I see a lot of discussion about what bullet to use for deer and thought I'd share my perspective. I am partial to a good cup and core bullet for deer and usually find that a Sierra of some sort (SBT, HPBT, or Pro Hunter) will shoot very accurately in each of my rifles.
I bought my 10 year-old son a Ruger American rifle in .243Win and installed a Leupold VX-1 on it. Oddly enough, it is the cheapest rifle in the safe, but is also the most accurate. We worked up loads over the summer and found that Sierra GK 100gr SBT over Ramshot Big Game shot 0.5 MOA and Sierra GK HPBT 85gr over IMR4064 shot 1MOA. My son felt like the 85gr HPBT was softer recoiling, so that's the load we used. We loaded up 100 rounds and sighted it in 2" high at 100 yards. He shot 90 rounds of this load as practice and could consistently shoot 1.5"-2" groups at 100 yards.
I'm proud to say that he took his first deer this year with that gun/load. It was a 110lb doe at around 175 yards. He made a great shot, especially for a 10yo, right behind the shoulder. Bullet passed all the way through, leaving about a 2" exit wound. She ran about 20 yards into the woods and fell dead. We didn't need it, but there was plenty of blood to trail.
This is consistent with the performance that I have seen over the years from cup/core bullets on deer and hogs. I have gotten this performance from Hornady Interlock, Speer Hot Cor and Sierra. However, I find the Sierra's to shoot most accurately in my rifles.
I bought my 10 year-old son a Ruger American rifle in .243Win and installed a Leupold VX-1 on it. Oddly enough, it is the cheapest rifle in the safe, but is also the most accurate. We worked up loads over the summer and found that Sierra GK 100gr SBT over Ramshot Big Game shot 0.5 MOA and Sierra GK HPBT 85gr over IMR4064 shot 1MOA. My son felt like the 85gr HPBT was softer recoiling, so that's the load we used. We loaded up 100 rounds and sighted it in 2" high at 100 yards. He shot 90 rounds of this load as practice and could consistently shoot 1.5"-2" groups at 100 yards.
I'm proud to say that he took his first deer this year with that gun/load. It was a 110lb doe at around 175 yards. He made a great shot, especially for a 10yo, right behind the shoulder. Bullet passed all the way through, leaving about a 2" exit wound. She ran about 20 yards into the woods and fell dead. We didn't need it, but there was plenty of blood to trail.
This is consistent with the performance that I have seen over the years from cup/core bullets on deer and hogs. I have gotten this performance from Hornady Interlock, Speer Hot Cor and Sierra. However, I find the Sierra's to shoot most accurately in my rifles.