Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeromeo
All this talk on the .303 brit makes me want to get out and use mine this year for whitetails. What a fun gun.
Cat what are you shooting using the 180gr.? I found that it was too big for whitetail so I switched to 150 gr.
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The last deer I shot with the 180's was a button buck ( I actually thought I was shooting at a young doe!
) at about 40 yards- it started to run and as I swung I hit it in the neck, folding it up.
before I got to it it was dead.
I've never had much of a problem with the 180's being "too much" for deer, but I normally don't shoot an animal in heavy bone ( shoulders, etc) unless it is the only shot presented - I like to go with a broadside lung shot.
I also do not believe that there is a "perfect bullet" out there, but there are many that will do well.
The 303 being what it is ( ,312 bullet moving at a relative speed) the 180's seem to work best.
here is a pic of a deer that was hot at 90 paces with a hard quartering shot , with a 175 grain bullet - an 8MM Seirra Pro Hunter from a 8X56Mannlicher Schoenauer.
This cartridge is also a slow mover , but the bullet was able to go through the last rib and landed up on the offside shoulder under the hide.
the bullet lost less than 5 grains of total weight IIRC.
however, that being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 150's in the 303, and I load lots of them for guys that hunt deer.
I simply like using one weight for each cartridge I personally hunt with - that way I only have to worry about one zero.
Cat