It’s been more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threw global supply chains out of whack and kicked off a firearms and ammunition buying surge. The firearm industry had a record-setting year in 2020, which saw 8.4 million new gun owners and an estimated 21 million background checks conducted specifically for firearms sales, according to the National Shooting Sports Federation. All those new gun owners needed ammunition, and ammo became scarce on store shelves—many types of ammunition remain scarce.

The years-long ammunition shortage changed the way many hunters and shooters purchase ammunition, with more and more purchases moving online. This shift has opened a window of opportunity for ammo scammers, who operate by setting up fake websites that offer hard-to-get, name-brand ammunition at rock-bottom prices. These scam sites lure in unsuspecting consumers, take their money, and then never deliver the goods.

There are dozens of these websites out there, and while legitimate online retailers are working to keep the scam sites off the web, industry insiders say they aren’t going away anytime soon. Here’s what you need to know so you don’t get ripped off on your next online ammo purchase. 

Like Playing Whack-A-Mole

Outdoor Life spoke with a representative from an industry-leading ammo manufacturer who says that ever since the nationwide ammo surge began in 2020, scam websites have been popping up on a regular basis.     

“It’s really been over the past couple years … and they’re getting more sophisticated,” said the representative, who asked not to be identified since he wasn’t cleared to speak on the subject.

Here are four examples of scam websites that were still live within the last few days: federalammunitions.com, shopremingtonammo.com, remingtonammos.com, and winchesterammosales.com.

These sites should not be confused with legitimate websites of federalpremium.com, remington.com, or winchester.com, which are the manufacturers’ actual websites that sell ammo directly to consumers.

The scam site developers do their best to use URLs that are close to the legitimate URL of name brand ammunition. They also use similar branding and imagery (which they steal from the web) to confuse would-be ammo purchasers who are unable to find the ammunition they need from their normal, trusted suppliers.

These four examples are also just the tip of the iceberg. It would be impossible to round up all the scam ammo sites out there, but a quick visit to a couple hunting and shooting forums reveals plenty more. 

The ammo manufacturer representative we spoke to said they’ve been able to get many of these scam sites taken down by contacting web hosting companies like GoDaddy or Bluehost, which act as “internet gatekeepers.” And since the scammers are often stealing legitimate logos and product photographs from the manufacturers to make their websites look authentic, it’s been easy for legal teams to attack these scammers from all angles. But it’s impossible to track and eliminate them entirely.

“It’s like playing whack-a-mole,” he says.

Sometimes web hosting companies can track scam websites back to specific IP addresses, and this often leads them to specific bad actors who are running the same scheme over and over again.

Read Next: Where’s All the Damn Ammo? Federal Premium’s President Has Some Answers

Outdoor Life reached out to both GoDaddy and Bluehost to try to learn more about who these scam website developers are. Neither responded to requests for comment, but a little digging reveals that the scammers are almost certainly operating from overseas.

Looking at the contact page for remingtonammos.com, the scam website features a non-functioning map with an unknown location in Oslo, Norway. As for shopremingtonammo.com, the contact page lists their address as 3047 Beech Street in San Francisco, California. However, there is no Beech Street in San Francisco.

Neither winchesterammosales.com nor federalammunitions.com list an address on their sites, but a closer look at the text on these websites reveals plenty of grammatical errors and awkward sentences. Here’s an example of a paragraph found on the bogus Federal site:

The robust shotshell portfolio including the innovative, high payload weight, Black Cloud line continues upon the traditional Federal motions at play. With regards to this in the hunting and conservation spectrum, Federal figures that a more effective, better performing ammunition leads to a better conservation effort by individuals and contributes to better national habits in maintaining a comfortable wildlife population for future hunters to enjoy.

So, while it might be impossible to stop ammo scammers from finding their way onto the internet, it’s easy enough to spot and avoid these scam sites when you know what to look for.

How to Spot an Ammo Scam Website

The first red flag is when the website doesn’t offer a legitimate way of taking payment. None of the scam sites mentioned above will accept credit cards. Some require payment only in cryptocurrency, while others will let you “check out” using a third-party service like Zelle or CashApp.

The whole point is for the scammers to make it difficult to impossible for you to get your money back.

Which brings up another red flag. These scam sites, unlike legitimate ammo dealers, will say that they allow you ship your order to all 50 states. But there are at least six states that currently have laws restricting online ammo purchases. California and New York require point-of-sale background checks on all ammo purchases, while Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey require residents to show proof of their license or permit to buy ammo online.

Other major red flags include:

• Obvious typos or misspelling in the URL or body copy of the website
• Odd looking logos or font that does not match the real brand
• Outdated product photos and improperly formatted images
• Broken links

But perhaps the biggest red flag is when a scam website’s offerings are simply too good to be true.

“Your first hint should be that everything is in stock,” the ammo manufacturer rep says. “They also let you buy as much as you want, and it’s really cheap.”

Any major and legitimate ammo retail website is dealing with supply issues right now. Some ammo SKUs will be available, others won’t. So, if a site states that every single product is available, then you’re likely on a bogus page.

Use Legitimate Websites for Ammo Purchases

Make sure to review our guide on how to buy ammo online without getting ripped off, and use trusted online retailers, which there are many of:

• Remington.com
• FederalPremium.com
• Winchester.com
• Cabelas.com
• Guns.com
• Gunbroker.com
• Academy.com
• Brownells.com
• Palmettostatearmory.com

It will likely take some searching between these sites to find exactly what you’re looking for. But the search will be worth it, because when you do finally purchase the load you’ve been hunting for, it will actually arrive.

The post Ammo Buyer Beware: Don’t Fall for These Scam Websites That Claim to Sell Ammunition appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

More and more slug-gun states in the Midwest and East have legalized the use of straight-wall rifles during deer season in recent years. Straight-wall cartridges, like the .350 Legend and .45/70, give whitetail hunters superior accuracy at shorter ranges, making them safer to shoot than necked cartridges in densely populated areas. But rifled and sabot (pronounced “say-bo”) slugs are far from outdated. Countless hunters in the middle of this country take smoothbore and rifled-barrel shotguns afield each fall, hoping to punch a tag with these short-range projectiles.

Both rifled slugs and sabots are ideal for the distances hunters aim to kill whitetails—typically inside 150 yards—in shotgun-only states. Their lethality has been well documented after decades of successful use in the deer woods. But there remains a long-standing argument among slug-gun hunters: Which projectile is best suited for killing whitetails? Over the years, the editors of Outdoor Life have shot a variety of rifled slugs and sabots from the bench and in the field and know well the capabilities of each load. If you’re trying to decide which round is ideal for your hunting style, here are the realities of shooting rifled versus sabot slugs.

The Difference Between Rifled Slugs and Sabots

Hunters using shotguns for deer—either by preference or mandate—can select between a smoothbore that uses rifled (also known as Foster-style) slugs or a rifled bore for sabot loads. A rifled slug has small helical grooves cut into the base of the projectile, but the slug does not have a specified twist rate like a centerfire round does.

There is some conjecture as to whether the vanes in a rifled slug cause the projectile to spin at all. So, I talked to long-time gun writer Dave Henderson, who has decades of slug shooting experience and a wealth of knowledge after a 55-year career of interviewing some of the foremost ballisticians in the country. He also authored a book, Shotgunning for Deer: Guns, Loads, and Techniques for the Modern Hunter, which details the innovations in slug technology.

“Rifled slugs have no twist rate,” Henderson says. “The slugs transit the barrel static and exit that way. There are photos from a manufacturer in my book that clearly show the rifling on the slug is worn smooth in the barrel and the slug never rotates. The slug’s accuracy comes from the extreme nose-heavy design, giving it the ‘rock-in-a-sock’ or [badminton] shuttlecock flight characteristic.” 

The cuts are also there to allow the slug to pass through a choke tube safely. If the grooves were not in place, there would be more friction between the barrel and load, which would cause a considerable drop in performance or possibly result in a failure. The advantage with rifled slugs, of course, is that you don’t have to buy a special rifled barrel. You can use one shotgun to hunt deer, birds, and other small game.

“Rifled slugs may be fired in smoothbores or rifled barrels, with no advantage in either,” Henderson says. “The rifled slug sort of skids across the rifling in the barrel and exits the way it would a smoothbore.”

Sabot-style rifled barrels typically have twist rates that can fall between 1:18 to 1:36. For instance, the popular Ithaca Deer Slayer III and Savage 220 have a barrel twist of 1:24 (that’s one full rotation of the slug every 24 inches). But the Savage 212 has a 1:35 twist. Interestingly, former OL shooting editor Jim Carmichael found no statistical difference in accuracy between using a 1:28 and 1:32 rifled barrel in a 2008 slug gun test (more on this later).

“It’s the sabot slug that benefits from—in fact virtually requires —a rifled bore,” Henderson says. “The rifling grips the polymer sleeve(s) on the slug, imparting a stabilizing spin on the projectile while still in the barrel. In most cases the sleeve is discarded after exiting the bore.” —J.G.

Rifled Choke Tubes

Sabots can also be shot through a smoothbore with a rifled choke. Buying a rifled choke tube is a cost-effective way to use sabots in a smoothbore without incurring the expense of a completely new barrel. Sabots are streamlined bullets encased in plastic much like bird shot is loaded into a wad. When the round is fired, the slug remains in the plastic casing and spins down the barrel until the projectile leaves the muzzle. At that point, the sleeve and slug separate, and the projectile continues to spin as it travels downrange. Sabots are often polymer-tipped and sub-caliber, which translates to .50 in 12-gauge guns. By comparison, standard smoothbore slugs are between .72- and .75-caliber. —P.M.

Sabot vs. Slug Trajectory

Most 12-gauge rifled slugs weigh either 1 or 1⅛ ounces. Sabots weigh under an ounce, or 437.5 grains, and can range from 250 to 376 grains. Both hit hard enough to anchor any whitetail at a reasonable distance. But you will see more sustained velocity from sabot slugs. Sabots continue to travel at higher speeds for longer due to the aerodynamics of the projectile.

To confirm this, all you need to do is look at the trajectory of two 3-inch loads—Federal TruBall rifled slug and Federal Trophy Copper sabot—with a zero of 100 yards. The physical makeup of the projectiles is quite different, which drastically affects their performance downrange. TruBall has a weight of 438 grains and a muzzle velocity of 1,700 fps. Trophy Copper is lighter (300 grains) and leaves the muzzle 300 fps faster, at 2,000 fps. In the table below, you will see that TruBall’s trajectory dissipates more rapidly than Trophy Copper when both loads are shot out to 200 yards under the same conditions. —J.G.

Rifled Slug vs. Sabot: Which Load Offers Better Accuracy?

A few years ago, during a lengthy range session, I shot 2¾-inch 1-ounce Federal TruBall rifled slugs from an open sight Benelli M2 and Winchester 2¾-inch 375-grain Dual Bond sabot slugs from a scoped Browning A-Bolt. At shorter ranges (out to 75 yards), there wasn’t much of a noticeable difference between rifled and sabot slug accuracy. But when I started shooting out to 100 yards and beyond, the sabot excelled.

During my day on the range, I was not shooting rifled slugs through a scoped smoothbore, which could have contributed to the inaccuracies. But I have done so many other times and found that the rifled slug simply won’t perform at distance like a sabot can. For instance, that 12-gauge 1-ounce Federal TruBall slug weighed 437.5 grains, compared to the 375-grain Winchester Dual Bond sabot. The TruBall slug also had a muzzle velocity of 1,300 fps compared to the Winchester’s 1,800 fps. Slower, heavier projectiles are going to drop faster and have a less effective range than a slightly lighter, but much faster one. —P.M.

Jim Carmichael’s Slug Gun Test

Miller’s findings were confirmed by the ballistic data I gleaned from Carmichael’s test published in the October 2008 issue of OL. With the help of Randy Fritz, who builds the incredibly accurate Tar-Hunt slug guns, Carmichael tested 27 rifled and sabot slugs, shooting over 1,000 rounds from a 50-pound, remote-operated slug gun engineered by Fritz. Carmichael’s testing protocol called for five three-shot groups of each load out to 100 yards, though he did fire a few five-shot groups to confirm load consistency and the accuracy of the equipment.

The table below details the best 20- and 12-gauge groups from the four manufacturers—Federal, Remington, Winchester, and Lightfield— included in the test. Most of the loads Carmichael shot were sabots, but he did shoot two Winchester rifled slugs as well. You can see from the data that the sabot groups were much tighter than their rifled counterparts. —J.G.

Should You Use a 2¾-Inch or a 3-Inch Slug?

Most of my experience with slugs—rifled and sabot—has been with 2¾- and 3-inch 12-gauge offerings. It’s my contention that a 2¾-inch is adequate for killing deer, and that a 3-inch load simply generates more recoil with a slight amount of increased velocity. I chronographed Winchester’s Elite 3-inch Dual Bond sabot and found the muzzle velocity increase in a Browning A-Bolt to be only 50 fps faster than the 2¾-inch offering of the same weight. Granted, velocities can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including the physical makeup of the bullet, elevation, and weather conditions, but I’ve never found that extra quarter-inch to make a marked difference.  —P.M.

 The 20-Gauge Sabot Slug  

When I worked in Illinois, a shotgun-only deer state, I noticed many whitetail hunters selected 20-gauge sabot slug guns. So, I was curious about 20-gauge range capabilities and asked Hornady’s Seth Swerczek about it.

“I think 20-gauge sabot loads are popular because of their reduced recoil,” Swerczek says. “Both of our 12- and 20-gauge sabot slug loads offer honest 200-yard performance, so you’re really not giving up any effective range by opting for the 20-gauge.”

A 200-yard shot with Hornady’s 2¾-inch 20-gauge SST sabot might be pushing the boundaries of that load’s effectiveness, especially if the shot placement isn’t precise. But the 250-grain slug can kill a deer at 150 yards. According to Hornady’s ballistics chart, the SST has a velocity of 1,331 fps and 983 ft/lb. of energy at that distance. Dial your shot back to 100 yards and the same load produces 1,200 ft/lb. of energy.

What helped sell me on the 20, aside from reduced felt recoil, was an opportunity to hunt hogs with a scoped, rifled-barrel Winchester M1300 pump several years ago. The longest shot I made was close to 100 yards, and the longest shot I saw anybody else connect on—with the same setup—was just over 120 yards. At 100 yards, those 20-gauge sabot slugs seemingly hit with the force of a .250-grain .45/70 (it’s actually about a 250 ft/lb. difference in favor of the Hornady MonoFlex over an SST slug in a side-by-side comparison). Regardless, the terminal results on 200-pound hogs, considerably tougher to bring down than a whitetail, were spectacular. —P.M.

Read next: The 15 Best Shotguns for Deer Hunting

Pick a Slug or Sabot Based on How You Hunt

Which option you choose—rifled or sabot slug—will be subjective based on your hunting needs. From 75 yards and in (with the occasional poke out to 100 yards) a rifled slug holds its own compared to a sabot. But if you have any chance of a 100-yard-plus shot, a sabot is clearly a better choice in terms of accuracy and trajectory.

I did ask Swerczek which sells better, Hornady’s SST sabot loads or the company’s traditional American Whitetail rifled slugs. He confirmed sabots are much more popular. That’s not surprising since most hunters are interested in getting the maximum distance they can from their firearm. But also, a sabot capable of shooting 50 to 75 yards farther can be the difference between killing your target buck and helplessly watching as it walks out of sight on the last day of gun season. —J.G. and P.M.

The post Rifled vs. Sabot Slugs: Are You Shooting the Right Whitetail Load this Deer Season? appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

The 9mm and 10mm are cartridges with only a millimeter of difference in bullet diameter, but very different histories. The 9mm, otherwise known as the 9mm Luger or 9x19mm Parabellum, is the single most popular semi-auto handgun cartridge in the world today. It was invented in 1901 and has been fielded in just about every military conflict and law enforcement application since that time. Modern bullet and firearm design has only strengthened its position as top dog. 

The 10mm cartridge is a relative newcomer. Like myself, it’s a product of the 1980s. It soon faded into obscurity as a law enforcement cartridge due to its robust recoil. But like ugly sunglasses and mullets, it’s made a strong comeback in the past decade. The 10mm Auto has gained favor in many backcountry defense applications and, in recent years, manufacturers have pumped out more 10mm pistols than ever. Both 9mm and 10mm pistols are in vogue right now, but which is better? If a shooter is considering 9mm vs 10mm, the best choice will be determined by a number of variables.

9mm vs 10mm: Factors to Consider

In a perfect world, you shouldn’t have to choose between buying a 9mm or a 10mm. Just get both. Even then, however, you’ll likely recognize that they’re each suited for different tasks. Here’s what to consider in the 9mm vs 10mm debate.

• What’s the application? Is it self defense, hunting, or recreational shooting?
• Do you want a full-sized pistol or concealed-carry pistol?
• Can you manage handgun recoil well?
• How much are you planning to shoot?
• What features and functions do you prioritize in a pistol?

