Why match bullets for game?

[Polaris]

I suppose I should reply to my own post. I do use match bullets for coyotes and such. If I ever get the chance to hunt wolf again, I would probably use the heavy for caliber Hornady 75 HPBT. This is where I draw the line. It opens violently, but being heavy for caliber, does the job on coyote sized game. I suspect it would leave no exit hole on a wolf.

Most of my big game hunting is for deer. I've always been a fan of cup and core for them. Speer Hot Cor or BTsP for longer ranges. The one exception here, is my .280 rem. The military mauser action works best with a protected point, so I decided on a relatively light for caliber 145 Grand Slam given the velocity and tough angles I sometimes encounter. Been using this bullet 10 years now and never looked back.

 

[IdahoCTD]

I've used Berger's and Amax's on about a dozen elk plus witnessed another 7 or 8 more than that. It took a lot of convincing to get me to try them on elk but now that I have I continue to use them. I was of the same camp as most posting on here prior to using them. Elk are tough but the damage these bullet create on a elk's vitals is amazing and I've shot them from as close as 70yds to 875yds. Honestly the closest elk went the furthest after being hit with a Berger. He ran about 50yds but he was also by far the biggest of all of them. I shot Bergers exclusively last year, after using Amax's for the prior 3-4 years, and I have to say I prefer Amax's. The animals react faster when hit with a Amax and most of the time they will just freeze or take a few steps and freeze before falling over. I will switch back to ELD-M's this year and I think with the even heavier weights available now they will be even better.

IMO smaller calibers with "explosive" type bullets act much bigger when it comes to killing compared to conventional bullets.

 

[mjcmichigan]

And there ya go!

Real data points from real hunters.

We all seem aligned on the desire to quickly kill game and recover it


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[erdyalx]

I agree with IdahoCTD. We have used Amax's on 3 species of deer and 2 species of Elk. They have worked beautifully​ across the board in a number of cartridges.

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[elkhunternm]

I've used Nosler Partitions on game as small as this....


To this...


The match bullets may work on the smaller,but with the larger..... HELL NO!

 

[IdahoCTD]

I would not use them on the "eat you" type of game animals but for the type we eat (I don't eat bears but I would shoot a black bear with them in a heart beat) I have no problem using them. I do think they would be pretty hard on a leopard over bait or a broadside lion shot though. It wouldn't be the same as breaking down bones with a tough bullet but the trauma to the vitals would be massive and result in a pretty quick kill if I had to bet. If you've never been inside of a animal shot with one it's pretty impressive. The amount of lung tissue destruction and coagulated blood is phenomenal. It's like pouring soup out of the chest cavity.

 

[jimbires]

if I was only allowed to use one type bullet to hunt with , any rifle , any animal , it would be a Partition .

 

[SJB358]

if I was only allowed to use one type bullet to hunt with , any rifle , any animal , it would be a Partition .

Yup, or the AccuBond. Both of them are really about as good as I need. They've done me so well over the years.

BlkRam, which bullet were you running in your 6.5CM this fall when you took your moose? I remember reading the write up thinking all over again, it's the Indian not the arrow, no pun intended :mrgreen:

 

[FOTIS]

Accubonds most of the time

 

[Billyram]

I believe it's ok to use match bullets on deer but they can be inconsistent or overly destructive. I've used match bullets for deer but didn't like the way they behaved. The largest exit wound I've ever seen was what a A-Max did to a small buck. But ballistic tips can be just about as bad. Match bullets can be very accurate and are fun to shoot but some hunting bullets are only slightly less accurate. With some rifles you won't be able to see the difference between the two.
Billy

 

[mcseal2]

Here is a link to my comparison of the AccuBond vs Berger after using both quite a bit. I agree with a lot of what has already been said, the Bergers kill extremely fast with a good hit. The Accubonds are my favorite if I could only shoot one, they have just been great for me. My main antelope/whitetail rifle that I carry in flatter country is a 264WM that I have gone exclusively to Bergers in. The other guns still mostly use Accubonds.

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