The Perfect Hunting Bullet

**MyLani** · 06-12-2019, 18:03

What would you regard as being the perfect bullet for hunting?
I personally prefer a bullet that will retain as much weight as possible, and exit.
I prefer the bullet to exit as it provides a good blood spoor to follow, as the entry wound can bleed minimally and even plug up a bit.
An Outfitter that I hunt for swears by the Berger Vld Hunting, where the bullet goes in a few inches and then breaks up causing massive damage.
It hardly exits on the bigger animals, and I have almost lost an animal or 2 in the bush trying to follow spoor as there is zero blood only to find a very dead animal.

I personally use Swift Scirocco's in my 308, and Barnes TTSX/Swift A Frame in my 375.
After sitting around a campfire with friends, I described my perfect bullet. A solid shank, bonded bullet like the Rhino. But with grooves/driving bands and a polymer tip like the Barnes. Lo and behold it exists, in the Federal Trophy Bonded Tip based on the incredible Trophy Bonded Bear Claws.

I have managed to order some that a friend will bring, but why aren't they available here in SA?

**TStone** · 06-12-2019, 19:01

If they were freely available I would say Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. They expand well yet penetrate well.

I have had really good results on, literally, hundreds of game animals with Barnes X/XLC/TSX/TTSX, Hornady GMX and Peregrine VRG-4/VLR-4. Like you, I prefer a bullet that exit. I will happily trade less expansion for more penetration, within reasonable limits. In other words, I want at least some expansion, say at least 1.5X original diameter.

In the absence of a steady supply of TBBC's I prefer monolithic's to bonded, and even partitioned bullets for their ability to break heavy bone when necessary and the fact that they mostly exit. I have shot many animals with regular cup and core hunting bullets (Hornady Interlock/ Sierra Game King/PMP/Speer Hot Cor/Remington Core Lock) and target bullets (Hornady A-max/Nosler CC/ Lapua Scenar/Sierra Matchking) and while they work well most of the time I have seen all of them fail on heavy bone. I have yet to see a monolithic fail to reach the vitals of an animal.

**BrushStroke** · 06-12-2019, 19:53

This is a great topic to mull over. I am very lazy when it comes to loads and development, I want 1 load per caliber for hunting, that can be used on anything I shoot with the said rifle. So for my 308, I want a load I can use from duiker to Wildebeest. My 375 from Impala to Eland, my 300WM from springbuck to gemsbok, etc. for this I’m happy to settle on a premium bullet in the event I need to smash heavy bone, I err on the side of weight, so 270gr+ on the 375 and 180 on the 30 Cal rifles. My shooting is such that the rifle IS more accurate than me so if I get fist size groups in field positions out of my 308 and 375 at 100m I’m happy.

I also fee with 1 load you can set you scope up and just learn where the POI is at different ranges.

**Messor** · 07-12-2019, 10:03

@Mylani and T-stone, if you just want a bullet that expands and punches a hole through animals why are both you choosing a hybrid design instead of just a plain monolithic, which does exactly the same thing?

**TStone** · 07-12-2019, 10:21

@Mylani and T-stone, if you just want a bullet that expands and punches a hole through animals why are both you choosing a hybrid design instead of just a plain monolithic, which does exactly the same thing?

Mylani asked about the perfect hunting bullet. For me the TBBC is the closest to the perfect hunting bullet, it expands slightly more than a monolithic and cannot over expand, just like a monolithic. These days I do most of my hunting with monolithic's because they are readily available. As I said, I have had very good results on game with monolithic expanding bullets. Perfect is not always necessary, mostly good enough is good enough.

**Messor** · 07-12-2019, 11:10

I too would use a premium bonded over a mono, mentioned my reasons before.
But you cant buy them, so you have to use something else.

My problem with a thread like this is it doesn't define the parameters, why would I use a 130gr mono at 3000ft/s in the bush for example when I can use a heavy 180gr bonded at 2400ft/s?
Or the reverse, I would rather use a 130gr monolithic on the plains at 3000ft/s than a 180gr bonded at 2400ft/s.

The perfect hunting bullet requires parameters, like target animal, hunting distance, caliber choices etc.
If this was not so then we would all only own 1 hunting rifle, but the fact is we have several hunting rifles with different uses.

**TStone** · 07-12-2019, 11:24

Originally Posted by Messor

The perfect hunting bullet requires parameters, like target animal, hunting distance, caliber choices etc.
If this was not so then we would all only own 1 hunting rifle, but the fact is we have several hunting rifles with different uses.

Books have been written about this, at the very least it deserves a thread of its own. While it is great to have a rifle/caliber/bullet for every specific job, I find that I often use what I have with me. In my experience a .308 caliber rifle (I use a .300 win mag) shooting a 165 - 180 gr expanding monolithic bullet will competently handle springbok to eland sized animals from powder burn range out to 400 meters.

**MyLani** · 07-12-2019, 11:26

Messor, I used a TTSX in my 375 to shoot a Zebra earlier this year. Slipped it just behind the shoulder, so was a good shot. After giving it a few minutes, I had to put a 2nd shot in to put it down. I am positive that an expanding lead bullet would have put it down quicker. That being said, a Buffalo was shot with the same bullet this year and it made 20m before going down.

I like the idea of the solid shank that will continue to penetrate on even if the entire bonded front core disentigrates for whatever reason. I think it's the best of both worlds

**Adoons** · 07-12-2019, 11:42

For me the perfect hunting bullet is a standard bonded bullet like Hornady Interbond or Federal Fusion or .... (There are a few more.) A bullet should penetrate, break bone if needed, expand for an effective wound channel and if the caliber (weight and velocity?) is good enough for the intended animal it should exit. An exit wound is not always achieved, even with hard hitting calibers, but if it sticks under the skin on the far side I am content.

Just a note: The perfect bullet is not making a not-perfect caliber suitable though. For instance the perfect bullet from my 30-06 will not make it dependable for 400 m Eland shots , but that same bullet would be great from a 300 WM.

**CorditeCrazy** · 07-12-2019, 20:56

Originally Posted by MyLani

Messor, I used a TTSX in my 375 to shoot a Zebra earlier this year. Slipped it just behind the shoulder, so was a good shot. After giving it a few minutes, I had to put a 2nd shot in to put it down. I am positive that an expanding lead bullet would have put it down quicker. That being said, a Buffalo was shot with the same bullet this year and it made 20m before going down.

I like the idea of the solid shank that will continue to penetrate on even if the entire bonded front core disentigrates for whatever reason. I think it's the best of both worlds

I’ve found Zebra, much like Wildebeest, to get healthier with each shot received.