A Question For You All. What Bullets Do You Use. This Is For Deer, Bear, Elk. I Have Tried The Barnes X, Nosler Partition , Speer, Ect. The Barns In My Opinion Are Ok But The Copper Is A Pain In The Butt To Clean Out Of The Barrel. I Really Like The Nosler Partition's For Deer And Bear. I Am Just Looking For Some Opinions. Thank You

Ps. The Gun I Am Using Is A 300 Winchester Magnum.

The Nosler Partition is the standard that all others are compared to and I use them with great results. If the X makes it a pain to clean your barrel, you might give the Triple Shock X a try, all reports I've read have been less copper fouling, better accuracy and similar X performance.

In the next few months, I'll be working with some 200 grain North Forks in my 300 H&H. I really like the NF bullets and am looking forward to see how they perform out of the 300.

If you are interested in trying other bullets, give the FailSafe's a try. Really outstanding performance bullets from my 338. Not all rifles will shoot them well, though.

Well From What I Have Read, The Barnes Need To Be Seated .050 Off The Lands. ( From The Barnes Reloading Book) . I Am Going To Work Up Some Loads Using The Partitions And Wonder How Far Off The Lands To Start With? My 22-250 Is .003 Off And It Is Super, But That Is A 22-250. The Problem I Am Going To Have Is The Barrel Is A Boss System And There Are 100 Settings To Play With, That Is A Lot Of Shooting And Money. It Did Shoot The Winchester Power Points Very Well (sub Moa) And I Should Stick With Them But Everyone I Talk To Is Pushing Me In The Partition Way.

If you really want to use one bullet, will also push you to the partition.

NOt a fan of ultra fast lighter weight loads in magnum cases...my thinking on the .300 is to use it to toss HEAVIER bullets to the same speed as a .30-06 can toss lighter bullets...have no complaints about the 30-06 with 150's to 180's, so am a 200gr. fan for the Win. Mag.

So if the rifle will shoot the 200gr. Nosler Partion well, could use it for all the bame you listed and get fine results.

If you really want to use one bullet, will also push you to the partition.

NOt a fan of ultra fast lighter weight loads in magnum cases...my thinking on the .300 is to use it to toss HEAVIER bullets to the same speed as a .30-06 can toss lighter bullets...have no complaints about the 30-06 with 150's to 180's, so am a 200gr. fan for the Win. Mag.

So if the rifle will shoot the 200gr. Nosler Partion well, could use it for all the bame you listed and get fine results.
I used to think the Partition was the answer for a big game bullet, but I think it may have been supplanted by the new Nosler Accubond. I am using the Accubond in my .270WSM, and while I have not yet had the opportunity to test it on game personally, all the reports I have seen indicate it is awesome. I can personally vouch for its' accuracy and plan to test it on deer and elk as soon as possible. Still nice to know there is always the Partition to fall back on, should the Accubond not live up to its' billing. Still waiting for the 6.5 Accubond for the 6.5x55 I bought for my boys.

I use in my 30/06 the 165 gr hornady interlock for deer,180 gr partition for moose.In my 375 I use the 260 accubond and the 300 gr hornady. The 165 interlock is **** on deer,drops them very fast.The accubond in the 375 is tough and accurate,knocks moose down very fast ,.

Gosh, Tac Drivr -

Use just about all that's made! Nosler, Hornady, Barnes, Sierra, Remington - you name it and there's gotta be a box on the shelf somewhere!

Partitions, Cor-Lokts, and Marshall's bullets have accounted for the great majority of big game I've harvested....

Practice with Hornady and Seirra but hunt only with Barnes X.
The new TSX's are definitely more accurate, less metal fouling but still retains the incredible terminal performance of the X bullet. I read elsewhere that you can get by with setting them back less than the .05 suggested for X's, but I have not experimented with that phase as yet. Load data for the TSX's is limited at this time. I worked up to a velocity based load max by using a chron that turned out to be about midway between the max of the X and their coated XLC bullet.

Here is another Nosler Partition user. I have come to use them almost exclusively for my big game hunting. Other hi-tech rifle bullets are available, but the Partition works for me. Like the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Have found the TSX Barnes bullets require the same general stand-off as the "X" bullets. Loaded up some of the 130 gr TSX's in several different 6.5mm rifles and each exhibited high pressure signs unless the bullets were seated around .050" off the lands.

Good bullets, though. By far better than the "X" bullets when it comes to accuracy and copper fouling.

