Author Topic: 300 win, best bullet for deer (Read 648 times)

shootdonniebrook · « **on:** February 01, 2004, 02:48:35 PM »

I just had a barrel built for my encore in 300 win.I have never has this cal. befor and wanted to know what weight bullet would work the best for deer.I hunt in east tennessee and the deer are frome 120- 200 pound range.I was looking at the barnes bullet in te150 to 165 weight range.Has anyone used their new tripple shock bullet?I always try and shoot my deer in the front sholders, I would like a bullet that does alot of damage to the deer. :?

Tc300mag1 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 01, 2004, 02:55:43 PM »

I like a 150 for deer of that size ive been using nosler balstic tips but i shoot heart lung cant say how it would hold up on the front shoulders

shootdonniebrook · « **Reply #2 on:** February 01, 2004, 03:11:53 PM »

tc300mag1, How does the bullets you use perform on deer, do they leave a good entrance and exit hole?I have heard the ballistic tips sometimes blow up on contact and dont penatrate as well, does the deer you shot run or drop on the spot

shootdonniebrook · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2004, 03:25:31 PM »

hey chris, have you ever shot a deer with the barnes bullets?What bullet has done the most damage to a deer that you have shot with a 300 mag?Good to see a tenn. boy on here.

TomCanuck · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2004, 05:45:41 AM »

I shot a ~200 Lb. buck with a 150 balistic tip out of my 300 in an A bolt. Hit him a bit high in the lungs @ ~100 yds. The exit wound was kind of rectangular, approx 1 X 2.5-3". He ran a small semi-circle and fell stone dead.

I've seen the results of a bad shot with a 180 balistic tip. It left a fist sized hole in the front quarter. A huge mess and waste of meat, but the deer did drop.

Personally, I think for deer, the 150's are an awsome bullet. Sub MOA accurate out of my Browning, and with good shot placement, they cause massive shock. (very dead deer).

444encore · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2004, 05:47:13 AM »

As long as you hit heavy bone, the deer is goin down. You could shoot that deer right through the heart and watch it run away , but if you compromise the structure that holds the deer upright he ain't goin no where. I once shot a doe right above the tail with a 180 gr. factory load in my .300 win mag. That bullet didn't even penetrate, didn't hit any vital organs, didn't even cause enough blood loss to kill a critter. But the shock shattered her pelvis rendering her hind legs useless. she crawled about 5 feet with her front legs, then keeled over.

Darrell Davis · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2004, 05:58:19 AM »

Hey there 300 shooters.

A few thoughts about the 300 win. mag.

With the vel. which comes with most rifles, you need a quality bullet design AND construction TO PREVENT needless distruction of meat. That is the main reason we are hunting, correct?

With a quality bullet, such as the Nosler Partition, you will N E V E R want for peneratration at anywhere near a resonable distance AND the Nosler will do its job. It will do the job up close by holding together and way out there by giving the needed expansion.

Anything like the standard balistic tips is just overly distructive and damaging to what should have been some good eating.

My choice is and has been for years, a BEHIND the shoulder shot. the critter goes down and a minimum of meat is wasted.

For those times when I have had a bad angle or made a bad shot, the Nosler partition has never, ever failed to do the job and always with far less needless damage then the the typical cup type of bullet would have rendered.

At present, I am shooting a 165gr partition from a stainless A-bolt. This along with a good charge of R22 puts the slug over the screens at 3200 - 3250fps. Now, I possibly might want more velocity, but can there be any real need of more?

A far better load for the 300 is the 180 or 200gr Nosler rather then anything in the 150 range. Soooooo, why am I shooting the 165?

Well, my barrel didn't like the 180gr. and after being accustomed to seating the bullets w a y out for the Ruger #1 my son now has, I just didn't want to seat the 200gr. bullets deep enough to fit through the short magazine box of the A-bolt.

Anyway, have fun and shoot with the thought in mind of maximizing the good eating available from the critters. Aim carefully and use a good bullet!

Keep em coming! :wink:

deredhead · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2004, 08:12:17 AM »

Well I'm down here in Georgia...I know some great southern boys that only use a 22mag. to down deer in 125-260 lbs range. These boys don't even wear shoes have the time( laughin') My wife uses a 243 90 grain bullet...Shot placement is everything...Not to get anyone angery, But isn't a 300 mag w/ 200+ an over kill

-Don

Darrell Davis · « **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2004, 10:09:57 AM »

Hey there deredhead,

I have a 243 myself, and like it. Have also taken a number of critters -deer size - with it and just may do so again. However, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as to dead.

In my country, I am lucky enough to have periods of the season where bear, deer (both white tail and mule) and elk are legal. So during those times I don't like to send a boy to do a man's work.

Is this saying that the 300 is the only round able to get this job done? Not at all, but it is the one which happens to fit me at present.

I have had great luck with the 300 and like the ability of this combination to reach out and touch in an up close and deadly way even if it happens to be on the other side of the canyon.

Does this happen often? Nope, but the possibility does come up from time to time and this rifle has been just the one to float my boat.

I guess the thing that really got me to respond to this topic was the comment about wanting lots of damage when the fact is, that with THE CORRECT BULLET, one which holds together and DOES NOT cause excessive damage, it is hard to find a better deer gun.

All the range anyone should ever need, plus all the penertration and energy needed for anything most of us will ever try to bring home here in the lower 48.

Keep em coming! :wink:

deredhead · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2004, 11:40:07 AM »

Yeah...To bad there just wasn't that ideal gun that would be good for any application you wanted to use it for. ( bear, elk, moose etc ) Northern Georgia has some bear. But for the greater portion of the state it's deer.
I've ordered the 270 cal for my encore and I'll be loading 140 grain spbt.
I was considering the 30-06 because of better bullet choices...Here we don't have much wide open range.Just corn fields and etc.

-Don

retrieverhunter · « **Reply #10 on:** February 06, 2004, 04:14:08 PM »

I started shooting an Encore this year in 300 WSM and my bullet of choice is a Winchester 150 gr. Ballistic Silver Tip. I hunt in east Texas and north central Oklahoma. Between my son and I, we killed 6 deer, 2 hogs, and a coyote. All were shot in the shoulder and dropped in their tracks. You be the judge.

shootdonniebrook · « **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2004, 04:18:35 PM »

RETREVERHUNTER, DID THE BULLET EXIT THE DEER, AND WAS THEIR A GOOD SIZE ENTRANCE AND EXIT HOLE? :shock: