Favorite Bullet and Load

Since the Nosler Failure post has been going on for so long I was kind of curious to find out everyones favorite bullet and load to hunt with.
I used to hunt Muleys with my .243 with 100 grain remington core locks for 5 years. Never wounded or lost a deer with that load. In 2003 I bought my Browning A-bolt chambered in 300 wsm. I now hunt with the federal vital shock bullets 165 grain for deer and 180 grain for elk. They are topped with the barnes TSX bullets and are amazingly acuurate. I have been able to take two Muleys and one elk so far with it and haven't had a single problem. Great factory ammunition IMO. :thumb
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TheGreatwhitehunter
I dont buy factory ammo I just reload

For deer and antelope

In the 270 I reload Hornady Interbonds 130 grain bullets with IMR4350 and also use Barnes Tipped Triple shocks 130 grain bullets also loaded with IMR 4350.
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182BC...4Now!
I shoot a 270WSM and reload as well. After shooting quite a few different loads through my rifle, I have found two loads that seem to perform quite well. There are a few other combinations I would still like to try out, but this is what I'm shooting for now...

130 gr. Nosler Accubond, 61gr. IMR4350, approx. 3300 fps.

150 gr. Nosler Accubond, 59 gr. IMR4831 - approx. 3100 fps.
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My favorite load for the best big game caliber I've hunted with is for the 338-06 A-Square. It's a 185 grain Barnes Tripleshock and 58.5 grains of Hodgdon's Varget for aproximately 2950 fps. It's 2.5 inches high at 100 yards and 5 inches low at 300. It really slams things! :thumb Including me. (???)
Mark
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I have used the Nosler Partitions and Accubonds for years. They are exceptional bullets and I have never had any failures with them at all! I do not care for the Nosler Ballistic tips either, but don't throw all Noslers into this group. They also have a new non-lead bullet out that is similar to Barnes, and it appears as if it will be a good one too. Again, Noslers are GREAT bullets!
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quebechunter
my favorite hunting load so far was the 180 gr. partition rem. factory load in my 300 ultra.
groups were in the 1.5" range and terminal performance were devastating.
now i started reloading this winter and i use 168 gr. barnes ttsx
my groups shrank to .5" but i cannot tell it's my favorite hunting load as so far i only shot paper
with it. i load them to 3150 fps so it fit my stadia line on my burris ballistic plex.
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"quebechunter" wrote:i started reloading this winter and i use 168 gr. barnes ttsx
my groups shrank to .5" but i cannot tell it's my favorite hunting load as so far i only shot paper
with it. i load them to 3150
Glad you got that rifle shoot that well , got yourself a squirrel rifle!! :thumb
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silvertip-co
Since the factory ammo is almost always ISO9000 manufactured and it's so good now it's hardly worth my time and trouble to reload ( with my hands being bad from w.o.r.k) . Reloading does solve somewhat the current ammo shortage( yeah I hoard it too) . However I mostly use the original Winchester Silvertip rifle ammo ( ChinaMart sells it ) and some green box Remington ammo ( ChinaMart again). Lately tho I find that this orange box HSM ammo I get in small case lots (100) thru Cabela's is sooo good and sooo accurate I dont see myself buying any other brand or type for the forseeable future. If we move I'll likely sell or give my reloading outfit away as I just no longer see the point.
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treedagain
7mm with 160 grn nosler partitions....never a problem shot everything from moose on down to potguts....
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southwind
I have lots of favs! In my 300 wsm my rifle likes 69 grains of RL19 with a 168 grain TSX. I am going to try some of the tipped tsx's just because they list them with a much higher BC than the non tipped and the price is within a couple of bucks so why not.

In my 270 wsm my rifle likes 65 grains of RL22 with either 130 grain swift sciroccos or 130 tsx's.

