30-06 loaded with the 178 grain Hornady ELD-X hunting bullet which has a G1 BC of .552, very good for a 180 class 30 caliber hunting bullet. I’ve loaded this bullet as high as 2860 fps muzzle velocity but chose to compare it at a more standard 2700 fps for this article.

Last fall found me hunting hogs with my 45-70 Marlin 1895 and the 350 grain RNSP Hornady bullet at 2060 fps muzzle velocity. From kneeling, I shot an eating-sized hog as she was facing me from roughly 25 yards. The bullet entered about where the neck and shoulder join and was recovered from the ham - about 24” of penetration. Instant drop and death. The recovered bullet weight 308 grains and had expanded to over .9” diameter! BC on that bullet is only .189 G1… Laughable today, or is it? One shot. Instant drop and death. 24” of penetration and double diameter expansion. Hmmm, there’s apparently something to consider other than Ballistic Coefficient.

The 350 grain Hornady from my 45-70 performed superbly at 25 yards on a feral hog. No need for a high BC bullet in that case.

What then does high BC offer the hunter?

Higher impact velocity. Flatter trajectory. Reduced wind drift. Reduced time of flight.

That’s what high BC provides for the hunter or anyone else who may be slinging them in target competition or practice. High BC is something that helps the shooter from the moment the bullet exits the muzzle all the way to the impact on target.

In this chart Cal 1 is the 180 grain Hornady Round Nose, a fine bullet for modest range. Cal 2 is the 178 grain Hornady ELD-X, also a hunting bullet with which I have experience. Each is zeroed at 200 yards.

Key things to pick up on… At 400 yards the round nose bullet has dropped 33” vs 23” for the ELD-X, velocity has declined to about 1500 fps vs 2100 fps, wind drift at 10 mph is 27” vs 10” and time of flight has only changed from .6 to .5 seconds. The wind drift figure could easily be the difference between a fatally hit elk and a gut-shot wounded elk 400 yards away…

Nearly 3’ of drop vs about 2’ of drop is significant. Impact velocity is quite interesting as most bullets will reliably expand at 2100 fps but few will expand reliably at a mere 1500 fps… This should be a key point for hunters. An expanding bullet tears through lungs, the big blood vessels atop the heart and more. It inflicts tremendous damage well out of proportion to its size. But only if it expands. With too low of an impact velocity it may only expand a little, or not at all. That can produce a wound that does not incapacitate the animal and lead to a long and possibly fruitless tracking job.

Oregon elk taken with my 30-06 at 405 yards with the 178 grain Hornady ELD-X. Check out that background, there was no way to stalk closer. The high BC bullet gave me the confidence to take the shot in a stiff crosswind.

The 30 caliber 180 gr Round Nose Interlock Hornady:

The 178 grain ELD-X Hornady:

Each of these is a fine hunting bullet. At ranges under 200 yards, I’d prefer the traditional round nose soft point simply because it’s engineered for that and has proven itself many times. For longer ranges, there’s absolutely no question in my mind, I’m going with the 178 grain ELD-X. It completely outperforms the round nose bullet at 300, 400 and beyond.

Perhaps you never shoot at over 200 yards. Then the round nose bullet is a fine choice. Maybe even better than the ELD-X. But if you shoot game at 250, 300, 400 yards or beyond there is no question. Choose the hunting bullet with the higher BC.

Between the round nose bullets and the well tapered high BC bullets lie a plethora of spitzers, soft point and hollow point boat tail bullets and more. Choose what shoots well from your rifle, practice to raise your skill level with it, and hunt well.

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Hunt well and shoot well! I’m a lifelong hunter, a Marine Corps veteran and a retired law enforcement officer with 12 years of SWAT sniper experience. I truly enjoy helping others figure out their rifles, loads and hunting strategies. Catch more of my articles and photos in Ultimate Reloader as well as on Instagram, X, and Facebook.

Regards, Guy

On the 600 yard line with my Cloward-built Winchester Model 70 308 Winchester match rifle.

I’d settled into a comfortable routine, shooting 600 yard prone matches with the 308 Winchester. Either my Winchester Model 70 match rifle or my true favorite the Remington 700 SWAT rifle. Each had been built by renowned PNW rifle builder and accomplished marksman Jim Cloward. With my SWAT rifle I knew to dial exactly 15 MOA up from my 100 yard zero to plunk the 168 grain Sierra Match Kings reliably into the 10 ring, and quite often into the smaller X ring. That was with either my handloads or the wonderful Federal Gold Medal match ammo. The wind would occasionally cause me to pop one out into the 9 or even into the 8 ring, but that was my fault I reasoned. A dropping wind was particularly hard for me to detect. Usually it took that hit out in the 9 or 8 ring to wake me up that I needed to change my wind hold. But as regards the cartridge, I was a happy man. The 308 was easy to load, easy on barrels, easy on the shoulder and just plain easy-accuracy. There were no tricks left to uncover.

Then new cartridges began showing up on the shooting line. Things I’d seldom or never heard of. 6BR and multiple variations, 6-223, 260 Remington, even 223’s and 22-250’s with fast-twist barrels. More matches revealed that shooters using the new cartridges, of which I knew little, weren’t getting blown out of the 10 ring nearly as often… I’d still shoot my “High Master” scores in the 190’s but I never managed to beat the really good High Masters - some of that was skill. A few confided to me that they were shooting between heartbeats! I’d learned to shoot between breaths, but heartbeats? Beyond where I’d gone in my marksmanship quest. Some of it was embracing the newer, smaller cartridges that were utilizing longer bullets with higher ballistic coefficients. Turned out that the 6’s and 6.5’s could recoil less and show far less horizontal dispersion due to the wind. Both things contributed to success and high scores.

Bullets were evolving. More and more bullets with high BC’s were becoming available and they often required faster twist barrels. This led to some interesting things at the rifle range - I remember seeing some high BC .224” match bullets from fast twist barrels literally disintegrate into a puff of blue-gray smoke a few yards in front of the firing line. The bullets required a fast twist to stabilize but the shooters were also pushing them fast for high muzzle velocity. The high pressure, velocity and fast twist rifling was a combo that the thin bullet jackets couldn’t handle and poof - there went the bullet - scored as a miss of course.

As bullet makers scrambled to solve the disintegrating bullet issue I grimly clung to my 308 - it was of course the practical solution. As the SWAT sniper team leader I had to use the 308 and honestly I was quite happy with that arrangement. It remained the easy button. Only when shooting 600 yard matches or longer did I feel that the new cartridges had much of an edge.

The 308 Winchester remained such a practical choice. My Cloward built rifle continues to perform well for me though I’ve long since retired from the team and from police work.

About 2007 Dennis DeMille and Dave Emary developed the 6.5 Creedmoor for match shooting. I knew of Dennis DeMille - he was an exceptional rifleman and fellow Marine. I also knew who Dave Emary of Hornady was. In 2008 when the 6.5 Creedmoor was introduced it incorporated a lot of interesting design points.

From the beginning it was a short action cartridge designed for long, high BC bullets at magazine length. The chambers were cut specifically for accuracy, ensuring a very straight start for the bullet upon firing. The shoulders were set at a sharp 30 degree angle. The neck was long. It didn’t take long for match shooters to shift by hundreds, then thousands, to the Creedmoor - it outperformed the 308 at range, recoiled less and had wonderful factory match ammo available as well as great loading components. Very quickly F-Class, which had also been rising in popularity, came up with the F/TR class for 308 and 223 shooters, essentially to protect those cartridges and their users by giving them a fairly level playing field. Time to time great marksmen using a 308 or a 223 continued to win big, but overall the modern case designs with their steeper shoulders and longer bullets kept out-performing the more traditional cartridges.

Soon the 6.5 Creedmoor was outperformed by rounds inspired by the same design trends. The 6mm Creedmoor offered less recoil and a faster velocity. The 6.5 PRC outpaced the Creedmoor by a couple of hundred FPS. The cartridge race was well underway! This time instead of raw velocity it was all about efficiency, accuracy, low recoil and excellent performance on targets at long ranges. Elevation is easy, it’s just math. High BC bullets work towards defeating the wind! That too is math, but it’s often hard to determine what the wind is well downrange.

To understand the advantage of these new cartridges we’ve got to look past the muzzle velocity and even some of the downrange ballistics and see why these new cartridges are so popular. It’s not that our traditional cartridges got worse, they’re just as good as ever, maybe even better with today’s powders and bullets.

Case life. Reduced case stretching. Barrel life in some cases. Excellent accuracy straight from the factory! Mild recoil (for some) great retained velocity and minimal wind drift downrange. We can literally walk into a store buy a budget rifle a scope, a few boxes of ammo and be hammering a 600 yard target a few hours later. “Minute of angle” for a three shot group used to be something fairly difficult to attain, not anymore.

A few years ago I trundled up to my friend Gavin’s place in the Cascades and we shot a rifle he’d built. A 224 Valkyrie. A what? Some sort of hot-rod 22 caliber centerfire. The cartridge was doomed to commercial failure, but the rifle he’d built was superb and the cartridge really performed. Easy accuracy… it wasn’t long after that I bought my first “modern” rifle a 6mm Creedmoor in the cumbersome but accurate Ruger Precision Rifle. I walked out of Sportsman’s Warehouse that day with a new rifle, ammo, dies, cases and bullets. Already had the powder. Popped a high powered scope on it and my first groups downrange were excellent with factory or handloaded ammo. It is not the greatest looking rifle, but goodness it shoots. Recoil is negligible. Accuracy is excellent. It remains the only rifle I own that can perform well on targets at 1,000 yards.

Ruger RPR in 6mm Creedmoor - easy accuracy. Honestly I’d like to have a 6mm Creed in an easy handling sporter-weight rifle. Always thought that 243 Win/6mm Rem power level was perfect for a coyote/pronghorn/deer cartridge.

Since then I’ve been able to shoot more of the new cartridges, some from rifles Gavin builds, some from other makers such as Bergara who’ve taken up the Creedmoor and PRC designs. I don’t think less of my much appreciated 25-06, 7mm Remington Magnum, 308, 30-06 and 375 H&H rifles, but there are better cartridges now… Again, we’ve got to think beyond the muzzle velocity to see the advantages. Even Weatherby has introduced new cartridges which don’t beat their old barrel-scorchers in muzzle velocity, but allow a great overall package for longish range shooting and hunting.

A couple of years ago Gavin gave me a wonderful Bergara rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor with a great Leupold scope as a bonus. Stocked by Boyds, it’s become a favorite hunting rifle. Love the light recoil and excellent accuracy. I look forward to hunting again with it this fall!

We’ve been down this road of smaller cartridges before when Winchester introduced the 243 and Remington the 244, then tightened the twist and reintroduced it as the 6mm Remington. Light recoiling, easy accuracy, easily capable of taking deer. Now we’re doing it again with equally light recoiling cartridges that can perform at 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000+ yards… The march towards better cartridges has been going on for a long time. It’s past time to quit hurling insults at the modern cartridges and acknowledge their benefits. Twenty years has pretty well settled the question.

Am I going to replace my much loved 7mm Remington Magnum Ruger Number One falling block with a 7 PRC? No, of course not. That old Ruger and I have more hunts to do and I love the classic styling of it. But - if I was starting out all over with a 7mm hunting cartridge you bet I’d take a hard look and likely choose the 7 PRC. It really is better - and yes - we have to look beyond the muzzle velocity to appreciate what it offers.

Will my once locally well-known “Green Machine” SWAT rifle ever go from 308 to 6.5 Creedmoor? Probably not. That Krieger 308 Win barrel seems to have a lot of accurate barrel life left and it’s been a 308 with one barrel or another for 30+ years. I suspect that it will continue to be a 308 - even if the 6.5 Creedmoor would be an improvement.

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For more of my articles and videos check the Ultimate Reloader website, their YouTube channel and my Instagram. I’m a USMC veteran, a retired law enforcement officer with experience in patrol, detectives, SWAT, and as a firearms instructor. Also a lifelong hunter and handloader and a competitor in rifle competition.

Shoot and Hunt well!

This gnarly old 3x3 muley fell instantly to a single 100 grain Barnes TSX sent at 3340 fps from my 25-06 Remington 700 CDL.

In October of 2005 I was hunting central Wahington wheatfield country cut by steep sided canyons choked with sagebrush and bitterbrush with my son John and my friends Ken and Owen. We were on Owen’s 7,000+ acre wheat farm. We had a wide variety of rifles. John and I had the two smallish bore rifles a 6mm Remington and my 25-06 both with handloads. Ken had his trusty 30-06 and Owen had the only non-scoped rifle, a 350 Remington 600 Magnum, with the ventilated rib sights and a laminated stock.

John and I were hunting together and slowly came around the end of a steep ridge, opening up a view of the flats behind it. John was transfixed by the sight of three mule deer does only 40 or 50 yards from us, feeding and although they saw us, they weren’t unduly alarmed. Sadly neither of us had a doe tag. However… A buck slinking out of the flats caught my eye. I thought “not bad for here” and endeavored to get John on the buck. He was fixated on the does and couldn’t understand that I needed him to pivot left and look farther before the window of opportunity closed. The buck was moving past 120 yards and picking up speed, about to vanish around the end of another ridge. From a standing position I led him a bit with the crosshairs and sent the speedy little 100 grain Barnes bullet zipping into him. I fired while swinging the rifle and was happy to see him collapse instantly.

Instant is really good in the hunting fields. No tracking. No lingering death. No hurried follow-up shots… Yes, instant is good.

A couple of years later I was pretty banged up, recovering from shoulder surgery after a fight with a violent felon. Although injured I took some pride that he’d gone to jail in an ambulance after attacking me, but I needed surgery afterwards ah well. After surgery in addition to physical therapy, I started practicing with my rifles - with some trepidation as it was my right shoulder that had needed surgery. I started with the 22 long rifle Marlin 39A, then a 223/5.56 AR-15 and finally with my 25-06 Remington 700 CDL. I was pleased that none of these light-recoiling cartridges posed any problem for my shoulder and I knew that the 25-06 was a superb choice for mule deer.

I’d drawn a Wyoming mule deer tag and was hunting a small property along the south fork, outside of Cody. The rancher, his wife, and I all enjoyed coffee in the morning and watched some mule deer. He had a nice little place, between the river and a large ranch with irrigated crops - alfalfa as I recall. We saw a tall muley buck wandering on his property and he told me of a much bigger buck that had been crossing onto the neighboring ranch. After some errands and chores we settled into the “deadliest hay stack in the west.” It was a pile of hay bales, maybe 12’ tall or so and at the top was a hollowed out spot for a hunter or two, with some of the bales removed so a fellow could hunker down up there unseen, yet watching. David and I were facing each other, each of us watching and listening. There was a big, really impressive muley buck on the neighboring ranch, where we did not have permission to hunt. I kept hoping he’d cross to David’s property.

After a fair bit, David whispered “remember that tall 4x4 we saw this morning while having coffee?” Of course I did. “He’s right behind you.” Right behind me? How far? What? I silently turned and there he was maybe 20 yards away… I looked again at the big muley buck on the other side of the fence, 400 yards or so away and seemingly firmly planted on that side of the fence. My rifle was zeroed at 300 yards so I knew making a hit at 400 wasn’t a problem. However… I’d hunted public land in Washington for years not getting many shots at legal bucks. It seemed silly to pass on a 4x4 muley buck only a few yards away! When the buck wasn’t looking, I leaned over, steadied the 25-06 for a shot and dropped the buck. Instant death once again. Hmm, I was really starting to like this 25-06 and the 100 grain Barnes TSX bullets fired at that scorching 3340 fps…

On field dressing the buck we found that the bullet had tracked downwards through a lung and into the heart, then exited. The heart looked like nothing I’d ever seen! It resembled the pages of a phone book (for you youngsters imagine a really big book with a lot of pages) spread wide open - though each page was a slice of heart meat. It was as though the heart had been sliced with fillet knives. No wonder the buck went down so quickly. As earlier “instant” is hard to beat.

After that buck, I took a break from the all copper bullets for a while, wanting to try some other bullets simply to satisfy my curiosity. Most were good, but nothing beats “instant” drop and death.

Fast forward to 2017 hunting grizzly in the Brooks Range of Alaska. My 30-06 load was a 200 grain Nosler Partition at 2600 fps and shot well out to 300 yards and beyond. Turns out all the shooting was inside of 40 yards and in a hurry. I fired all four shots, dropped the grizzly twice and missed once. With the grizzly down at about 15 yards the guide, Joey Klutsch, handed me his 338 Win Mag SAKO rifle and said “finish him.” So I did. It was about 24 degrees and as close to dark as it ever got on that hunt when I shot. A geyser of steam erupted from the bear’s chest and he was done. We recovered that bullet, a 225 grain Barnes TSX, well expanded and just under the off-side hide.

Was I impressed with the 225 grain .338” Barnes TSX? Absolutely.

I hadn’t hunted deer with a Barnes bullet in a good long while but had nothing against the idea. Decided to try the 100 grain TTSX, the tipped version of the older TSX and loaded it to an honest 3350 fps via Ramshot Grand. Excellent accuracy. Once again I was presented with a modest range shot opportunity… Bang! The Axis buck whirled and sprinted away, all of about 50 yards… Talk about excellent meat… My goodness. I can understand hunting free range Axis instead of whitetail or muley. Wow… I hope to do bring home delicious Axis venison again.

This year I’m hunting whitetail and perhaps wild hogs with the 127 grain LRX Barnes bullet from my 6.5 Creedmoor. I suspect that it will do just dandy up close or out far. Next year I’m taking the 270 grain Barnes TSX bullets loaded in my 375 Ruger for cape buffalo and more… I haven’t racked up a lot of kills with Barnes bullets, but they’ve always performed well for me on the rifle range and in the hunting fields. The bullets have done well on all manner of game, large and not-so-large. I believe that they’ll continue to do very well.

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Regards, Guy

I’m a USMC veteran and a retired police officer with 12 years as the SWAT sniper team leader. Also earned my long-range high master with my 308 rifle. Am a life-long hunter and handloader. Follow my videos and stories here, on Instagram, on X, and on the Youtube videos by Ultimate Reloader.

Mid-week there was usually no one else using the field archery course, so I liked to hit it then with my target bow and I could let Taffy, our family beagle, run free without bothering anyone. The course was on a big ridge and behind it was an active cattle ranch.

I was shooting my 34# Hoyt recurve reasonably well, plunking arrows into the targets mounted on hay bales and was about halfway through the course when I noticed a bit of a commotion coming my way. The dog was barking, dust was flying and something big was going through the trees with that dog. It was hard to tell if the brahma bull was chasing my beagle, or if the beagle was herding the bull towards me. Beagle and bull seemed to be swapping positions time to time. Either way, they were both closing in on my location quickly!

Fleet of foot in those days, I headed down the ridge towards the fence in a big hurry. Dog and bull were both closing the gap and by this point the bull had seen me too. While we were running for the fence Taffy caught up to me and looked up like “Isn’t this fun?”

We made it to the fence. I went over, the dog went under. We didn’t slow down until we reached my parked car, a somewhat warmed - over ‘66 Ford Fairlane. Dog scrambled in, bow was tossed into the back seat and the V8 thundered to life. Fortunately the bull had stopped at the fence, but seemed to still be in a very disagreeable way. Gravel and dust flew, tires screeched as rubber met pavement and off we went. Whew!

It was several weeks before I ventured back to the archery range. Without the dog this time. The dog and the Ford are of course long gone now, but I still have and occasionally shoot my old Hoyt target bow. Now and then I take a moment and think about that beagle bringing me a ticked-off bull.

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I’m a USMC veteran, retired police officer, lifelong hunter and handloader. See more of my work on Ultimate Reloader.com

Regards, Guy

Matt’s Bullets offers a 250 grain full wadcutter 44 bullet! The semi-wadcutter bullet styles are well known and have a long history in the 44 Special and the 44 Magnum. This is a full wadcutter, similar to, but much bigger, than the famous 38 wadcutter bullets.

This is cast to 12 BHN, so it’s not an ultra-hard bullet. It’s also plain base, not gas-checked so it’s intended for modest velocity shooting. It’s got a well-defined crimp groove and is not designed to be loaded flush with the case. What really sets this apart from the standard SWC designs is the large flat meplat. The face of this bullet looks huge!

Normally regarded as a target bullet, there’s a strong school of thought that full wadcutter designs in 38, 44, 45 caliber deliver excellent results on tissue - impacting hard and cutting through tissue to penetrate deep. This has been noted in the ubiquitous 2” 38 Specials and also in the larger cartridges. Buffalo Bore Ammunition loads a 225 grain full wadcutter hardcast bullet in the 45 Colt to 1,050 fps. About that 45 Colt load Tim Sundles wrote “This load is designed to cause disabling terminal effect, combined with the penetration required to cause fast incapacitation on human sized targets from any angle. The big flat wad cutter nose crushes living tissue as it passes through, unlike mushroomed bullets that are slightly rounded on the nose and tend to slip and slide through living material. The crushing action of the flat nose keeps penetration straight and thus deep. The hard cast construction will not deform on flesh and bone at these velocities so the nose profile remains constant along with bullet path and terminal damage. Full wad cutter profiles in large calibers (like .45 and .44) hit like a truck and do massive permanent damage.”

The 44 Magnum load I’m showing here is an evolution of the famous 44 Special “Skeeter load” which was given to him by none other than Elmer Keith. If you’re new to revolvers and don’t know those fine men, they were extraordinary men who gave us many tales of the 44 Special and 44 Magnum. Elmer actually prodded Remington and Smith & Wesson to build the 44 Magnum.

The “Skeeter Load” is well known to 44 Special aficionados. It’s no longer a published load because Heaven Forbid that we load the 44 Special to its true potential. Yet thousands of 44 Specials have been thus loaded and have suffered no harm from it. Most 44 revolvers over the last 55 years since Dirty Harry was released have been of the Magnum variety. This is a good thing as it gives the shooter a choice, at any time he can select the mild 44 Special, or go for gusto with the 44 Magnum.

This is an evolution of the Skeeter Load which moved a 250 grain semi-wadcutter at about 950 - 1000 fps from a 44 Special using Unique and a good cast bullet.

I shot it today from my 5” 44 Magnum S&W 629 Classic, a revolver that I love to carry in my Simply Rugged “Sourdough Pancake” holster. That holster spreads out the weight of the gun nicely and makes the big N-frame Smith surprisingly easy to conceal. The good holster makes the 5” 44 magnum very easy for daily carry if so desired.

With that in mind… I selected new Starline brass, CCI standard large pistol primers (no need for magnum primers with Unique powder) and 8.0 grains of Unique under the 250 grain cast Matt’s full wadcutters… Oh my… I am impressed! This is just my first day with the load. I’ve fired only 15 of them, but I’ve fired about a gazillion 250 grain semi-wadcutters of 240 - 250 grains through my 44’s in the past.

Recoil was stout, but not obnoxious. I knew I was shooting something powerful. 250 grains at 940 fps is not a 38 Special… No, it’s a powerful big bore revolver load, roughly the same as Skeeter’s famous 44 Special load. You 44 Special fans can use this bullet too! Velocity averaged 941 fps with a mere 10.6 fps SD. The 7 yard double action groups were good, though off to the right a bit from my previous zero. I may need to nudge the rear sight a bit. Another half grain or full grain of Unique would certainly bump things up a notch.

