Bullets to make holes in paper and bullets to hunt with, aint always the same thing. Partitions are designed to perform after they hit an animal. Not competition bullets for sure. There is all kinds of bullets for all kinds of shooting. Have to find one that works for your purpose. Boiler room on a elk is pretty big. Those partitions with a little range time and experimenting will reliably hit a trappers post magazine a long ways off. So will those sierra boat tails. I have killed several elk with boat tails in my 270 but not past 300 yards. Big animal like that I would use partitions or barnes tsx , what I load in 300 win mag now. It hits hard way out there.

I'd agree Danny, it doesn't take a special to perform adequately one deer at most people ethical range ising an adequate caliber. Simple Rem Corelokts have always performed great for me out of the 243.

Wolfie thanks for the input. I'd agree handloading isn't a huge $ saver especially if you have to buy all the equipment and don't shot a whole bunch which I don't. A friend is giving me most of the equipment I need and I bought primers and powder for the future. Figured I reload some now for the learning and the challenge of seeing what kind of accuracy i can get. From what I've learned if you properly do the testing and steps one should be able to develop a load more accurate than factory. Thanks I was wondering if in today's world of bullet development if the gap is narrowing between the very top end bullets and the middle of the road type ones as far as accuracy potential.

I'm planning on loading Barnes for most guns for the hunting round. Just looking for maybe a cheaper bullet to play with for accuracy punching paper

Hornady is cheap and work ok. I load them in my 30-30. They all have a Cannelure ring so far as I know. I dont like that if I am not crimping the bullet.

Wella I was speaking of longer range , 0-300 is one thing out too 800 is something else

I shoot more game kings than any other bullet.
They kinda cheap shoot great in about any rifle I have tried them in, and kill critters as dead as ya can get em.

I like the heck out of Sierra GK's.
It's nice that I live close to Sierra/Starline and even better now that I'm on a project in Sedalia.
Going to load heavy on them !

Seeing berger hunting bullets- hornady SSTs, ELDs, Interlocks, Match- and I believe barnes match bullets in the price range I threw out there. I guess as a newbie wondering if anyone has experience with bullets in these price range that they are very pleased with from an accuracy stand point. Are these premium enough bullets to get me there is everything else is up to par? Federal Terminal Accent, Berger Hybrid hunter and Barnes LRXs are what I've shot out of the 270 and 7mm that have given sub moa groups out to 750 yds in factory ammo. Haven't found the Hybrid hunters bullets for sale yet, but the other berger bullets are the top range of my price. Federal terminal accent isn't to be found and I bet if they were they'd be .80 plus. Barnes Lrxs are .80 to 1.00. If I had a chance at handloading say a $0.30 hornady sst, edlx, or match or equivalent and had a chance at the same accuracy as the factory loads I'd try them. I guess long story short I'm going to have to try them myself.

If these type of bullets in a handload aren't up to matching the accuracy of my factory loads then I may be asking too much. From a newbie perspective learning about handloading, is its not that difficult to develop a handload that is more accurate the the stuff off the shelves. Time will tell I guess.

Depends.
What's you version of an accurate factory round.
Your rifle
And your shooting abilities.

If your qualifications for a good shooting factory round is 2" or less @100yd then they it's stupid easy now days to get a load to shoot way better then that. I mean I usually have a load shooting better then factory within 50rd.

As far as the rifle.... All of new rifles are being made better and cheaper and they will shoot about everything pretty good. Especially with newer cartridges. That a whole discussion about modern chambering practices and cartridge design I don't feel super qualified to talk on but 3- 4 hr listening to Hornadys podcast will explain a lot . But yeah also of new stuff will eat a out anything you feed it and shoot well.Older guns in various legacy cartridges CAN BE more finicky.

I will say though some stuff that will really really really save you a lot of head aches I want though.
Get a bullet comparator gauge set an a headspace comparator set . $60 all together that will save you a lot of headaches.
Basically all they are are inserts that fit on your calibers. The bullet comparator lets you measure frome ogive to the base of the bullet ( CBTO) it's a lot more accurate because the tips on most bullets will not be the same. Like seriously get a box of bullets and measure base to tip and you'll see what I mean. The ogive is a way more consistent deal.
Tis might give you some more explanation. Loaded a box of rounds and a measured each one ..one COAL on CBTO.
Die want adjusted or anything


The head space gauge it similar but will help you measure how much though should moves. Which is useful in a few ways. One helps you not over work your brass. Most die instructions will have you moving your brass way more than what you need shoring the life of your brass. But if you can measure you don't really know . I like the comparator because I can measure a fire form case from my gun say " o ok it fire form out to 2.335" you only need dto bump that shoulder back like .003" so to 2.333 . So you can use it to adjust your die to where you getting that good consistent bump. Which if you use a trimmer like my Frankfort arsenal is pretty important because it trims off the shoulder. Also let's to see if your gun is doing something word possibly like my Ulta varmit here.



All get a Chronograph highly recommend a magneto speed , their easy y to use set up and just way worth the money. Helps answers alot of questions. "Hay I don't know why this load sucks so bad , o because I'm having 120fps swings in my velocity! Mabye I shouldn't waste more time with this powder" not to mention most book velocities won't be correct especially with gas guns.


Also get on accurate shooter if you wanna save money, those guys sell. Some high grade gear for next to nothing and they generally take way better care of their gear to the point slot of the stuff I've bout is about brand new

O and if you have a smart phone you can download the Hornady and serria apps and you'll have a constantly updating manual in your pocket. Paper is good but it's nice to be able to just whip.out your phone and look at load data while your at the shop or what have you.

Try Lazer cast or Mississippi bullets but nothing is cheap today.

Not sure this is valid to discussion, but found it interesting. Recently started loading for a new to me 6mm rifle. Target #3 on the far left was factory ammo. Targets 4 and 5 were my reloads using same bullet. Just something I threw together to use to fire form the brass. Both were being used to fine tune newly mounted scope. Also firing over a a chrony to test reloads for velocity. Reloads close to 1 MOA or better and again, that was before any load testing. For my use, could probably call that good and be done with it.

But not backing up using my hand loads vs. factory. Not at all.

are those magneto speed chronys more accurate than the ones you put on a tripod and shoot over? They are easy to use. Can shoot more than one gun without changing anything. Can get set up for about 125. If you want to borrow one Seth just say the word.

Wolfdog, I have one of those Magneto chronographs, and it won't stay in place more than one shot on my rifles.

I can see from the photo that your flash suppressor probably keeps it in place. Beware buying one for tapered barrels.

Jim

I don't know how you could answer that question without a certified, very accurate and expensive chronograph to compare them to.

Jim

I've seen comprehensive tests comparing chronographs. Those magneto speeds are pretty darn accurate. Better than those ones you setup on tripods. Though they don't like small fast bullets or cast. Right up there with the lab Rader dopplers or better. Garmin came out with a doppler that's is suppose to be awesome. Thanks very much for the offer Danny.

Haven had much of a problem with mine at eyiu making sure tj use the little rubbed deal that goes on top of the spacer ?.
Moa tof mu guns are either painted or have a bead blasted type finish without an extreme taper

Berger's will be close to your price range maybe a little over, I thing I was paying.55 for the last ones I bought. If your gun has the twist to stabilize them the long heavy ones do the best at long range. And you can practice with the same round as you hunt with. If you are just looking for a strictly target bullet that doesn't have to be ballistically the same as your hunting load, that opens up a lot more options. Check out the Nosler Custom Competition line. I got some to load in the wife's 260 for her to practice with and they were very reasonable price wise and are more accurate than any hunting load I have found for that rifle.

The ELDs are supposed to be real accurate, I have some sitting on my reloading bench to try, but haven't shot any yet. My 270 didnt like SSTs at all, the least accurate bullet of any bullet I tried out of that rifle. Sierra gamekings are usually pretty accurate, but have never been the most accurate bullet out of any rifle I have tried them in. Sierra also makes some hollowpoint target bullets that are generally very accurate however.

Just be aware that every gun is different and yours may not like a particular bullet for no discernable reason.

When you hand load, you shoot more.
And it's fun.700 yards is over my pay scale.

Wolfdog showed bullet and case comparators.
I was shocked at the sizing spread of bullets and
cases.
My pet 270 load is under max imr 4350 and 140g boat tail.
It is fussier about oal than a gr of powder.

In hindsight, I once found a factory load that was accurate AND
good performance. If I had bought a bunch of those
I'd be money ahead. But what fun is that?

Seriously though fo join up over on accurate shooter , their classifieds are AMAZING! Tons of deals to be had and you can really save a pretty penny. Bought a lot of gear front there for next to nothing in better then new condition somtimes alot them guy over there will buy something look at it and just box it back up and forgot about it.
Just say this matter of fact