Do you need premium bullets/ammo for hunting?

[harv3589]

Do you really need to spend the extra money for a premium bullet/ammo for hunting? Or would the cheap ones work just as good and leave money in your pocket? I’ve always used a premium bullet but maybe that’s just a waste....

I only shoot up to 400 yards, so does that extra money give me any advantage?

[elkhunter11]

I find that premium bullets offer the most advantage at high impact velocities. At low to medium velocities, pretty much any cup and core bullet will work fine.

[muirsy]

My hunting is <200 yards 99.9% of the time, so my federal blue box 270’s always get the call. Never had anything go more than 50 yards.

My hunting partner shoots much further than me, making bullet & load more of a factor IMO. As a non-long range guy that’s at least what it seems to me.

[.308WIN]

I like federal blue box, took a buck with the even cheaper federal non typical line this year (same round, just rebranded, 24 bucks for a box of .308). Was shooting less than 3/4" at 100 yards so I figured it would do the job well, and it did.

Federal loads quite a few premium bullets for decent price. Most calibers offer nosler partition, berger hybrid, trophy bonded tip, terminal ascent ect.

The federal fusion line isnt bad either, bonded boat tail bullets offered in more bullet weights. Fairly cheap too.

Maybe an experienced handloader on here can add some info.

[Brbpuppy]

Originally Posted by muirsy

My hunting is <200 yards 99.9% of the time, so my federal blue box 270’s always get the call. Never had anything go more than 50 yards.

My hunting partner shoots much further than me, making bullet & load more of a factor IMO. As a non-long range guy that’s at least what it seems to me.

My gun groups better with the blue box than with the Federal Premium anyway lol...

[huntwat]

I’m actually very open minded on this subject. I try to shoot the same cartridge as most of my hunting buddies. Then, I just shoot whatever they bring.

[bdub]

Hitting bone with a bullet designed to hold together, like a Partition, is a completely different ball of wax than hitting them with a frangible bullet. Like comparing getting hit in the head with water balloon or a hardball of equal weight and equal speed. One splatters, one is going to leave a dent. Aiming for shoulder bone with a controlled expansion bullet is often the best and least risky shot to take. Not only are you blowing chunks of bone as well as the bullet through the lung/heart area, you are limiting the mobility of the animal by breaking the shoulder.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I find that premium bullets offer the most advantage at high impact velocities. At low to medium velocities, pretty much any cup and core bullet will work fine.

This, a cup and core bullet will have more trouble on a close range shot than on at a greater distance. That said, corelocts on the heavy end of the spectrum have never failed to get any job done for me.

[Dubious]

Shoot what you like and works for you don't worry about the peanut gallery and marketing. You dont have to stick with a bullet for ever.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I find that premium bullets offer the most advantage at high impact velocities. At low to medium velocities, pretty much any cup and core bullet will work fine.

If you are referring to Monos as the only premium bullet available , you're wrong. There are lots of premium C&C available that don't require high velocity
to perform very well at medium or even low impact velocities. "Any cup & core" covers a lot of bullets.

[Andrzej]

Do you need premium bullets/ammo for hunting?

Yes, you do, you are taking the life of the animal so your skills should be honed with many rounds of practice shots and bullets that will not fail if you do.
The cost of the bullets is zero compared to other costs of your hunting trip.
I am practicing with Hornady SST but hunting only with Barnes TTSX...
I shot 2 bullets to get 2 animals in the last two seazons...
I shot a couple of hundreds of rounds to be able to do this.

[huntwat]

Do you need premium bullets/ ammo for hunting?

No, you don’t

Lots of practice. Good shot placement and all hunting bullets will kill. A premium bullet does not make up for a mistake on the other end.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by huntwat

Do you need premium bullets/ ammo for hunting?

No, you don’t

Lots of practice. Good shot placement and all hunting bullets will kill. A premium bullet does not make up for a mistake on the other end.

If you haven't made a mistake you haven't been hunting very long.
Cheap insurance!

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by huntwat

Do you need premium bullets/ ammo for hunting?

No, you don’t

Lots of practice. Good shot placement and all hunting bullets will kill. A premium bullet does not make up for a mistake on the other end.

LOL you beat me too it, by a nanosecond.

[brewster29]

The cost of premium bullets is miniscule compared the other costs of hunting. You aren’t getting anywhere hunting for under $50 in fuel per trip.

I have seen some horrible failures of cheap Winchester power point bullets and Federal blue box stuff.

Premium bullets are sort of like insurance. I would happily pay $50 a round if I could be sure it would hit where I aimed and provide guaranteed one shot clean kills.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Salavee

If you are referring to Monos as the only premium bullet available , you're wrong. There are lots of premium C&C available that don't require high velocity
to perform very well at medium or even low impact velocities. "Any cup & core" covers a lot of bullets.

I never posted that premium bullets require high velocity to work properly, I posted that there is more reason to use a premium bullet if the velocities are higher. At higher velocities, a standard cup and core bullet is more likely to fragment and not penetrate, than a premium/controlled expansion bullet.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I never posted that premium bullets require high velocity to work properly, I posted that there is more reason to use a premium bullet if the velocities are higher. At higher velocities, a standard cup and core bullet is more likely to fragment and not penetrate, than a premium/controlled expansion bullet.

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I find that premium bullets offer the most advantage at high impact velocities. At low to medium velocities, pretty much any cup and core bullet will work fine.

I guess I read it wrong.

[Andrzej]

Ok
why I use monometal bullets?