The other thing was the accuracy. Double action at 7 yards. I think a small sight adjustment is in order to bring the hits to center. Those were my first five shots with this load, earlier today.

How ya like that double-action 7 yard double-action group? I’m happy. Just need to nudge the rear sight to bring it a bit left on target.

The rounds loaded easily into my revolver. Fired accurately and without drama and were easy to extract as well. This isn’t far removed from my 40 year old 44 magnum mild load either, just with a really great bullet.

Since the range is often dominated by 9mm shooters, I’m happy to make some full diameter 44 cal holes in the targets, and produce both a big boom, and some lube smoke with the 44 revolver. Shooting loads similar to these, particularly when the range is full of 9mm semi-auto shooters, I sometimes hear “Dang those are big bullet holes. Hey, what’s that old Marine shooting anyway?”

I am absolutely going to load more of these and order more of the bullets. It might be interesting to pop one into a wild hog later this year when things cool down a bit. If you’re interested in high quality cast bullets take a look at Matt’s Bullets - He doesn’t need a lot of long-winded conversation, just order online after you figure out what you want. The man knows his business and makes great bullets.

BTW, nobody paid me a thing to research this load and write up the article. I just like to acknowledge craftsmanship when I see it, and these bullets are good.

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I’m a life-long hunter, a USMC veteran and a retired law enforcement officer. Handloading has been a hobby of mine since I was a kid. If you liked this, please check out my videos and articles on Ultimate Reloader.

Regards, Guy

Nearby officers took cover and held back from using both less-lethal and lethal weaponry.

One responding officer from roughly 70 yards away ascertained that there was an immediate threat to his fellow officers. This skilled officer, a highly proficient marksman, employed his duty AR-15 and fired a single shot.

You would think that a 223/5.56 round fired from 70 yards into the head of a violent suspect would result in instant death. Not this time. The police department involved had chosen ammunition with a lightly constructed “varmint” bullet. That bullet impacted the front teeth of the subject and fragmented into tiny particles. Ideal on a prairie dog, but not so much on an armed man confronting the police.

He fell instantly, dropping the shotgun. This is good. And it worked. This time.

He did not die. The bullet broke up, fragmented on his teeth. He was severely wounded, his face ruined, but he was not killed. This can be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing. As a former SWAT operator and sniper I don’t like this result at all. When it’s time to take “the shot” it’s time for everything to end for the bad guy.

The suspect lived, and was immediately taken to the local emergency room. His life was saved. Surgeries repaired his face.

Did that 223 bullet stop the threat? Yes. But… he was still capable of action if he’d conquered the pain and shock of that shot. So there’s a lot to digest here. Did the officers’ shot stop the threat? Yes it did. And that’s exactly what we intend to do. However I like to use bullets that will not break apart on contact with something hard, so that they penetrate, expand and destroy important parts of the anatomy, assuring quick death and an immediate and lasting end to the violence.

I was in charge of equipping our officers and SWAT officers with ammo and training them. I’d selected a bonded bullet from Federal for our AR-15’s. It wouldn’t have broken up so easily and would have solved the problem permanently. The officer who made the shot was from a nearby supporting agency using their chosen ammunition. Which choice is better? Interesting question and years later I still wonder about that.

Worth a thought or some time contemplating.

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I’m a USMC veteran and a retired cop. Had 12 years on the local SWAT team as the sniper team leader and also breached a lot of doors with a ram. Seems like I was either up close or out a bit far with the long rifle. Follow my posts here, on GunTales.net and on Ultimate Reloader.

Regards, Guy

Left to right, smaller hunting cartridges I’ve used: 223 Remington, 6mm Creedmoor, 6mm Remington, 25-06 Remington, 257 Weatherby and the biggest bore shown, the 6.5 Creedmoor!

Often I hear or read comments when some new smallish cartridge is introduced or or even worse, actually used on an actual hunt, that it’s obviously inadequate. That the shooter must be weak in body, mind and spirit, perhaps not even very masculine. That the decision to use such a cartridge wasn’t just ill-conceived it’s unsporting idiocy. The insults hurled often come from rather ill-informed folks who are set in their ways like concrete.

Our American use of smallish bore, easy kicking hunting rifles is nothing new. There’s something inherently attractive about a rifle with mild recoil that’s also quite effective on deer - our most commonly hunted medium game animal. All the way back in 1895 Winchester introduced the 25-35 for their lever action rifles. That cartridge is still in production and still in use!

The 223 and other .22 bore cartridges are often denigrated - yet they’ve been taking deer and larger for decades. I’ve shot a number of deer with the 223 and they all died quickly. A Wyoming ranch I hunted for several years kept a spare rifle for any hunter who had problems with his rifle - they kept a 22-250 for mule deer and pronghorn! With good bullets designed for hunting the 223 or other 22 caliber centerfire kill medium game quite well. The 223 is likely one of the most popular cartridges for hog hunting at modest ranges where excellent shot placement is assured.

The vitriol ramps up when “those danged 6mm & 6.5mm cartridges” are discussed. Umm, they’re not new either. Sweeden and Norway adopted the famous 6.5x55 for their military rifles in 1894 and that cartridge is still popular. Interestingly all the way back in the 1890’s a fast twist rate of 1 turn in 8” of barrel length was specified - something still shared with the modern 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC cartridges.

Our Navy and Marine Corps actually adopted a 6mm rifle cartridge, the 6mm Lee Navy as early as 1895. It was loaded with bullets from 75 grains up to 135 grains and had a specified 1 turn in 7.5” rifling twist. Logistical and production issues plagued the firearms and ammunition, and it may well have been a case of simply being ahead of it’s time. We can however thank the Lee Navy for providing the parent case for the much better known 220 Swift.

In 1955 Winchester ushered in the modern era of 6mm cartridges with their 243 Winchester based on the 308 Winchester. This was countered by the 244 Remington which was based on the 7x57. Unfortunately Remington crippled the 244 with a slow 1:12 twist barrel, insufficient to reliably stabilize the 100 grain deer bullets which the 243 Winchester easily handled. The 243 too off in popularity and the 244 was dying on the vine. Remington changed the twist to 1:9, loaded it with 100 grain bullets and re-named it the 6mm Remington. Both are fine dual-purpose cartridges suitable for hunting varmints or deer sized game. Each has mild recoil, a flat trajectory, can be very accurate and they’re unquestionably deadly on deer sized game.

I got this 6mm Remington 700 BDL 52 years ago in 1974 and it still shoots great. It’s proven deadly on mule deer and whitetail with several instant kills. No matter how large or powerful the rifle “instant” can’t be beat.

The “Bob” or 257 Roberts also originated from the 7x57 cartridge and emerged as a favorite for deer long ago in the 1930’s. The Bob still has a strong following of true believers, and it warrants their loyalty. Remington also standardized the wonderful 25-06 for us in 1969 after it had limped along as a wildcat cartridge since the 1920’s. I’ve taken a lot of game with the 25-06 over the years - and it falls squarely in the camp of light recoiling, flat trajectory, accurate deer slaying cartridges.

Verifying the zero before a hunt using my favored 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip loaded to about 3150 fps in the 25-06. A great example of a smallish bore, light recoil, highly effective hunting cartridge.

Another early 25 caliber cartridge was the 250 Savage or 250-3000, so named because it was the first commercially available cartridge to break 3,000 fps! It did so with the deadly little 87 grain soft point. This was in 1915. Let that soak in, prior to WWI Savage was making and selling rifles in the light-kicking, fast-stepping, and deadly 250-3000. My goodness. It remains in use even today.

Roy Weatherby stepped up to the plate after WWII and quickly developed several smallish bore belted magnums including the still popular 257 Weatherby Magnum. It can be described as a shortened, blown-out and necked down 300 H&H. Or it can simply be known as the fastest 25 caliber production cartridge available. Sometime in the late 40’s or early 1950’s my grandfather sent his 257 Roberts, a Mauser action, to Weatherby’s old southern California shop and had it converted to 257 Weatherby. I still have that rifle as well as my grandfather’s old dies and a few cases that he converted from 300 H&H before factory ammo was available. It quickly became known locally as a rifle that produced instant death on deer. My first experience with it was funny. I was a teenager and had been reading articles about how powerful Weatherby rifles were. Powerful recoil was anticipated… Nope. I put the crosshairs on the target rock, squeezed, my shoulder was gently nudged and the rock evaporated, hit by a 100 grain bullet at well over 3,000 fps.

About 20 years ago a couple of experienced shooters got together, Dennis DeMille, a retired Marine and championship rifleman and Dave Emary from Hornady. They came up with a new 6.5, the hated and loved 6.5 Creedmoor, designing it as a match-winning rifle cartridge. It proved to be excellent for the job! Unlike the Weatherby Magnums, it was never intended to feature scorching hot velocity. It relies on innovative chamber and cartridge design for accuracy and a fast twist barrel to stabilize relatively long bullets with a high ballistic coefficient. Such bullets slip through the wind easily, being deflected by wind far less than say a 308 Winchester match bullet. Several years later the much vilified “Needmoor” started being used by hunters. Some were smart and saw it as a mild-shooting, accurate cartridge which when placed properly killed deer sized game well. Others, possibly afflicted with something like TDS, experienced Creedmoor Derangement Syndrome and can’t keep from screaming that it’s an awful and weak cartridge. Umm, no. It’s actually a bigger bore than our popular deer killers like the 223, 243, and 257’s. The 6.5 Creed moves a 140ish grain hunting bullet at about 2700 fps depending on barrel length. That compares to a 308 moving a 165 grain bullet at about the same velocity. But the Creedmoor kicks less and offers a higher ballistic coefficient for improved downrange ballistics. Gunwriter Tyler Freel seems to attract a lot of negative attention whenever he posts about taking grizzly or moose or a t-rex or something with his 6.5 Creedmoor. He does that primarily to show that it is perfectly adequate for much smaller game such as mule deer, whitetail, pronghorn and wild hogs. Tyler has an opportunity that most of us don’t - he can hunt grizzly often, and at close range. He chooses his shots well and uses good bullets, Nosler Partitions.

Then there’s the hot-rod spinoff, the 6mm Creedmoor. The what? After I bought one people thought I was saying 6.5 Creedmoor when I’d tell them that I’d been loading and shooting my 6mm Creedmoor. It was standardized by Hornady in 2017 after several years of use in competition as a wildcat cartridge. Hunters should know that the 6mm Creed shoots a 103 grain ELD-X at 3050 fps from a 1:8 twist 24” barrel, very similar to the 243 Winchester and 6mm Remington. The 103 ELD-X however has a very high G1 BC of .512 and requires a 1:8 or faster twist barrel. At longer ranges the 6mm Creed beats out standard twist 243’s and 6mm Remingtons because of the high BC bullets.

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We Americans have been using smallish bore hunting rifles since the 1890’s. This isn’t new. What is new is that the cartridge designs are changing. Chamber designs are changing. That’s all in the quest for improved accuracy, and it’s working. So perhaps open your mind a bit, contemplate the long success of smallish bore hunting rifles and maybe give one a try. Select your bullet well then place it well. After that, go notch your tag.

Good hunting to all! I’m a lifelong hunter, USMC veteran and a retired law enforcement officer. Follow me here, on Instagram as 3006guy and on Ultimate Reloader’s website and Youtube channel where I contribute time to time.

Regards, Guy Miner

Thompson-Center 50 caliber White Mountain Carbine. My hunting rifle for a few years long ago.