In my pre 64 270 I use H4350 with 130 tsx's

I better stop here.
MY disclaimer is if you attempt to duplicate any of these loads then start 10% lower and always cross check with manufacturers current max load listings
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For deer, elk ,and bear i use my 30-06, and use winchester elite xp-3 180gr rounds, i like them and they shoot great
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ABert
Every time I find a factory load that my gun loves they are discontinued. I've got 14 Win Failsafes, which are no longer made. So, once again, I've got to find another round. Thinking one of these days I may just have to start reloading.
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sneekeepete
ABert I know how you feel. I am happy that Federal still makes the bullets I shoot right now. I have a complete reloading set-up but it is at home in Utah. It makes it very inconvenient being active duty and having to move all the time. My Dad gets good use out of it though :thumb
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I shoot a 30-06 with IMR-4350 and 165 grain Nosler Accubonds for the larger stuff, and a 6mm Remington with 100 grain Nosler Partitions for deer and antelope. I am going to try the new Nosler E-Tip 90 grain bullet in my 6mm for fun though and see how it works. Both of these rifles are Ruger #1B's. I love the Ruger single-shots and feel they are a wonderful rifle.
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Nosler Partitions 165 & 180 gr in 30-06, IMR 4350 - 57.0 & 55.0 respectivley with 1/2 to 3/4: groups @ 100 yards. Successfully harvested; elk, caribou and deer with them.
Have just enough IMR 4350 to load up some 100 gr Partitions for my 243. Going to use on deer this fall.
Bear2
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In factory loads my Ruger 7mag loves the Federal 150 Sierra, 165 Sierra, and 160 Nosler Accu-bonds pretty much equally (inch or less). I plan on working up a good load with one of the lead free bullets such as the Barnes TSX since so many folks seem to like them. I had a bad experience in grouping and fouling in my 300 Weatherby with the original x bullet, but I'm willing to give it another try. I have had excellent success with RL22 in my other 7mag in the past and that is the powder I will try first.
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BIG R
My favorite load so far is 68 grains of 3100 with a 150 gr tipped tsx in 7mm. :thumb
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primal215
I hunt with a 30-06 and when I hunt deer or like bodied animals I shoot factory loaded Nosler ballistic 150gr and when I hunt elk I shoot the same bullet but in 165gr. highenergy. Both loads hit the paper the same so there is no need to sight the rifle in for heavier ammo. Also the ballistics on the 165 high energy, are comparable with a 300 ultramag believe it or not. I also shoot 150 federal fushion when out of ammo and no ballistics are available, they hit close enough to my ballistics that I dont need to mess with my scope as long as the shot is under 300 yds.
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quebechunter
my buddy and i both have 300 ultras. we both use barnes ttsx 168 gr. with 93.6 g RL25
coal 3.650". this load turn our rifles into .5" shooters.
should see pretty soon how it works on game. lol
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Springville Shooter
I want to jump in on the fun. As a long time shooter and hand loader I have taken many different types of game with many different bullets. I often hear folks talk about certain bullets "failing" or being inherently "bad" I dissagree with this. I believe that there are no bad bullets on the market today, only misused ones. Noslers ballistic tip is a prime expample of this. Let's take the 150gr 30 cal ballistic tip. Loaded in the 300 savage, 308 win, or similar cartridges this bullet will perform great on deer sized game. Put the same bullet in any of the new super-mags and it will most probably expand too quickly and fail to penetrate deeply. Likewise the 30 cal 180 bonded or solid copper bullets will perform great at high velocities but might not expand reliably on smaller or thin skinned game. I believe the bullet argument can be compared to hunting vehicles. While the prius might be the best vehicle to get you from California to Colorado, it might not be the best to get you from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Fellow shooters, let us all be wise and informed on our choices of bullets and realize that the variety of fine projectiles that are available to us is a blessing that we must be the stewards of. I have killed big game with bullets from; Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, Swift, Remington, Sierra, Speer, and Berger. All resulted in a dead animal. -Shooter
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quebechunter
"Springville Shooter" wrote:I want to jump in on the fun. As a long time shooter and hand loader I have taken many different types of game with many different bullets. I often hear folks talk about certain bullets "failing" or being inherently "bad" I dissagree with this. I believe that there are no bad bullets on the market today, only misused ones. Noslers ballistic tip is a prime expample of this. Let's take the 150gr 30 cal ballistic tip. Loaded in the 300 savage, 308 win, or similar cartridges this bullet will perform great on deer sized game. Put the same bullet in any of the new super-mags and it will most probably expand too quickly and fail to penetrate deeply. Likewise the 30 cal 180 bonded or solid copper bullets will perform great at high velocities but might not expand reliably on smaller or thin skinned game. I believe the bullet argument can be compared to hunting vehicles. While the prius might be the best vehicle to get you from California to Colorado, it might not be the best to get you from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Fellow shooters, let us all be wise and informed on our choices of bullets and realize that the variety of fine projectiles that are available to us is a blessing that we must be the stewards of. I have killed big game with bullets from; Hornady, Nosler, Barnes, Swift, Remington, Sierra, Speer, and Berger. All resulted in a dead animal and I have yet to have a failure. -Shooter
+1 on all of the above

i will load my wife's 20" barrel 260 rem. with 120 ballistic tip cause the 140 corelokt @ 2550 fps
do not expand enough (small wound channel)
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Just wondering if any of you have any feedback on the Winchester XP3 ammunition in the field?
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elkkiller
i shoot a 300 weatherby mag, my choice for favorite setup is the nosler partition in a 180 grain weatherby brass..... bone crushers....
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