Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles ??? Which Bullet ???

I need some input on bullet selection for a 300 win mag. I will be reloading and I want a bullet that will make a huge exit hole on white tails. Shots will mostly be from 50-300 yds.

Thanks

Pretty much any cup and core 180 is gonna offer plenty of expansion and penetration in that cartridge. Really on whitetails bullet selection should not be much of an issue.

-Z

I'd go for an Accubond. You may want to try a ballistic tip also. Thinking that @ 50 yards with a 300 Mag and a ballistic tip you may not need to gut the deer.

have fun!

ned

I would suggest using a 150 grain or 180 grain Nosler Ballistic tip. It will EASILY achieve the results you are looking for.

165 Hornady SST, if you want a "huge hole."

I second the SST.

Search "large exit holes"..... Complete topic with darn good pics.

In my experiences large exit holes are just how the SST's and ballistic tips roll with deer, more so from a muzzle vel. of 2900 fps and up. Very ofter associated with DRT reaction or a VERY short blood trail, with good vital hits of course.

A few years back, I shot a coyote as it ran straight away from me. I hit the thing at about 70 yards with my .338 win loaded with 200 gr. btips leaving the muzzle at 3G. and in a puff of steam, chunks and hair, the song dog was completely open from hind legs to front legs and gutted.DRT

One thing is for sure; you are not going to be accused of being "undergunned" for whitetails.

Wouldn't good shot placement be more practical?

I'm sure it would if I could guarantee that I would make that perfect shot on every animal I shoot for the rest of my life.

Use a Berger. mtmuley

Another guy looking for the secret to the DRT shot. It's not a "huge exit hole". The secret is shot placement. Shoot a whitetail in the guts and it's still going to run a mile or so even with a huge exit hole. Shoot a whitetail in the ass with a bullet that won't penetrate through, break the femur and rupture the femoral artery and you'll have a three-legged deer. Shoot a whitetail in the neck without hitting bone and you'll just blow a huge hole in the flesh without killing the deer. On the other hand, a properly placed .243 with a Nosler Partition and your deer won't go an inch. Worry more about shot placement and less about a huge exit hole. And the .300 Magnum may not be the answer - with the ranges you described I'll reach for my .308 Win with a 165 gr. Accubond or .260 Rem with a 129 gr. Hornady every time. Why? Because I can ring up an 8" plate from field positions every time out to 300 yds with either of those rifles. If I have a rest you can add hundred or more yards to that range.

None of us are perfect but the underlying flaw in your logic,is that the power and penetration of the 300 magnum is going to somehow make up for bad shot placement...nothing seems nicer but it won't work.

Listen to AckleyBee and Selmer...they know what they are talking about.

I've shot a few deer with a 300 Mag and a few different bullets. Any cup and core bullet with some exposed lead at the tip is going to expand pretty well at 3100 ft per sec MV. My experience has been that a shot behind the shoulder in the lungs will put a deer down pretty hard regardless of exit wound. Bone shards from broken ribs will often perforate the spinal cord, and they go down where they are standing.

My sentence on the 300 mag for deer is that it is needlessly powerful for deer. And shot placement is of the utmost importance if you want much left of the front quarters of a deer with your "huge exit hole." I've found that a TSX lessens the bloodshot meat. And that something like a 30-06 still has PLENTY or snort to put the death rattle in a large northern whitetails lungs, so much so, that I started using a 6.5 Swede, and even then, close to instant death results from

150-165grn lead cores with plastic tips will "splat" a deer. I'm speaking from experience.

I shot a black bear at 40 yards with a .30-06 using Federal Light Magnum loads and the 180g Hornady Spirepoint. Exit on the far ribs was easily fist sized. I would think the same result could be had from your .300WM.

Bullet - Hornady 165 SP or BTSP
Case - Winchester
Primer - Federal GM215M
Powder -

H-4350 - (67.5 - 71 gr)

H-4831 - (72 - 75.5 gr)

IMR-7828 - (72.5 - 76.5 gr)

Either of these 2 bullets and any of these powders should do the job quite well.