Four of us worked together, hunted together and fished together. This year one of the guys had brought his teenage son. I had only hunted with them once, for mule deer a year before. Here we were at it again in the northern part of Washington’s Cascade mountain range. We’d set up the canvas wall tent near the dirt road, and a stone’s throw from a year-round creek. A wonderful setting, but we weren’t alone, there were similar camps elsewhere along the road, some not far from ours.

Our standard routine was breakfast in the tent, Swammy was a wizard at cooking on the wood burning stove and had his much better version of the sausage and egg sandwich ready for us early. Pretty nice to wake up on a cot in a tent that’s warming up to the smell of breakfast cooking!

After breakfast we laced up our boots, grabbed our muzzle loading rifles and headed out. Three of us were carrying traditional muzzle loaders, two favored patched round-ball loads and I was using 385 grain 50 caliber conicals, the “Great Plains” bullet by Hornady. It’s made of soft lead with a cavernous hollow point and expands readily on deer sized game. The other two fellows were using much more modern “inline” muzzle loaders although still equipped with fairly basic sights.

The components I used on that short hunt for the mule deer buck. Once again the 385 grain Hornady Great Plains bullet proved lethal. It’s always been accurate for me as well.

In the pre-dawn darkness we headed out, hiking up a long finger, seeking to be about halfway or more up the ridge by dawn. This was a serious struggle for Swammy whose strength was betrayed by a debilitating disease. The man struggled but never gave up. That would put us in a good area to glass two different deep draws for mule deer. As the sky gradually lightened, we could see a lantern light far below and wondered if we’d left a lantern burning or if someone was in our camp. There was a bit of a discussion, and I volunteered to slip on back down the ridge and check on our camp.

Before I got there, I could see that the lantern was clearly in a camp 50+ yards from ours, and that there was no problem at our camp. Alone I started quietly working my way back up the finger, through the sagebrush and bitterbrush. I was about 2/3 of the way back to the glassing position. I could see the father-son duo a couple of hundred yards higher than my location. Hearing something I noticed there was a muley buck coming up behind and to my right! I froze in position, largely concealed by brush. On his present course he might pass within 40 yards of me!

I held completely still and waited until he had passed me, heading uphill. He hadn’t noticed me but I’d been eyeing his rack, not huge, but not bad… As I raised my rifle, the rising sun caught his antlers and they seemed to glow. My concentration shifted and I lost my focus on the front sight and boom! A cloud of smoke, a vanished mule deer… Oh my, I’d shot and I wasn’t sure of my sight picture… I thought the sights were on the buck but… As I reloaded, I quietly chastised myself for looking at his antlers again.

My friends with their traditional muzzle loaders were slowly heading down towards me and shouted that they thought the buck had dropped off into the deep ravine behind me. That wasn’t encouraging. Still, I had doubts. I thought that the front sight had still been on the buck…

As they headed towards the ravine, I slowly moved ahead, rifle ready with another 385 grain bullet, powder charge and a fresh percussion cap in place. Sure enough, 30 or 40 yards in front of me lay the buck. He’d dropped at the shot and vanished in the brush when he fell.

Whew! I was smiling as I signaled by pards that the buck was down. They started coming my way to assist. As they approached, I took a silent moment with the buck and thanked him respectfully.

My friend confided a bit wistfully that he’d almost hoped I’d miss the buck and his son would be able to get it. Sigh… Not this time. Our friend Swammy, is not only a great cook but a wizard at field dressing and was right there to help with the buck. He looked a bit and not finding a bullet wound, he asked “Where’d you hit it?”

That led to a detailed search for the bullet impact - well it turns out that when I shifted my glance to the antlers, the front sight followed my eyes and raised up too. The big bullet literally went in just behind the left ear and exited out the right eye socket! No wonder the buck dropped instantly. I had almost missed because I let my focus shift and glanced one more time at those sun-lit antlers. Only by luck had I hit the buck at all. Lesson learned.

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Hope you enjoyed the story! I’m a lifelong hunter and angler, a USMC veteran and a retired law enforcement officer. Catch more of my stories and videos about handloading on Ultimate Reloader.com

Shoot well! Guy

“Guy, while you’re here let me show you the new pistol I got for self defense!”

Oh goodness… When I know my friend isn’t a handgun shooter, but does sometimes hunt with either a shotgun, rifle or bow… Sometimes it all works out fine. But there’s an organized way to do this. Once you’re determined that you want a concealed carry or self-defense type handgun in your life:

1) Take a class. From a good instructor. Set aside the time and money and take a legit handgun class, preferably one focused on self defense. In many cases it’s okay to take the class without even owning a handgun! I’ve had quite a few folks who didn’t own a handgun come to my class where they got to sample a variety of semi-automatics and revolvers.

Taking a class will get you started correctly. You’ll learn gun safety - which is crucial! You should also learn about the laws regarding self defense, particularly in your state, county and city. You’ll get introduced to a variety of different handgun types.

A good self-defense handgun course will teach more than the basics. It will teach how and when to defend yourself, and very importantly when to back off and get out of the situation without even drawing your gun. You’ll learn to fight with your handgun, which is far beyond simply knowing how to shoot it. You’ll learn to move to cover, to shoot while only minimally exposing yourself to fire. You may learn to shoot by illuminating the threat with a flashlight. You’ll learn to load and reload your firearm rapidly and how to clear malfunctions.

2) Get a permit to carry. Go through whatever steps are required for you to legally carry a handgun concealed on your person. In some states it’s very easy, in other states it’s a time-consuming and expensive process. Either way, you don’t want to carry concealed illegally! That can land you in jail pretty quickly. Also learn which states recognize your state’s permit. It should all be reciprocal, but it’s not. Some states have “constitutional carry” meaning if you’re not a convicted felon or otherwise prohibited from owning a firearm, you can carry concealed.

3) Get your handgun and accessories. Select the firearm with care. It should be what works for you and your situation. Will you be carrying it concealed or just having it in your home or vehicle? Is it something you’re comfortable with? Is it too big or too small to properly grip? Is it too complicated to operate quickly and well? Is it too powerful to control? Is it a quality tool or some piece of junk? Yes, there are poorly made handguns on the market.

My handgun toting friends carry a wide variety of handguns from tiny 22 rimfires to large and powerful full size revolvers and semi autos. Time to time I swap one handgun for another as the situation dictates but I stick with guns I know well through many hours of practice.

Accessories? YES. Some are very important for your handgunning success.

cleaning kit - guns require maintenance. For peak performance the gun needs to be properly cleaned and lubricated.

holster - you should have some way to carry the handgun securely. That might mean simple pocket carry or it might mean an expensive custom made holster, or something in between.

extra magazines and a mag pouch for semi-automatics

speed-loader or speed strips for revolvers

ear and eye protection - a must. I often use both ear plugs and ear muffs to protect what’s left of my hearing. Indoor ranges and covered ranges can be particularly noisy.

4) Ammunition. I like to have three types:

carry ammunition - some kind of typically expensive, top of the line defensive ammo

range ammunition - less expensive, often full metal jacket ammo intended for target practice. Using this will save you a lot of money! You should buy a LOT of range ammo as gaining and maintaining good pistol handling skills can require a lot of shooting and frequent range sessions. Money spent on more ammunition and training is generally better than spending money on yet another gun, or on fancy gadgets for your self-defense gun.

snap caps - I’ve found these to be quite valuable for training purposes. Not just for “dry fire” but for safely training loading, unloading and malfunction-clearing skills. They’re inert with no powder or primer, so they simply can’t shoot. Keep them separate from your real ammunition so there’s no confusion.

5) Insurance/coverage/lawyer. If you are someday involved in a self-defense shooting, you’re going to need very good legal representation. Several firms offer coverage, sometimes including training with the membership. I was a police detective. My job was to find a suspect and gather enough evidence to convict that suspect. A confession was a very important part of those cases. Remember, you have the right to remain silent, it’s an important right and I urge you to use it. Talk to a competent lawyer first. Someone who knows criminal law. Often the insurance firm you’ve hired has a legal staff that can help you. That is well worth paying for. Do your research before buying the insurance. Make sure the firm is reputable and has a history of protecting people involved in self-defense shootings. Coverage for this is very important!

6) Practice often. Handgun skills can certainly deteriorate over time. Once proficiency is gained, it’s good to maintain that skill by repeated range sessions. Typically those don’t involve an instructor, but if you’re still new at shooting, or if it’s been a while, a session with a good instructor can help considerably. For me, I find that fairly short, 50 - 100 round sessions repeated frequently are better than an occasional long day at the range with 500 rounds or more expended. Typically I’ll visit a local range weekly and limit my training to one or two boxes of ammo. I’ll also have specific skills in mind that I wish to practice. Like shooting with my support hand instead of my primary hand. That might just be important someday.

7) Alternatives. Hopefully you’ll never need to protect yourself from an attacker, but it happens. Having alternative forms of self-defense available, instead of relying only on the gun, is worthwhile. Martial arts/hand-to-hand skills can be very useful, but can also take a long time to master. Pepper spray or the newer pepper-ball launchers can be effective and are simple. Knives are still lethal weapons and in the right circumstances can mean the difference between life and death. Consider a walking stick or cane… Well-handled such a stick can be brutally effective. TASER is a useful tool for some. I didn’t use it often in police work, but it sure did work well, most of the time.

There’s a lot more to this whole subject. Books have been written. Videos made. It is often hotly debated on the internet. Learn all you can and be serious about this, carrying a firearm for self defense is a very heavy commitment. Your life and the lives of others could ride on how well you handle that commitment.

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I’m a retired cop, detective, SWAT sniper and firearms instructor as well as a USMC veteran. Follow me here, on FB, Instagram and on Ultimate Reloader for more info on this and related topics. Carry discretely and shoot well if shooting is necessary!

Guy

I’ll keep this brief - loads and comments. I’ve hunted with each of these. If you handload, be sure to follow the old rule of dropping by 10% and working up carefully.

Let’s start heavy and work our way down:

200 grain Nosler Partition

This was loaded with 54 grains of H4350 and produced 2600 fps from my Remington 700’s 24” barrel. Accuracy was good, trajectory was flat enough for easy 300 yard shooting and recoil was surprisingly pleasant - partially due to the good recoil pad on my rifle. Other powders could have moved that 200 grain bullet to roughly 2700 fps, but I was satisfied with the load. All the shooting happened in a hurry when the grizzly showed at less than 50 yards, heading towards us. I shot all four of the cartridges in the magazine. One miss, two good hits and one poor hit. The two good hits each dropped him, but being a grizzly he got back up after the first drop. I finished him at about 15 yards when he was down on the ground, using the guide’s 338 Win Mag.

The recovered 200 grain Nosler Partition exhibited classic performance for that bullet penetrating deep after violent expansion. It weighed 144 grains. I’d highly recommend this bullet for heavy game such as elk, particularly in timber.

180 grain Berger Elite Hunter

The 180 grain weight is a classic choice for the 30-06, but this is a newer and somewhat unusual choice for a hunting bullet. I chose these 180 grain Berger Elite Hunter bullets for a Washington mule deer hunt in Okanogan county. A muzzle velocity of 2730 fps was achieved with 58 grains of Ramshot Hunter. That left quite a bit of room for increased charges if a higher velocity is desired. Hunter is a spherical powder and flows well through a powder measure. It’s also capable of producing excellent velocity from the 30-06 case. I was satisfied with the .8” - 1.0” three-shot 100 yard groups and zeroed the 6x scope at 200 yards.

The 3x3 muley at 350 yards fell to the 180 grain Berger bullet. This was my fourth mule deer with a Berger bullet. Typically the Berger bullets enter with a small, often hard-to-find pinprick of a bullet hole, penetrate several inches into the chest cavity then expand violently, even fragmenting. This has always produced an instant drop for me.