I shoot TSX's and get spectacular accuarcy and ZERO fowling I shoot them in 4 different rifles

I'm really surprised at the lack of Hornady check in's here. It's the only brand I use for all my weaponry. They are consistently excellent. For varminting, I use the Vmax's and they fly straight and explode nicely! For hunting, I use the SST's of late, which are marvelous! I dropped three deer this year, all a different shot. One through both shoulders, one straight on through the chest, one through the neck from behind. All dropped in their track, not a step taken. I have used the older style in my Weatherby, but will now work up an SST load for it.

In my pistols, I use the XTP's and have had no complaints. When everyone writes about their troublesome groups and stuff, nearly no one is using Hornady's. . .is that just by accident?

In all fairness, I wouldn't hesitate using Noslers either.

Nosler Partitions, and Ballistic Tips, Hornady Interlocks, A Max, V Max, and XTP's, Sierra MatchKings and BlitzKings, Speer Grand Slams and Gold Dots, and Winchester PowerPoint, Remington CorLokt's and Barnes Originals as well as some home made cast bullets. If I go to Africa, I'm going to try Woodleigh's and Swift's as well, but at almost $1.00 per bullet in .416 and .423, not very many for target shooting.

Noslers (Both BT's and Partitions)

Barnes X(original) and now switching to XLC's

I'll sit here wodering why they don't make a
TSX-LC bullet yet as they systematically discontunue their original X-FB bullets
(And even some of the X-BT's)

I'm thinking the Nosler/Winchester Combined technology "Failsafe" bullet which is a cross between a Partition and a Barnes X-bullet has some promise but I have yet to buy any, let alone load or shoot them.

AllanD

A Question For You All. What Bullets Do You Use. This Is For Deer, Bear, Elk. I Have Tried The Barnes X, Nosler Partition , Speer, Ect. The Barns In My Opinion Are Ok But The Copper Is A Pain In The Butt To Clean Out Of The Barrel. I Really Like The Nosler Partition's For Deer And Bear. I Am Just Looking For Some Opinions. Thank You

Ps. The Gun I Am Using Is A 300 Winchester Magnum.

I have used for many years the Nosler partition bullet for my big game hunts. A great bullet that has set the standards for others to better over the years.

I now have 3 brands of bullets that I use for big game hunts depending on the rifle and what it likes etc. Those are the Swift A Frame, Speer TBBC and the Nosler Partitions (both the standard & new Gold)

I have tried and used the Barnes X bullets and XLC bullets but have had to many problems with bullets not grouping in some rifles no matter what we did to the rifle or the load. Also having Barnes bullets (XLC'S) NOT opening on test media. Now add that to the copper fouling and the fouling of dies (XLC bullets) in the press and I can tell you I won't be buying anymore Barnes bullets in the future.

2Bits -

Agree with you on the Barnes bullets - never had much success with them until the Triple X (TXS). These things cure all the past ills of the Barnes bullets.

Before giving up entirely, try a few and see if they don't outperform the older styles. Just be sure to give them some additional standoff from the rifling.

2Bits I agree never cared for the original X's with all of the problems and the reports of the of them not opening was [according to Barnes] the 5% zinc copper alloy being used,and the zinc was not consistent and was causing hard spots,and if this occurred near the tip then they would not open properly, but the TXS are pure copper and therefore no hard spots. Barnes also said that they are testing there bullets now at a more frequent rate. I am shooting the TXS's in 4 different rifles and they shoot extrmely tight groups and I am experiencing zero fowling problems

Hello everyone.

I can only say that bullet works for me, and it is the
Norma ORYX 200grain/13gram. That is a complett bullet, it has rest weight at 98%, then you test it after penetration of moose, and yes I have tested many bullets.
With it has I shoot everything from fox to bear.

Now you can get it to caliber 6,5x55 to 9,3x62 mayby even bigger caliber. Look at Norma website :
http://www.norma.cc/sida/eng/index.html

But if you don´t want to eat the animal only look for the trophy, you should try Nosler Ballistic Tip 150-165grain. I have shoot 2 deer with them last season and 30% meat lost.

I really like trying different bullets, but kind of get stuck in a rut when I find one that performs well. Like ribbonston says "NOt a fan of ultra fast lighter weight loads in magnum cases." Though I do try to get the best velocity out of them, after all thats one reason I shoot a magnum.

I shoot a 220 gr. Seirra in my 8 mag. I get 2950 across my chrono now and am looking at retumbo powder, got fellas telling me 3050 with it.

I've found that heavier bullets for the calibre kill well and don't tear meat up like faster lighter weight bullets. Had a 270 that just mangled deer.

