What is the most popular bullet weight for hunting Deer

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heymax

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I was just wondering what the most common bullet weight for Deer is.
 
heymax said:
I was just wondering what the most common bullet weight for Deer is.
Wow you opened a can of worms there. Caliber, saboted, conical, full bore jackets (solid copper, brass). In 50 cal. Saboted I use bullets in the 300 grain range + or - 10 grains.


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50 Cal. Sabots. 40 to 50 Cal. Bullets. I don't want to dissect it down too far or I'll only get 3 replies. I plan on doing a lot of shooting this year to see what shoots best out of my gun. Some of my Bullets are Copper, some are jacketed, some are full lead. The Bullets I will test will be anywhere from 200 grains to 300 grains. As far as a can of worms go, I'm just wanting to listen and hear what others are using. Some want a bloomin onion for expansion where others want hydrostatic shock. I guess it depends on where you want to hit them.
 
For myself, 250gr to 300gr all copper, I like the bloomin' onion
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:mrgreen: , with lots of ketchup
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Hard to answer your question, Guy’s use bullets all the way up to, and well over 500 Grains. I say pick a Bullet, Shoot it in your Rifle until you have the Load dialed in, Put that Bullet “Where the Deer Lives” (Heart, Lungs) That will be a Perfect Bullet whatever the Weight is :yeah:

I prefer Full bore Lead in Muzzleloaders, They are predictable EVERYTIME :yeah:

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I use 200 grainers in my .45 rifle. In my long .50 guns I use .300 grain bullets. My Optima .50 pistol shoots 240 grain pills. Every one of these has killed deer. Some close, as in the pistol. Others out to 160 yards. Most hits are drop on the spot kills. My go to bullets are all XTPs but I have deep curls and a-frames that shoot spot on with the XTPs using the same loads and charges. I am wanting to try some Barnes stuff....just to see how it compares.

Like most have alluded to, find an accurate load with a bullet you like and hunt it.
 
For me in my Knight inline similar to the old MK 85 I use the Hornady XTP 300 regular in a Harvester black crush rib sabot with great results I alsp tried the 300 Grain XTP max or mag and got the same accuracy but no expansion with ffg goex.
 
By caliber in a muzzleloader over time would guess roundballs. Pick your caliber.
 
I buy 240-250 grain bullets in bulk purchases to get the lowest price per bullet with good performance on top rated XTP or SST design.
 
8B90359C-0DC5-442A-87E3-08AFB2B1B39A.jpeg Once the bullet is chosen and tested, the next requirement is to put that bullet in the ‘correct’ spot. In general, shot placement ‘trumps’ relatively minor bullet differences.

I have used bullets that overall don’t rate really high on reviews, worked fine with good placement. I normally now use a Barnes copper, or a Hornady XTP held in a crush-rib sabot. Here is a 195 grain .400” Barnes taken out of a large IL buck. With the angled shot, the slug ended up in the neck. It started at 2218 FPS.
 
250 gr. I want the flattest trajectory possible, and even a 250 zeroed at 100, drops 3 inches every 25 yards past 100 yds, out to 200 yards.
 
I’m shooting a fast twist 45. Working with Fury Star full bore 275 grain. Dennis builds incredible Bullets.
 
Hard to answer your question, Guy’s use bullets all the way up to, and well over 500 Grains. I say pick a Bullet, Shoot it in your Rifle until you have the Load dialed in, Put that Bullet “Where the Deer Lives” (Heart, Lungs) That will be a Perfect Bullet whatever the Weight is :yeah:

I prefer Full bore Lead in Muzzleloaders, They are predictable EVERYTIME :yeah:

IEkRSGkm.jpg
ODpQYdgm.jpg

fczytxcm.jpg
fMSi4Rum.jpg

I agree with this sentiment though many bullet/sabot combos work well.
I now shoot full bore lead when hunting. I also hunt in thick cover and shots are close. Like 30 or 40 yards. Never shot a deer further than 75yds with a ML.
 
Hornady 300 gr XTP in a MMP tri-petal sabot. But I have been known to setup with 250 gr in same sabot simply because I have them.
 
Chick mentioned flattest trajectory above, so bullet weight also depends on how far you may have to shoot. With small -medium bodies like deer, energy delivered may be less important than flat trajectory if you may have to take a long shot. I have gone exclusively with Barnes T-EZ sabots. My TC likes them. If only hunting deer, I use the 250 grain sabot... if also have cow elk tag, then I use the 290 grain.
 
I too have never shot a deer over 50 yds with a muzzleloader (Pennsylvania). Opportunities can be there to shoot much longer. I have always used the 240xtp. For you guys shooting longer distances, do the all copper powerbelts/bullets mushroom ok? I've read sometimes they don't expand properly but don't know
 
I don’t think Powerbelt makes an all copper bullet, copper plated, but not a solid. My family and I have shot many deer with all copper bullets like Barnes and Bear Creek Ballistics, never a problem with expansion.
 
In my 50's, 250 grains for deer, 300 for bear, although I expect the 250's would be fine on bear too.
In my 45, 180's and 200's
Both calibers are XTP's. 45's in the 50's and 40's in the 45.
In my repop '53 Enfield rifle musket, the Lyman 575213OS 460 grains IIRC.
 
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