Sometimes the Choice Is Clear, Sometimes It Isn’t

There are some circumstances in which the decision between 9mm and 10mm is easy. If you’re primarily concerned with which is more powerful, or you’re going to use it for hunting, the 10mm is your jam.

On the flip side, If you’re wanting to do high-volume shooting and plinking, need a micro-sized pistol, or are looking for the most affordable ammo, 9mm is the obvious winner. 

Weighing 9mm vs 10mm when it comes to the many potential self-defense applications requires a deeper dive if you really want to pick the best tool for the job. Remember that each advantage a cartridge offers comes at some cost. For example, the 10mm is certainly more powerful than the 9mm, but the 10mm also has much snappier recoil and is harder to control. Sometimes the tradeoff will be worth it, sometimes it won’t. 

9mm Specs and Features

This 122-year-old cartridge has served most of its existence firing 115- and 124-grain full metal jacket bullets at around 1150 and 1050 feet per second respectively, but modern high-performance bullets are what keep it relevant. Critics have long considered the 9mm underpowered for duty and self-defense purposes but, after a stint with the 10mm followed by the .40 S&W, the FBI is back to the 9mm. They’ve found that modern defensive bullets allow the 9mm to perform adequately compared to even the .45 ACP.  Here are the basics on the 9mm.

• Bullet diameter: .355 inches
• Maximum cartridge overall length: 1.169 inches
• Bullet weights in factory ammo (grains): 65, 90, 115, 118, 124, 125, 135, 147, 150
• Velocity range (approximate): 1000 to 1730 fps

Types of 9mm Ammo

There is a type of 9mm ammo for just about every application, and 9mm ammo is now widely available on store shelves. Options range from full metal jacket and synthetic-jacketed ammo to jacketed hollow points, to frangible, to monolithic hollow points, and monolithic solids. At the extreme, ammunition like the Norma NXD uses a non-expanding 65-grain solid bullet that’s fluted to create a dramatic wound cavity, while penetrating hard barriers. It leaves the muzzle at over 1700 feet per second! Lehigh Defense makes similar monolithic bullets that are loaded by several companies including Black Hills Ammunition. Heavier 147-grain defensive loads are common, and companies like Buffalo Bore and Federal Premium have solid cast bullet offerings intended for backcountry animal defense. The average 9mm ammo uses a bullet that weighs between 115 and 124 grains, fired at a velocity of 1050 to 1150 feet per second. 

Types of 9mm Pistols

You can find just about any type of pistol chambered in 9mm. It’s far-and-above the most widely-available pistol offering in the world, and every company’s flagship pistol comes chambered in it. This includes anything you can imagine from high-end 2011 pistols that cost thousands of dollars down to the booming field of tiny micro-compact 9mm’s. Standard full-sized pistols typically carry 17 rounds in the magazine, compacts carry 15 to 16 rounds, and micro compacts carry between 7 and 13 rounds. A major advantage that the 9mm has over any challenger is simply the variety of pistols that are available—there’s truly a great option for everyone. Read my full review of the best 9mm pistols here.

10mm Specs and Features

The 10mm Auto served a short stint with the FBI before being trimmed to the .40 S&W which is, quite literally, just a 10mm short. Although it enjoyed a multi-decade tenure, the .40 S&W is essentially pushing up daisies these days while the 10mm basks in a renaissance. Trademarks of the 10mm Auto are notably sharper recoil than the 9mm and .45 ACP, and the truncated-cone flat-tipped full metal jacket bullets. The payoff for its higher recoil is a cartridge that’s faster and has more energy than the .45 ACP. It’s ballistically similar to the .357 Magnum.

• Bullet diameter: .400 inches
• Maximum cartridge overall length: 1.260 inches
• Bullet weights in factory ammo (grains): 115, 125, 140, 150, 180, 200, 220
• Velocity range (approximate): 1000 to 1600 fps

Types of 10mm Ammo

The surge in popularity of the 10mm has spurred ammunition manufacturers to produce a wide variety of 10mm bullets and ammo. You’ll find 10mm ammo in just about every category, including light-loaded full metal jacket loads, defensive hollow points, controlled-expansion hunting ammunition, and a strong showing of deep-penetrating bear defense loads. Here you can see a more in-depth guide on the best 10mm ammo. Internet gripers will claim that no one loads full-power 10mm ammo like in the good old days, but that’s not true. Some 180-grain ball ammunition is loaded to “FBI Lite” specs, which is about 1050 feet per second, but virtually all defensive ammo is loaded above that. A good example of full-power practice ammo is Winchester’s USA Ready 180-grain full metal jacket, which zips along at 1250 feet per second. High-velocity ammo like the Black Hills 115-grain Honey Badger, which uses a Lehigh Defense Extreme Defense bullet, has a muzzle velocity of 1550 feet per second. That’s 24 percent faster than standard 10mm ammo. As a result, it produces a ballistic gel wound cavity that’s identical to a 240-grain JHP fired from a .44 Magnum revolver—while producing less recoil than heavy 200-grain 10mm bullets. 

Types of 10mm Pistols

Though the field of 10mm pistols is much more limited than that of the 9mm class, it gains depth every year. Initially, 1911-style pistols like the Colt Delta Elite and Browning Hi-Power-type pistols like the Bren Ten populated a limited field of 10mms. The Glock G20 was introduced in 1991 and was one of the few common 10mm pistols. The Gen 5 G20 is still one of the best. In the past few years, just about every manufacturer has jumped on board. Now we have everything from the Sig Sauer P320 XTen to the FN 510 Tactical. Most of these are full-size pistols, but there are a few compacts like the Glock G29 and, one of my favorites, the Springfield XD-M Elite Compact. The average full-size 10mm striker-fired pistol has a magazine that holds 15 rounds, and compact versions usually hold 10 or 11 rounds. Most 10mm 1911s have a magazine capacity of eight rounds.

9mm vs 10mm for Self Defense

When considering any firearm or caliber for self defense, you need to account for your surroundings and what you might be defending yourself against. The 10mm cartridge is an excellent self defense performer, but extra power isn’t always an advantage. Are you primarily concerned with defense against bad-guy attackers, rogue aggressive dogs on your jogging route, bears on a backcountry hunt, or something else? Do you want to have both a 9mm and 10mm for different applications, or just one gun? Is the recoil of the 10mm detrimental to your shooting confidence? 

Defense Against Bad Guys

The 9mm cartridge has some clear advantages when it comes to defense against human threats. As mentioned before, there’s a much wider array of 9mm pistols to choose from, practice ammo is cheaper, and recoil is softer. The 9mm pistol options are a much better fit for everyday concealed carry. Both experienced shooters and novices will be able to shoot a 9mm more accurately, quickly, and with more confidence than the beefier 10mm. Any 9mm pistol of a given size will have greater ammunition capacity than its 10mm counterpart, too. 

Modern 9mm defensive ammunition is superb, and the differences in the terminal performance of 9mm vs 10mm aren’t terribly far apart. With good shot placement, you’re just as well off with a nine. For most people the 9mm will be a better choice for EDC self defense, but the extra power of the 10mm is certainly worth considering. Defensive 10mm ammo is just as good as 9mm ammo, and designed to reduce over-penetration. The 10mm might not be the best choice for most, but it’s never a bad choice. If you can shoot it proficiently, it will serve you well.

Defense in the Backcountry

A huge boost to the popularity of the 10mm is the trend of foregoing the traditionally accepted .44 Magnum (or larger) revolver in favor of the lighter, higher-capacity 10mm for bear defense. The 10mm has generated a pretty good track record of defense against grizzlies and brown bears, and a 10mm is much easier to carry and shoot accurately. Not only that, the 10mm is more affordable and pleasant to practice with. 

Any pistol used for backcountry defense is essentially just better than nothing. Sure, pistols are very effective when used appropriately, but that requires practice and situational awareness. All handguns offer inferior terminal performance compared to a rifle (even everyone’s favorite punching bag, the 6.5 Creedmoor). Handguns are harder to shoot accurately and simply lack the velocity to do real rifle-like damage. That said, the 10mm has a clear advantage over the 9mm when it comes to one of the two most important factors for a bear defense handgun: penetration. Ideally, we want a big wound cavity and penetration, but we usually have to settle for penetration alone. The other most important factor is shootability. Yes, the 9mm is easier to shoot than the 10mm, but in comparison to large revolver cartridges, the 10mm is a sweetheart to shoot.

Read Next: Springfield Armory Echelon, Tested and Reviewed

Heavy, hard-cast bullets are the classic option for bear defense. However, that has changed a bit with the new monolithic, fluted bullets. They weigh less and have higher velocities. Since they don’t deform, they penetrate well and produce good wound cavities.

Go With the Gun You Can Shoot Well

Some people struggle to stay proficient with a harder-kicking cartridge like the 10mm. For them, the 9mm might be the best option. Remember, you can’t stop a bear if you can’t hit it. Sometimes you’ll need to hit a bear multiple times to stop an attack. I know of three instances here in Alaska where a 9mm was successfully used to kill an aggressive brown bear. If you must go that route, shoot a heavy, deep-penetrating cast or monolithic bullet. 

FAQ

Final Thoughts

The 9mm and 10mm are excellent cartridges, and I shoot both extensively. I favor the 9mm in EDC situations where I simply want a compact gun that I can shoot well. For me, the 10mm is a better option for carrying on hunting or fishing trips where a problematic bear encounter might occur. Each cartridge has advantages and disadvantages, but what’s really important when you’re pondering 9mm vs 10mm is that practice, proficiency, and proper ammunition selection are far more important than which cartridge you choose.

The post 9mm vs 10mm: Which Handgun Cartridge Is Superior? appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

With different shot materials, pellet shapes, and configurations available, wildfowling has become as much a science as it is a sport. Many hunters may be puzzled as to which load is best for their duck and goose hunting. Shot like Kent’s Tungsten Matrix and Environ-Metal’s Classic Doubles are for older shotguns, but then there’s Black Cloud, Blind Side, and Hevi Shot, which makes selection more difficult.

How to Choose the Best Duck Loads

These guidelines, broken down by species and size, should make shell buying easier.

1. Small Ducks

Teal

Kent TealSteel 12 ga., 3-in., 1,350 fps, 1¼ oz., No. 5 & 6 steel

• Effective Range: 30 yards
• Recoil: 35 ft.-lb.
• MSRP: $13/25 rounds

Because of this speedster’s size and erratic flight, small pellets are desirable to fill a wide pattern from a Skeet- or Improved Cylinder–­choked gun.

2. Medium Ducks

Gadwalls, Wood Ducks, Wigeon, Scaup

Federal Black Cloud 12 ga., 3-in., 1,450 fps, 1¼ oz., No. 3

Also consider Winchester DryLok: 12 ga., 3-in., 1,265 fps, 1 3/8 oz., No. 4; or Kent Fasteel: 12 ga., 3-in., 1,300 fps, 1 3/8 oz., No. 3

• Effective Range: 50 yards
• Recoil: 39 ft.-lb.
• MSRP: $23/25 rounds

For medium-size ducks over decoys or close passing shots, the traditional 3-inch load of 1¼ ounces of No. 3s provides good pattern density and power over normal ranges; also an excellent all-around swatter load.

3. Large Ducks

duck load 3 cropped

Mallards, Canvasbacks, Small Sea Ducks, Small Geese (Cacklers and Ross’ Geese)

Remington HyperSonic Steel 12 ga., 3-in., 1,700 fps, 1¼ oz., No. 2

• Effective Range: 50 yards
• Recoil: 52 ft.-lb.
• MSRP: $26/25 rounds

The high velocity delivered by this load increases the effective killing range on large ducks. However, don’t be tempted to stretch your gun barrel beyond ranges at which you shoot well.

4. Large Geese

Canadas and Large Sea Ducks

Hevi-Shot Speed Ball 12 ga., 3-in., 1,635 fps, 1¼ oz., No. 1

• Effective Range: 50 yards
• Recoil: 48 ft.-lb.
• MSRP: $25/10 rounds

These tungsten-steel pellets pack the heavy punch often needed to bag Canadas and tough sea ducks like eiders and scoters. They’re expensive but worth it to ensure clean kills.

Note: To put the recoil data in perspective, a light 1 1/8 oz. 12-gauge target load at 1,145 fps generates 21.38 ft.-lb. of recoil.

Advantages of Using a 20-Gauge for Waterfowl

Nontoxic shot became the law of the land just as I came of age as a waterfowler. How I recall my father’s panic. Alarmed by steel shot’s vast ballistic inefficiency, he and plenty of others formulated a seemingly commonsense plan: If we have to shoot steel, we may as well launch as much downrange as possible. Thus the 12-gauge, 3 ½-inch magnum came into favor.

Meanwhile, ammo manufacturers continued to load steel in the same powder-to-shot ratios as lead duck loads, which simply didn’t work. At traditional muzzle velocities, 1 ½ ounces of steel quickly decelerates to mere feather-ruffling speed.

Read Next: Best Duck Hunting Shotguns

A Viable Option

My, how two decades of innovation have changed matters. Manufacturers reduced the steel payload for 12-gauge loads to 1 ¼- or even 1 ¹⁄₈ ounces, and sped it way up. Pellet count was compromised, but terminal energy went through the roof.

Nowadays, I sense little disadvantage in shooting steel. In fact, I’ll argue that the 20-gauge is once again a perfectly reasonable choice for the duck blind. Your wallet certainly won’t argue. A quick scan of prices at my local sporting goods store revealed boxes of 3-inch, 20-gauge shells retailing for $3 to $5 less than 3-inch, 12-gauge boxes, and about $10 less than the 3 ½-inch, 12-gauge. Shoot a 20-gauge for a season or two, and suddenly your budget might allow for new decoys.

Is the 20-gauge an ideal choice for pass-shooting giant Canadas? Heck no! But on decoying ducks—25- to 30-yard shots and under—it’s deadly. Additionally, with proper pattern testing, this range allows the use of No. 4 shot, boosting the pellet count to numbers that compare or exceed many 12-gauge No. 2 loads.

The Numbers Game

One 3-inch, 20-gauge load that impresses me is Federal’s Black Cloud. Pellet count on 1 ounce of No. 4s is 192, surpassing the 156 pellets found in Black Cloud’s 12-gauge, 3-inch, 1 ¼-ounce load of No. 2s. Then there’s Winchester’s Blind Side line. With its stacked Hex steel shot, the pellet count for the 3-inch, 20-gauge, 1 ¹⁄₁₆-ounce load of No. 2 shot is 138. That’s quite comparable to the 172 No. 2 pellets found in a Winchester Drylok Super Steel 12-gauge, 3-inch, 1 ³⁄₈-ounce load.

The 20-gauge’s pellet-density gap is further narrowed by the unique wad designs found in the Blind Side and Black Cloud loads, which stay with the payload far longer than traditional wads. The result is a shorter shot string and a tighter, more consistent pattern—in other words, a much more ballistically efficient shotshell.

This is not to suggest I prefer a 20-gauge for all conditions. However, if you intend to hunt a creek, pond, or slough—and you know your shotgun’s limits—there are plenty of good reasons to break out the 20-gauge.

The post Best Duck Loads: How to Pick the Right Shell for the Right Bird appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo		Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain	SEE IT
Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo		Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point	SEE IT
Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo		Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain	SEE IT

Although it’s similar in ballistic performance to the .35 Remington and .357 Maximum, the .350 Legend was a witty grab at a whitetail hunting market that’s purely the result of regulation—straight-wall states and counties. The prospect of a compact straight wall cartridge that delivers more energy than a .30/30 with low recoil, and functions in standard ARs struck a chord with many hunters. Any new cartridge’s success and acceptance depends partly on the availability of ammo—something that’s anything but certain these days. Fortunately, Winchester (who developed the cartridge) threw their weight behind producing a high volume of .350 Legend deer ammo. If this test looks a bit like a Winchester show, it’s because they have put out a wider variety of .350 Legend ammo than any other manufacturer. How good is that ammo? That’s what I intended to find out.

• Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo: Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain
• Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo: Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point
• Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo: Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain
• Hornady American Whitetail 170-grain
• Federal Power Shok 180-grain
• Winchester Deer Season XP 150-grain
• Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed

.350 Legend Ammo is Versatile and Shockingly Accurate

Despite some existing straight-wall cartridges that match or slightly outperform the .350 Legend in raw ballistics, the Legend is better suited for modern firearms. This doesn’t mean that those cartridges aren’t great, but there’s a reason the .350 Legend has become popular. As much as some folks believe that it’s all marketing hype, the .350 Legend’s design gives it two advantages that set it up for success—using a .355-inch diameter bullet and having a rebated rim that fits a standard AR bolt face.

Unlike older rimmed cartridges (or the .35 Rem.), it’s both an easy fit for any modern rifle, and legal under straight-wall regulations. The .355-inch diameter bullet might not make sense to some, but it allows the production and easy handloading of cheap plinking and practice ammo—using regular old 9mm FMJ bullets.

