30 cal bullet terminal performance on whitetail deer

[Nomosendero]

Deer are quite easy to kill.

Each year I take one or two with one of my 30-30's using 160 FTX bullets and Lever Revolution powder. DRT. 30-30 is my favorite cartridge for under 250 yard shots.

Many years I take some with my little 30-06 Remington carbine using 165 gr. SST's or Interlocks. DRT.
View attachment 1226424
Same can be said for my old Savage 99 in 308. 150 gr. SST's or Interlocks - DRT.

I haven't used it much yet but I have a 30-06 760, shoots great and it like 165's. About any of those work well. For Deer/Hogs I like the 168BT, for everything as 2506 said the 165 Accubond would be great as the 168TTSX would be, with the yd. limit the OP stated.

 

[john 800]

I used to do crop damage control so I have killed A BUNCH OF DEER with lots of calibers and bullets. For the 308 Win I will say this. Stay away from the MATCH type bullets except the Berger VLD which they not call their HUNTING bullet. Their no days match bullet you should stay away from it for game. Yes these bullets will kill deer like lightening struck SOME OF THE TIME. It will be that trophy of a life time that the bullet decides to zip through like a FMJ and you just might not recover the game. For Nosler BTs keep the impact velocity under 2,900 fps and they flat work. I shoot the 125 BT in most of my 30 cal weapons and it is a deer killer. 46 grs IMR 4895 with it in the 308 Win. is AWESOME. The 125 Sierra Pro Hunter under the same conditions as the BTs is also pretty good. Most any of the cup and core even if tipped in the 150 to 165 gr will get the job done proficiently if you put them where they need to go. If I only had a 308 Win rifle and could only choose 1 bullet to use on everything from elk on down out to 600 or so yards I guess it would have to be the 165 gr Nosler Accubond. In my experience the Accubond flies like the BT starts to open up like the BT but holds together like the Partition and keeps on trucking through bone and body.

Do the deer you have seen shot with accubonds seem to drop as quickly as the ones with ballistic tips?

 

[Bill Norris]

The Accu-bond has become my favorite bullet for hunting deer. As mentioned above they are as accurate as a B T and do their job once it makes contact. Just today tried some 130 gr. in my 260 AI at 100 yds. and very happy with the less than 3/8 " group blowing out SRP Peterson brass.

 

[338 dude]

I have on hand a pretty decent selection of 30 cal bullets for my 308, mostly 150 and 165 with a few 125s. I know most any of them will do the job, but wanted to hear what you guys have had success or bad experience with (mostly because I need a distraction from a bathroom remodel and the dreaded monday am tomorrow) I am not a super long range hunter, 3-400 yds is max for me, with most of the shots closer, some very close. It is scary accurate with 150 balistic tips and almost as good with 150 ssts. I have a few 150 accbonds i could probably sub for balistic tips. Also have 165 ssts, speer btsp, 170 roundnose partition s. 125 pro hunter, balistic tips and accubonds.
Any thoughts on what you like?

150 grain Nosler partition

 

[284winner]

At 100-200 yard 308 velocities with the 150 class bullets, I find they are the ideal weight bullet for deer. First time I tried the Sierra 150 Spitzer Boat tail soft points on deer was this year. They performed perfectly. Kind of about the same as the 130s do from a .270 Winchester at similar ranges. It's my new deer bullet for close woods deer hunting. This 150 SBT entered the shoulder of a 175lb whitetail and ended up on the opposite side just under the hide. Couldn't have asked for better performance or penetration.

 

[2506]

Do the deer you have seen shot with accubonds seem to drop as quickly as the ones with ballistic tips?

The only deer I have seen shot with the Accubond are the one's I have shot. The only Accubonds I have shot are 130 gr .264 our of my 264 Win mag at 3350 fps average velocity.
I normally am a shoulder shooter so they drop in their tracks. On those that I have not been able to take the broadside shoulder shot it did not matter they were DRT with maybe a stager sideways, spin around and down or just fall back on their butt and tip over.
I have killed a dozen plus, lost count, with this bullet from 25 to a touch over 500 yards. It acts the same. Goes in opens up taking out the vitals and exits with a nickel size hole. I have only recovered one bullet. It was shot into a buck at 111 yard that was facing me with a left shoulder angle at me. Bullet hit the front edge of the scapula went length wise and was found against the smashed right ball joint in the ham when processing. Weight was 87 grs and was a text book mushroom.

 

[Friar]

My go to for whitetails is a speer 130 gr. Hollow point on top of IMR 3031 in a 308. Have taken countless deer from 50 yards to just over 400. Shoots under MOA out of a stock Remington 660 at 100 yards. The furthest I’ve had one go was 30 yards. Most of them just drop right where they are.

 

[AckleymanII]

150,165 Sierra's....pick

150g Hornady flat base interlock is my favorite along with the 165g flat base, poor man's partition.

I killed 12 in one year with the old 135g Sierra single shot pistol bullet with a hot load of 748 around 3200 fps, two of the bucks were 200 lbs plus. These are very, very accurate bullets, and they rarely ever exit the deer, but DRT is the norm. I wish I had about 20 boxes of the 125g Accubonds.

For some distance, the 168g nosler long range accubond with Ball c2 at 2800 will just make you stand up and shout with the small groups they shoot, and brother....do they knock the daylights out of a deer!