The Berger Elite Hunter has a high BC of .576 G1 or .295 G7. What’s that mean to the hunter? It means that the bullet does a fine job of slicing through crosswind with less deflection, flattens the trajectory a bit, and retains more velocity farther downrange. I view this load as a fine one for the 30-06 and medium game out to 400 yards or perhaps a fair bit beyond if the hunter and his equipment are up to the task.

Some folks just don’t like hunting with a Berger bullet - and the good news is that there are many other choices of 180ish grain bullets in .308” diameter.

178 grain Hornady ELD-X

This is the bullet I chose for an open-country central Oregon cow elk hunt. Ranges tend to be long out there, as it’s not the kind of country people normally imagine when they think of Oregon. The ELD-X excels at longish range. Again I used Ramshot Hunter, this time bumping up the charge just a bit to 58.5 grains for 2790 fps, still well short of the capabilities of this combination. Three shot groups at 100 yards averaged just under an inch, plenty good enough for an animal the size of elk. At Ultimate Reloader we’d tested the bullet in clear ballistics gel blocks at 20 yards and found that it held together, expanded and penetrated well.

The hunt required a fair bit of hiking and stalking, even crawling on hands and knees to close to 405 yards where we ran out of cover. The herd we were watching was milling about and I had to be patient waiting for one cow to stand still. There was a brisk wind blowing from left to right. After a quick conference with the guide (an experienced long range shooter and hunter) we agreed on how much I should compensate for range and wind. My shot was rewarded when the bullet smashed through her fore-leg shattering the bone, then penetrated through the heart:

Sadly even those two serious injuries didn’t prevent her from trying to rejoin the herd. We had to stalk closer for a finishing shot. It’s the real world, sometimes game needs to be shot more than once.

Looking at this photo it’s obvious that this is big, open country and can require some longish range shooting. Three of us de-boned the elk and packed the meat off the ridge. I give the Hornady ELD-X high marks for accuracy as well as having excellent performance at longer ranges. I’ve not yet taken game with it at close range, but the gel block test was promising.

165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip

For several years the 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip loaded to 2940 fps over a stiff charge of H4350 was my choice for an all-around 30-06 load, particularly in open country where shots might be longer. I’d seen what the classic 165 grain partition could do and wanted to see if the Ballistic Tip measured up, or if perhaps it might even be a bit better in some ways. I have taken pronghorn antelope, mule deer, black bear and cow elk with the 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and in each case performance was excellent.

The gilding metal jacket has a thick base and heavy walls towards the abbreviated boat tail. The jacket tapers considerably near the tip of the bullet. The plastic tip, quite an innovation when it was introduced, provides a higher BC and protects the large hollow point lurking beneath. I’ve found that these bullets expand well up close and also out beyond 300 yards. The G1 BC of .475 isn’t particularly high, but it’s nothing to sneeze at either. H4350 easily drives it to 2940 fps with good accuracy and more speed is available with other powders.

I’ve used it to drop a large Washington cow elk at 340 yards, putting the bullet through both shoulder blades and trashing the lungs. The animal staggered about 20 yards downhill before collapsing. A black bear quickly succumbed when shot at about 325 yards. The bullet entered the right ribs, traversed forward and took out both lungs. The jacket was found in the off-side hide, but the core had separated and punched on through. That bear went ten yards at most.

That’s a well-deserved grin on a do-it-yourself public land elk hunt.

The only game animal that required more than one shot was a 4x5 Wyoming mule deer facing towards me at about 140 yards. The shot dropped him instantly but he required a finisher when we walked up on him. The first bullet was recovered from his flank, well expanded.

A 30-06 with most any bullet is more than is needed for pronghorn antelope, but this combo certainly worked well on the two bucks I took with it, each at about 250 yards. Instant drop in each case, as expected.

165 grain Hornady CX

A bullet I haven’t used much thoroughly impressed me as a deep-penetrator and I want to use it more. I took only one modest size black bear with a single shot at about 65 yards. Penetration was complete with an exit and the bear dropped within 20 yards. Accuracy was excellent as well.

Tight 100 yard three-shot zero-confirmation group before the successful bear hunt.

55.4 grains of H4350 produced 2863 fps with the 165 grain Hornady CX. This is a hard bullet and thrives on high velocity in addition to at least a .050” jump to the lands. The good folks at Hornady told me “You will get bullet exits.”

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I’m a lifelong hunter, USMC veteran, rifle competitor, and a retired law enforcement officer. Follow me on Instagram and also on Ultimate Reloader.

Hunt well!

“Are you going to eat that coyote?”

“My daddy taught me to not kill anything I wasn’t going to eat.”

Or something along those lines - all the while disparaging the hunter’s accomplishment.

50 years ago working on an Idaho ranch I learned that cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits and rockchucks were eating, destroying, up to about 25% of the alfalfa the rancher had planted. Alfalfa he needed to bale for feed for his cattle. The rancher was delighted that I was so enthusiastic about reducing his varmint infestation. Work on a ranch is never really done - but after the day’s work I’d wander out to some key areas on the ranch, overlooking an alfalfa field. The rancher had a couple of 22’s, rifle and pistol, and was deadly with them, but I’d brought along my then-new 6mm Remington and some hot 75 grain hollowpoint handloads… We vaporized varmints out to 300 yards and beyond with that little rifle! It was great fun for us and eliminated a lot of critters. I ended up picking up a few more boxes of ammo in town because I’d run out of my handloads and my press was 600 miles away. With the 22’s and the 6mm Remington we reduced the population of alfalfa-eaters considerably.

This fat rockchuck has been living well!

Another crop eater!

The rancher was happy that I took this coyote with my 25-06 deer rifle.

I still have and use that 1974 vintage 6mm Remington 700 BDL. It’s probably taken several hundred varmints and predators over the decades as well as a number of deer.

The Idaho rancher kept a tally of the number of chucks, rabbits and rattlesnakes he dispatched every year. There was a notable increase in slain critters the couple of times I worked there. The next couple of times I worked at the ranch I brought along a handgun. Of all things, Dad let me drag along his beautiful old Colt Bisley in 38 Special! I had no idea it was actually worth anything, but it shot my 158 grain semi-wadcutter handloads just fine and accounted for a lot of critters. The next trip I had my own Colt Trooper MkIII, also using 38 handloads. The 22’s killed just fine, but it was fun to hunt with the bigger handguns and of course the 6mm Remington rifle.

The old Colt Bisley 38 is in fine condition despite me running around the sagebrush and lava rock of southern Idaho with it stuck in my belt all those years ago. It did a fine job on rabbits and chucks alike with 158 grain lead semi-wadcutter handloads, the kind of 38 loads I still favor today.

For several years on a Wyoming cattle ranch I hunted for pronghorn antelope and mule deer - both of which I find delicious - I was also offered the opportunity to reduce the number of prairie dogs and also the coyote population. My 25-06 did a fine job on a coyote at almost a quarter mile and I destroyed some prairie dogs with the 204 Ruger. No, we didn’t eat any coyotes or prairie dogs.

I’d brought the 25-06 with handloaded 115 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets for mule deer and pronghorn but it also did a fine job on this coyote.

Same thing with coyotes, mountain lions and even bears - ranchers and farmers suffer losses to their chickens, their calves and foals. One rancher I know finds lion scars on his horses time to time, but the grown horses are pretty good at taking care of themselves. Another rancher I know has a herd of longhorn cattle in the Cascade mountains of Washington. He told me that the longhorns don’t seem to have any problem dealing with big cats or bears. After looking at his longhorns I didn’t have any problem believing that! However, some ranchers have predator problems, which is probably why so many ranchers are dead set against the reintroduction of wolves into their area after a century of no wolves. These same ranchers are enthusiastic about lions, wolves and coyotes being hunted.

Studies have shown that black bear are extraordinarily effective at locating and killing the elk calves and deer fawns. Yes, bears are often hunted as not just a big game animal, but rather as a predator. The population of predators needs to be controlled for wildlife and livestock to flourish.

Mule deer fawns, also bear food…

Good sized Washington black bear I took years ago with the 375 H&H Ruger Number One. Large sized predator!

In 2023 and 2024 I hunted black bear in Idaho. There’s a two-bear limit in the area I hunted and the tags are inexpensive, even for a non-resident. Wolf and mountain lion tags are also quite affordable. Idaho is trying to reduce the number of predators so that their elk and deer populations grow.

I did my part to reduce the bear population! BTW, this one was eaten in camp, but I was just there for the hunt, I wanted to take another bear.

Years ago Dad shot a rabid skunk while we were pheasant hunting. It was near a farmhouse and absolutely needed to be shot. No, we didn’t eat the rabid skunk.

I’m told that often in Africa animals are “culled” - their populations deliberately reduced. This includes even elephant! Yes, in places there are too many elephant and they are destroying the environment. One answer is culling by government paid shooters - or letting more paying hunters come in and reduce that population while making a profit for Africans. That meat often does make it to market, but the intent is to reduce the population.

On a Brooks Range grizzly hunt I took a good sized bear and also a wolf. The state of Alaska was trying to help their caribou and moose herds recover and wanted to reduce the number of predators. Buying a grizzly tag also legally allowed me to take up to ten wolves! That’s a state working to reduce predator numbers. Neither the grizzly nor the wolf were eaten by humans, but I’m sure the carcasses fed other local wildlife.

Some daddies were just flat wrong. There are many reasons to kill an animal, other than filling the freezer with it. Perhaps it’s dangerous, or overpopulated, or for some other reason, it just needs to be shot.

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I’m a lifelong hunter, a Marine veteran and retired law enforcement officer. Am also a certified firearms instructor. Thanks for reading my Substack blog! Hunt well.

Guy

Muley buck taken at about 350 yards with the 180 grain Berger Elite Hunter from my 30-06.

We’re constantly bombarded with articles about this bullet, that cartridge for a particular type of hunting. Seems like every year there are newer, perhaps better, cartridges and bullets. We’ve been killing game with firearms for a solid 500 years… Some cartridges and bullets are indeed “better” for particular tasks than others.

Bottom line is that we’ve got to hit game where it counts.

We’re advised to hit game “in the vitals” - but where is that exactly? After decades of hunting here’s what I like to target:

1) Both lungs. Put a good expanding bullet through both lungs and you’ll collect your game quickly. There may well be a short death run, that’s just part of the deal. Taking both lungs is important. Hit in only one lung, some game animals can do an amazing job of covering ground in their escape attempt. This big cow elk took a 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip through both lungs, and broke both scapula, at about 340 yards. The handloaded 30-06 was about 2900 fps. She dropped very quickly, staggering downhill for perhaps 20 yards before collapsing.

2) Top of the heart. This is the blood pump, it’s also got the big arteries leading out if the hit is a little high. A hit there often includes the lungs which of course is excellent. A hit to the bottom of the heart may not be instantly fatal, as evidenced by a 200 yard followup on foot after I punched a 178 grain Hornady ELD-X through the heart of a cow elk at 405 yards with my 30-06. Even though the bullet shattered the foreleg and went through the heart, that elk kept trying to escape and covered 200 yards before I could finish her. The rifle did well, the bullet did well, but I put it a few inches too low and her escape effort taught me a lesson. Top of the heart, not lower in the heart. 30-06 and the handloaded 178 grain ELD-X at about 2790 fps muzzle velocity.

After shattering the fore leg, the 178 grain ELD-X penetrated through the lower part of the elk’s heart. A hit just a few inches higher would have ended things more quickly.

In contrast I hit a big bull elk atop the heart, and took out his lungs. He took only a few faltering steps then collapsed. 7mm Remington Magnum and a 175 grain Nosler Partition at about 2900 fps.

