing I've shot with them couldnt been any better...they shoot to same hole and kill cleanly and quickly.
I used the btip for 20 plus years and they killed quick also, but sometimes they blistered too much eatin meat for me.
 
Frankenmauser I guess I been living right, everthing I've shot with them couldnt been any better...they shoot to same hole and kill cleanly and quickly.
Click to expand...
Some people get lucky. ;) If they work for you, stick with it.
All of the failures in my family have actually been in .300 Win Mag, .300 Weatherby Mag, and .375 H&H (possibly .338 Win Mag, but I'm not certain); and on game ranging from Antilocapra Americana (Pronghorn), to Kudu and Zebra.
No low velocity hits - mostly 200 yards or less, from those 'magnum' cartridges.

I don't know... :confused:

...But I won't use them.


One of the Accubond failures (.375 H&H, I think), was a perfect one-shot 'DRT' kill. But when the natives went to skin the animal (Kudu, I believe), they discovered that it was pure luck. The shooter actually pulled the shot WAY high and to the rear, and hit right under the spine. The bullet didn't expand, but instead folded in half. In doing so, it cork-screwed toward the neck for a few inches before managing to veer wildly off course and make an arc down through the back-side lung and into the heart.

Basically... a high, broadside gut shot, that ended up managing to take out the heart only because the bullet failed to expand.
From a broadside view, the bullet ended up more than 2 feet from the point of impact.

If the bullet had struck where the shooter intended, it would not have reached the heart, and would have exited about mid-way up the brisket. :eek:
 
130 gr. Winchester Silver Tip S.P. for my 270 when staring out those scenic view windows in my field stand.

When peeking around tree's a-foot in those same woods. 170 Gr. Winchester Sliver Tip F.P. in this Ol' Chap's 300 Savage's magazine is the woodsy medicine.

When taking my time making tracks quietly thru the wet low bush cranberry bog to those hidden poplar islands a mile or so behind my place where the Big Ones lie down to snooze.
Cast wheel weight lead with a touch of printers Lino mixed in too toughen up the bullet seems to work.
182 gr Lyman F.P G/C levered into the tube of my model 94_ 32-Special for this sweaty work-out gets me by.
 
I guess I am old school, but I have also seen far too many critters hit the dirt with the ol flat base Sierra 150gr Pro-Hunter. For most of what you are looking at they should fit the bill to a tee. If you feel they are a bit light the Game King in 165gr would be my next choice.

If your not a Sierra fan or they are hard to come by, then I would say look into the 150 or 165gr Interlock from Hornady. Still not convinced you can also move over to their Interbond or GMX.

I like to keep my .308 loads to flat based bullets so as not to encroach into the powder as much as with a boat tail design. That said though, the Nosler line hasn't got the longer BT that others favor, but going with them I would simply pick the Partition in either the 150 or 165gr and be done with it.

The only drawback to Nosler is you only get 50 per box verses 100 in the others. Still if you feel you NEED the penetration, then they will get it done.

I am shooting a 16.5" barreled Ruger, and it has only seen one other bullet weight other then the 150's. I went on a cull hunt to get a cow elk off a ranch close to my friends property. I only had 1 day to prepare and all I could find that wasn't $40 a box was some 180gr Fusions. They did the trick no doubt, but considering the shot was only about 100yds I have little doubt that the 165gr bullets I was hunting for would have done just as well.

I do and have shot a ton of feral hogs at ranges from point blank to out just past 400yds with this little rifle and most of the time it is loaded with the 150gr CL. It has never let me down when I did my part on hogs weighing from 30# to up over 400. I fully admit though, that when the hogs are in high gear and running through the underbrush, I don't always get the exact shot placement I want, but if I connect, they still put them on the ground, or at least slow them up for a quick follow up.

Last spring I did up some duplicate loads using H-4895 and the Remington bullets. I shot some of the factory loads through my chrony and simply worked the load up to that velocity. Best part is the handloads shoot about 1" at 100yds where the factory usually is around 2. I do not feel one bit under powdered with this combo. Put it in the vitals and get to skinning.
 
My 30-cal experience is the '06. 100% success on a couple of dozen deer with all but one being one-shot DRT. The exception was a poor hit on a running buck, although he did not travel after the hit. 150-grain Sierras.
 
All I can say is that hunting bullets are NOT cheap!!

They come to about €0.75-€1.10 each. A piece. That means between $1 and $1.30 or so!! I can buy a complete PRVI PArtisan 155gr SPBT cartridge for less than that!

The Nosler supplier is out, as are Barnes, Sierra and Hornady seem the most accessible.

I am actually leaning toward the GMX because a) it is actually available and b) I prefer the idea of keeping lead out of the equation when it comes to meat for the plate.

I realise the contamination risk is low, but if there is not lead at all, it is much lower!!
 
What about Round-Nose SP bullets? The Interlock comes in those. 180gr.

Is that worse for penetration? Seems like that might pack more punch, if I'm shooting at 200m or less. Of course if they will cause massive damage through meat loss...

I ask because they are WAAAAY cheaper to buy than the GMXs, like under half the price.
 
I only hunt boar and only in the Central California Coast area. Since the condors are present, it is a no lead area. I use Barnes TSX 168gr. I would use these on any of the animals you have mentioned. They are accurate out of my Rem700 and have an excellent controlled expansion.
 
Those 180's should work, I would try a box on a few critters though just to make sure they aren't overly expansive. Some of them will work down into the 30-30 velocity range, and well bumping that up a bit leads to a bit more meat loss in some cases.

As for the others, I still feel that you would be well suited with something in the 150 - 165gr in a flat base design or short BT.

It's all going to boil down to if you and your rifle both like them, and how they preform on the game your after. Like I mention, I am using those rotten ol 150gr Core Lokt's and they are some freezer filling little things. Neither the deer nor the hogs hit with them go much further than straight down in most cases, and IF they run it isn't but a few yards as they are stumbling to stay afoot.
 
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