I had measured expectations for the accuracy of available .350 Legend ammo and was shocked at how tightly most of the rifles and ammunition grouped. I tested six .350 Legend rifles, and was able to shoot seven different types of ammo through them, using a five-shot-group protocol. Overall, the .350 Legend ammo and rifles averaged a group size of 1.78 inches (counting all groups fired), which was more accurate than the .308 ammo I tested in 11 different rifles.  Those had a total average group size of 2.02 inches. The average group size doesn’t necessarily reflect how the ammo will shoot in your rifle, but how it did across a range of rifles. The standard deviation gives you an idea of the variation of that accuracy. A load that shoots really well in one rifle and really poorly in another will have a high standard deviation.

I didn’t expect ultra-tight groups from any of the .350 Legend ammo, but four loads turned in sub-MOA five-shot groups and averaged just over an inch in rifles that preferred them. Overall accuracy was excellent and consistent for a cartridge that will typically be limited to under 200 yards. It’s notable that these exceptional results are with non-premium ammunition.

Things to Consider When Buying .350 Legend Ammo

Application

Although the cartridge was designed with a narrow focus on deer hunting, it would make a great hog gun, plinker, or even defensive rifle when chambered in an AR. Most of the ammunition you’ll find is intended for deer, and it’s all pretty accurate. That ammo would work well on hogs too, but for other purposes you can find full metal jacketed ammo, defensive hollowpoints, and subsonic loads (which are excellent when using a suppressor).

Cost

As with many products, you generally get what you pay for when it comes to rifle ammunition. In this case, the most accurate and consistent ammo was at the top for price, but even the cheaper .350 Legend deer ammo shot very well. For most purposes within the purview of the .350 Legend’s capabilities, the cheaper hunting ammo should work just fine.

Winchester Power Max Bonded 160-grain

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Award: Best Overall .350 Legend Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.42 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .48 inches

Why It Made the Cut

The 160-grain Power Max Bonded load was the most accurate .350 Legend ammo tested, and has a bonded bullet that expands rapidly.

Key Features

• Protected hollowpoint
• Notched jacket
• Bonded jacket and Core
• Velocity: 2,225 fps

Pros

• Great accuracy
• Rapid expansion
• Bonded bullet gives deep penetration
• Good for hunting a variety of game

Cons

• Big hollow point doesn’t help trajectory

Product Description

The .350 Legend’s wheelhouse is 150 yards (and less), on medium sized game, and the Winchester 160-grain Power Max Bonded fits it wonderfully. At its lower velocities, a rapidly expanding, deep-penetrating bullet is idea, and that’s what you get with this jacketed hollow point .350 Legend ammo. The core and jacket are bonded together in this bullet, but the protected hollow point and segmented jacket expand rapidly—even at lower velocities.

The overall accuracy of the .350 Legend ammo I tested was good, but this stuff was right at the top. In one rifle, it averaged 1.25-inch five-shot groups at 100 yards. That’s something that several .308 and .270 Win. loads I’ve been testing can’t claim.

This .350 Legend ammo is a little slower than some 180-grain loads and should really be used within 150 yards. At 2,225 feet per second, the trajectory isn’t impressive. If you zero two inches high at 100 yards, you’ll be about two inches low at 150 yards, and seven inches low at 200 yards. Despite that lower velocity, it should deliver excellent terminal performance and would make a great black bear load at short range.

Winchester Super X 180-grain Power Point

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Award: Best Value .350 Legend Deer Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.87 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .58 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This Ammo wasn’t a standout in any single area, but was accurate, has a good bullet, and—at $27 per box—is some of the most affordable .350 Legend Deer Ammo available.

Key Features

• 180-grain soft point bullet
• Bonded jacket and core
• Velocity: 2225 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Good expansion
• Great all-purpose hunting bullet
• Affordable

Cons

• Deflected easily by brush

Product Description

Winchester’s Super X line has long been a bread-and-butter ammo for deer hunters, and it’s no different with .350 Legend ammo. In fact, this .350 Legend load is one of the most accurate Super X Power Point loads I’ve tried in any caliber in a while. This simple 180-grain lead-alloy core soft point is a cup-and-core bullet with a notched jacket to aid expansion.  

The non-bonded bullet should retain a high percentage of weight at its lower velocities, especially beyond 100 yards. The .355-inch, 180-grain bullet isn’t very aerodynamic, so it sheds velocity fast—part of the reason cartridges like this are deemed less-apt to travel long distances should they ricochet. With a 100-yard zero, this load will drop almost 10 inches at 200 yards. Set your zero two or three inches high at 100 yards, and you can still be effective to 200, but 150 yards is a more realistic maximum point-blank range.

The accuracy of the 180-grain Super X Power Point wasn’t exceptional, but it was adequate for the basic deer ammo that it is. The Winchester XPR Stealth SR averaged 1.12-inch 5-shot groups with this ammo, which was exceptional. In every rifle tested, accuracy was more than sufficient for the effective range of the cartridge. Because the .355-inch bullet is broad and relatively slow, you might be tempted to poke through some light brush with it—don’t. I did some thorough brush bullet testing and despite the old .35 Remington’s reputation as a “brush buster,” bullets are easily deflected by small twigs and brush.

Winchester Copper Impact 150-grain Extreme Point

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Award: Best Copper .350 Legend Ammo

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 2.02 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .90 inches

Why It Made the Cut

Although some other mono-metal .350 Legend ammo is trickling out, Winchester’s 150-grain Copper Impact is the most available. It’s deep-penetrating, accurate, and lead-free.

Key Features

• All-copper bullet
• Solid base with tipped hollow point
• Large polymer tip to initiate expansion
• Velocity: 2260 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• Lead-free construction
• Excellent weight retention
• Suitable for large game

Cons

• Some rifles can be picky with these bullets
• Expensive

Product Description

As in the name, the Extreme Point Copper Impact bullet is immediately noticeable by its large, pointed, translucent red polymer tip. Part of Winchester’s larger Copper Impact line, this lead-free .350 Legend ammo features an all-copper expanding bullet with that notable tip. The bullet itself is monolithic with a solid base and a wide-diameter hollow point. The large polymer tip sits inside that hollow point, making the bullet more aerodynamic and initiating rapid expansion.

Like other .350 Legend loads, this one is in its prime out to 150 yards. Get beyond that and your trajectory and expansion will begin to drop dramatically. Being that the cartridge is designed for whitetail deer hunting, that’s perfectly suitable. The all-copper bullet will retain almost all its weight and deliver great penetration.

Copper bullets have come a long way in terms of accuracy, but they can still be a little unpredictable. In all the rifles tested, the Copper Impact shot pretty well—except for one rifle that averaged 4.5-inch groups with it. Take those groups out, and the average group size was 1.83 inches. Two of the rifles I tested it in averaged 1.3-1.4 inches, and the Henry Single Shot fired sub-MOA three-shot groups, opening up regularly with all ammo on rounds four and five. Because of the copper projectiles, this .350 Legend ammo is some of the most expensive, but the performance can be worth it.

Hornady American Whitetail 170-grain

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.71 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .63 inches

Why It Made the Cut

Hornady’s 170-grain American Whitetail .350 Legend ammo is an accurate, good-quality deer round at a great price.

Key Features

• 170-grain soft point
• Secant ogive design for better ballistics
• Designed for easy expansion and good weight retention
• Velocity: 2200 fps

Pros

• Good accuracy
• High weight retention
• Bullet profile gives a good trajectory
• Excellent price at $29 per box

Cons

• Mediocre accuracy in most rifles, no standouts

Product Description

Hornady’s American Whitetail line is intended to bring good quality deer ammo at an affordable price. In that line, the .350 Legend ammo does just that. There aren’t many frills here, just a soft point and the dependable Interlock bullet which features a locking ring inside the jacket that keep the core from separating during expansion.

One interesting feature of the .355-inch interlock is that it has a secant ogive design—it’s gradually rounded nose profile—that gives this bullet a better trajectory than many other .350 Legend bullets. Even with the same velocity as other loads tested, this ammo gives the shooter a little bit more effective range. If zeroed two inches high at 100 yards, you should only be impacting two and a half inches low at 200 yards.

This .350 Legend ammo’s accuracy wasn’t bad, but it’s middle-of-the-pack. Many loads excelled in one or two rifles, but this one just shot a reliable good average. At only $29 per box, it’s one of the most affordable varieties of .350 Legend deer ammo.

Federal Power Shok 180-grain

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.97 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .70 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This .350 Legend ammo is a good combination of accuracy, terminal performance, and affordability. It has a 180-grain soft-point expanding bullet and costs about $30 per box.

Key Features

• 180-grain bullet
• Lead soft point
• Velocity: 2100 fps

Pros

• Good expansion
• Good trajectory
• Affordable

Cons

• Accuracy was ok, not great

Product Description

Federal’s Power Shok 180-grain is another affordable .350 Legend deer ammo that performs well. The soft-point Power Shok bullet isn’t bonded, but it’s designed to give good expansion. It’s heavy enough to maintain weight at .350 Legend velocities. Simple, affordable, and reliable is what puts meat in the pot for most hunters, and this fits the bill.

This .350 Legend ammo has a slightly better trajectory than some of its competitors, dropping only about four and a half inches between 100 and 200 yards. That seems to be a pretty accurate claim, and if you sight two inches high at 100 yards, you’ll be about two and a half to three inches low at 200 yards. In other words, you can hold dead nuts and be right in the money out to the .350 Legend’s reasonable effective range.

The accuracy of the Federal Power Shok wasn’t as tight as many of the other loads, but it’s about what I expected from the .350 Legend, so I don’t find it disappointing. Some other loads simply surprised me. Averaging just about two inches for five-shot groups at 100 yards is completely sufficient for any deer or hog hunting you’d do with one of these rifles.

Winchester Deer Season XP 150-grain

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.60 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .74 inches

Why It Made the Cut

This .350 Legend deer ammo was surprisingly accurate in a number of rifles and is built for rapid expansion and terminal performance on whitetails.

Key Features

• 150-grain Extreme Point bullet
• Large-diameter polymer tip
• Lead core
• Velocity: 2325 fps

Pros

• Great Accuracy
• Dramatic expansion
• Ideal for deer or black bears
• Good trajectory

Cons

• Likely wouldn’t have the best penetration on larger game

Product Description

Like the Copper Impact, this Extreme Point .350 Legend ammo has a large-diameter polymer tip that’s designed to initiate rapid expansion. Unlike the Copper Impact, this Deer Season XP ammo has a cup-and-core lead-core bullet. The bullet also features a notched jacket that guides expansion, and the higher velocity of this ammo gives it a more reasonable 200-yard effective range than some other Winchester loads.

Coming out of the muzzle at 2325 feet per second, the bullet has about seven and a half inches of drop between 100 and 200 yards. If you zero about 3 inches high at 100, you will be able to hold slightly above middle of a deer’s vitals and hit them reliably at 200 yards. The easy-expanding design of the bullet will ensure that you get good terminal performance at slightly slower downrange velocities.

Although the Deer Season XP wasn’t the most accurate ammo in the test, I was consistently impressed with the accuracy of this .350 Legend ammo, and it averaged 1.1-inch five-shot groups in two different rifles. That accuracy is important when shooting at or near 200 yards because the trajectory of the .350 Legend doesn’t offer much ballistic forgiveness.

Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Average 5-Shot Group Size: 1.74 inches

Standard Deviation in Group Size: .69 inches

Why It Made the Cut
The .350 Legend is an excellent cartridge to suppress, and it’s perfect for heavy subsonic bullets. The Winchester 255-grain Super Suppressed ammo is accurate, effective, and whisper-quiet.

Key Features

• 255-grain bullet
• Jacket designed to reduce suppressor fouling
• Open tip for expansion
• Velocity: 1060 fps

Pros

• Great accuracy for a subsonic
• Ideal subsonic suppressed cartridge
• Open tip helps with expansion
• Ultra-quiet with a suppressor

Cons

• Not the best choice for hunting big game
• Poor trajectory

Product Description

The .350 Legend is already a good cartridge to suppress, and supersonic loads take to a suppressor well. In fact, some of them showed better accuracy when shot through a can in my testing. A benefit of the cartridge like the .350 Legend is the ability to seamlessly handle both supersonic and subsonic bullets. This wide-diameter 255-grain open-tip bullet carries a lot of mass and is very quiet. The open tip isn’t deep, and probably won’t give dramatic expansion, but subsonic ammo doesn’t deliver dramatic terminal performance anyway.

Through the Ruger American Ranch Rifle, the Super Suppressed delivered an excellent 1.33-inch five-shot average group size. The trajectory is anemic, and that slow bullet drops like a rock between 50 and 100 yards. Beyond that, it drops off even faster (as subsonics do). An upside is that this .350 Legend ammo (and .350 Legends in general) don’t seem to heat up barrels and suppressors nearly as fast as other rifle ammo—even .300 BLK.

The 255-grain Super Suppressed would not be an ideal big-game hunting ammo simply because subsonics don’t perform to the same level on game that supersonic bullets do. I’m sure it would be hell on hogs and small game though.

How We Tested .350 Legend Ammo

To test the accuracy and functionality of this .350 Legend ammo, I used it in conjunction with my test of six .350 Legend Rifles. I fired five-shot groups at 100 yards from sandbags on a bench. Groups were fired in succession without breaking position (when possible) and barrels were allowed to cool completely between groups. I recorded a minimum of six groups per load, depending on available ammo. For most selections, I recorded between 15 and 25 groups. Average overall group size is listed here, as well as the standard deviation in group size. Most rifles had their preferred loads, but ammo with small standard deviation shot relatively uniformly in all rifles.

FAQs

Read Next: The Best .308 Hunting Ammo of 2022

Final Thoughts On .350 Legend Ammo

Living far, far away from any straight-wall cartridge restrictions, I never gave the .350 Legend a second thought. I still don’t have a specialized use for one in Alaska but shooting this ammo and these rifles have made me appreciate the cartridge’s accuracy and versatility for those who do live in those areas.

The accuracy of these loads impressed me thoroughly. None of them are premium or target loads built specifically for accuracy, but it’s probably the most accurate batch of regular ammunition in any cartridge that I’ve recently tested. I don’t think you could really go wrong with any of this ammunition.

The post The Best .350 Legend Ammo appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This is the first in a two-part installment on the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge.

The Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge is arguably the most difficult long-range match in the world. It is held each year on a large ranch near Glenrock, Wyoming. Competitors come from all over the globe for the opportunity to pit their skills against each other and the demanding course of fire, which consists of steel targets arrayed from 800 yards out beyond 2,000.

It’s safe to say that the skill set of the assembled collection of shooters is unrivaled—at least as far as long-range shooting at steel under practical field conditions goes. And yet, the majority of the 300 shooters who participated head home after the two-day ordeal feeling beat to a pulp by the experience.

Simply put, the competition is brutally unforgiving. If there’s any weakness in your gear, load development, marksmanship skills, trajectory calculations, wind calling, or mental focus, this match will expose and exploit it to your detriment. It’s a meat grinder, but that’s part of its appeal.

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performing PRCs

While you won’t win this match through preparation alone, it is certain that you will lose—and badly—if you don’t put your time in before the range goes hot that first morning.

Every high-level shooting competition requires a degree of prep, but with matches as demanding as the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge it takes on an extra level of urgency.

The following is a rundown of what I did in the weeks and months prior to making the 450-mile drive from my home to Glenrock.

Team Effort

Even though I’d be shooting the match as an individual, during the preparation process I worked closely with a group of friends who I planned to squad with. This included Scott Seigmund, the vice president of Accuracy International of North America, some of Scott’s AI team shooters I’ve come to know over the years, and two of my buddies from Montana—Chris Gittings and Owen Koeppen who were competing in the team division. Shawn Burkholder, the owner of Hawk Hill Custom Barrels, also joined our crew.

.300 PRC Bandwagon

Scott and his boys shot .300 PRCs the year prior and had good success with that round so Chris, Owen, and I decided to shoot it as well. In previous Nightforce ELR matches Chris shot 6.5s (both the 6.5 SAUM and 6.5 PRC) and had several podium finishes.

But the consensus was that the .30-cal magnums—the .300 Norma Mag., .300 PRC and some .300 Win. Mags.—had an edge over the 6.5s at the location where the match is currently held.

The two main reasons for this are the high winds at the ranch—it is smack dab in the middle of a wind farm—and the thick sagebrush cover that dominates the landscape. The big .30-cal bullets handle the wind better than the 6.5s, while the sagebrush makes it more difficult to spot misses. The smaller 6.5s get eaten up by the foliage more readily than the harder-hitting .30s.

Cartridge Components

Not only were we all shooting the .300 PRC, but we planned to all use the same components for our handloads, which we acquired in bulk. Our bullet of choice was Hornady’s 230-grain A-Tip, which is one of the best .308-caliber match bullets on the market. It is blessed with a high BC (.823 G1, .414 G7) and like other A-Tips it is manufactured to exacting tolerances to minimize variations from one projectile to the next.

ADG Brass

For brass, we turned to Atlas Development Group, which makes excellent high-quality cases. I’ve used ADG brass many times over the years, including in my ultimate open-country rifle build, and have had nothing but excellent results.

AI AXSR Chassis Rifle and Hawk Hill Customs Barrel

Most everyone on the squad was shooting Accuracy International AXSRs, which are among the best sniper rifles currently fielded by military and law enforcement and are one of the most accurate rifles period. Scott got us lined up with barrels from Hawk Hill Customs. With a 1:9 twist, those 30-inch barrels had no problems propelling the 230s at 3000 fps.

But as you’ve no doubt heard, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Running cartridges full tilt is a risky proposition in a high-volume long-range match. Performance tends to get more inconsistent at the ragged edge of maximum velocities and the chances of getting a case stuck, blowing a primer, or experiencing some other calamities go way up.

Instead, we all set a target velocity of 2940 fps, which is more than respectable and would keep our bullets supersonic well past 2,000 yards in the thin Wyoming air, but which was also mild enough to diminish the chance of some mid-stage mishap.

Hodgdon H1000 Powder

I helped secure 64 pounds of the same lot of H1000 for our group. I’ll tell you what, I was feeling a little cocky about that coup. That powder, one of the mainstays for long-range magnums, has been unobtainium since the global pandemic.

All of us running the same cartridge using the same batch of bullets, the same type of brass, and the same lot of powder—at the same speed no less—was going to make our collective load development a snap and give us an edge over much of the field. As I’ll get to in a bit, it turns out my celebratory cork-popping was premature.

Gun Prep

Whether you’re getting ready for deer season or prepping for a big match, it makes sense to go over your gear with a fine-toothed comb—particularly your rifle and scope.

I had been shooting my AXSR a fair bit in the months prior to the match, leveraging its multi-caliber capabilities to test 6.5 PRC and 7 PRC ammunition. Even so, I stripped it down, gave all the fasteners and components a thorough cleaning and inspection and reassembled it.

To make sure my scope—a Nightforce ATACR 7-35×56 with the Mil-XT reticle—was dead nuts level in its Spuhr mount, I used a Short Action Customs’ Final Scope Level and Accessory Kit.

That SAC scope level has been a game changer for me. When shooting at extreme long range, even the slightest cant in the reticle will throw your trajectory off. In conjunction with the plumb line in the accessory kit, the leveling base lets you set the orientation of the reticle so that it is perfectly vertical.

Barrel Break-In

Before I got down to the serious business of load development, I needed to break in my new barrel. There are numerous schools of thought about how to break in a barrel, or whether it even makes a difference.

For most applications, particularly with hunting rifles and rifles that will be shot mostly within 1,000 yards, I’m skeptical about the benefits of an ornate break-in procedure. But there’s no doubt that a barrel will speed up after a certain number of rounds and making sure it has stabilized its velocities is critical for generating precise ballistic calculations.

In light of that, I decided to follow Scott Seigmund’s recommendation, which was to break in the barrel over the course of the first 100 rounds. Here’s his method:

1. Shoot five rounds and clean (repeat four times for 20 rounds total; cleaning procedure below)
2. Shoot 10 rounds and clean (repeat four times, bringing the round count to 60)
3. Shoot 20 rounds and clean (repeat twice, for a total of 100 rounds)

Velocity Gain

I shot factory Hornady 212-grain ELD-X ammunition during the break in. The first 30 shots were consistent, averaging 2920 fps. Then the barrel sped up. I chronographed the next three groups of 10 shots at 2935, 2938 and 2939 fps, for an average of 2937 fps. I got another bump with the next 40 shots, where the barrel sped up to 2952 fps.

I was 100 shots into the process, but didn’t feel my barrel had totally settled in. So, I shot two more 10-shot groups and recorded an average velocity of 2965 fps. At this point, the barrel had gained 45 fps.

I needed to start developing my load for the match since my time was limited, but every time I cleaned the barrel during that process I’d shoot more of the factory ammo, which was all from the same case, to see if the barrel picked up more speed.

When all was said and done, that factory ammo shot 3004 fps on average, for a total velocity gain of 84 fps.

Cleaning Procedure

When it was time to clean, I removed my Thunder Beast 338 Ultra SR suppressor and unscrewed the barrel from the chassis. That’s accomplished by loosening a 4mm set screw on the side of the chassis and then using a 1-inch wrench that fits in the flats machined in the barrel a couple inches below the muzzle.

Being able to pull the barrel so easily made cleaning a snap. I’d spray some Hoppe’s Elite down the bore and then push a couple wet patches with my .30-caliber jag and cleaning rod. After letting that soak for a few minutes, I’d switch to a rod with a copper brush and give it 10 strokes back and forth. (When using a brush, always wet the bristles with solvent first.)

After that I’d run three wet patches through the barrel. The first one would be filthier than a USMC Sergeant’s mouth while inspecting his platoon. The second is always moderately dirty. And the third should be more or less clean.

At this point you have a decision to make. The fouling from the powder has all been removed, as has most of the copper. But if you want to really get as much copper out of the bore as possible (I did), let the barrel sit for a while so the solvent can really work. Wait at least five minutes (10 to 15 minutes is even better) and run another wet patch down the bore. If the patch comes out bright blue, it means you’re still removing copper. Repeat this process until the patch only has a hint of blue. (FYI, since many jags are brass, which contains copper, you’ll get some blue on your patch no matter how little copper remains in the bore.)

Accuracy Gain

During break in, I also measured every group the factory ammo produced. I started by shooting and measuring five-shot groups (since that was the cleaning interval), but then switched to 10-shot groups, which is a better representation of the rifle’s performance. It’s also in keeping with the round counts during the match, where you might shoot up to eight rounds a stage.

I wasn’t expecting magic at this point since those groups were all shot from a cold, thoroughly cleaned barrel—but I was curious to see how those factory 212 ELD-Xs performed.

The first group through the virgin barrel was an encouraging .773 inches. But the next three groups opened up to 1.210 inches on average.

At this point, I shifted to 10-shot groups. The barrel definitely tightened up. The next 70 shots of 10-shot groups averaged 1.18 inches. Under normal circumstances, going from a 5- to 10-shot group will see a bump in group size of about 25 percent. So the fact that groups with twice as many shots had an average dispersion just as tight, is a good thing.

Then my last three 10-shot groups tightened up even more, averaging .928 inches. Between groups I’d let the barrel cool as long as it needed so that the area around the chamber was barely warm to the touch. At this point I was feeling pretty good.

Consistent Factory Ammo

One thing I noted about that factory Hornady ammo is that it shot consistently in terms of its velocities as well. The standard deviation of those first 120 shots (measured in shot strings that varied in sizes of 5, 10, and 20 rounds) was 14.8. That’s about as good as it gets with factory ammo.

Load Development

My fervent hope whenever developing a load is that it progresses smoothly and quickly toward eye-popping accuracy. I thought the cards were tipped in our collective favor with our .300 PRCs for several reasons. One, Scott and his team shot a similar load the year before with good results. Two, we were all pulling on the same oars by virtue of having identical components. Three, our aggregate experience with long-range shooting and precision handload spans many decades.

With stars in my eyes and hope in my heart I got to work at my reloading bench.

Brass Prep

All brass, no matter how expertly crafted, has a certain amount of variation from one piece to the next. You can see that in neck wall thickness, headspace (most commonly measured from the case head to the mid point on the shoulder on bottle neck centerfire cartridges), overall length, neck diameter, and so on. Necks in particular are susceptible to dings that throw them out of round, so before loading it makes sense to run them through a mandrel to make them uniform and concentric.

After taking my initial measurements on 10 pieces of brass, I ran them through a neck mandrel on my Forster Co-Ax. I then trimmed the brass to a uniform length on a Giraud Power Trimmer, which also chamfers the interior and exterior of the neck.

I was pretty happy with the results, but as my load testing went on I felt there was room for improvement. I added a step of running the new unfired brass (I had 400 pieces total) through a SAC Sizing Die with a .333-inch neck/shoulder bushing.

This uniformed my brass beautifully in terms of neck diameter and shoulder length. A neck diameter of exactly .3335 inches on every case ensured my bullets would be gripped with the same amount of tension, which is critical for peak precision. Uniform shoulder setback is beneficial for consistency too.

Here’s some extra information for those who might care. The degree of constriction on my bullets—meaning the difference between the bullet diameter (.308 inches) and the interior diameter of the neck (.3055 inches)—was .0025 inches. Generally speaking, neck constriction between .002 and .004 inches is a smart bet—so .0025 inches is right on the money. To calculate the interior diameter of the neck you take the exterior diameter—in this case .3335 inches—and subtract twice the neck wall thickness, which on the ADG brass averages .014 inches. So: .3335 inches – .028 inches = .3055 inches. 

Ladder Testing

There’s a lot of hokum around how to conduct a ladder test and what the significance of it is. The common wisdom is that you shoot small samples of different charge weights and measure their velocities to find flat spots, or “nodes,” in the results. The theory is that a flat spot indicates forgiveness in the charge weight—meaning you can be off in your powder charge by a tenth or two of a grain, and still have similar muzzle velocities.

I have some good news and some bad news here. The bad news is that this theory is a pile of hot garbage. These nodes don’t exist. When reloaders think they’ve come across a node all it really indicates is that their sample size is too small.

Most reloaders will load only a small number of rounds at a given charge weight. Sometimes, that number is as small as one, but rarely does anyone load more than five rounds at each weight. This is done to save time, money, and barrel life. 

But for gathering statistically valid data, these sample sizes are insufficient. I’ve done a lot of searching for these nodes with three- and five-shot samples. I noticed that when I repeated the tests multiple times and overlaid the data that the velocities versus charge weight behaved in a linear fashion, the nodes disappeared. 

This has been borne out by my friends at Hornady—specifically Jayden Quinlan and Miles Neville—who are two of the company’s chief ballistic nerds. They’ve conducted controlled experiments with massive data sets that show these velocity nodes are a myth.

The good news about nodes is that you don’t need to bother looking for them. Instead, use your ladder test to simply arrive at a target velocity and then start testing for accuracy.

H1000: Old vs. New

My share of the 64 pounds of H1000 we got for the match was an eight-pound container. Because I like to gather data, I wanted to compare this new lot of H1000 against some of my older, pre-pandemic H1000.

I quickly saw there was a bit of a difference in my velocities. The older H1000 was about 25 fps faster per given charge weight than the new stuff. While 76.5 grains of the older lot got me around 2940 fps, it took 77.0 grains of the new H1000 to hit the same speed.

That didn’t concern me much, but the differences in accuracy did. My first efforts with the new H1000 didn’t impress me. I shot three five-shot groups that averaged 1.516 inches, which for this rifle and application is terrible. With the older powder I shot one five-shot group that measured a tidy .590 inches with an SD of 10.3, which was much more encouraging.

Testing Other Powders

The fact that the new H1000 powder didn’t seem to agree with my rifle and loads threw a monkey wrench into my vision of having our whole team running identical loads. Turns out my squad mates were having similar struggles finding a load that would be competitive in the match.

Some had better results when they switched from Federal 210M primers to CCI 250s. Their velocities got more consistent, and accuracy improved.

I didn’t have that option, as my primer selection was limited to the 210Ms. So I started messing around with other powders. I shot N565, Retumbo, N170, and Reloder 26, as well as more of my old lot of H1000.

I got the best results with N565 (.680-inch average), RL 26 (.710-inch average), and my old H1000 (.648-inch average). That data is based on multiple five-shot groups.

Final Match Load: 77.5 Grains of H1000

Because I had the most data with the old H1000 and had the best results, that’s where I focused my efforts. I was running out of time and needed to finalize the load in order to dial in my ballistic calculations.

I had shot a lot of groups with the older H1000 with charge weights from 72.9 grains to 78.0 grains. Across that broad range of velocities—which varied from 2775 fps to 2960 fps—my groups averaged the .648 inches, as mentioned above, and my SDs were right at 10.9.

Within that range I seemed to have better results between 76.0 grains and 78.0. At 78.0 grains the load was running a little hotter (2960 fps) than I cared for. But when I knocked .5 grains off that charge, I landed right at 2940 fps and everything tightened up. I shot six five-shot groups to confirm. The averages of my groups (.540 inches) and SDs (9.3) would be competitive.

It’s worth noting that during my struggles to find a good powder and powder charge, I burned through a lot of ammunition and spent a lot of time making the hour round-trip drive to my gun range. All told, the barrel break-in and the load development required 373 rounds to complete. That’s a good chunk of my 30-inch Hawk Hill’s barrel life, which based on how I run it should deliver peak performance for 1,600 rounds. I liked where I ended up, but I’ve never worked quite so hard to develop a load.

Reloading Equipment Used

To get peak accuracy from any handload you need to have consistent and concentric ammunition. In addition to the brass prep mentioned above, I used the following gear to craft my ammunition.

I primed my brass on a Primal Rights Competition Primer Seater. For speed and accuracy, no other priming system can match it. I can prime 100 cases in eight minutes on it, with all the primers seated to a precise depth, which the user can adjust. In the case of these .300 PRC rounds, I seated the 210Ms .003 inch below flush.

I threw my charges with my bank of three RCBS Matchmaster Powder Dispensers. They are capable of dispensing charges that are accurate to plus or minus a single kernel of powder and, once calibrated, are in perfect sync with each other. With three running at once it makes loading a couple hundred precision rifle rounds much quicker.

I seated the bullets in an Area 419 Zero Turret Press with a Redding Competition Seating Die. I replaced the seating stem that comes with the die with Redding’s VLD stem, which worked perfectly with the shape of the 230-grain A-Tips.

I don’t think I’ve ever loaded such concentric rounds. Measuring bullet runout on the ogive with a Sinclair Concentricity Gauge and Mitutoyo Digital Dial Indicator I had measurements as low as a fraction of a thousandth, with some maxing out at .002 inch, which is terrific.  

Cleaning the Bullets

Before seating the 230-grain A-Tips, I cleaned them using a technique Scott Seigmund told me about. This is necessary because A-Tips come from the factory with a coating of lube on them, which should be removed before loading.

Hornady ships the A-Tips with a felt Crown Royal-type bag you can use to wipe them down, but that gets old quick when you have dozens of rounds to load. Instead, spread out a lint-free shop rag and dump your bullets on it. Sprinkle acetone on the bullets and rag. Roll the rag like a burrito and grab both ends. Rock the bullets back and forth in the rag for a minute and that will remove the lubricant without damaging the projectiles.

Truing

Truing a load means different things to different shooters. I’m using it in the common, less-technical sense, meaning it is the process by which you get a ballistic calculator’s predicted results to line up with what you see the bullet do in the real world.

Since I burned through so much of my unfired ADG brass and supply of bullets during load development, I didn’t have much cushion to work with.

The course of fire for the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge has a maximum round count of 160 rounds and I had exactly 182 pieces of unfired brass left over. While I didn’t plan on shooting 160 rounds at the match, I didn’t want to tempt fate by rolling into Wyoming with a bare minimum of ammunition.

Shooting Groups at 100 and 600 Yards

I started by checking zero with three rounds at 100 yards, which hit dead center and measured .165 inches. I was shooting with Chris and Owen, who did the same thing. Happy with our results, we moved to the long-distance range.

We painted steel targets at 600 yards and got solutions from our Kestrels. At 2940 fps my elevation adjustment was 2.7 mils. I held for the 9 mph crosswind and shot a good group which indicated my calculated elevation correction was correct. So far, so good.

Chris’ and Owen’s loads were quite a bit slower than mine. Chris was pushing his 230s at 2830 fps while Owen was at 2885—an indication that we all had to go our own way to find what worked best in our rifles even though we were shooting the same components through barrels that were produced consecutively from the same batch of steel. They dialed their corrections and shot well at 600, too.

Stretching It to 1,000 Yards and Beyond

We had a handful of targets from 1,000 to 1,400 yards to shoot, and at 1,000 yards my data still looked good. I was running Applied Ballistics on a Kestrel 5700 Elite and Hornady’s 4DOF on my phone. In addition, I had a Sig Sauer Kilo10K-ABS rangefinding binocular with AB on board. I had to manually adjust the environmentals on the Sig 10K to accurately reflect the temperature, but once I did that all three units were basically in sync.

That said, I started to have difficulties on the 1,400-yard target. Chris and Owen were both spot on, but my shots weren’t grouping as tightly as they had been. My impacts were landing close to the target but not connecting. The only thing that took a hit was my confidence.

Had I gone through all this work only to end up with a rifle and load that dipped into mediocrity at longer distances—where the majority of the targets would be?

Desperation Time

Those thoughts were racing through my head as we packed our stuff to head home. I grabbed my rifle by the suppressor and felt it give a little, and my stomach lurched. I didn’t mention it to Chris and Owen, but told them I was going to do just a little more shooting and sent them on their way.

I don’t know when my suppressor had come loose, but it is one of the cardinal rules of long-range shooting to obsessively check your gear. In fact, Chris and I, who often partner during team shooting events, have a term for it. We call it doing a Macarena, as our hands go through a head-to-toe motion to make sure everything is in order on ourselves and our rifles before starting a stage.

After screwing the suppressor down tight, I reengaged the targets at 1,000 yards, 1,100 yards, and 1,400 yards. My shooting was tighter than a gnat’s nether regions. I was ready for Wyoming.

Running on Fumes

Expending those extra rounds was necessary but cost me some of my valuable remaining handloads. All told, I shot 53 rounds that day, and had fewer than 130 left for the match. 

As a backup, I reloaded some of my once-fired brass, but as you might know, there’s usually a difference in velocities between virgin brass and cases that have been previously fired. I think this is because virgin brass expands more than fire-formed brass in the chamber—even if it has been fully resized, which mine was. So, some of the powder charge goes to that effort, resulting in reduced muzzle velocities with virgin brass.

To compensate, I dropped the powder charge in those resized rounds by two-tenths of a grain and hoped they’d shoot as close to 2940 fps as possible. 

Final Thoughts

Despite spending a lot of time and resources preparing for the match, I was rolling into Glenrock with fewer rounds than was ideal. But there’s no shortcut when shooting something as difficult and competitive as ELR. If you leave anything to chance or otherwise half-ass it, you’re courting trouble.

It took me 373 rounds to get my rifle squared away, but in the end it was shooting groups averaging in the .5s (with a spread between .259 inches and .840 inches) and with SDs hovering right in the single digits or just above. For a .30-caliber magnum, that’s excellent performance—and good enough to win even the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge.

As it turned out, my fellow shooters on the Accuracy International squad and I did shoot well. We also encountered some major difficulties along the way—which I will detail in the second installment of this story.

The post Prepping for the Nightforce ELR Steel Challenge, One of the World’s Toughest Long-Range Matches appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Comparing the short-action .308 Winchester to the long-action, belted .300 Winchester Magnum will raise howls of “apples and oranges” from some readers. But we’re not tasting fruit here. We’re trying to understand how two different cartridges propel the same diameter bullets of the same weight in order to engage targets or game animals. Both can be used for each scenario, so let’s compare the .300 Win. Mag. vs .308 Win.

.300 Win. Mag. vs .308 Win. History

Despite their size differences, both the little .308 Winchester and the big .300 Winchester Magnum shoot bullets .308 inches in diameter. This is the all-American bore size—.30 caliber —made famous by the .30-30 Winchester of 1894 followed by the even more famous .30-06 of 1906, the .300 Savage of 1920, and the .300 Weatherby Magnum of—surprise—1944. Yes, the larger, faster, more powerful Weatherby Magnum beat the .300 Winchester to the magnum punch by a solid 19 years. But, the full magnum-length Weatherby was proprietary and expensive while the Winchester was engineered to fit affordable, standard-length-action rifles common in the U.S. Winchester allowed any and all ammo makers to load their new .300 magnum, too. The result was an immediate success as American hunters scrambled to own and hunt with one of these new, powerful, manly rifles. (Hey, it was 1963. John Wayne was in his prime, and neither the Beatles nor the hippies had even shown up yet.)

The .30-06 Springfield is central to this comparison because it not only falls between the .308 and .300 Win. Mag. in power, but is essentially the parent of the .308 Win. While some historians insist Winchester engineers worked from the .300 Savage to make the .308, a careful measurement of rim, head, and body diameters shows a clear connection to the .30-06. Arthur Savage probably used the .30-06 when developing his .300 anyway.

Because of the common dimensions of the .308 Win. and .30-06, many refer to the .308 as the .30-06 Short or, more derisively, the “.30-Not-Six.” Such teasing raises a legitimate question: Why would Winchester build a new hunting cartridge that was weaker than the already widely used and respected .30-06? Doesn’t cartridge development push toward higher performance?

Well, yes. But performance is not always about velocity and power. The .308’s performance advantage is efficiency. Because its overall length is a half inch shorter than the .30-06, it can be run through shorter, lighter, faster-cycling actions. Additionally, more cartridges can be carried by an individual, a truck, or a plane. You see, Winchester created the .308 in an effort to have it adopted as the new U.S. military cartridge. They succeeded, but only in 1954, two years after they’d released it as a civilian hunting round. NATO also adopted the .308 Winchester, calling it the 7.62x51mm NATO. It was chambered in the new M14 U.S. Service Rifle in 1957 and saw duty in Korea and Vietnam, with soldiers undoubtedly appreciating its lighter recoil.

Of course, the shorter .308 case holds less powder than the longer .30-06 and suffers accordingly, but not by much. It gives up about 100 fps to the 06 when both fire 150-grain bullets. Few fairly-struck big game animals have lived to notice the difference. But load up a 180-grain slug, and the .30-06 begins to pull away, besting the .308 by 200 to 250 fps. But most American big game hunters in the mid-20th century were pursuing whitetails, mule deer and pronghorns. For those, a 150-grain bullet at 2,700 to 2,800 fps provided plenty of reach and power without punishing recoil. It still does. And today’s premium bullets, including 165 to 180-grain models, make it more effective than ever.

READ NEXT: Best Deer Hunting Cartridges

Winchester obviously paddled a different river with their .300 Win. Mag. In a bid to capture America’s “bigger and faster” ethos, they went to the same H&H belted magnum case Weatherby was using. Actually, Winchester had already used this case in 1956 to create the .458 Win. Mag. They went to that well again to build the .338 Win. Mag. and .264 Win. Mag. in 1958. All three fit standard-length actions, but none would ever approach the popularity of the belatedly released .300 version. With its fatter case, the new .300 enclosed enough powder to drive a 150-grain bullet 300 fps faster than the .30-06 and 400 fps faster than the .308. Shooters paid the price in dollars at the pump and recoil at the shoulder, but they manned up and took it, many of them thinking the belt around the head was needed to contain the fearful pressures generated within. In reality, the belt was an unnecessary artifact needed for headspacing on the sloped shoulders of the original H&H cartridges. The 25-degree angle of the .300 Win. Mag. shoulder made the belt superfluous, but it was such an effective marketing tool, Winchester wisely retained it.

Odd though it seems, both the .300 Win. Mag. and .308 Win. grew steadily in popularity. With its power and flat trajectory, the .300 built a reputation as a world beater. Shooters could opt for the flat trajectory of a 150-grain bullet to reach a distant mule deer at 3,300 fps or suffer the heavy punch of a 220-grain round nose at 2,700 fps to calm down an agitated brown bear. From 10-pound dik-dik to 1,800-pound Lord Derby eland, no African game was out of reach.

Meanwhile, the .308 won converts for its mild recoil, extreme accuracy, affordability, and more than adequate killing power. It proved capable of terminating anything the old .30-06 could with less recoil. Mandatory use and training in the military introduced thousands of new shooters to this round, and on target ranges, it began winning everything.

Given that history, let’s compare these two side-by-side in several categories important to hunters and sport shooters.

Ballistics (Trajectory and Energy)

Obviously, the magnum wins this one hands down. It holds about 82 grains of water when accommodating a 180-grain bullet. The .308 Win. holds about 48.6 grains of water. Stuff the .300 with about 73 grains of IMR 4831 powder, and it should kick that bullet out at 3,150 fps. Top end for the .308 might reach 2,615 fps. With 150-grain bullets, figure about 3,420 fps for the .300, 2,997 for the .308, according to a Nosler Handloading Manual. Here’s how that translates in drop, drift, and energy at 300 and 400 yards for a 150-grain AccuBond bullet, B.C. .435 zeroed at 200 yards in a 10 mph right angle wind.

Recoil

As you might guess, the .308 minimizes recoil, but look at how much. It nearly cuts it in half. This can contribute mightily to accurate shooting. Reduced recoil is likely a significant reason for the .308 Winchester’s reputation for accuracy. Here are recoil energies and velocities in 8-pound rifles with two popular bullet weights.

Ammo Versatility and Cost

The .300 Win. Mag. wins here because it has the powder capacity to handle bullets as heavy as 220 grains, moving them as fast as 2,770 fps to generate a bone-crushing 3,800 ft lbs of energy. The .308 Win. can nudge a 200-grain bullet to about 2,400 fps and generate muzzle energy of about 2,550 ft lbs. It’s challenging to find .308 Win. factory loads with bullets much heavier than 180 grains. The best are sleek, boat-tailed, 165- to 170-grain bullets.

READ NEXT: Best .300 Win. Mag. Ammo

Virtually any retail store selling ammunition will carry both .308 Win. and .300 Win. Mag., but a 20-round box of .308 will run $15 for the cheap stuff to maybe $59 for super premium while the .300 Win. Mag. will start around $25 and climb quickly to as high as $65.

READ NEXT: Best .308 Hunting Ammo

Rifle Selection, Size, and Cost

We’ll call this a tie. Virtually every rifle maker chambers for both of these popular rounds, especially in bolt actions, but also in lever-actions, autoloaders, single shots, and pumps. You’ll find precision target rifles more often chambered in .308 Win., but plenty of sniper-style rifles are wrapped around the .300 Win. Mag. The .300’s ability to drive heavy, high B.C. bullets at good velocities makes it a serious contender at extreme ranges. The .308 Win. begins petering out after 700 yards or so. Light hunting rifles are easier to find in .308 and easier to shoot, and barrels will last a lot longer.

Read Next: The Best .308 Hunting Rifles

Accuracy

You might imagine the .308 wins this easily, given all the tactical, target, sniper, and precision rifles chambered for it, but the .300 Win. Mag. has won plenty of 1,000-yard target competitions. Rumors about the .300’s belt compromising its accuracy potential are exaggerated out of proportion to reality. In a hunting rifle especially, you needn’t worry about .300 Win. Mag. precision. I’ve worked with several .300s that shot honest 1/2 MOA. The .308, thanks to lots of precision-built factory match ammunition and rifles, long barrel life, and mild recoil, is the best option for high volume target shooting.

Conclusion

Even though more modern designs have bested both of these cartridges, they more than hold their own in today’s shooting world. Improved bullets have made them more effective on game than ever before. Standard twist rates of 1 in 10 inches stabilize most modern, high B.C. bullets, too. Most shooters choose the .308 Win. if they mainly target shoot and hunt whitetail-sized game. The .300 Win. Mag. is more popular with hunters who target shoot at extreme range and often hunt elk, moose, big bears and large African plains game. Both the .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum are poised to continue long and successful careers.

The post .300 Win. Mag. vs .308: Ballistics, Cost, and Accuracy appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Best Self-Defense Ammo		Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain FTX	SEE IT
Best Practice Ammo		Blazer Ammunition 380 ACP 95 Grain Full Metal Jacket	SEE IT
Best Reduced Recoil		Federal Premium Personal Defense Reduced Recoil	SEE IT

I get it. The premise of using the .380 ACP for self-defense seems foolish to some. For those who think it’s inadequate, I’d like to point out that you’re not likely to find any volunteers to stand there and take a round from any pistol chambered in this short, stubby cartridge. The point being, no one wants to get shot with anything. The .380 ACP, designed by John M. Browning in 1908, has a respectable and useful place in self-defense situations. Most .380 pistols are smaller and more concealable than 9mm pistols, thus easier to carry, and today ammo manufacturers are producing capable loads for this cartridge.

If you’re going to carry a .380, you must carefully select the best .380 ammo for your intended purpose. In a self-defense situation the two most critical factors are reliability in your firearm and bullet performance. 

Practice is also critical. Finding a load that approximates the recoil and point of impact—yet is more affordable than the premium, self-defense rounds—will be useful for your training regimen.

• Best Self-Defense Ammo: Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain FTX
• Best Practice Ammo: Blazer Ammunition 380 ACP 95 Grain Full Metal Jacket
• Best Ammo for Low Recoil: Federal Premium Personal Defense Reduced Recoil Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain Hydra-Shok Jacketed Hollow Point
• Best Ammo for Penetration: Lehigh Defense XD Ammunition 380 ACP 68 Grain Xtreme Defense Lead Free
• Best Frangible Ammo: SinterFire Reduced Hazard Ammunition 380 ACP 75 Grain Frangible Flat Nose Lead
• Best Ammo for Night Training: Streak Visual Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point – Red
• Best High Velocity Ammo: Pilgrim .380 +P

How I Tested the Best .380 Ammo

With reliability and bullet performance in mind, we bought a 16-inch long block of ballistic gelatin from Clear Ballistics. We shot some of the test subjects into the high-tech Jell-O from a distance of 3 yards to see how they performed. We mainly wanted to see if bullets penetrated adequately, expanded and stayed together if (that’s what they were designed to do). There were no major surprises. Here’s our top pick for each category.

Best .380 Ammo: Reviews and Recommendations

Best Self-Defense Ammo: Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain FTX

Hornady

SEE IT

Key Features

• FTX Bullet
• Low flash propellant
• Gel block penetration: 9.5 inches

Pros: 

• Polymer tip prevents hollow point from clogging and helps reliable feeding

Cons:

• None that we experienced

Hornady’s Critical Defense line of ammunition is loaded with its FTX bullets. FTX stands for Flex Tip, and in this case the flexible tip is a semi-soft design that sits in the hollow point bullet. This helps the bullet feed reliably and keeps the bullet’s hollow point from clogging with clothing or debris that might prevent it from expanding as it should. The polymer tip also encourages more reliable feeding. This is a controlled expansion bullet, designed to open to a degree while maintaining bullet integrity. It also allows the round to strike a balance between expansion and penetration. To minimize its signature, the Critical Defense line is loaded with low flash propellant. It performed well in our gel block test, having 9.5 inches of penetration with expansion and bullet integrity.

Best Practice Ammo: Blazer Ammunition 380 ACP 95 Grain Full Metal Jacket

Blazer

SEE IT

Key Features

• 95 FMJ bullet
• Non-reloadable aluminum cases

Pros: 

• Inexpensive
• FMJ Ball bullet design feeds well

Cons:

• Non-reloadable aluminum cases

Blazer ammo is often the least expensive per-round ammo available. Last time I checked it wasn’t much more than some 9mm FMJ loads, which is great for getting enough to do serious practice with. This particular load uses Blazer’s signature, non-reloadable aluminum cases, which is fine because who really wants to reload .380 ACP in any volume? These loads fed reliably in our S&W Bodyguard and Glock 42. Not surprisingly these and the other FMJ bullets went through the entire block of ballistic gelatin.

Best Ammo for Low Recoil: Federal Premium Personal Defense Reduced Recoil Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain Hydra-Shok Jacketed Hollow Point

Federal

SEE IT

Key Features

• Low Recoil
• Hydra Shok Jacketed Hollow Point
• Gel block penetration: 9-10 inches

Pros: 

• Reduced recoil
• Proven bullet design

Cons:

• None we could find

The .380 ACP is not a large cartridge, and many of the guns it’s chambered in are tiny. That means they can be pretty snappy when it comes to recoil. If this is an issue for you, then this Federal Premium .380 ammo worth a try. The Hydra-Shok jacketed hollow point is a proven design. While the recoil reduction wasn’t dramatic, it did indeed seem to shoot a bit softer in both test pistols.

Best Ammo for Penetration: Lehigh Defense XD Ammunition 380 ACP 68 Grain Xtreme Defense Lead Free

Lehigh

SEE IT

Key Features

• Xtreme Defense bullet
• High velocity
• Designed for penetration

Pros 

• Better penetration through clothing or barriers
• Non-lead projectile

Cons

• May over-penetrate if used indoors

If you are more concerned about penetration than expansion, then this load is your knight in shining copper armor. It utilizes uses Xtreme Defense bullet which is based off their Xtreme Penetrator bullets. These have a unique design and are machined from solid copper. While they don’t expand, they do create a hydraulic pressure moment that creates a larger-than-diameter wound channel. Because they don’t expand, they penetrate well through clothing and barriers.

Best Frangible Ammo: SinterFire Reduced Hazard Ammunition 380 ACP 75 Grain Frangible Flat Nose Lead

SinterFire

SEE IT

Key Features

• Lead free bullets
• Disintegrate upon impact

Pros

• Will not ricochet or send fragments flying at the shooter or bystanders
• Lead free

Cons

• Training ammo only
• Lighter bullets may not have same POI as carry ammo

There may be times when you want or need frangible .380 ammo. These bullets disintegrate upon impact with hard targets and are required for use on steel at close range or while shooting indoor simulators. The lead-free bullets are made from powered metal and they essentially turn to dust rather than send fragments flying. Fortunately, this training ammo is relatively inexpensive.

Best Ammo for Night Training: Streak Visual Ammunition 380 ACP 90 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point – Red

Streak

SEE IT

Key Features

• Tracer-like performance in very low light or darkness

Pros

• Visibility in low light without incendiary compounds or fire hazards

Cons

• None we could find

It’s a great idea to do some training in low light if you can, because it’s entirely possible a self-defense situation may take place sometime other than during broad daylight. Streak Visual Ammunition can make this more fun and productive because it acts like a tracer but is non-incendiary. So how does Streak achieve its tracer-esque performance without a fire hazard? Through patented, non-flammable technology that coats the base of the pistol bullets with a proprietary photo-luminescent compound. This compound is “charged” by the flash of the burning propellent, making the base of the bullet visible in low light and darkness while in flight. Not only is it fun, but it’s useful because you can see where you are missing, something that can often be difficult in low-light training.

Best High Velocity Ammo: Pilgrim .380 +P

Pilgrim

SEE IT

Key Features

• High velocity
• Solid copper hollow point
• Reduced felt recoil
• Gel block penetration: 10 inches

Pros 

• Lower recoil results in quicker reacquisition of the target
• Less chance of over penetration

Cons

• Bullets my penetrate enough if shot through heavy clothing or obstructions

High velocity .380 ammo may seem like an oxymoron, but Pilgrim does in fact offer a high velocity load for this short 9mm cartridge. This load leaves the muzzle at 1,500 fps, as a matter of fact. Pilgrim achieves this by using a light-for-caliber bullet, in this case a 50-grain solid copper hollow point. These bullets are turned on a lathe, but there is more to the design than just making a hollow tip. These bullets are designed to not over penetrate. The high velocity causes a substantial initial disruption to the bullet, where the hollow point nose breaks off in pieces, with the core continuing through the target. It worked as claimed in our gel-block testing. The nose did in fact fragment, with pieces continuing into the gel in a flower type pattern, and the core continued on, curving slightly, coming to a rest about 10 inches into the medium. The lighter bullet also results in less felt recoil, which is a bonus given the small size of most .380 ACP pistols.

How to Choose the Best .380 Ammo

Let Your Handgun Choose for You

To find the best .380 ammo, you are going to have to buy some and shoot some, it’s that simple. Start off with the bullet and performance you want and go try it. The bottom line is you want to use what works best in your handgun, and not all loads perform identically or as reliably in every gun. It’s not rough duty though, you’ll get some fun trigger time and learn something in the process. Fortunately, there’s a lot of great ammo available, and the loads we’ve selected are likely going to work great in your .380 ACP.

Bullet Selection

Your intended use will determine bullet selection. For any high-volume practice, you’ll likely want FMJ bullets to save money. If getting better than average penetration is your goal, something like a copper solid or even an FMJ bullet might be appealing. Practicing on steel targets at close range or indoors? Then you’ll need some frangible ammo. For self-defense, some sort of controlled expansion hollow point is your best choice. If possible, buy a block of ballistic gelatin, such as one from Clear Ballistics, and try out some bullets to see which works best for you. We did and were surprised by some of the results.

Reliability

The best performing bullet is useless if it won’t shoot from your pistol. That’s why reliable feeding is the number one criterion when selecting the right .380 ACP load.  There’s only one way to find out, buy some and try it out in the pistol you intend to carry. If a particular load doesn’t feed well, move on to another load that meets your performance criteria.

READ NEXT: 380 vs. 9mm

FAQS

Final Thoughts on the Best .380 Ammo

Is the .380 ACP the optimum self-defense cartridge? Of course not. In a perfect world we’d all be able to carry something chambered in .357 Mag that was small enough to easily conceal and had hardly any recoil. But reality and physics rule the day. It’s often not possible to carry a full-size handgun in 9mm or larger. This is where the best .380 ammo and diminutive, little guns shine. Many can be dropped into a pocket (with a good holster of course) and carried anywhere at any time. Fortunately, the ammunition manufacturers have met the demand for this short little 9mm cartridge by providing high performance loads with premium bullets that make it a more than adequate option for self-defense.

The post Best .380 Ammo of 2023 appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Best Overall		Federal 165-gr Fusion	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Number-one big-game round.
Best Lever Action		Federal 150-gr Fusion	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Classic, reliable deer caliber.
Best 243		Barnes 80-grain TTSX	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Benchrest wildcat.

Let’s get something clear, I’m writing about deer hunting calibers under duress. It isn’t that I have an issue with the subject. I just have a problem with the headline. Anyone with a scrap of ballistic sense knows that it should say the “best deer hunting cartridge.” But, alas, in a world where Google dictates our fate, we must follow the digital mob. And more people, by far, search for “best deer hunting calibers” than the technically correct “cartridge.” With that out of the way, let’s proceed.

How I Picked the Best Deer Hunting Calibers

This was no simple task. Being a top deer hunting caliber requires more than just knock-down power. These are the superstars of the whitetail world, with the numbers and longevity to support their claim to fame. Picking the best deer hunting cartridge also comes down to taste. And who has better taste in such matters than me, the Shooting Editor of Outdoor Life? I’m glad you agree.

The Immortal: .30/06 Springfield

The .30/06 Springfield is the Captain America of big-game cartridges. It’s been around forever, packs a punch, and helped us defeat the Nazis in World War II. Without question, it is the number-one big-game round of the 20th Century. And it’s still going strong.

Like many other hunters, my first real deer rifle was chambered in the ought-six. Shooting 165-grain ballistic tips I put hundreds of pounds of corn-fed Michigan venison in the freezer over the years. I’ve also hunted with it across North America and in Africa, using 150-grain soft points, 180-grain Triple Shocks, 200-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, 180-grain Accubonds, and a bunch of other bullets I can’t think of at the moment. You won’t find another round with a more versatile array of offerings. It really is the best all-around hunting rifle caliber.

Physics plays a big part in the .30/06’s success. It strikes a good balance between power and shootability. The recoil generated by the ought-six is at the upper end of what most shooters can manage without developing a debilitating flinch. And its terminal ballistics can handle all but thick-skinned dangerous game.

It’s certainly more gun than most whitetails require, but it gets the job done and carries with it a nostalgia that few cartridges can match. If it was good enough for Teddy Roosevelt, this deer hunting caliber is good enough for the likes of you and me.

Best Deer Ammo in .30/06 Springfield

Federal 165-grain Fusion

Federal

SEE IT

Nosler 180-grain Accubond

Hornady American Whitetail 150-grain SP

Winchester 180-grain Ballistic Silvertip

Barnes 180-grain TTSX

OG Lever-Action Caliber: .30/30 Winchester

Crowning one cartridge as the best whitetail caliber is a difficult task, but it is hard to imagine which would surpass the .30/30 Winchester. It was introduced in 1895 in conjunction with the Winchester Model 94 lever gun, and in a century and a quarter since then we’ve never witnessed a more successful rifle and cartridge combo.

How did it come to dominate? Few people realize it these days, but both the rifle and round were technical marvels. The ’94 was a fast-handling and reasonably accurate rifle with great balance and ergonomics and an impressive magazine capacity. The .30/30 was the first small-bore smokeless cartridge introduced in the United States and kicked off the era of high-power cartridges in America.

Lest you think it is some relic of your grandfather’s era, the .30/30 is still the top selling lever-action cartridge, beating out the .45/70 even though that round has seen many more new offerings in terms of rifles and ammunition.

Why does the .30/30 endure? Well, more than 7.5 million Model 94s have rolled off Winchester’s production lines, to say nothing of all the Marlin 336’s and (more recently) Henry Repeating Arms lever guns that have been chambered in .30/30. So there’s no shortage of rifles chambered in this round.

But these numbers don’t tell the entire story. The .30/30 has plenty of power to take on whitetail within 200 yards, making it suitable for 95 percent of shots on deer. It also produces about half the recoil of a .30/06, so it is a pussycat to shoot. Hunters who favor the .30/30 see no reason to go to anything else and consider it the best deer hunting caliber for 200 yards and in.

Great loads for the .30/30 include Winchester’s 150-grain PowerPoint, Hornady’s 160-grain FTX LeverEvolution, and the Federal Premium 150-grain Barnes TSX hollow point.

Best Deer Ammo In .30/30 Win.

Federal 150-grain Fusion

Federal

SEE IT

Winchester 150-grain Powerpoint

Remington 170-grain Core-Lokt SP

Hornady 160-grain FTX Leverevolution

Winchester 170-grain Powermax Bonded

Old-School Metric: 7mm Remington Magnum

In the murky and distant past—meaning before the internet—gun and ammo companies would print catalogs, which you could grab for free at the local sporting goods store. For a broke kid, this was a godsend, since I was able to read about and obsess over all the rifles and cartridges I couldn’t afford while trying to pick the best deer hunting caliber.

Those catalogs had ballistic tables in the back, comparing the cartridges and listing their muzzle energy, velocity, and drop at various yardages. I didn’t need to be told that the “best” cartridge would be the one that moved the fastest and dropped less than the others. More often than not, that cartridge would be the 7mm Rem. Mag. I know a lot of other young, aspiring hunters felt the same way.

As it turned out, I used my ballistic crush on the first deer I shot—a spike whitetail buck at about 35 yards that had wandered out of a cedar swamp to feed on the grassy hill where I had posted up. Though that shot didn’t take advantage of the 7mm Mag’s flat trajectory, it convinced me of the cartridge’s superior qualities.

Since 1962, when the round was introduced in conjunction with the Remington 700, countless others have arrived at the same conclusion. You can see the numbers crunched here, but the main takeaway is that when shooting at a 10-inch target the 7mm Rem. Mag has a point-blank zero of 365 yards when sighted 3.9 inches high at 100 yards. That’s with a 175-grain spire-point hunting bullet at 2900 fps.

Performance like that in a rifle that has tolerable recoil and isn’t too heavy to lug around the hills was sure to catch the fancy of savvy hunters. For that reason, the 7mm Rem. Mag. managed to overcome the American shooter’s aversion to metric labeled cartridges and turn into a massive success for the last 60 years. It’s a solid contender for the best deer caliber out to 500 yards.

Best Deer Ammo In 7mm Rem. Mag.

Black Hills Ammunition 175-grain ELD-X

SEE IT

Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Nosler 168-grain Accubond LR

Hornady American Whitetail 139-grain SP Interlock

Winchester 150-grain Ballistic Silvertip

Jack O’Connor’s Legacy: .270 Winchester

There’s no way as shooting editor for this esteemed publication that I could fail to include the .270 Winchester on the list of contenders vying for the best deer hunting caliber. Winchester debuted the cartridge in 1925 along with the Model 54 rifle, which was the predecessor to the famed Model 70.

It might come as a surprise to some, but despite the gargantuan success of the .270 over the decades it was not an immediate hit with the shooting public. The .30/06 dominated with bolt-action rifles and the availability of cheap surplus ought-six ammo dissuaded shooters from trying this new-comer. In addition, some gun writers of the time questioned whether the .270 was as accurate as the .30/06 or delivered the velocities Winchester advertised, casting more doubt on the round. It did, however, catch the fancy of Jack O’Connor, who sang its praises in Outdoor Life, and as hunters tried the .270 they found they liked it very much indeed.

What drew O’Connor to the cartridge was the impressive ballistics of the round when shooting a 130-grain spire-pointed bullet. With a muzzle velocity of about 3140 fps, the .270 is forgiving on deer at unknown ranges. As O’Connor put it in his 1949 work, The Rifle Book: “Sighted to hit the point of aim at 200 yards with a scope sight, the 130-grain bullet drops only 5 inches at 300 yards, not enough to miss even a small deer with a hold in the center of the chest.”

For hunters looking for the best long range caliber of that time, O’Connor suggested sighting in at 300 yards. This puts the bullet about 3 inches high at 100, 4 inches low at 350, and just 10 inches low at 400.

Long before shooters were talking about ballistic coefficients, O’Connor hammered home the value of retained velocity down range. He illustrated many examples of how the .270 hit harder and had better killing power at longer distances thanks to aerodynamic efficiency of the 130-grain “sharp points.”

His outstanding prose, and experience in the field, tipped the scales in favor of the .270 to the point where it has run neck-in-neck with the .30/06 in terms of popularity for three quarters of a century. Even though the cartridge no longer enjoys the prominence it once did, it’s hard to imagine it slipping out of the top 10 deer calibers anytime soon.

Best Deer Ammo In .270 Win.

Remington 130-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Remington

SEE IT

Winchester 130-grain Deer Season Copper Impact

Hornady 145-grain ELD-X

Federal 130-grain Fusion

Nosler 130-grain Accubond

Benchrest Wildcat: .243 Winchester

In a sad twist of fate, the .243 Winchester has become known as a child’s deer cartridge. Talk about damned by faint praise. When state game departments established rules for allowable big-game rounds, a number put the minimum at 6mm caliber (.243 inch) cartridges, which is why I suspect it got that rap. Being the “minimum” it must be not as good as bigger, manlier cartridges, and therefore has been equated with youth rifles and first-time hunters.

It didn’t start life that way, however. It was the brainchild of a group of accuracy-obsessed riflemen, including former Field & Stream rifles editor Warren Page, who went on to establish benchrest shooting. Page had been fooling around with a number of 6mm wildcats in the late 1940s, but when Winchester introduced the .308 Winchester in 1952, he discovered the platform he’d been looking for. Page and his cohorts necked the .308 down to 6mm and gave birth to the .243 Winchester.

The .243 gained popularity so quickly that Winchester offered it as a factory round in 1955, an astonishingly quick rise from wildcat status to commercial production. From the get-go, deer hunters took a shine to the .243 Winchester. For the time, it represented the pinnacle of high-performance long-range accuracy. And the fact that its recoil didn’t threaten to detach your retinas with each trigger pull was a big bonus. Reloaders also appreciated that it didn’t require a cup full of powder to assemble a cartridge.

Fans of the .243 have helped it maintain its status as one of the best deer cartridges, though it never could dislodge the .30/06, .270 and .308 from the top slots. But as .243 shooters know, it is an ideal one-rifle solution for hunters who chase deer and predators and is arguably the best pronghorn antelope round ever.

The best bullets for deer are those weighing 90 grains or more. Those heavy-for-caliber projectiles penetrate well and shoot flat and do a decent job of bucking the wind thanks to their high ballistic coefficients. Nosler’s 90-grain AccuBond, Federal’s 95-grain Fusion, Hornady’s 103-grain ELD-X, and Berger’s 105-grain Target Hybrid are all excellent bullets. For non-lead bullets, the 85-grain Barnes TSX and Federal 85-grain Trophy Copper deliver outstanding terminal performance.

Best Deer Ammo In .243 Win.

Barnes 80-grain TTSX

Barnes

SEE IT

Hornady 90-grain ELD-X

Winchester 95-grain Deer Season

Black Hills Ammunition 80-grain Hornady GMX

Remington 100-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Battlefield Proven: .308 Winchester

The fastest way for a new cartridge to gain widespread acceptance with the shooting public is for the military to adopt it. That’s what happened with the .308 Winchester. Frankfort Arsenal designed a prototype cartridge called the T65 in an effort to approximate .30/06 (the U.S. service round at the time) performance in a shorter cartridge. Winchester thought the project held promise for civilian shooters and hunters and in 1952 trotted out the .308 Winchester. Since the wheels of government bureaucracy churn slowly, it wasn’t until 1954 that the military version—the 7.62x51mm NATO—was unveiled.

The .308 Winchester is certainly the most successful short-action big-game hunting round in history. It’s been used worldwide on everything short of dangerous game and is a perennial favorite among whitetail hunters.

In a well-constructed action, it is one of the most accurate rounds out there and is capable to 500 yards on deer and other big game. As I’m sure you know, the military has relied on it for many years in a variety of sniper rifles and in that role, it is effective to 1,000 yards.

For hunters the most common bullet choices are those from 150 to 180 grains. On the lighter end, you’ll find bullets like the 150-grain Barnes TSX and 150-grain Trophy Copper. The 165-grain Nosler AccuBond and 165-grain Trophy Bonded Tip both occupy a sweet spot in the middle. And the heavyweight offerings include the 180-grain Nosler Partition and Federal’s new 175-grain Terminal Ascent, which is designed for long-range hunting. All these projectiles work great on deer and larger game.

A good friend of mine who is a shooting nerd and avid Western hunter, uses a .308 on the coastal blacktails he hunts in his home state of Oregon. The timber covered mountains have patches of clearcuts where the deer hang out and long cross-canyon shots are the norm. To anchor the deer quickly, he needs a bullet that will put them down, but the bullet must also be accurate enough to make those shots. For him, the .308 is the answer, combining the desired knock-down power with pin-point precision. Most deer hunters don’t encounter such technical shooting scenarios, but the .308 is one round that can handle most any task you’d ask of it.

Read Next: Best .308 Hunting Rifles

Best Deer Ammo In .308 Win.

Winchester 165-grain Accubond

SEE IT

Barnes 168-grain TTSX

Federal Premium 165-grain Sierra Gameking

Federal 175-grain Terminal Ascent

Sig Sauer 150-grain HT

The Underdog: .223 Remington

“The only hunters who don’t think a .223 will kill a deer are those that haven’t shot a deer with a .223.” Those words of wisdom were uttered by a friend of mine on a phone call some years back while discussing our favorite whitetail rounds—and I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

I think a lot of hunters feel squeamish about shooting a whitetail with a .223, and in several states a .223 doesn’t meet the minimum caliber requirements. But the fact is that with the right bullet a .223 is ample medicine for any whitetail buck out there.

I’ll admit, I used to be in the no-way camp. But then I took my 10-year-old son on his first deer hunts. I equipped him with one of my 3-gun AR-15 carbines with an adjustable stock and he smoked the hell out of every deer that crossed his path, including some very large-bodied bucks in Nebraska.

I was impressed by how decisive those kills were and decided to give it a try myself and for a couple seasons notched a handful of deer tags with a .223. I used a number of bullets and among my favorites are Barnes’ 62-grain TSX, Sig Sauer’s 60-grain HT and 77-grain OTMs. Is the .223 the best AR-15 deer hunting caliber? I think that when you consider how simple it is to build a tack-driver of a .223 (just go with a 1:7 twist for these heavy bullets) and how well an AR balances with the round that the answer is yes. The ample availability of inexpensive ammo (at least during normal times) is another factor in favor of the .223. It’s certainly what I’d consider the best deer hunting caliber with least recoil generated.

Read Next: Best 5.56 Ammo

Best Deer Ammo In .223 Rem.

Winchester 64-grain Deer Season

SEE IT

Black Hills Ammunition 62-grain Triple Shock

Federal Premium 60-grain Nosler Partition

Sig Sauer 60-grain HT

Nosler 77-grain HPBT

The Boomer: .300 Winchester Magnum

If the .223 Remington is at one end of the ballistic spectrum for deer hunters, then the .300 Winchester Magnum bookends the other. This potent round brings deer-killing capability at every reasonable (and even unreasonable) distance a hunter might shoot. But with the significant caveat that the hunter must be able to handle the .300’s sharp recoil. Sad to say, many hunters cannot.

We’ll leave that aside for the moment. Let’s first look at the virtues of this belted .30-caliber magnum. Introduced in 1963, the .300 Win. Mag. was based off the .338 Win. Mag., which was, in turn, developed from the granddaddy of all belted magnums, the .375 H&H. At this time, the .300 Win. Mag. faced some stiff competition among .30-caliber magnums. One advantage it had over the most popular .30, the .300 H&H Magnum, is that it could be chambered in a standard long-action rifle, whereas the .300 H&H required a magnum-length action to run. The other .30s of the time—the .308 Norma Magnum and the .30-338 Winchester (arguably a better design) didn’t have the same support from gun makers as the .300 Win. Mag., so they fell behind with the shooting public.

The original loads for the .300 Winchester were with 150- and 180-grain bullets. Published velocities put them at 3400 fps and 3070 fps respectively giving the round a 350 to 400 fps advantage over the .30/06 with the same bullet weights. At 500 yards, the .300 Win. Mag. shoots about 15 inches flatter than the ’06 with a 180-grainer, so you can see the appeal. Where the .300 Win. Mag. especially shines is with some of the excellent heavy-for-caliber bullets in the 190- to 212-grain range.

For instance, Hornady’s 200-grain ELD-X load at 2850 fps from a 24-inch barrel and a 200-yard zero hits just 20 inches low at 400 and 40 inches at 500. Even out past 500 yards, this round is carrying more than 2000 foot-pounds of energy.

Where you pay the price is with recoil. The felt recoil from a .300 Win. Mag. is about 30-percent greater than from a .30/06. Unless that rifle carries some extra weight or a good muzzle brake, it will be difficult to shoot well. And no one practices as much as they should with a rifle that beats them up, compounding the problem. The result is lousy shot placement on game.

Fans of the big magnums insist that a benefit to these boomers is that they are more forgiving with bullet placement than lesser cartridges. Personally, I think that advantage is negated by the poorer shooting one sees with these thumpers, but to each his own.

For a shooter who has actually mastered one of these rifles, it is perhaps the best deer and elk rifle caliber available.

Best Deer Ammo In .300 Win. Mag.

Winchester 190-grain Accubond LR

SEE IT

Hornady 200-grain ELD-X

Federal 150-grain Fusion

Barnes 180-grain Tipped TSX BT

Remington 180-grain Swift Scirocco

The Newcomer: 6.5 Creedmoor

You didn’t think we could make it through a list of the best deer calibers and not talk about the 6.5 Creedmoor, did you? I’ll confess, I find the red-faced rage that some folks harbor against the 6.5 Creed amusing. Most detractors say that the 6.5 Creedmoor can’t do anything that their grandpa’s deer rifle can’t do and leave it at that. Other, more technically oriented, critics argue the Creed doesn’t perform as well as other .264-caliber rounds like the 6.5×55 Swede, the .260 Remington, 6.5-284 Norma Mag., and the .264 Winchester Mag. Neither line of argument is convincing.

How often do you hear the term match-grade thrown around? Match-grade rifles. Match-grade barrels. Match-grade ammunition. What does it mean? Well, for something to be match grade it must—wait for it—win shooting matches. Otherwise, it is meaningless marketing blather.

One only need look at the NRL Hunter series, where shooters must use hunting-style rifles to shoot real-world scenarios, to understand that not every deer hunting caliber is created equal.

The 6.5 Creedmoor dominates in NRL Hunter because it combines outstanding accuracy and shootability with bullets that are excellent on big game.

One key facet of “shootability” is the shooter’s ability to manage the rifle’s recoil and spot where their bullet went and make an accurate follow-up shot if needed. Larger cartridges, even something as relatively mild as the .308 Winchester, can’t compete with the 6.5 Creedmoor on this point.

As for the arguments concerning the other 6.5 cartridges—and I have experience with them all—they, too, don’t hold up. Since these are technical arguments—mostly concerning the ability of those cartridges to drive a given bullet faster—it requires a technical rebuttal.

The genius of the 6.5 Creedmoor is that it is such a well-balanced cartridge that is designed to maximize its accuracy potential. The fast twist rate (1:8 inches) works better with the aeroballistically efficient 130-grain (and larger) 6.5mm bullets than the 1:9 twist on the other 6.5s. The neck and chamber dimensions are tighter and the leade in the throat is at an optimized (1.5 degree) angle, so the case is more inherently accurate than those other rounds. Compared to the Swede, the Norma and the Win. Mag., it is a short-action cartridge, which is another accuracy-enhancing element in its favor.

The sum of all these details is why the 6.5 Creedmoor winning matches, and why the other 6.5s don’t.

Do these advantages translate into better performance on game? In most cases, no. When the shots aren’t challenging, then there’s not meaningful difference. But in those cases where the shots are longer and you need every bit of accuracy your rifle and cartridge can muster, then, yes, the 6.5 Creed excels and in my mind is the best deer hunting caliber of the modern era.

You can read more about the evolution of the 6.5 Creedmoor and how it came to dominate here.

Best Deer Ammo In 6.5 Creedmoor

Hornady 143-grain ELD-X

SEE IT

Federal 130-grain Terminal Ascent

Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip

Remington 129-grain Core-Lokt Tipped

Black Hills Ammunition 120-grain GMX

More of the Best Deer Hunting Calibers—That Didn’t Make the List

There are a number of great deer cartridges that didn’t make the final cut for this story. Many of them are personal favorites, which vexes me to no end—but I couldn’t see them dislodging any of the rounds we’ve talked about as the best deer hunting caliber.

The one 6.5 I didn’t mention in the writeup on the 6.5 Creedmoor is the even-newer 6.5 PRC. Whether this round achieves long-lasting success is an open question. But it is an outstanding cartridge that delivers great accuracy and has a little more gas in the tank than the 6.5 Creed. It pushes bullets about 250 fps faster and has been winning ELR (extreme long-range matches) even when going head-to-head against big .30s and .33s like the .300 Norma, .300 PRC and .338 Lapua. It definitely hits above its weight class and is my number one choice for open-country hunting.

The .280 Remington is impossible not to love. It’s the scrappy underdog that elbowed its way in between the .270 and .30/06 and has managed to hang in there despite the dominance of those rounds. Don’t bother with the Ackley “improved” AI version. It doesn’t give you anything other than excess pressure.

There are several quarter-bores that are great deer rounds. The .257 Roberts, which is continuing its slide into obsolescence, is near and dear to my heart. And the .25/06 and .257 Weatherby are also wonderful on deer. But fewer and fewer hunters look to the .25s these days.

In a lever gun, I’ve always been partial to the .35 Remington. The .30/30 is king, but the .35 Rem. packs a bit more punch and watching a big buck flop over after taking a 200-grain round nose from one is a sight to behold.

Read Next: 10 Best Deer Hunting Guns Today

The .338 Federal is another good round that’s been lost in the mix. It was introduced in 2006 amid a flurry of cartridge introductions and never quite caught on. For about 3 years I used it extensively, on everything from deer, bear, moose and elk and was impressed by its performance. I agree with my friend Ron Spomer that it is probably the best deer cartridge you’ve never tried.

Best Deer Ammo In 6.5 PRC

Hornady 143-grain ELD-X

Federal 130-grain Terminal Ascent

Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip

Best Deer Ammo In .257 Roberts

Nosler 110-grain Accubond

Norma American PH 100-grain SP

Remington 117-grain SP

Best Deer Ammo In .280 Rem.

Nosler 140-grain Accubond

Hornady 150-grain ELD-X

Federal Premium 140-grain Trophy Bonded Tip

Best Deer Ammo In .35 Remington

Hornady 200-grain FTX Leverevolution

Remington 200-grain Core-Lokt

Federal 200-grain SP

Best Deer Ammo in .338 Federal

Federal 200-grain Trophy Bonded Tip

Federal 200-grain Trophy Copper

Federal 200-grain Fusion

The post Best Deer Hunting Calibers of 2023 appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Best for Bears		Black Hills Ammunition 115-grain Honey Badger	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary This high velocity ammo features a monolithic bullet that penetrates deeply, and its shape creates a wound cavity equal to a JHP from a .44 Magnum in ballistic gel.
Best for Practice		CCI Blazer Brass-case 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ FN	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Relatively affordable target and practice ammunition with less recoil than heavy animal-defense loads.
Best for Hunting		Hornady Handgun Hunter 10mm Auto 135-grain Monoflex	SEE IT	LEARN MORE	Summary Rapid expansion and good penetration make it great for both hunting and EDC applications.

First designed in 1983, the appeal of 10mm ammo fluctuated in its nearly 40-year lifespan; however, it might be at peak popularity right now. Whether you’re interested in hunting, defense, or target shooting, you’ll need the good 10mm ammo to get the most out of your handgun. I’ve used my 10mm for all those use cases and tested a pile of ammo over the years. I’ve been hunting and frequenting bear country in Alaska for 20 years, and started out carrying giant, heavy revolvers. I’ve switched to carrying a 10mm in recent years, and as a last resort, it has the capability of being an effective option for several applications. Here are my picks for the best 10mm ammo offerings that you might actually be able to find in stock. 

Best for Bear Defense 

• Black Hills Honeybadger 10mm
• Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 10mm 220-grain Hard Cast FN
• Underwood Ammo 10mm Auto 140-grain Xtreme Penetrator
• Grizzly Cartridge Company 10mm 200-grain Hard Cast
• HSM 10mm 200-grain Lead RNFP “Bear-Load”
• Federal Premium Solid Core Syntech 10mm 200-grain
• Fort Scott Munitions 125-grain TUI

Best for Practice

• CCI Blazer Brass-case 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ FN
• Remington UMC 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ

Best for Self Defense 

• Hornady Critical Duty 10mm Auto 175-grain FlexLock
• Winchester Defender 10mm Auto 180-grain Bonded JHP
• Sig Sauer Elite Performance 10mm Auto 180-grain V-Crown JHP
• Federal Premium 10mm Auto 200-grain HST JHP

Best for Hunting

• Hornady Handgun Hunter 10mm Auto 135-grain Monoflex
• Hornady Custom 10mm Auto 180-grain XTP
• Doubletap Ammunition 200-grain Controlled Expansion JHP
• Winchester Big Bore 10 200-grain SJHP

Why the 10mm Auto Is a Great Cartridge

A popular opinion is that the 10mm Auto is a capable cartridge for bear and other wildlife defense. That opinion isn’t based on the 10mm’s power—it’s certainly less powerful than a bushel of contemporary revolver cartridges—but rather that it brings an attractive balance between power and ease of use.

Cartridges like the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, and even .500 S&W have long been touted as bear medicine, but they present some significant challenges to the shooter. Shooting handguns well requires lots of practice, and big revolvers often aren’t much fun to shoot. They also tend to be heavy, cumbersome, and annoying to carry in the field. Even ammunition price and availability play a role, and 10mm is generally cheaper and more readily available than most big revolver ammo.

Read Next: 9mm vs 10mm: Which Handgun Cartridge is Superior?

Pistols chambered in 10mm still have sharp recoil, but they are generally more serviceable to a wide variety of users. Some 10mm pistols are comfortable and compact enough to carry daily—as well as a backcountry defense gun. Many large revolver cartridges lose significant velocity when barrel lengths are shortened—due to slower-burning powders—but among all the 10mm loads listed, the difference in velocity from an extended 5-inch barrel and a compact 3.8-inch barrel averaged only 100 fps.

The variety of 10mm handguns and 10mm ammo is ever-increasing, and the cartridge is suitable for more than backcountry defense, but also some big-game hunting and everyday carry. One key to making the 10mm work for your intended application is to select appropriate ammunition. Selecting the wrong 10mm ammo for your intended use will greatly diminish its effectiveness.

Things to Consider Before Buying 10mm Ammo

The key to selecting the right 10mm ammo for you is to know your application. 

• Will it be ammo for practice? 
• Are you looking for bear defense ammo? Black bears or grizzlies? 
• Are you going to be hunting whitetails? 
• Will you use your 10mm for everyday carry and home defense? 
• Can your handgun shoot cast lead bullets? 

These questions are important ones to sort out, and they will determine what type and loads of 10mm ammo are best for you.

Many 10mm ammo options will give you similar results, and sometimes the ammo you pick will depend on availability or just personal preference. If you keep your intended purpose in mind, you can’t go wrong with anything on this list. 

For example, if you’re looking for grizzly defense ammo, you don’t want personal defense hollow points. For animal defense, look for bullets that are non-expanding or minimally expanding and offer good penetration. For hunting, look for bullets that will expand and give good penetration. For EDC or personal defense against bad guys, focus on rapidly expanding hollow points that are designed for limited penetration. Of course, some options give you some overlap and are more versatile in their use. 

Read Next: Springfield Armory XD-M Elite 3.8-inch Compact OSP 10mm w/Hex Dragonfly Review

Lead Bullets

Some of the most popular backcountry defense options for 10mm ammo utilize cast lead bullets because of their ability to penetrate with minimal expansion. If you search the internet, you’ll see a plethora of opinions and information regarding shooting these lead bullets in your handgun—some of it true, most of it false. 

You can shoot lead bullets in pretty much any modern 10mm handgun, and it won’t blow up. Some barrels—like OEM Glock barrels—do tend to accumulate lead fouling much more rapidly than others. In theory, it can eventually cause pressure issues if you switch back and forth between jacketed and cast bullets, but you shouldn’t be alarmed. Simply make sure you clean the lead fouling out of your barrel after shooting cast bullets.

Best 10mm Ammo for Bear Defense: Reviews & Recommendations

Black Hills Ammunition 115-grain Honey Badger

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Key Features

• 115-grain Lehigh Defense Extreme Defense bullet
• Velocity: 1600fps (5-inch barrel)
• Monolithic construction, does not expand or deform
• Screwdriver-like fluting creates dramatic wound cavity
• Less recoil than heavier bullets

Pros

• Low Recoil
• Good penetration, even through barriers
• Excellent wound cavity

Cons

• Less overall penetration than hard cast bullets

The development of monolithic bullets made from copper alloys has changed the game in several meaningful ways. Lehigh Defense has been at this task for a number of years, and their Extreme Penetrator and Extreme Defense handgun bullets have begun to see widespread use, and Black Hills Ammo has used them in many calibers in their Honey Badger line. Now, they’re offering it in 10mm, with a 115-grain Extreme Defense bullet. Other manufacturers have loaded the 140- and 150-grain extreme defense bullets, and I’ve handloaded them for years. The choice to go with 115-grain bullets seemed strange to me, until I talked to Jeff Hoffman of Black Hills Ammo, and he showed me photos from their gel tests.

What matters more than how much energy or mass a bullet has, is what it does to its target. We need bear defense rounds to penetrate well, and our non-expanding bullet choices have generally limited terminal performance. Loaded at 1,600 feet per second, however, the Black Hills 115-grain Honey Badger 10mm ammo produces a slightly larger and longer wound cavity in calibrated ballistic gel than a .44 Magnum shooting 240-grain JHPs. They penetrate approximately 20 inches with a temporary wound cavity diameter of 5 inches. Although .44 Mag. hard cast bullets will penetrate deeper, they will not create this kind of tissue disruption. 

The Black Hills Honey Badger will give you approximately 1,600 feet per second out of a 5-inch barrel, but it’s about 1575 feet per second out of a standard Glock G20 4.6-inch barrel. Considering the low recoil and dramatic performance, this is one of the best options for backcountry defense 10mm ammo.

Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 10mm 220-grain Hard Cast FN

Buffalo Bore

SEE IT

Key Features

• 220-grain hard cast bullet
• Velocity: 1200 fps
• Energy: 703 foot-pounds

Pros

• Heavy bullet weight
• Excellent penetration 
• Good quality control

Cons

• Heavy recoil
• Increased fouling

Buffalo Bore makes the best 10mm ammo; it sets the standard to which all others are compared. The Heavy Outdoorsman squeezes the most velocity out of the heaviest bullet available for 10mm and is safe to shoot in any modern 10mm. Of course with that exceptional performance comes exceptional recoil. 

The hard-cast lead bullets won’t expand much, and you won’t see hollowpoint-like terminal performance. This load is designed for one thing—penetration. In a bear defensive situation, you probably won’t be able to select a broadside shot, you need bullets that can penetrate skulls and other bones. The Heavy Outdoorsman 10mm load is said to achieve over 3 feet of penetration through soft tissue.

Read Next: Best Bear Defense Handguns

Underwood Ammo 10mm Auto 140-grain Xtreme Penetrator

Underwood Ammo

SEE IT

Key Features

• 140-grain monolithic copper bullet
• Velocity: 1500 fps
• Energy: 700 foot-pounds

Pros

• Great penetration
• Reduced recoil compared to heavier cast bullets
• Larger wound channel than cast bullets
• Shoots clean

Cons

• Less dramatic terminal performance than expanding bullets

Using monolithic copper bullets made by Lehigh Defense, Underwood is another company that produces ammunition loaded to the top end of performance while remaining within SAAMI specifications for safe pressures.

The machined copper bullets are solid, but feature flutes cut from the point. The flutes reduce the surface area at the point and improve penetration but create cavitation and a wound channel more like an expanding bullet than those made by solid cast bullets.

The lighter copper bullets allow for higher velocities with less recoil and muzzle energy that equals or exceeds many lead-bullet loads. You might see slightly less penetration overall than with hard-cast loads, but it’s still exceptional.

Grizzly Cartridge Company 10mm 200-grain Hard Cast

Grizzly Cartridge

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 220-grain Hard-Cast
• Velocity: 1200 fps
• Energy: 703 foot-pounds

Pros

• Heavy 220-grain cast bullet gets great penetration
• Quality Star-Line brass and other components
• Competitive price

Cons

• Lead fouling in bore
• Velocity may not match advertised

The 220-grain Hard Cast 10mm ammo from Grizzly Cartridge Company follows the popular recipe for animal defense—heavy-for-caliber bullets at higher velocity. Although heavy-recoiling, these bullets penetrate through heavy hide and bone.

As advertised, the velocity and energy match up with other close competitors, but the velocity I measured averaged 1135 feet-per-second out of a 5-inch barrel—slightly slower than advertised. Velocity will vary slightly from gun to gun, and it’s a small enough difference that I wouldn’t pay it much mind.

HSM 10mm 200-grain Lead RNFP “Bear-Load”

HSM Ammunition

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 200-grain hard-cast lead
• Velocity: 1041
• Energy: 481 foot-pounds

Pros

• Good penetration
• Slightly less recoil than 220-grain loads
• Usually cheaper than similar options

Cons

• Lead fouling in barrel
• Smaller wound cavity than expanding bullets

The 200-grain “Bear-Load” from HSM is a simple hard-cast lead bullet that provides great penetration through bone and hide. It often retails cheaper than some other common hard-cast options, but uses premium Star-Line brass.

HSM advertises muzzle velocity at 1041 fps, but I measured it at about 1160 fps from a 5-inch barrel and 1090 fps from a 3.8-inch barrel. Actual muzzle energy will also be slightly higher than advertised with those velocities. It’s a simple load but an excellent option for the backcountry.

Federal Premium Solid Core Syntech 10mm 200-grain

Federal

SEE IT

Key Features

• 200-grain Syntech-coated lead bullet
• Velocity: 1200 fps
• Energy: 639 foot-pounds

Pros

• Nickel-plated cases for reliable feeding
• Hard Lead core for excellent penetration
• Syntech coating reduces lead fouling

Cons

• Terminal performance not as dramatic as expanding bullets

One of the most common complaints about hard-cast lead bullets is that they tend to foul barrels—especially in Glocks. In addition to leaving soft lead fouling in your barrel, cast lead bullets tend to be smokey when shooting. This ammunition solves both those problems by coating a hard lead core with Federal’s Syntech coating.

The 200-grain lead bullets don’t push pressure boundaries, but at 1200 fps, they still offer great penetration and manageable recoil. Nickel-plated cases aid with reliable feeding, and this premium ammo will work when you need it to. You’ll get too much penetration for it to be a great EDC load, but it’s a good option in the woods.

Read Next: Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 10mm 4-Inch Review

Best 10mm Ammo for Practice: Reviews & Recommendations

CCI Blazer Brass-case 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ FN

CCI

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 180-grain full metal jacket flat nose
• Velocity: 1200 fps
• Energy: 576 foot-pounds

Pros

• Cheaper than premium defense loads
• Bullet weight and velocity provide realistic recoil and practice
• Could be used in animal-defense applications

Cons

• Not specialized for any defensive application

Blazer Brass 10mm ammo is the best 10mm ammo for the range. It features reloadable brass that accepts small-pistol primers—some manufacturers are doing this rather than using large pistol primers. The bullet is a simple 180-grain full metal jacket that won’t expand and isn’t much good for hunting.

This is primarily practice ammo sold in 50-round boxes and is more affordable than premium loads—typically sold in boxes of 20. In a pinch, it could be thrust into animal-defense applications, but it’s not the best option.

Remington UMC 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ

Remington Arms

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 180-grain Full Metal Jacket
• Velocity: 1150 fps
• Energy: 529 foot-pounds

Pros

• Competitively priced and reasonable availability
• Less recoil than heavy defense loads
• Reloadable nickel-plated cases

Cons

• Only ideal for practice and target shooting

Remington UMC ammo has long been a staple for range and practice pistol ammo, and under new ownership, they’re back in business. This simple load features nickel-plated, reloadable, large-primer cases, as well as a bronze-colored full-metal-jacket bullet.

This load’s velocity (and recoil) is a little below some other target loads, but it’s still a 10mm, and will help shooters build their skills at a more affordable rate. Since coming under new ownership, Remington ammo has been cranking out ammo full speed and It’s been getting to the shelves in many areas.

Fort Scott Munitions 125-grain TUI

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Key Features

• 125-grain copper spun solid bullet
• Velocity: 1,600 fps (4.6-inch barrel)
• Monolithic construction, does not expand or deform
• Designed to tumble after impact
• Low recoil 

Pros

• Low Recoil
• Great penetration, even on hard barriers
• Good wound cavity

Cons

• Light bullet doesn’t penetrate as far as hard cast

The downside of using heavy, deep-penetrating solid bullets is that they sacrifice terminal performance. Lighter monolithic bullets driven at high speed can penetrate bone and produce larger wound cavities, and Fort Scott Munitions has a unique take on it with their 125-grain TUI (tumble upon impact) load. It features a “solid copper spun” bullet that draws to a point at the front. As expressed in the name, the projectile is designed to create its wound cavity by tumbling after impact.

The 125-grain bullet exits the muzzle at 1600 feet per second—blistering speed for the 10mm. Velocity averaged 1,607 feet per second out of my Glock G20. Although tumbling will certainly shorten overall penetration, this load strikes a good balance between penetration and the large wound channel it creates. I fired the Fort Scott Munitions 125-grain TUI through a test jig consisting of doubled-up 2×4’s, 3 inches thick, followed by four gallon water jugs. The bullets consistently drove a straight path through the boards then tumbled through all four jugs. That’s good enough for me.

Best 10mm Ammo for Self Defense: Reviews & Recommendations

Hornady Critical Duty 10mm Auto 175-grain FlexLock

Hornady

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 175-grain FlexLock
• Velocity: 1160 fps
• Energy: 523 foot-pounds

Pros

• Rapid, controlled expansion
• FlexLock tip prevents clogging
• Interlock band aids with weight retention
• Low-flash propellant for low-light situations

Cons

• Penetration characteristics not ideal for animal defense

Numerous law enforcement agencies use Hornady’s Critical Duty line, and in 10mm, it’s a proven performer in FBI ballistics testing. Velocity and energy aren’t exceptionally high, but raw penetration isn’t the goal for general defensive ammo. Nickel-plated cases aid in smooth feeding, and the FlexLock tip aids in consistent expansion, even after passing through a variety of standard barriers.

The best 10mm ammo for self-defense expands reliably while maintaining its weight without excessive penetration. It wouldn’t be a bad option for hunting deer-sized game or smaller, especially with careful shot selection. It’s not a great option for bear defense or for large game.

Winchester Defender 10mm Auto 180-grain Bonded JHP

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 180-grain Bonded Jacketed Hollow Point
• Velocity: 1240
• Energy: 614 foot-pounds

Pros

• Rapid expansion up to 1.5x original diameter
• High weight retention
• Low flash
• Great for EDC and hunting light game

Cons

• Less penetration than non-expanding bullets

This defensive load from Winchester features nickel-plated cases and a jacketed hollowpoint that’s bonded for maximum weight retention. The cup of the hollow point is open, but the bullet jacket’s edges are scored for uniform expansion.

This 10mm ammo utilizes low-flash powder for potential low-light defensive situations and produces a good balance of velocity and recoil. It’s primarily intended for EDC-type applications, but it would make a suitable hunting bullet on lighter game.

Sig Sauer Elite Performance 10mm Auto 180-grain V-Crown JHP

Sig Sauer

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 180-grain V-Crown JHP
• Velocity: 1250 fps
• Energy: 624 foot-pounds

Pros

• Rapid, dramatic, uniform expansion
• Optimal penetration for EDC applications
• Premium components for reliability
• Reduced recoil from heavier bullets

Cons

•  Not optimal for animal defense applications

Sig’s V-Crown JHP loads are one of the top EDC-type loads in general, and this offering brings it to the 10mm auto platform. Like many other 10mm loads, it’s a 180-grain Jacketed hollow point, but the V-Crown is known for its reliable flower-petal-like expansion.

Velocity and energy levels are on-par with most full-power 180-grain loads, and the ammunition functions well in compact handguns. It would work for some light-game hunting applications such as whitetail deer, but this ammunition is designed for expansion and limited penetration.

Federal Premium 10mm Auto 200-grain HST JHP

Federal Ammunition

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 200-grain HST Jacketed Hollowpoint
• Velocity: 1130 fps
• Energy: 567 foot-pounds

Pros

• Consistent, rapid expansion
• Good barrier penetration with limited overall penetration
• Heavier than most defensive bullets

Cons

• Heavier recoil than other EDC loads

The HST is one of the most popular service and personal defense bullets on the market. It gives rapid, dramatic expansion, with high weight retention and good initial barrier penetration. In 10mm, it’s a great option for everyday carry. The 200-grain HST is heavier than most 10mm defensive hollow point loads and is designed to deliver maximum energy transfer without over-penetration.

Like some other 10mm ammo, this load uses nickel-plated brass that uses small primers, and quality of components is excellent. Velocities are consistent, and I measured them as averaging slightly higher than advertised. Recoil is significant, but hey, it’s a 10mm. This load would work in hunting applications for whitetail-sized game, but don’t expect tons of penetration.

Best 10mm Ammo for Hunting: Reviews & Recommendations

Hornady Handgun Hunter 10mm Auto 135-grain Monoflex

Hornady

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 135-grain Monoflex monolithic copper hollow point
• Velocity: 1315 fps
• Energy: 518 foot-pounds

Pros

• Lead free
• High velocity with lower recoil
• Rapid expansion with good penetration
• Good for both hunting and EDC applications

Cons

• Rapid expansion not great for animal defense application
• Lighter bullet might not penetrate as well on less-ideal shot angles

This lead-free 10mm ammo features a traditional-looking hollow point that is filled with the proprietary Monoflex material. This soft rubbery material helps prevent the hollow point from clogging, and—when compressed upon impact—aids with rapid, uniform expansion of the bullet.

Since there’s no jacket to separate, the bullet retains nearly all its weight. This aids in penetration, but although the rapid expansion makes for great terminal performance, overall penetration will be limited.

The performance characteristics and construction make it a great option for hunting—especially where lead-free is a requirement—and the reduced recoil also makes this an appealing everyday carry option.

Hornady Custom 10mm Auto 180-grain XTP

Hornady

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet 180-grain XTP JHP
• Velocity: 1275 fps
• Energy: 650 foot-pounds

Pros

• Rapid initial expansion, but good penetration
• Consistent velocities
• Great all-around bullet

Cons

• Might over-penetrate in EDC applications

The XTP is a well-established bullet, and a great hunting option for 10mm ammo. The jacketed hollow point has a smaller-diameter opening than other points, but the segmented jacket gives pretty consistent expansion to a point.

The XTPs don’t open up to the diameter that some other hollow point bullets will, but in turn, they penetrate really well for a hollow point. Their penetration might be more than ideal for an EDC load, but it’s not what you’ll see in a heavier solid bullet. It would be a suitable bullet for animal defense if you don’t have grizzly bears in mind.

DoubleTap Ammunition 200-grain Controlled Expansion JHP

DoubleTap Ammunition

SEE IT

Key Features

• Bullet: 200 grain custom jacketed hollow point
• Velocity: 1195 fps
• Energy: 634 foot-pounds

Pros

• Better penetration than many other hollow points
• Larger wound cavity
• Over 1200 fps in 5-inch barrels
• Good defensive and general-purpose load

Cons

• Penetration is more than ideal for EDC applications
• Not suitable for grizzly bears

DoubleTap Ammunition is known for producing quality, high-performance handgun loads, and this 10mm ammo is one of the best options for hunting out there. Their custom 200-grain JHP controlled-expansion bullet expands to 0.74 inches, nearly doubling in diameter. It’s designed to penetrate 20 inches and defeat heavy hide and bone. The increased penetration relative to some other hollow points make this a feasible—and even favorable—load for defense and general use when you won’t be dealing with grizzly bears. They would certainly work for EDC applications as well, but with an increased risk of over penetration. DoubleTap loads with tight tolerances and attention to detail, and this is one of the best hunting options available in a factory load.

Winchester Big Bore 10 200-grain SJHP

Tyler Freel

SEE IT

Key Features

• 200-grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint
• Velocity: 1,175 feet per second (4.6-inch barrel)
• Controlled expansion
• Full 10mm power

Pros

• Controlled expansion
• Good penetration for hollowpoint
• Good hunting and defense bullet

Cons

• Soft point might limit penetration through bone

Winchester’s new Big Bore line includes this 200-grain option for the 10mm. It’s a full-power load that pushes a 200-grain semi-jacketed hollow point at 1,175 feet per second out of a standard-sized pistol. This is a great option for hunting and bear defense because the limited expansion on the bullet creates trauma but still penetrates deeply. Winchester’s testing showed it to penetrate over 30 inches of ballistic gel. The semi-jacketed bullet has a lead point, and the hollow point is shallow, unlike personal defense loads. The lead tip of the bullet is designed to expand only slightly, to create cavitation and a bigger wound channel than solid hard-cast bullets.  

Although it likely won’t penetrate bone as well as hard cast or other solid bullets, The Big Bore load is a great all-around option that will still punch through a bear’s skull with little fuss. It would make a great hunting bullet for deer, hogs, or other medium-sized game as well.

Read Next: Best 9mm Ammo

FAQs

Why Trust Outdoor Life?

Since 1898, OL has been a leading authority in testing and reviewing hunting gear, fishing tackle, guns and shooting equipment, and much more. We have more than a century-long history of evaluating products, and we’re now bringing that expertise to online reviews. Our editors are experienced outdoorsmen and women, and most importantly, we’re trained journalists. We prioritize field testing and objective data when reviewing products. We conduct interviews with gear manufacturers and engineers as well as outdoor experts so that our readers have an understanding of how and why a product works—or doesn’t.

Advertising does not influence our gear reviews and it never will. While we always focus our coverage on standout products—because we want our readers to be aware of the latest and greatest gear—we also cover the flaws and quirks of any given product.

Final Thoughts

The most important part of selecting the best 10mm ammo is to keep in mind your intended application and the limitations of the caliber. Most people will be looking to use it primarily for animal defense (and it’s a good choice) but remember, it’s not magic, and it can’t do everything. Among the most important things is to buy lots of practice ammo and shoot often.

Best for Bear Defense 

• Black Hills Honeybadger 10mm
• Buffalo Bore Heavy Outdoorsman 10mm 220-grain Hard Cast FN
• Underwood Ammo 10mm Auto 140-grain Xtreme Penetrator
• Grizzly Cartridge Company 10mm 200-grain Hard Cast
• HSM 10mm 200-grain Lead RNFP “Bear-Load”
• Federal Premium Solid Core Syntech 10mm 200-grain
• Fort Scott Munitions 125-grain TUI

Best for Practice

• CCI Blazer Brass-case 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ FN
• Remington UMC 10mm Auto 180-grain FMJ

Best for Self Defense 

• Hornady Critical Duty 10mm Auto 175-grain FlexLock
• Winchester Defender 10mm Auto 180-grain Bonded JHP
• Sig Sauer Elite Performance 10mm Auto 180-grain V-Crown JHP
• Federal Premium 10mm Auto 200-grain HST JHP

Best for Hunting

• Hornady Handgun Hunter 10mm Auto 135-grain Monoflex
• Hornady Custom 10mm Auto 180-grain XTP
• Doubletap Ammunition 200-grain Controlled Expansion JHP
• Winchester Big Bore 10 200-grain SJHP

The post The Best 10mm Ammo of 2023, Tested and Reviewed appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.