3) CNS shots - spine and brain - Be careful about these. If you can hit the brain, excellent! But it’s a small target. A miss may result in a severely wounded animal fleeing, never to be recovered. The spine however is sometimes hit by hunters trying for the “high shoulder shot” and getting too high. It often produces an instant drop, immobilizing the animal but may not kill the animal quickly. A finishing shot is often necessary.

My youngest son dropped this whitetail buck instantly with his old 30-06, but quickly chambered another round. Sure enough, he’d hit near the spine and stunned the buck. It got back up and he finished it with a lethal hit to the vitals.

Hits anywhere else often produce less than desirable results - such as a wounded animal escaping. Gut shots are not good hits - though perhaps they can include the liver, in which case death will come quicker.

But what to hit them with?

This is where it becomes a very personal choice. Rifle, cartridge, bullet are all furiously debated online. I recommend using the combo that works right for you. A rifle that feels comfortable, optics that perform, and ammo/bullet based largely on accuracy and also considers on-game performance. Heavy recoil doesn’t typically have to be part of the package for most hunting.

My guidance, based on what’s worked for me:

Deer and pronghorn antelope - For open country where the shots may be long I want an accurate bullet that expands very easily. I’ve had great success with Nosler Ballistic Tips, Hornady ELD-X, Hornady FTX for lever action rifles, and Bergers, both the VLD and the Elite Hunter line. Tremendous penetration is not necessary on deer. If you favor a mono-metal bullet, I’ve also had good success on deer with the Barnes TSX & TTSX. My favorite deer rifle is a 25-06, though the 6.5 Creedmoor is growing on me.

Elk - cow and mature bull elk are not the same - a mature bull elk is not only larger, it has much denser bones. For cow and young bulls a rapidly expanding bullet like the Nosler Ballistic Tip of the Hornady ELD-X works great. For big bull elk… strongly consider a controlled expansion, deep penetrating bullet, like the Barnes TSX, Hornady CX, Nosler Partition or Nosler Accubond. Those bullets hang tough, expand and penetrate. My elk have come to a 7mm Remington Magnum and also to the 30-06.

No matter what you shoot, a 30-30 lever action, a tricked-out PRS style 6.5 Creedmoor or PRC, a traditional 308 or 30-06… Whatever it is, get comfortable and competent with it. Learn to place your shots well and quickly. Shot opportunities can appear suddenly and vanish equally quickly. Be ready to take that shot very quickly and instantly get back on target with a freshly chambered cartridge. We all want to make those great one-shot kills, but when hunting things happen. Sometimes we need to make a quick, accurate follow-up shot. Practice from field positions, not just from the bench. Once I’ve got my load worked up and my rifle zeroed, I rarely shoot it from the bench, but I’ll shoot it a lot from prone, sitting, kneeling, standing, with and without a bipod or shooting sticks. Learn that rifle well and it’ll treat you well this coming season.

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I’m a lifelong hunter with 60 years afield, also a Marine Corps veteran and retired law enforcement officer with 12 years as a SWAT sniper team leader. Many years as a firearms instructor and handloader. I hope that all of you hunters enjoy tremendous success afield this year and in years to come.

Regards, Guy

This is really important for handloaders, but also important for many who use only factory ammunition. BTW, in recent decades the overall quality of factory ammunition seems to have soared, with some notable shortfalls of course.

What do I mean about putting the round peg in the round hole for success? Choose a component bullet and a velocity appropriate for the quarry and for the anticipated distance of the shot.

One of the worst mistakes a hunter can make is to use a particularly “soft” readily expanding bullet at close range on a sturdy, heavy big game animal. I do not know which bullet Bob Nosler was using on his trophy moose in the 1940’s - but it failed so spectacularly that he decided to start making his own big game bullets, which were of course the famous Nosler Partition. Those bullets featured a soft, rapidly expanding front end separated by a physical partition from the lead core in the rear section. The bullet has of course been modified, improved, over the decades and still remains an exceedingly effective big game bullet. I’ve been particularly impressed with the heavier Nosler Partitions in 30 caliber and 7mm diameter on elk and grizzly.

200 grain 30 caliber Nosler Partition recovered from a grizzly. Roughly a 30 yard shot. Excellent penetration!

.338” 225 grain Barnes TSX recovered from a grizzly shot at about 15 yards. Not intended for long-range use, it has a very important role as a modest range big game bullet.

For that same task other specialized bullet makers offer theirs. Some are bonded, some have mechanical locks keeping at least part of the core intact, some are solid copper or copper alloy with a hollow point for expansion. All of those “premium” bullets are intended to penetrate beyond what normal cup and core jacketed bullets can.

Is that needed? On deer sized game, I don’t think so. The fastest killing deer bullets I’ve used from various rifle cartridges tend to feature rapid expansion which is intended to take out the heart, lungs, and the major blood vessels atop the heart. Bullets like the Nosler Ballistic Tip (which is far tougher than many credit it with), the Sierra GameKing, the newer Hornady ELD-X and more. Those tend to be excellent bullets for deer sized game, often generating instant one-shot drops and deaths.

160 grain SPBT Sierra Gameking from a 7mm Rem Mag at about 3050 fps. Recovered from a young fat muley buck at about 150 yards. The well expanded bullet was just under the off-side hide. Buck dropped where he was hit, no tracking required. Excellent performance from a standard jacketed hunting bullet.

On game which may require a great deal of penetration - for instance on big bull elk… Mature bull elk have incredibly dense, tough bones. Not all bullets are capable of penetrating such bone, particularly with a high impact velocity. Instead they flatten out or shatter and fail to penetrate. This of course inflicts a nasty but non-fatal wound on the animal - and may well lead to some of those stories we hear from hunters who say something like “I hit that bull right on the shoulder with no effect!”

Other special requirements…

Let’s take the varmint shooter - the precision rifleman who is intent on reducing the number of burrowing varmints in farmland. Those sage rats and rock chucks can devour incredible quantities of alfalfa. The farmers can of course poison them. Many instead choose to allow shooters to thin the population! These guys tend to favor light, fast bullets that expand or even fragment very easily. Accuracy along with rapid expansion/fragmentation are desired. As much of this shooting is done in farm and ranch country, ricochets must be avoided! This is best done with light, fragile bullets moving fast. Look at bullets like the Hornady V-Max, Sierra’s Blitz King, Nosler’s Ballistic Tip Varmint, and the Barnes Varmint Grenade. Berger also makes a fine assortment of varmint bullets that I’ve happily relied upon. Even if a heavier bullet proves more accurate, it’s often prudent to choose the lighter, faster, more fragile bullet for this task.

204 Ruger rounds loaded with the 40 grain Hornady V-Max to3580 fps.

Subsonic rounds are growing more popular. Some of this is driven by the success that hog hunters are having using suppressed rifles, particularly at night. A basic rule of thumb is to start by choosing a heavy bullet. Heavy bullets by nature move slowly. Some are particularly good at being flung at subsonic velocity. Here are a few of my favorite recommendations for subsonic rifle & handgun:

45 ACP - 230 grain anything! It’s been subsonic from the beginning over 100 years ago. For expansion use a really soft hollow point like a soft-cast bullet or the Berry’s Hybrid plated hollowpoint. At standard or even +P velocity, it’s pretty much impossible to even get a 230 grain bullet up over 1100 fps…

9mm - if you’re going for subsonic, just start with the 147’s. That’s what they’re made for. The 124’s and 115’s may be better for self-defense in some situations given their velocity, but if you want subsonic, just grab the 147’s.

30-30 Win - start on the heavy side with Hornady’s 175 grain Sub-X bullet. Hodgdon has a plethora of loads for this that are under the speed of sound and the bullet is designed to expand at those low velocities. If expansion isn’t important, than any heavier bullet that will stabilize should work just fine.

With the 30-30, don’t start with the 150’s and lighter. They can be made to run that slow, but it can be a bit of a struggle with lots of disappointments along the way. Square peg in a round hole. The 150’s were designed to be the “high speed” bullet for that cartridge, not the slowpoke.

7.62x39 - has a smallish case capacity and can easily achieve subsonic velocities from 123 grains to the prodigiously heavy 255 grain Hornady Sub-X.

308 Win - Hodgdon publishes many loads for bullets from 168 grains to 220 grains including the 175 and 190 grain Sub-X Hornady bullets intended to be used for subsonic hunting applications. An accurate bolt action subsonic 308 is an impressive rifle!

38/357 lever actions - yes the 357 can be downloaded pretty easily to subsonic velocity however it’s awfully easy to just shoot 38’s from it if subsonic is desired.

44 lever actions - again it’s easy to load the 44 magnum down, but… 44 Specials are subsonic from the start. There’s an easy solution, just load the terrific 44 Special!

45-70 - a standard bullet weight for the 45-70 for something like 130 years is the 405 grain bullet. Manufacturers offer 400’s, 405’s and 410’s and even heavier. The lighter bullets, the 350’s and such, are intended for higher than normal velocity, not lower than normal velocity. Can they be downloaded to subsonic? Yes. But it’s so much easier to start with the appropriate bullet. Select a 400, 405 or Hornady’s great 410 grain Sub X bullet and create good subsonic loads if you’d like. Supersonic or Subsonic, there’s a lot to like about a 400ish grain bullet from the 45-70.

Long range… Many of today’s shooters worship at the altar of high BC long range bullets - and why not? Those bullets offer far less wind drift at long range. As a former long range high master I know that elevation adjustments are simple math, but estimating the wind drift… That’s rough. A high BC bullet slices through the wind much better and minimizes the wind drift. By all means, if long range is your game go with the high BC bullets, that’s exactly what they’re intended for.

There may well be other examples, but these are the high points that I often see unheeded. People trying to shoot big game with bullets intended for medium game or even varmints. People trying to create subsonic loads with light-for-caliber bullets when the heavy-for-caliber bullets are obviously the better choice. People shooting varmints with heavy for caliber bullets for their wind-cheating abilities and then wondering why they get so many ricochets from hard sun-baked ground…

Use the round peg for the round hole guys. Things work out better and easier.

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Load well, shoot well, hunt well. I’m a lifelong hunter and handloader. I’ve competed in long-range rifle and done well. I want shooters to be safe, have fun, and attain their goals. Am a USMC war veteran and a retired law enforcement officer with experience on SWAT, patrol, detectives, and as a firearms instructor for 17 years.

Regards, Guy

My youngest son and I were bear hunting along with a good friend in Washington. It was another spot and stalk hunt as baiting and hounds are both illegal there. Glassing an open area well below us we spotted a good size black bear feeding. We stalked closer, staying out of sight and eventually set up at around 325 yards, as close as we could get due to the lack of vegetation. Believe it or not, bears can see well enough to pick out threats headed their way.

Young John set his rifle up on the tall bipod he favors for sitting shots. He’d practiced extensively with the same setup at 300 yards and had taken game several times in the past while seated and using the tall bipod. His old sporterized 1917 30-06 rifle, 6x Leupold and 165 grain Noslers had worked well for him before. We were all confident. The bear drifted a bit closer and at about 300 yards I whispered for him to shoot whenever he was ready. John appeared rock steady and sent the 165 grain Nosler Partition at 2800 fps from the old 30-06 rifle. Instantly the bear dropped! John worked the bolt and the bear rolled rapidly downhill into a brushy ravine.

We headed downhill to see about finding the bear. As we got to the area it was obvious that the bear had entered the tangled brush. I couldn’t bring myself to send my teenage son into the brush after a wounded bear… I asked him instead to parallel me walking about 20 yards to my right in more open terrain and to keep scanning ahead of us for the bear while I went into the brush. I’d had a lot more experience with close range, with bears, and with dangerous situations in general. I was also carrying a 375 H&H rifle with handloaded 260 grain Nosler Accubond bullets traveling at about the same velocity as his handloaded 165 grain Nosler Partitions, but with nearly an additional 100 grains of bullet weight.

