Who still uses non premium bullets.

[1shot]

Way back before the internet, I killed 7 bulls with a 7x57 and 140g Sierra's, and two with a 7 mag with the then brand new 140g nosler ballistic tips. I kept off the shoulders, picked my shots, shots were closer because I was riding a mule(elk never see a man on a mule unless they are running their mouth). All animals died where they were standing, except two that were on a dead run quartering to us. At the impact of the 140g ballistic tips, they hit the ground immediately, tongues stuck way out, front legs quit working, kicked a couple of times is all.

Later on, all we put in for was cow tags. A 243 with 100g partition was my choice, never any problems.

No matter if you use a 458 winchester, if you don't hit them right, you are in for one heck of a tracking job, because they will run down in the deepest thickest canyons you can imagine.

I hunted with an old mule man that had killed or seen killed over 200 elk between Az, NM, and Colorado. He hunted with a 300 Winchester that looked like hit had been through WWI and WWII. He shot Rem core locts, I watched him kill several bulls across a canyons with a darn old 3x9 Redfield, the bulls just flopped.

I think that the biggest mistake a hunter can make is to choose a bullet that does not put a lot of shock on an animal in the temporary wound cavity that is created by the bullet disrupting arteries, and other organs.

I made the mistake of taking my neighbor and his brother elk hunting on my Cadillac mules, and had pack mules with panyards to pack the elk out on. These two did not know how to shoot, gimped up two nice bulls, and we had a heck of a time putting them down after a hellacious tracking job. They just jumped off the mules and started hosing down the elk with their BAR's. I never took them elk hunting again. It is guys like this that make me think of "super bullets" to kill elk with. Also, they don't practice, sight in their guns, clean their guns, and of course want to shoot everything 600 yards and under.

Elk are not hard to kill. The vast majority of elk are killed with a 30/06 with 180g Core locts and a 270 with 150g Core locts.

Before you ever pull the trigger on an elk of any size, ask yourself this question, "how am I going to:
a. get to him?

b. get him out?

Quartering up an elk on a steep mountain side is dangerous to man and beast. If you have to leave part of the quartered up animal over night, then have a plan. Spread moth balls all around the kill to ward off bears and lions. It is a butt hole puckering event to walk up to your elk kill and see that is covered with branches, grass, and bear crap!

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[expiper]

I have never shot an elk or big bear ,,but I have loaded lots of ammo for friends who have ,,,,I only use Sierra bullts because I feel that you got to hit em to kill em and most of the "premium" bullets are not that accurate when compared to Sierra ,,,,one person shot a grizzly bear in Alaska and jokingly said that he did not get an exit wound !!!...he shot it in the throat (it was looking right at him at ~25yds) and the bullet was found in its rear hip !!!,,,8 fteet of penetration through the whole animal,,,it droped in its tracks,,,,,,,,if that is not premium enuff for you ,,,,lets talk about chasing women,,,,Roger

 

[CharlieNC]

Premium and bullet design are two different things. Barnes is a "premium" bullet, but the low expansion + pass through does not appeal to me. I prefer the moderate penetration + max expansion of the Berger. As noted study the ballistic characteristics of various designs to decide which best appeals to you. Defenders will debate this forever, but we are fortunate to have many excellent choices these days.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

Barnes is a "premium" bullet, but the low expansion + pass through does not appeal to me.

These 180gr TSX recovered from kudu and oryx expanded pretty well, I'd say. They also retained 97% of their weight, on average.

 

[CharlieNC]

These 180gr TSX recovered from kudu and oryx expanded pretty well, I'd say. They also retained 97% of their weight, on average.

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Those certainly did. But many reports of what I reported as well. Again an example of a wide range of experiences will mean endless debate. I can't wait to hunt with my hardcast 45-70, talk about pass through.

 

[AckleymanII]

shooting elk through large bones is really good way to ruin your whole hunting trip. I choose not to shoot if I can not place my shot.

Problem with hitting heavy bones is you do not know which direction the bullet will deflect.
It is not unusual for partitions to produce two exit wounds on broadside shots.

I think that elk are easy to kill, till you start talking about shoulder shots. I have had to chase a shoulder shot bull that an idiot friend shot. The bull ran down a canyon, and up over the opposite ridge with the front leg flopping. We got him the next day. I watched another friend gut shoot a large bull twice around 400 yards, he just stood there and took the two hits, then walked off. We spent two days on him.

In rough country, I am not one to shoot more than 300 yards...you get a more harmonious outcome. All the TV shows make you think that all shots are perfect. Guys that are not dedicated shooters, rarely if ever practice, shoot elk all over the body and legs, I have seen enough of that. Wind in canyons blow bullets all over, plus you are usually shooting up or down hill a tad also.

Two cases that really impressed me on how fast they would drop large bulls were the 300 WM and the 300 Weaterby shooting 180g bullets. The problem with these large calibers is that some guys can not shoot them well, the guys flinch or pull shots anticipating recoil.