One of the points that has driven bullet development is the fact that high velocities bullets are driven at extreme velocities from magnums. Bullets that perform well under 3000 fps are in a different world well above that figure.

My friend bought a Remington Ultra mag and is doing well with factory loadings. He got his bear, deer and elk last fall and all dropped like a sack of potatoes. He is going to be reloading for this years seasons and now faces the dilema all us magnum shooters do of "picking the right bullet". Like many of you above I reccommended nosler partition or the new accubond in as heavy a weight as he could get.

This year I bought two lightwieght rifles so my grandbabies would have rifles to shoot on their first deer hunts this fall. I got a Remington 280 mountian rifle and a Remington model 7 in 308. I just started working up loads for these and will use some reduced loadings for the girls to shoot. Both have been shooting a lot of 22 rimfire and my 243 for the past two years.

I plan on using lighter bullets, 140 grain in the 280 and 150 grain in the 308 at around 2500 or so out of both guns. Kind of like the new managed recoil loads for them.

It should be interesting to see how well these standard rounds perfrom compared to my big magnums.

I mainly hunt deer and elk but will change this year if get drawn for a moose. My main rifles for over 20yrs were a pair of 30-338 and have a pair of custom 300mags for this year and bullets used are either 165gr or 180 gr rem core-lokt. Never lost an deer or elk bullet velocity is over 3000fps with either bullet. I started reloading in the 60's back then didn't have alot of those high dollar bullets so really never figured they were all that important for my type of hunting. If I decided to go after bear etc I'd just get me a rifle for that job and ammo to go along with it. Every so often when have some extra$ I'll buy a box of those premium bullets to see what I'm missing. I tried some interbond in a custom 300wsm took up alittle too much case for me. The 200gr accubond in a 30-378 wby were ok. I'm waiting to try some new Scirocco for the 6.5 when they come out with that bullet design like the LVD may work in my 6.5x284 it was throated for the 142SMK may get to use that rifle for antelope this year. My biggest problem with those high dollar bullets is about time get a load worked up they either redesign, discontinue or go out of business. well just my .02

I am going to use 180 gr. nosler partitions in the 300 win mag. After all the responces to my question I feel the partitions are the way to go. The price is a bit high but the performance will be worth it. I do have a problem, my 300 is an a-bolt that has the boss unit. The boss has over 100 settings to fine tune the load so I will have to load up and stick with that load because three shots at each setting will be outrages. I figure that I will neck size the brass and go around .025 off the lands, I also will massage the brass as much as I can and only hope that I can find the boss setting that will work. I will never get a gun with the boss again but I have put to much into the gun so far to have it customized. Thank you all again.........................

If you're handloading, you can probably just leave the BOSS alone and find a good load. I haven't changed the BOSS setting on my 270 Win since I got it in 2000. The recommended setting worked great for the factory ammo I was shooting when I first bought the gun. Last spring when I got into reloading, I figured that it would give me an extra thing to adjust when fine-tuning my handloads, and I have still not changed the setting. With every load I tried, I was able to find a powder charge that shot very well without fiddling with the BOSS. This is with bullets of different weights and styles. The BOSS is set for 130 gr ammo, but I've got sub-MOA 90gr Sierra HP's, 110gr Hornady VMAX, and 130gr loads with both Speer HotCors and Sierra GameKings. If I get too bored with my reloading (and don't buy a new rifle to alleviate it), I might try fine-tuning a handload with the BOSS, but it seems unnecessary at this point. I mean, when you're hitting 2 out of 3 prairie dogs at 200+ yards with your deer rifle in a crosswind, that's not too bad.

In working up your load towards Max, you'll probably find something that shoots well without ever messing with the adjustment of the BOSS. At least I did.

amndouglas

Kdub, I appreciate your information about Barnes new "tripple shock" bullets. However, I have been up to my ears in ups and downs with their product of the last several years. I have spent a heck of a lot of money on testing these bullets and burning the powder to do so. I have never felt 100% confident in their bullets on a big game hunt, like I do with the Nosler's Partition, Speer TBBC and Swift A Frames.

I have complained to Barnes about the problems but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as they replied they never had any such problems. Ummmmmmm now that is real interesting and a big crock of BS plain and simple.

I guess I should have put my 2 cents worth in about the Beartooth Bullets, putting my Marlin lever guns (444 & 45/70) on track at the rifle range as well. They both now shoot under 2 inches at 100 yards from the bench, on any kind of day rain, snow, sleet or sunshine. Now out of the box I got 4 inch groups with the 444 and 5 inch groups with the 45/70 using factory ammo.