I briefly considered removing the scope and going to sights given the thick brush, but opted to keep the scope in place since I’d practiced with it at very close range. After making sure that the scope was dialed down to 1.5x, I moved slowly forward through the brush, looking at each little opening in the brush, looking for fur, looking for blood. I was also listening intently and paying attention, hoping to actually scent the bear as well. I’d move no more than a step or two then pause and look again. I could see my son right where he was supposed to be, off to my right about 20 yards, on the hillside above the ravine.

Within a few minutes I could hear the bear moving ahead of me! Slowing down more I kept moving forward and then I could hear the bear breathing. He was still unseen. I paused for a long time looking, looking… My eyes went to every opening in the leaves and branches. Finally at about fifteen feet there was brown fur! It took longer for my eyes and mind to resolve the general shape of the bear and I was able to place a shot through an opening in the brush right into his shoulder, then I reloaded rapidly and shot him again, just because he was a bear, at very close range.

Our friend Shane was along and he caught up to us about then. Together we hauled the quite dead bear out of the brush and looked him over. John’s shot with the 30-06 revealed that the bear must have moved right about the time he shot. He’d been aiming at the shoulder for a broadside shot, but the bullet had entered the shoulder-neck area and penetrated forward, lengthwise and parallel to the spine, exiting near the base of the skull. No wonder the bear had dropped instantly! However it wasn’t a fatal wound.

The 260 grain Nosler Accubond was recovered hanging in the off-side hide after going through both shoulders at about fifteen feet.

Adult male bears in that area average 250 - 300 pounds and this was the largest of the three we’d taken over the years, we estimated him at 325 - 350 pounds. He squared well over 6 ft.

John and I have often taken mule deer, bear and elk at 250 - 350 yards and I was comfortable with him taking that shot. I was far less comfortable with stalking a wounded bear in such thick brush but it had to be done. Years later that bear at about fifteen feet remains the closest range bear I’ve shot.

Many thanks to Shane for allowing us to hunt “his” hillside!

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I’m a lifelong hunter, a Marine Corps war veteran, and a retired law enforcement officer. These days I do some stories for Ultimate Reloader, both video and written articles.

Hunt well! Guy

Guy with a 9mm Beretta. Another old man practicing his skills. Photo by Ultimate Reloader.

An enjoyable part of my duty as firearms instructor for my agency was to conduct the LEOSA qualifications for retired officers, enabling them to carry concealed in all 50 states. Most of the guys were from our own department, but some from others. The Chief had invited a couple of guys he knew to come on out and shoot a qual course with me.

I was worried about one of them when he showed up. He was old, well into his 70’s I think. Small. A bit hunched over. Shook a bit with his movements. Said he hadn’t shot in quite a while. He was the Chief’s friend, and I knew it was important that he qualified.

The two retired officers loaded up range ammo for the qual. It’s not a tough course of fire. I watched the old guy closely. He handled his 9mm sidearm well and loaded the magazines competently. I relaxed a little, maybe the old guy would shoot fairly well.

I’d already set up the silhouette targets. We stepped up to the 15 yard line and I started with the range commands…

Suddenly the old guy stood up straight. He seemed to shed 20 years and gain 10 pounds of muscle in an instant. He stood there at the ready, 9mm holstered, waiting for the command… My eyebrows went up. In seconds he’d become a different man…

“Stand by, Go!”

His hand flashed down, the pistol came up. His left/support hand met his right and sealed the grip. The 9mm spoke, five shots in mere seconds, then he re-holstered. All five hits were clustered close together in the center of the “kill zone” of the silhouette target. He had completed that in about half the time allowed.

I had to watch the other shooter too - but he was much younger - a retired chief from another Washington police department. He was shooting a revolver and doing well. Not great, but well. He’d have no problem qualifying. My attention turned back to the old man.

Suspiciously he wasn’t shuffling anymore. He was standing straighter, his eyes were animated, he was feeling it. Feeling the range. Smelling the gunpowder. Loving the experience of being on the range again. Fair enough. I was encouraged. This was no longer an old man, a friend of my Chief to be babied through the qual course… No, he was a shooter.

We proceeded through the qual course. At each shooting line his hand sped down to the pistol, drew it from the holster and nailed the target in fine form. Fast and accurate.

I admit to being a bit bemused. This old man who had shuffled from his car to the range had just shot better than most of my fellow SWAT officers. Tight groups, and fast. I asked him about that.

“Guy, you don’t understand. I was on President Reagan’s protective detail for several years. I was Secret Service. We shot over 1,000 rounds of pistol ammo every week.”

Then he grinned and added “I guess that I remember how to shoot.”

He came out to qualify with me for several years after that then he stopped coming and I retired. I don’t know how he’s doing now, or if he’s even alive. But I know that wherever he went, all the good people were safely under his protection.

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I’m a Marine Corps veteran and a retired law enforcement officer with 12 years on the regional SWAT team and 17 years as a law enforcement firearms instructor. Follow my videos and articles on Ultimate Reloader.com.

Shoot well, even if you’re older. Regards, Guy

From the early 30-40 Krag to today’s 30 cal magnums, heavy bullets continue to excel. Left to right are the 308 Win, 30-06 Springfield and the 300 PRC, each with a 212 grain ELD-X and a 220 grain RNSP, all Hornady bullets. Photo by Ultimate Reloader.

More than 100 years ago the little 30-40 Krag received a 1:10 twist rate - a rate which is still standard for most 30 caliber cartridges today. That twist rate enables the 30’s to stabilize long, heavy bullets. For many years the blunt-nose 220 grain bullet was a standard offering and can still be found. In the 30-06 it’s usually loaded to about 2300-2400 fps and is credited with being quite effective at modest range. Though most 220’s are robust soft points meant to expand, 220 grain FMJ’s have been produced and were often used on large game.

Hemmingway with an African Cape Buffalo he took with his trusted 30-06 using heavy 220 grain bullets. Theodore Roosevelt reportedly used 220 grain bullets from his 30-06 to take rhino, a much larger beast!

I chose 200 grain Nosler Partition bullets for my Brooks Range grizzly hunt, and used my favorite 30-06 rifle for the task. The flat-base Nosler Partition is designed for excellent performance on game but still has a respectable .481 G1 BC allowing for good downrange performance. Photo by guide Joey Klutsch.

The recoil of my 200 grain 30-06 loads felt more like a “big push” rather than a harsh slap. I found no difficulty practicing with them or using them afield. They grouped well and the 24” Remington moved them at 2600 fps via a stout charge of H4350. I could have used H4831 for another 90-100 fps, but was short on that powder at the time. As I rarely shoot game beyond 300 yards I’ve given some thought to making that 200 grain/2600 fps a standard load for most of my hunting.

Today riflemen recognize the long-range ballistic superiority of long, heavy, bullets with high Ballistic Coefficients. One of my favorites for that purpose is the 212 grain Hornady ELD-X with an amazing BC of .663 G1 or .334 G7. Yes, it is stabilized in a standard 1:10 twist 30 caliber barrel! Hornady’s ELD-X is a hunting bullet also designed for excellent accuracy and for long-range shooting. At longer ranges the superiority of the high BC bullets shows up in: trajectory, wind drift, and retained velocity.

We tested the 212 ELD-X and the 220 grain RNSP Hornady bullets for expansion at reduced velocity, simulating downrange performance.

At a velocity of 1543 fps the 212 grain ELD-X had 23.5” of penetration, the bullet retained 193.7 grains (91%, 0.633” diameter). The 1543 fps approximates the velocity of the bullet at 700 yards when fired at 2400 fps from a .308 Winchester.

The 220 grain RNSP had 24.5” of penetration and retained 172.5 grains (78%, 0.692” diameter).The 1578 fps approximates the impact velocity of the bullet at 250 yards when fired at 2200 fps from a .308 Winchester.

My friend Gavin Gear took a mule deer buck at about 70 yards with a 212 grain ELD-X from his 300 PRC rifle, dropping it instantly as one would expect. At about 2900 fps muzzle velocity, the 300 PRC is roughly equal to the great 300 Winchester Magnum, but without the belt and optimized for long heavy bullets.

We’ve used these bullets and more. To me the best uses fall into two categories:

1. Large game at modest range, such as big bull elk in timber. Mature bull elk have extremely dense bones and are heavily muscled. Getting to the vitals, particularly with what Elmer Keith described as a “raking shot” requires the penetration that heavy bullets or modern monolithic bullets provide. They don’t always pose broadside like this Wyoming bull I stalked on foot with my camera:

Note the marks on his hide from battling with other bulls during the rut. This handsome bull is a fighter! He’s also the one with the harem of cows.

2. Longer range hunting of pretty much any North American big game such as elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep and more. This is where the high BC bullets, including Hornady’s ELD-X, really shine - slicing through the wind and retaining enough velocity for excellent on-game performance at great distance.

Here’s a link to the more detailed article I did on this subject for Ultimate Reloader, complete with charts, loads, and more: 308 -vs- 30-06 -vs- 300 PRC: Heavy .30 Caliber Hornady Bullets for Big Game – Ultimate Reloader

Many of us, including myself, tend to use medium bullet weights such as 150, 165 or 180 grains for 30 caliber rifles. If your hunt is for heavy game, or shots may occur at extended ranges, consider trying heavy bullets. The results can be impressive.

Hunt well!

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I’m a lifelong hunter, a “long range high master” shooter, Marine Corps veteran and a retired law enforcement officer including 12 years as a SWAT sniper team leader and time as a firearms instructor. This substack, along with my articles and videos on Ultimate Reloader allow me to share those experiences with others.

Thank you and Hunt Well. Guy

A modest charge of TiteGroup works great with the 148 grain hollow base wadcutter.

Handheld at a mere 7 yards from the K14.

Most revolver afficionados know that the standard 38 load uses a 158 grain bullet. Did you know that Speer specifically cautions against the use of jacketed 158 grain bullets for the 38 Special and the 38+P? From their Number 15 manual:

“The 38 Special was designed to fire 158 grain lead bullets. We do not recommend firing 158 grain jacketed bullets in the 38 Special cartridge as they may not clear the barrel.”

The same caution is repeated in their section covering the 38+P. This is because jacketed bullets produce more friction in the bore than does a properly lubricated lead bullet. Speer does endorse the use of 158 grain lead bullets for the 38 and 38+P.

Recently, using the same powder charge, I noticed a drop of more than 100 fps when switching from a lubricated lead 148 grain hollow base wadcutter to the same weight and design of copper plated bullet. That was from a 2” barreled revolver and my observed velocities dropped from 700+ fps with the lead bullets down to about 600 fps with the plated bullets. Accuracy remained excellent, but I wondered if I’d loaded them even lighter, might the plated bullets have gotten stuck in the bore of one of my 6” revolvers?

Commendably Speer produces several lighter weight jacketed bullets for the 38 Special, including 110, 125, and 135 grain bullets intended for both practice and for self-defense use.

Another caution in the Speer manual is:

“Never load less than the minimum charges shown in the loading data as the small charge of propellant may not be sufficient to push the bullet completely down the barrel.”

That practice can result in what’s known as a “squib load” wherein the bullet gets stuck in the bore! This is dangerous because the shooter may not be aware that this has happened and may fire one or even more full power loads which impact the stuck bullet - and can even burst the barrel! I’ve seen one Dan Wesson barrel that had at least four jacketed bullets stacked up in it before bursting. A squib load can also be the result of a round having only a primer and bullet, without a powder charge at all.

