Gun hunters..suggestions wanted

[Two Tall the Neanderthal]

Keith, I won't shoot deer with corelokts, the bullet itself isn't so terrible, just the loading process and dirty powders Remington uses. You have a nice new gun there probably capable of some fantastic shooting, you should pick some premium factory stuff to shoot. That would be like buying a corvette and running 81 octane gas in it. There are plenty of 18 dollar a box mass produced shelf ammo out there, and it?s got dirty powder, non-premium bullets, and the company?s cheapest brass and primers. The sizing of the ingredients vary quite a bit.

Ballistic tip bullets have changed a good bit since Snakes experience, and not all plastic tipped bullets are meant to break up fast these days.

I will tell you that Hornady light mag ammo is probably some of the best out there on the shelf.

[PoisonSnake]

How much does that Hornady chit cost?

[hobiecat]

What's wrong with the good ol' 130gr Winchester Ballistic Silvertips??

[Two Tall the Neanderthal]

They have a cheap version of moly coating on them that will end up lining your barrel after about 20 shots then you'll have that stuff on your lands and there are very few cleaning solutions available to remove it and if you shoot non-moly bullets you loose accuracy.



Otherwise they are just a nosler BT bullet and decent loads. The nickel brass is harder on reloading dies if you are into that.

[Warmouth]

PS- I use shells that aren't real common in MO, but I find Hornady Custom loads for between $25-32 a box at Cabella's. They probably have it stocked at Bass pro as well.



If you want to get fancy, Nosler will custom load shells for you and send them by mail for around $42 per box. I'm actually thinking about it for the 257 Roberts. 110grn accubond @3000fps.



Also TTN, Hornady heavy mags in a 300win are very accurate too. I picked up a box on accident, and you cn tell the difference between them and the standard loading. 180grn @3100fps. That chit got my attention.

[Two Tall the Neanderthal]

PS for as many rounds as you shoot at wounded deer, you'd be better off buying 3 boxes of the cheap chit.

[PoisonSnake]

It was only 4 shots damnit. I wish I had launched a fifth one. To this very day I'll never understand why I didn't.

[Warmouth]

Because your ears were hurting I imagine.

[Keith@AimLow]

Warmouth said:
Keith, if that is really your situation, and you won't be shooting over 200yds, just commit to a bullet/load you want, and sight in for it. Unless you are unlucky, or your gun is either in a bad way, or really dislikes the shells you bought, you should still be able to hit 6-7" at 200yds with what I would call horrible groups at 100yds (3-4"). Buy 2 boxes, just in case. Sight in 1-1.5" high at 100yds, and you're done. Should take 4-8 shots, and you can be done in well under an hour. Maybe as little as 15 minutes.

That is a piss poor practice/preperation regimen that you are trying to get away with, just so you know.

Dave,

I realize that wouldn't be a good solution. I wouldn't try to sort it all out in 15 minutes. I am just saying that I definately don't have the time to buy 3-4 different brands and run tests on them to see what I can get an edge with. I was hoping that if you guys pointed me in the right direction and I go out and shoot some good groups with y'alls recommendations, I will be very happy.

[Swamp_Fox]

Keith,

Folks have been killing deer for decades with "normal" ammo.
Winchester Power Points have worked well in all my guns. Remmington and Federal have their followers.

No need to over anal-ise the decision for non-dangerous game. If it says light skinned game on the box and you can keep 5 in a 3" circle at 100 yds your good to go. Heck, if you can keep 5 in a 6" circle your good for the 35 yards that most deer are shot.

[TobyfromMO]

Swamp_Fox said:

Keith,



Folks have been killing deer for decades with "normal" ammo.

Winchester Power Points have worked well in all my guns. Remmington and Federal have their followers.



No need to over anal-ise the decision for non-dangerous game. If it says light skinned game on the box and you can keep 5 in a 3" circle at 100 yds your good to go. Heck, if you can keep 5 in a 6" circle your good for the 35 yards that most deer are shot.

The best advice you?ve received yet. Fact is your not splitting hairs here?any 130-150 ?off the self? pill will be more than adequate on deer out to 200yds.



I personally have never had great success with Winchester or Federal factory ammo and have always had great success with Remington and Hornady.



With that said?as a consumer looking for the best bang for buck?The Hornady Custom line of ammo is mid priced and hard to beat for what your getting in return. You get decent components all the way through.



However?bullet specific, IMO Federal?s Fusion bullet is the best constructed ?deer? bullet on the market today?for the money. A work related project from my past allowed me into the Speer/CCI facility located in Lewiston, Idaho. During my time there I was ?treated?/allowed to witness the recovery and comparative analysis of bullets ?test? fired into ballistic gelatin. Long story short?the Fusion bullet will undoubtedly out perform the Rem Core-Lokts and Winchester Power Points. In this particular test it faired better than the Hornady Interbond and was only decimal points behind the Nosler Partitions in final score.

[Warmouth]

I don't think bullet construction among the major choices out there really becomes an issue until you get into game bigger than deer. Once you start hunting elk and bear, maybe even really big hogs, then its something to concider.

[TobyfromMO]

Agree...just some additional food for thought.

[Two Tall the Neanderthal]

By Toby's agreeing with Swamp Fox he's admitting he's wasted all his money on a bow that he doesn't need when he could use any 15 year old rig that shoots aluminum arrows... at 150 fps

It's all about what you like and the kind of gear a person wants to have and use.

[TobyfromMO]

Not exactly...I?m agreeing that Swamp gave the most intuitive advice given the nature of the question. Simple question...simple answer.

In regard to my purchase...the performance gain comes at a bargain. I?ve increased my PBR (using a single pin) by approximately 33%. I?ve increased KE by approximately 40%.

Now if you can load me some .270 rounds that will increase my PBR and KE by those percentages I will by them too.