I called in 2 Elk bulls in half an hour ...first would just jump across a narrow path not giving chance to shoot and the second bull came to my call and stopped at about 60 yards.
Got me pinned in the patch of the bush quartering towards me. I took the shot aiming for his left shoulder 300 Win Mag 180 TTSX ... He falls down
after 30 yards or so.
Once I've got close to him I did notice that the entry wound was 2" ??? this is not normal for TTSX unless... it opened on branches before hitting the target.
I found this bullet on the opposite side after penetrating about 3 feet of Elk..

There are pieces of twigs in petals of this bullet so my conclusion was that it hit the twigs before hitting Elk.
Could regular CC bullet do this? I don't know but I was happy that I used monometal bullet.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I find that premium bullets offer the most advantage at high impact velocities. At low to medium velocities, pretty much any cup and core bullet will work fine.

Exactly.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by harv3589

Do you really need to spend the extra money for a premium bullet/ammo for hunting? Or would the cheap ones work just as good and leave money in your pocket? I’ve always used a premium bullet but maybe that’s just a waste....

I only shoot up to 400 yards, so does that extra money give me any advantage?

Short answer is No.

10's of thousands(if not 100's of thousands) of big game shot with non premium bullets over the years including the years prior to the Premium bullet scene and up to today. Are they worth it to you? Only you can determine that. I have used both. That said non premium bullets are more likely to fail than premium bullets.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

Short answer is No.

10's of thousands(if not 100's of thousands) of big game shot with non premium bullets over the years including the years prior to the Premium bullet scene and up to today. Are they worth it to you? Only you can determine that. I have used both. That said non premium bullets are more likely to fail than premium bullets.

Agreed.

I would add, a better investment would be to practice more.

Under ideal conditions a premium bullet may have some advantage but a poorly placed shot with a premium bullet is not likely to be any more effective then a poorly placed shot with a bargain bin bullet.

Of course there are always exceptions, both ways.

If you hit a large bone the premium bullet will most likely preform better, but if you miss the main arteries and organs plus miss any bones a premium bullet may actual not preform as well because it may well not expand enough to cause sufficient wound channel to cause the target to bleed out.

As huntsfurfish points out, hundreds of thousands of animals can attest to the effectiveness of a well placed shot with a non premium bullet.

Of course if you have the money to afford both premium bullets and more practice I see no reason to not go for both.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by harv3589

Do you really need to spend the extra money for a premium bullet/ammo for hunting? Or would the cheap ones work just as good and leave money in your pocket? I’ve always used a premium bullet but maybe that’s just a waste....

I only shoot up to 400 yards, so does that extra money give me any advantage?

Calculate all the money you spend annually on hunting related stuff (equipment, time and travel ). If that adds up to less than $100.00 then buy the cheapest bullet you can find.

If you are even a little bit serious about hunting and about the Game you shoot, why not get a good premium bullet and match that to the game you seek and call it square. It might cost you $40.00 extra, but spread out over 5 years it's really not that hard to take... or is it?

[Pathfinder76]

The only thing that kills an animal in a rifle hunting scenario is the bullet. The only thing. A good bullet is cheap insurance.

[john-brennan]

Originally Posted by chuck

The only thing that kills an animal in a rifle hunting scenario is the bullet. The only thing. A good bullet is cheap insurance.

I agree with this ^^^^^

[buckman]

Originally Posted by chuck

The only thing that kills an animal in a rifle hunting scenario is the bullet. The only thing. A good bullet is cheap insurance.

Exactly,when you look at all the other costs involved the bullet is peanuts. Practice with cheap ammo,buy and sight in with expensive??, rounds.Go hunting,you may only get one shot all season,make it count.

[Ranger CS]

Originally Posted by chuck

The only thing that kills an animal in a rifle hunting scenario is the bullet. The only thing. A good bullet is cheap insurance.

For me the confidence factor is always a big consideration as well. I want to know that I am using an ideal cartridge size for the intended game. I want to know that my rifle shoots very consistently at various ranges and want to know points of impact at all ranges I feel confident shooting. I also want to be confident when I take a shot at an animal, that the bullet I use has been designed, built and time tested for the job and has proven to be very accurate out of the particular rifle I am using.

[MountainTi]

Cheap lead is ideal for paper, gophers, and coyotes

[kingrat]

I love how guys buy expensive rifles and scopes and other accessories and than buy the cheapest ammo they can find. Why wouldn't you spend a tiny amount extra and have the best ammo available whether you'll actually need it or not, especially with moose and elk.

[oldgutpile]

For many years when our shop WAS taking in wild game, I would always take the time to ask the hunter what gun and load they were using on the animal.
This is the main reasoning for the serious hate I have for the 25-06 and the 270 as well. MUCH higher rate of meat damage. Lots of extra hemeroging and clean-up involved. I never asked the distance of the shot or speed of the load.
My personal experience found that using a heavy for caliber,premium bullet, would result in WAY less damage on the carcass, but I usually never take questionable or hard running shots. Stalking the animal to a range I am comfortable with, and making a solid shot with premium bullets would result in the proverbial "eat right up to the hole" scenario.
I always found that Hornady bullets were great to sight the gun in, and closer to the opener I would bring out the premium stuff to check POI with where the Hornady stuff was grouping. The last few years, due to lack of availability in premium bullets, I just used hornady interlock and had no issues, although I sincerely think that the meat damage was excessive to my previous experience. I know " dead is dead" but there is something to be said for the quality of the meat at the end of the hunt. A good nosler partition or barnes tsx will offer the best of both worlds in my humble opinion.
Hope this helps.

[MountainTi]

It's worth the extra few dollars to use a quality chunk of lead (or copper).
Been using partitions for 30 years, and can't imagine changing to a lesser quality bullet. Why would I?