I'm thinking its time for a thread about the different types of hunting bullets. We are closing in on hunting season rapidly, and many of you are asking which bullet type is "best" for certain types of animals, ranges, and applications in general. Here are my thoughts. Take them or leave them, but my opinion is based on almost 35 years of hunting experience and thousands of animals killed with all sorts of center and rimfire rifles, cartridges, shotguns, and air rifles. I've used everything from a Sheridan pellet gun, to the Remington accelerator, to Hevi-shot, soft points, FMJ's, hollow points, ballistic tips, bondeds, core-lokts, all-copper monoliths, frangibles, subsonics to lathe-turned precision alloy bullets.
Here's my summary of the general principles you should consider when choosing a hunting bullet. I won't cover every bullet available, but rather families of bullets, like cup/core, bonded cup/core, monolith, OTM, etc. I'll divulge right at the outset that I have my favorites, and that's not necessarily dependent upon whether I have ever sold or promoted those products, but I will say I've never promoted something I haven't first used, and found to be very valuable towards fitting my needs. Yours, of course, may vary, so take that into account.
Let's start with more traditional (aka older) designs: In 6.8, we have the Sierra Pro Hunter. This is the most widely used example of a lead cored / cup arrangement with a jacket of copper and exposed lead tip. This is about as low tech as it gets with expanding hunting bullets of the last 50 years. Simply, this bullet strikes the target, the jacket begins to peel back at its opening, with the lead tip disintegrating, and the soft inner core deforming as lead usually does. Its a rather random event, as these bullets never expand with exactly the same shape every single time. In fact, often that expansion is more of a shearing of the jacket as it peels back or tears itself apart. After all, its a totally different metal versus the core, with different tensile properties, so it deforms in its own way, the lead in another. These are good, generally speaking, for many thin-skinned animals, but the shooter must be aware that a certain % of the time, this bullet will separate and the parts may not travel in a straight line through the vitals they are intended to strike. As far as "depositing its energy" is concerned, my opinion is that there is a relatively high degree of uncertainty how it does this since the projectile loses some of its integrity after hitting. I am not a fan of this type of bullet any more, simply because I shoot very thick-skinned game far too often, and the skin itself lends enough resistance that the bullet starts to delaminate at the instant of impact therewith.
Next we go on to "bonded" soft point or ballistic tipped bullets: Examples are the excellent Nosler Accubond and Hornady 120 SST. These bullets improve upon the older design by attempting to either chemically or mechanically "bond" the jacket to the core. Despite being composed of two metals, if they are bonded together, its possible that the jacket will stay with the core longer, more deeply into penetration and therefore carry energy to destroy tissue in a deeper, straighter path. Again, this is the theory, but in practice, striking a target is such a violent occurrence, that some of the bullet is inevitably damaged in the process, since some of it is still soft, malleable lead. The good news is that despite still losing some of their weight, these usually lose most of that near the tip, and the remaining jacket on the shank and core stay together. I consider these a definite improvement over older soft point designs, and given 6.8 velocities, are nearly perfect for deer, and other thin-skinned game animals. The Accubond and SST's higher BC's are always a good thing and these are good long range bullets. When you consider range, the very fact that they have softer metal as one component is not necessarily a flaw, but could be an asset when expansion is needed at lower velocities. Both the Accubond and SST have performed well for many here on hogs. My experience has been good, but not better than with tougher bullets.
Now we move to the hollow point, OTM, or whatever PC term we need for the future: How about HFMEEF for "holey frontal meplat for enhanced expansion & fragmentation?"
Anyway, these have always been considered target bullets. They were generally (when considering centerfire rifle bullets as we are here) designed for relatively inexpensive manufacture, high BC, and with boattail for long range performance. The have long, pointy ogives, and the lead slug fills only a part of the bullet, leaving a cavity near the tip, so that only jacket is forming the ogive. Some come apart like a confetti egg, while others have a thicker jacket that frags, but "explodes" in the body cavity after some penetration, which does indeed give devastating trauma to a wider "wedge" of tissue. Much debate has surrounded whether these should ever be used for hunting bullets. For varmints, most agree they are good because they might fragment, come apart and produce only a small entrance wound in a pelt. There, you have an "application." I don't use them for deer or hogs, but you might swear by them. All I can say is that this expansion and fragmentation is going to be random, so if you want to know exactly what your HP / OTM / HEMEEF bullet will do after impact, well, you just have to give that up. They still kill stuff, but I tend to like all the predictability I can possibly get.
Next we discuss the all-copper or copper alloy monoliths: Most of you immediately think of the Barnes TSX or TTSX, but don't forget the GS custom, and the alloyed-monometal CEB Raptor / Talon. IMO, these represent another level of advancement in bullet technology, but one that took some growing pains, and lots of refinement. Way back when Barnes introduced the "X" bullet, it was said to be intended for African plains game with tough hide, and those animals in need of a nearly solid (or solid) bullet that could stay together after impact, getting to the vitals, breaking bone, and giving a quick kill. Men occasionally shot small whitetail deer with them and were angry that the bullets "over-penetrated" leaving a pencil wound. Copper is not as malleable as lead, its tougher, and needed more impact strain to peel the petals back. So, over time, we got skiving, and different metallurgy which resulted in the amazing bullets we have today, like the TSX and TTSX, with the newcomer being the Nosler E-tip. The CEB bullets are blazing an entirely different path but they are a bit ahead of their time right now, so time has to tell whether there is still room for improvement over the Barnes' of the world. The Raptor / Talon series will usually lose the petals and where they do makes a lot of difference, because you want a mushroom caliber bullet making the wound rather than simply caliber sized. My experience has been that the all-copper bullets of the last few years, work well on everything including thin-skinned game like deer. They are, for me, as close as you can get to an all-purpose bullet, save perhaps for varmints. That said, I have killed lots of coyotes with the 95 TTSX and while they exited, I am not interested in hides. These bullets hold their petals, shear them back surprisingly consistently, and therefore produce a similar wound in almost any substrate. The TTSX's, with their polymer tip and large cavity, also expand at lower velocities, make a larger mushroom and then carry all that weight and energy through the vitals, then most often, out the other side, even when they encounter bone. This design also allows a short barreled 6.8 to hurl the bullet with enough speed to still function at up to 300 yards or more.
Summary:
So, if you are looking into the question "what bullet should I choose...?" Consider a few things.
1) do I shoot more deer at ranges of 100 yards, than any other animal, with my rifle? If so, you could do very well with the Nosler Accubond, the 120 SST, the TSX / TTSX's, or the 110 SPH, if you just happen to find that's the most accurate in your gun. ETA: agreed with others who've shot deer with it, that at these ranges, the 90 TNT should also work well.
2) do I shoot deer at longer ranges, say up to 300 yards, and lots of hogs, with the same rifle? If so, then I would recommend that you pick the 110 Accubond or the 95 TTSX. The Accubond is a proven performer with good BC, and the 95 TTSX opens at speeds as low as 1600 FPS giving it a wide functioning / expansion range.
3) am I shooting hogs most often with a deer once a year? If so, I would pick the 85 TSX, 85 E-tip, 95 TTSX, or 110 TSX. The 120 SST seems to be doing a great job for some of our members, but recognize that the trajectory is a bit more of an arc than with the super flat 85 TSX or flat 95 TTSX.
4) Am I shooting coyotes? maybe a deer or two? The 90 TNT, 110 Hornady OTM and CEB Raptors all will work.
** Remember, this considers only hunting performance, and not all our available bullets. I hope this helps some of you choose your bullets for this upcoming season! Any and all input is most welcome as there is a plethora of good info from our other members.
Here's my summary of the general principles you should consider when choosing a hunting bullet. I won't cover every bullet available, but rather families of bullets, like cup/core, bonded cup/core, monolith, OTM, etc. I'll divulge right at the outset that I have my favorites, and that's not necessarily dependent upon whether I have ever sold or promoted those products, but I will say I've never promoted something I haven't first used, and found to be very valuable towards fitting my needs. Yours, of course, may vary, so take that into account.
Let's start with more traditional (aka older) designs: In 6.8, we have the Sierra Pro Hunter. This is the most widely used example of a lead cored / cup arrangement with a jacket of copper and exposed lead tip. This is about as low tech as it gets with expanding hunting bullets of the last 50 years. Simply, this bullet strikes the target, the jacket begins to peel back at its opening, with the lead tip disintegrating, and the soft inner core deforming as lead usually does. Its a rather random event, as these bullets never expand with exactly the same shape every single time. In fact, often that expansion is more of a shearing of the jacket as it peels back or tears itself apart. After all, its a totally different metal versus the core, with different tensile properties, so it deforms in its own way, the lead in another. These are good, generally speaking, for many thin-skinned animals, but the shooter must be aware that a certain % of the time, this bullet will separate and the parts may not travel in a straight line through the vitals they are intended to strike. As far as "depositing its energy" is concerned, my opinion is that there is a relatively high degree of uncertainty how it does this since the projectile loses some of its integrity after hitting. I am not a fan of this type of bullet any more, simply because I shoot very thick-skinned game far too often, and the skin itself lends enough resistance that the bullet starts to delaminate at the instant of impact therewith.
Next we go on to "bonded" soft point or ballistic tipped bullets: Examples are the excellent Nosler Accubond and Hornady 120 SST. These bullets improve upon the older design by attempting to either chemically or mechanically "bond" the jacket to the core. Despite being composed of two metals, if they are bonded together, its possible that the jacket will stay with the core longer, more deeply into penetration and therefore carry energy to destroy tissue in a deeper, straighter path. Again, this is the theory, but in practice, striking a target is such a violent occurrence, that some of the bullet is inevitably damaged in the process, since some of it is still soft, malleable lead. The good news is that despite still losing some of their weight, these usually lose most of that near the tip, and the remaining jacket on the shank and core stay together. I consider these a definite improvement over older soft point designs, and given 6.8 velocities, are nearly perfect for deer, and other thin-skinned game animals. The Accubond and SST's higher BC's are always a good thing and these are good long range bullets. When you consider range, the very fact that they have softer metal as one component is not necessarily a flaw, but could be an asset when expansion is needed at lower velocities. Both the Accubond and SST have performed well for many here on hogs. My experience has been good, but not better than with tougher bullets.
Now we move to the hollow point, OTM, or whatever PC term we need for the future: How about HFMEEF for "holey frontal meplat for enhanced expansion & fragmentation?"
Next we discuss the all-copper or copper alloy monoliths: Most of you immediately think of the Barnes TSX or TTSX, but don't forget the GS custom, and the alloyed-monometal CEB Raptor / Talon. IMO, these represent another level of advancement in bullet technology, but one that took some growing pains, and lots of refinement. Way back when Barnes introduced the "X" bullet, it was said to be intended for African plains game with tough hide, and those animals in need of a nearly solid (or solid) bullet that could stay together after impact, getting to the vitals, breaking bone, and giving a quick kill. Men occasionally shot small whitetail deer with them and were angry that the bullets "over-penetrated" leaving a pencil wound. Copper is not as malleable as lead, its tougher, and needed more impact strain to peel the petals back. So, over time, we got skiving, and different metallurgy which resulted in the amazing bullets we have today, like the TSX and TTSX, with the newcomer being the Nosler E-tip. The CEB bullets are blazing an entirely different path but they are a bit ahead of their time right now, so time has to tell whether there is still room for improvement over the Barnes' of the world. The Raptor / Talon series will usually lose the petals and where they do makes a lot of difference, because you want a mushroom caliber bullet making the wound rather than simply caliber sized. My experience has been that the all-copper bullets of the last few years, work well on everything including thin-skinned game like deer. They are, for me, as close as you can get to an all-purpose bullet, save perhaps for varmints. That said, I have killed lots of coyotes with the 95 TTSX and while they exited, I am not interested in hides. These bullets hold their petals, shear them back surprisingly consistently, and therefore produce a similar wound in almost any substrate. The TTSX's, with their polymer tip and large cavity, also expand at lower velocities, make a larger mushroom and then carry all that weight and energy through the vitals, then most often, out the other side, even when they encounter bone. This design also allows a short barreled 6.8 to hurl the bullet with enough speed to still function at up to 300 yards or more.
Summary:
So, if you are looking into the question "what bullet should I choose...?" Consider a few things.
1) do I shoot more deer at ranges of 100 yards, than any other animal, with my rifle? If so, you could do very well with the Nosler Accubond, the 120 SST, the TSX / TTSX's, or the 110 SPH, if you just happen to find that's the most accurate in your gun. ETA: agreed with others who've shot deer with it, that at these ranges, the 90 TNT should also work well.
2) do I shoot deer at longer ranges, say up to 300 yards, and lots of hogs, with the same rifle? If so, then I would recommend that you pick the 110 Accubond or the 95 TTSX. The Accubond is a proven performer with good BC, and the 95 TTSX opens at speeds as low as 1600 FPS giving it a wide functioning / expansion range.
3) am I shooting hogs most often with a deer once a year? If so, I would pick the 85 TSX, 85 E-tip, 95 TTSX, or 110 TSX. The 120 SST seems to be doing a great job for some of our members, but recognize that the trajectory is a bit more of an arc than with the super flat 85 TSX or flat 95 TTSX.
4) Am I shooting coyotes? maybe a deer or two? The 90 TNT, 110 Hornady OTM and CEB Raptors all will work.
** Remember, this considers only hunting performance, and not all our available bullets. I hope this helps some of you choose your bullets for this upcoming season! Any and all input is most welcome as there is a plethora of good info from our other members.