We were hunting in fresh powder snow once. I tracked a herd of animals in powder puff snow. The group of animals went up a pretty good hill. I told my friend that they would stop at the top and catch their breath. We stopped just before the top of the hill and caught our breath, I thought he was going to have a heart attack he was so excited. As we crested the hill, my friend had a perfect facing shot on a 6x6, slightly quartering to the right. The shot around 50 yards. My friend jerked the shot, The 180g core loct out of the 30/06 hit the outside of the shoulder blade, deflected and traveled all the way down the body of the bull. The bull kept laying down and getting up, large pools of blood. We caught up to him by days end, he shot him three more times before he was dead...bad hits. This is the way hunting goes with guys that do not practice and or get buck fever.

 

[varmintshooter]

+1 on Ackleyman's post, big guns, expensive bullets and whatever else, don't really matter if a man cant make a good shot. I started using a 223 for deer a few years ago with very good results but I have passed up some less than perfect shots. I do think the Gamekings are a very good choice.

 

[Mtstalker]

The only draw back with the sierra gamekings and prohunters is that keeping them mag length in my 338 is that they have about a .160" jump and one of my 338's likes them close to the lands. The interlock in every rifle i own will touch the lands at or slightly less than sammi OAL.

 

[FryeGuy]

I have only used gamekings. I have shot a few deer with ballistic tips, and only one deer with a Berger vld hunting bullet. I went back to gamekings. I have only used gamekings on elk, and all 4 were mighty tasty. I haven’t shot an elk since my oldest son was born, he is eight now. Cannot wait to take him. He shot his first deer and first bear this year using my old 6mm rem and gamekings didn’t let us down....

 

[CaptainMal]

A Gameking can let you down.

I used a 130 Gameking in one of my 260 AI's last year. Looked like a 10 pt and I wanted it to fall right there in some tall fennel weed. About 150 yards, I chose a mid to higher shoulder shot. WACK!

Real loud. Only ever heard that kind of wack two other times. One was about 200 yards on a doe with 257 Roberts and 100 Nosler BT's. Shoulder hit and down. Then up and gone. I mean gone after trying to follow near nothing most all day.

The other time was with a 270 Win using Hornedy SST's. Same sound. Looked like shoulder. Watched that buck lay in a heap for maybe 20 minutes. Went to pick it up and up it went. Another loss.

The one with the 260 last season went right down. I watched it lay there for maybe 10 minutes. No movement. Then I watched a doe near it and nailed that doe with a heart/lung hit. She ran over by where I thought the buck was down. Watched her drop and marked both locations with a zoomed camera shot.

Doe was there. Buck gone again. Recruited two other hunters for a 4 hour look everywhere. Gone.

I feel that those cup 'n core bullets hit bone, come apart, do a nasty surface wound, stun and drop the animal but are not immediately fatal. Surely all three met an end soon after. Just not soon enough for me to find. I say use those bullets but do behind the shoulder or neck shots. They are no friend of bone.

 

[Tommie]

On non-dangerous game, give me a bonded core bullet every time.

 

[JSH]

What is a premium? Loaded ammo and components selection we have available today is just crazy. IMO, there are no "bad" hunting bullets. One needs to understand what the projectile is intended for.

Three different boxes of ammo on the shelf for say 308. I will bet 95% of the people first thing the look at is $, second thing they look at is caliber just to make sure it is what they wanted. Very few look at bullet other than making sure it is not FMJ.

The most accurate bullet in said firearm, does not make it a best choice for some critters.

Once again right tool for the job.

I still have not figured out how some critters seem to be harder to kill today, than the were 20-30 years ago.

 

[2506]

I shoot more Sierra and Nosler BTs than anything for my hunting, mainly deer. I do use the 130 gr. Nosler Accubond "premium" bullet in my 264 Win mag. The main reason I use it is that the velocity is so freaking fast, 3350 fps, that at close range regular bullets evaporate on contact with the hide. Even as close as 25 yards the Accubond has reacted the same as it does at a touch over 500 yards. It goes in takes out the vitals holding together and exiting and the deer hit the ground like it has been jerked out from under them most of the time. I have never had a deer take more than a falling staggering step or two after being hit by one and I have shot a couple dozen+ with it.

 

[WindSurgeon]

I have been using Game Kings for a lot of years. Never had an issue killing big game out to 300 yards. The kill zone is just too large to miss even at 1 MOA accuracy. I make it a point to not take marginal, rushed shots as well, and enjoy watching my game through the scope looking for the right shot. Sometimes a larger animal walks into view as well!

 

[johnfred1965]

I chose a mid to higher shoulder shot. WACK!

That is not the bullet's fault. That shoulder blade is like an I-beam, hard as hell and spreads the impact over a large area. If you want a quick putdown, try a low shoulder shot. If you hit bone, it is a joint and explodes bone shards into the chest cavity. If you miss the bone, you get a perfect heart shot.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

For hunting I only use Nosler partitions.. Have for years.. Wife shot through both shoulders of large bull at ~250 yards.. Broke both shoulders.. 270Win.

That said seems everyone has a favorite bullet and a story to go with it.