Well I have tried not to play with the boss but it does work. With Winchester power points in 180. I was able to go from close to 1.5 " down to touching by turning the never ending boss unit from 00.00 to 8.75 on the boss. It works but is a pita ( pain in the a==) I will use this slang more in reguards to the boss unit. There are only a few settings for a 300 mag in the book for the boss and that is mostly 150 grs and only a few 180's.

It seems whenever I go out with the gun full of partitions I never see anything or don't get a good shot. I started out using Remington factory fodder, never got a shot, had a friend load me up a box of partitions and had 2 opportunities, 1 with a buck standing facing me and halfway behind a tree, first time I ever shot at a buck, got a little jump and pulled way right. Deer 1 JB 0 2 years later had a monster trot through the trees in front of me with no intetion of stopping so I took a shot and missed, the deer stops behind a big 'ol PA black cherry tree and all I see is antler and ear sticking out from behind the tree, stands there for a few minutes totally ignoring me, starts trotting away again, quartering away this time and I hit a tree with my second shot. ends up standing broadside 80 yards infront of my younger brother whose sling was stuck on a branch and he never got a shot. went too get my ammo out of the drawer the next year and found that about half of the bullets had slipped back into the case, so I quit using them and started using the winchester super-x's killed 2 deer, started loading my own ammo, went back to using the partitions haven't seen a deer since.

Well I have tried not to play with the boss but it does work. With Winchester power points in 180. I was able to go from close to 1.5 " down to touching by turning the never ending boss unit from 00.00 to 8.75 on the boss. It works but is a pita ( pain in the a==) I will use this slang more in reguards to the boss unit. There are only a few settings for a 300 mag in the book for the boss and that is mostly 150 grs and only a few 180's.

My BOSS has never left the 1.1 setting. 8.75 sure is way out there. Since it takes that much adjustment on your BOSS to fine-tune a load, I would be much more inclined to leave the thing alone and tailor my handloads to it as it is set. It sounds like it will take a lot less bullets to tinker with seating depths and powder charges than your BOSS. I guess it depends on how much that extra fraction of an inch is worth to you. Right now, I don't have the time to fine-tune loads with the BOSS that already shoot around .5 MOA.

Unless you're just loading up someone's recipe and not doing your own load development and testing, the BOSS really shouldn't gain you all that much. It's purpose is to allow factory ammo to shoot like handloads. Regardless of it's setting, you should be able to find a handload that shoots like a handload. Just my opinion:)

amndouglas

I Agree With You. There Were No Settings Listed For 180 Grwinchesters For The Boss. There Are No Settings For 180 Or 220 Partitions Either, But I Agree With The Load Development First.

I use 115 Gr. Nosler Partitions, 100 Gr. NPs, 115 Gr. Ballistic Tips, 85 Gr. BTs, 120 Grain Speer Boat Tails, 100 Grain Hornady Interlocks, and 75 Grain Hornady V max in my .25/06 ; 160 Grain Nosler Partitions, 160gr Sierra Pro Hunters BTSP, in my 7MM RUM ; Speer Gold Dots in 125 and 158, Speer Hollow Points in 110, Hornady HP-XTPs in 125 and 158, MT precision 158gr lead SWCs, Remington 125 Goldens Sabres, & Remington 158 SJHP in my .357 Mag, I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting... I've had good luck with them all except for the 75Grain VMax bullets.

I have had good luck with the NP 180 in my -06, the NP 300 grain in my 375H&H and the 400 grain in 416. I also have had good luck in the 06 with Hornady Interlock 180 SPTs and Speer and Sierra 180s and Sierra's 220 RN. All have shot under 1 inch at 100 yards and perform well on game. My 375 is very forgiving and likes all the 300 grain bullets I have fed it EXCEPT the Barnes X. It took a lot of tinkering with handloads though. Some loads took 6 months of working on them every other weekend. Sounds like you have put in some time. It may take a little more is all.

I shoot 165gr Gamekings in my 308 and 150gr speer GrandSlams in my 270.

My 30-06 Remington 700 SPS stainless loves the following 180-gr. Nosler bullets:

* Ballistic Tips / AccuBond for Deer
* Solid Base for Practice
* Partition / AccuBond for Elk

I probably shoot more Hornady than any other one brand from my rifles but I have ended up actually hunting with a variety of factory ammo for one reason or another.

A couple of years ago the only ammo I could find locally for my 35 Whelen was Federal Premium with 225gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets.

It has performed perfectly on the following:
-- antelope doe, 150+ yds., through both lungs, bullet passed through with large exit, short sprint and down
-- spike bull elk, 75 yds., angled through both lungs, bullet under skin on far flank, short sprint and down
-- small whitetail doe, 60+yds., through both shoulders (oops!), massive damage, dead and down on the spot.

No long distance shots here, but perfect bullet performance in a variety of circumstances.

I forgot to add:
270grain gold dots or 300grain Xtps in my 444,
either 270grain gold dots or 240gr XTPs in the 44mag

The Nosler Partition would always be my first choice - especially for large animals, such as Elk. I've never had one fail. For whitetail deer...and similar-sized animals..I've always had success with the Remington Corelokts. As all I shoot today is an 8mm Mauser.... I reload 185grain Rem. Corelokts, exclusively. I have not taken game with this rifle yet, but the Corelokts are quite accurate...and should do just fine.

Good 'ol Hornady Interlock bullets for me. Plenty accurate, inexpensive and effective on game. Core-lokt would be second choice. I've been trying out a few of the premium bullets, but no luck yet finding anything that will shoot as well as the Interlocks in my rifles so far.

In my 303/25 I've been using the .257 cal 90gn Sierra GameKing BTHPs and they're pretty nasty.
I just started loading my 98k 8x57 with 170gn Speer Hot-Cor Semi-Spitzers and they've been very accurate although I'm yet to see how they perform on game.

For deer, I like 180-gr. Ballistic Tips or 180-gr. Solid Base. Elk get High Energy or standard Partitions and AccuBonds.

Steve

For the naysayser who hate BT's:

Nosler says that beginning with the 30 caliber 180-gr. Ballistic Tips (and larger), the jacket's profile is changed or upgraded to a much stronger contour similar to the AccuBond (shown below) to increase penetration and tone down expansion.

http://www.nosler.com/images/accubondcut.jpg

Lighter weight bullets like 165-gr. 30 caliber and lower (shown below) do not have the thicker contour which starts in the middle of the shell and goes down to the base.

http://www.nosler.com/images/bthunting.jpeg

In summary, one might suggest that the 180-gr. Ballistic Tip is simply a non-bonded AccuBond.

http://www.winchester.com/images/catalog/325-sequences.gif

I shoot 180 grain Sierra flat base spitzers for practice, 180 grain Swift Scirroco for hunting in my 06. Great penetration and weight retention. I also shoot the 225 grain Swift Aframe in my 338 win mag amazing penetration and weight retention. Hornady V-Max moly coats in my .222 rem . And Sierra 165 gra flat points in my 30-30. Never had a problem with these bullets grouping in sub 2 moa groups consistently. Tried alot of other bullets to get to these. I think it all boils down to what your gun wants to digest, not what you think will work best for your gun.

My experience is limited to Whitetails,so Hornaday interlocks are my favorite bullet.
I agree that Noslers do just as well,but no better. Speer Hotcore also killed justas well.Hornadays shoot better in my rifle then anything but Sierras,and they have a thickerjacket;more suitable for a heavier caliber.
My rifle is a 30/40 Krag.MV about 2500 FPS.
Frank

.257 Roberts – 115g Barnes TSX, 120g Nosler Partition, 120g Speer Grand Slam
7mm Rem Mag – 160g North Fork, 160g Barnes XLC, 160g Speer Grand Slam
.300 Win Mag – 180g North Fork, 180g Barnes TSX
.30-30 – 150g Speer Flat-SP, 170g Speer Flat-SP, 170g Nosler Partition RN
.375Win – 220g Hornady FP
.45-70 – 300g Speer Uni-Cor HP, 350g Speer Flat-SP, 350g North Fork, Cast Performance 460g WFNGC


Haven't taken game with all those bullets yet, but have developed laods for all of them and would hunt with any of them.

Bullet choice is simple, use Nosler Partitions!! Last year in Africa I went five out of five on plains game using the 220 grain partition in a .30-06, all one shot kills. Same luck here in the US, except when using esoteric RWS slugs for metric cartridges. The RWS bullets are outstanding too, but becoming nearly impossible to find. Note that two African hunting partners also used Nosler Partitions (286 grain 9.3mm) and had the same results.

Nosler is the North American standard. Some slugs may be better, but for day in day out premium handloads, I will stick with Nosler.

LLS

Can't go wrong with the Partitions. Switched to Hawk for hunting, though, in a '06 No.1.