Revolver cases tend to be much larger than necessary to hold the powder charge, particularly when using small doses of fast-burning powder for accurate modest-recoiling target ammunition. Always double-check your powder charge to reduce the possibility of a double-charge which could damage the revolver, and be dangerous to the shooter and others.

Apply a good crimp! Many bullets intended for use in revolvers have a “crimp groove” or a cannelure which makes a perfect place to apply a roll crimp. Some loaders prefer to use a “factory crimp” or a taper crimp. All of those choices are fine if they grip the bullet sufficiently to prevent it from jumping forward and elongating the cartridge during recoil. I’ve seen bullets jump the crimp enough to prevent the revolver cylinder from turning. With revolvers I prefer to use either a good roll crimp or a factory crimp applied with Lee’s great factory crimp die. Typically I’ll seat the bullet to proper length, then crimp in a separate operation. With a properly adjusted seating die, the bullet can be seated and crimped in one step. A firm crimp is more necessary with harder recoiling revolvers such as heavy loads with the 357, 41 or 44 magnums.

This proved to be an excellent 44 magnum hunting load and I took a smallish hog with it at about 30 yards last fall. One shot, complete penetration. Lee factory crimp die into the cannelure as a separate step after seating the bullet. The Hornady XTP is noted for being a rather “hard” deep-penetrating bullet for a jacketed hollow point and is well respected for hunting. I used the 240 grain version at 1350 fps but it’s also available in a 300 grain version for deeper penetration.

Don’t push the bullet beyond it’s designed velocity capabilities. Soft swaged lead bullets should typically be kept under about 1,000 fps to prevent lead stripping off and fouling the bore. Hardcast or jacketed bullets are intended for higher velocities. Berry’s plated bullets have their “speed limit” printed on the box label and also on their website. Typically Berry’s plated revolver bullets are rated for up to 1250 fps but their thick-plate bullets may be rated for 1500 fps or more. That’s nice for a longer barreled magnum revolver or if the ammo is to be used in a lever action rifle.

Note the maximum velocity listing of 1850 fps for these Berry’s 240 grain target bullets. That’s 600 fps faster than their typical speed limit of 1250 fps for their standard plated handgun bullets.

Note that not all 38 Special revolvers are rated for +P ammunition. If the gun isn’t rated for the more powerful ammo, don’t use that ammunition, the standard power ammo is the proper choice for that firearm. I have a couple of very nice older revolvers that shoot great - and they only get fed standard power ammunition because they’re not rated for +P ammunition.

If you’re handloading for a revolver, keep these cautions in mind and read the load manual for your choice of cartridge and bullet. Revolvers are particularly satisfying for me. I enjoy the nostalgia, simplicity of operation, the handloading procedure, and the “manual of arms” for the revolvers.

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I’m a lifelong shooter, a hunter with 60 years experience, USMC veteran and a retired law enforcement officer. Revolvers are of special interest to me and I thoroughly enjoy my range sessions with one, or carrying one afield or even for self-defense purposes. For more of my writing and videos catch me on Ultimate Reloader. Load carefully and shoot well! Regards, Guy

Sporterized 30-06 Springfield with a vintage 2-7x Redfield.

Of course I mean the .473” rim diameter. Sometimes it boggles my mind how many cartridges rely on that particular case rim, or something very close. The .473” rim size was started by Paul Mauser who used it on the 8x57 in 1888. It’s been around a while.

Here are some of the incredible number of .473” rim diameter cartridges. Yes, I’ve most certainly left some out:

The 22’s

We’ve got the still popular 22-250, 220 Swift, and now the much newer 22 Creedmoor.

24’s to 30’s

243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, 6mm Creedmoor, 250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 25-06, 6.5 Creedmoor, 260 Remington, 240 Weatherby magnum (yes), 270 Winchester, 7mm Mauser, 7mm-08, 284 Winchester, 280 Remington, 308 Win, 30-06 Springfield.

Larger than 30 caliber

338 Federal, 338-06, 358 Winchester, 35 Whelen, 375 Scoville, 400 Whelen

There’s some dispute about the rim diameter of the terrific 9.3x62 which has been doing a fine job on African big and dangerous game for a very long time now. It’s listed as .470” in several sources but some people simply convert a .30-06 to a 9.3x62 by rechambering and re-boring a 30-06, with no change to the bolt face.

No, they’re not quite as powerful as the belted magnums or the newer beltless magnums, but they’ve been proven capable for decades.

Pistol:

The 45 ACP cases I’ve measured show a .473” rim diameter even though it’s listed as .480” by some. The hot-rod 45 Super & 45 SMC and even the mighty 460 Rowland which produces 44 magnum power share the same rim dimensions as the 45 ACP! Glock came out with their 45 GAP and Lyman shows it as having a .470” rim. Mighty close to .473” diameter.

There’s also the 40 Cor-Bon which necks the .45 ACP down to 40 cal and makes power similar to a 10mm auto.

Just some thoughts from a session at the loading bench today. I put the RCBS #3 shellholder into the ram to load some 45 ACP, and started thinking about all the different cartridges I’ve loaded with that #3 shellholder over the years, decades… Then all the cartridges it fits, but that I don’t load or use. Seems to me that the .473 cases can do a fine job of covering most of our shooting and hunting needs.

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*I’m a law enforcement and NRA handgun and rifle instructor, a USMC veteran and a retired police officer with 12 years of SWAT experience. Catch my firearms and ammunition videos on Ultimate Reloader on Rumble and YouTube.

Shoot well, Guy Miner

My current ride, a 2009 Suzuki DL-650, a twin-cylinder general purpose bike that I’ve set up for “light touring.” Bought it new in 2010 and still very happy with it.

A change of subject matter here, just for the heck of it. Probably brought on by the warm weather descending upon us here on the lower great plains… Motorcycle riding… I’ve never thought of myself as a hard-core motorcycle nut, but I started riding in the 1970’s and here it is fifty years later and I’m still riding. Took a break from it for a while when my sons were young and I was needed at home. I was deploying a lot with the Marines in those days and there just wasn’t time for the motorcycle. Eventually when the lads were older, there was time for it again.

From the beginning my real love of motorcycling was heading out for a long day or even several days. That’s still what I love best. Short rides are fun, but relaxing into a long day of cruising through beautiful scenery, just letting it wash over me, that’s where it’s at for me. I can pick up the scent of the cedars, feel the cool air when I descend into a draw, feel the heat on the back of my riding jacket. My eyes are trying to take in everything. Particularly on twisty roads I can feel the pavement under me and love pitching the bike into the curves relying almost completely on engine braking to slow me for the turns only occasionally resorting to the brakes, then accelerating out towards the next curve. That is sublime!

It’s not so much about what I ride - I can be happy on most any sort of motorcycle, at least for a while. It’s how I experience the ride - and some bikes help a lot with that. I don’t like being limited by a tiny fuel tank or outrageous fuel consumption. I don’t like being limited by an uncomfortable perch or riding position. I’m not all that fond of thunderous noise from the motor - though I thoroughly enjoy riding behind a mellow sounding big V twin on a twisty road as the rider uses that big torquey motor.

Speed? Well it is a motorcycle after all, even a common one like my 650 Suzuki has plenty of get-up-and-go. Straight line speed doesn’t excite me. I do enjoy a good set of turns and have gone out of my way to ride particularly twisty sections of highway.

Riding Hwy 12 across the Idaho panhandle, adjacent to the beautiful Lochsa river. I get torn between riding, and stopping to fly fish on that route.

Highway? Oh, I don’t like being confined to pavement alone either. Why should I stop just because the pavement ends? So a bike that handles rough roads, dirt and gravel roads, that’s what I prefer. I don’t single track. My bike is too big and I’m not confident enough for it. It’s just not something I care for but I do ride a lot of old dirt logging roads, ranch roads, mining roads etc… Cool stuff is to be found out there. My two-wheel trips have taken me to most of the western states. Sometimes I rent a room or a cabin, often I sleep in my own small tent still. I enjoy that so very much even now.

Riding with good friends or family is terrific! My wife and I rode two-up for many years but she’s not so enthusiastic about riding anymore. My oldest son and I have ridden together many times. I’ve had some great riding buddies over the years and miss them all. Riding solo is just fine with me as well. Sometimes it’s the best.

I’m aging, almost 70 years old. Can’t run like I could. Can’t lift like I could. But I still ride well. Someday perhaps I won’t and that will be time to hang it up. I hope that I can always ride. There’s nothing like the experience of heading out on a bike for a long day, or several days of incredible riding.

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This old rider would love to hear about your favorite rides - the bikes and the routes.

Regards, Guy

Working with the Ultimate Reloader 357 magnum Henry All Weather rifle one mighty cold day.

If you haven’t yet tried a lever-action 357 magnum rifle or carbine, you’re missing out on something special. Light recoil, easy handling, traditional good looks, good accuracy and yes, 400 more fps over a 6” 357 magnum revolver!

Marlin, Henry, Winchester and more offer great lever action repeaters that handle 38 Special and 357 magnum ammunition. Depending on barrel/magazine length as many as ten cartridges can be on tap. The 357 magnum from a revolver is a powerful cartridge capable of handling many hunting chores as well as having a great reputation for self-defense against human predators. From the rifle, it’s even better.

From a short-barreled, lightweight revolver the recoil and muzzle blast are both formidable. From a 20” barreled lever action those factors are minimized. What’s maximized is velocity and practical accuracy. It’s easy to quickly score good hits on an IPSC target at 100 yards with the rifle, and slower, more difficult for most of us to manage that using a 357 magnum revolver.

Using Federal’s powerful 170 grain Hammer Down 357 magnum ammunition we saw this over the chronograph:

The Hammerdown ammo features a bonded hollow point bullet intended for hunting medium game and rated at 1610 fps by Federal.

I also handloaded some 38 Special and 357 magnum ammunition, both with the 158 grain Berry’s Flat Point thick-plated bullet which has a nice crimp groove and is rated for a muzzle velocity up to 1500 fps. That velocity is easy to exceed from the 20” rifle barrel:

Loads were 5.4 grains of CFE Pistol for the 38 Special and 15.5 grains of H110 for the 357 magnum ammunition. The 38 Special ammo had delightfully low recoil and very mild muzzle blast, it would be excellent for teaching a new shooter. Note that there isn’t much difference in velocity between the rifle and revolver with the 38 Special, but there’s a full 500 fps difference with the 357 magnum! The long barrel and lack of a barrel-cylinder gap really helps the magnum cartridge. With either a revolver or a lever action rifle using a traditional tubular magazine, it’s important to use a good crimp. I greatly prefer a nice roll crimp into a well defined crimping groove to help hold the bullet in place.

For best bullet performance on game, or for self-defense with the 357 magnum rifle, careful attention should be paid to bullet construction. If impact velocity is too high for a given bullet, expansion and even fragmentation of the bullet could occur, minimizing penetration. Choose bullets known to be tough, and to penetrate well.

The handy little rifle is easy to carry and a pleasure to shoot with either 38’s or 357’s. When I get around to getting my own 357 lever action carbine I’ll likely top it with Skinner Sights, or perhaps a red-dot sight of some sort. I’ll figure on it as a 100 yard rifle, perhaps a bit more, and capable of taking deer, hogs and perhaps black bear at reasonable ranges. I sure hit better with it than I do with a handgun at 75 - 100 yards!

All velocities were from either a 6” S&W 586 or a 20” Henry lever action rifle. Photos and charts courtesy of Ultimate Reloader.

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I’m a lifelong hunter and handloader as well as a USMC veteran and a retired law enforcement officer. Follow my stories here and on Ultimate Reloader. Shoot well!

Guy