why do people not use premium bullets?

[gajie270]

something I can't fathom is how people can spend thousands of dollars on a hunt, sometimes thousands on rifles, optics, and all other kinds of gear. and in the same breath, will put a box of Remington core lokts or another budget cup and core bullet in their rifle. And what makes that worse today is that there are affordable premium bullet options now, even in factory ammo, such as the Federal Fusion which is still affordable but uses a better bonded bullet. and I can't deny that standard cup and core bullets are proven for many kinds of game such as whitetail and smaller big games. however, I also can't deny that a premium bullet of any sort will still work better on any game species larger.
I know I'm kind of preaching to the choir with this one but I rest my case.

 

[IvW]

Ignorance......

 

[Garrett89]

Some people just wanna watch the world burn..

 

[JimP]

Those Remington Core Locs work, plain and simple. Along with the vast majority of those other cup and core bullets. And for the most part the premium bullet really isn't needed.

I moved on to the monolithic copper Barnes bullets 20+ years ago, but all of the animals that I killed before that time are just as dead when I shot them with that old trustworthy cup and core bullet

 

[IvW]

Those Remington Core Locs work, plain and simple. Along with the vast majority of those other cup and core bullets. And for the most part the premium bullet really isn't needed.

I moved on to the monolithic copper Barnes bullets 20+ years ago, but all of the animals that I killed before that time are just as dead when I shot them with that old trustworthy cup and core bullet

If so why the move to barnes??

 

[Puddle]

Ignorance......

Ditto.

I have a brother who spends some serious $$$ to chase book quality guided Mule deer and Elk across the western US. He also is one who will check the rifle and ammo combo once a year just before he leaves for the hunt.

A decade ago I got him thinking about what's the cheapest item on your hunts and why not buy the proven performers? That's also about when he wondered "what's a Partition?".

Today, he now calls me to ask what factory ammo he should be taking on his next high dollar trip. I'll take that as a win.

I'm hoping he'll buy 2 boxes of quality ammo - one to take on his hunt trip and one to practice with at least twice before leaving. Only can only hope...

 

[Skshyk]

I shot my leopard with bullets from midway factory seconds. Why? Because I killed buffalo and bunch of hogs with them.

 

[Hogpatrol]

something I can't fathom is how people can spend thousands of dollars on a hunt, sometimes thousands on rifles, optics, and all other kinds of gear. and in the same breath, will put a box of Remington core lokts or another budget cup and core bullet in their rifle. And what makes that worse today is that there are affordable premium bullet options now, even in factory ammo, such as the Federal Fusion which is still affordable but uses a better bonded bullet. and I can't deny that standard cup and core bullets are proven for many kinds of game such as whitetail and smaller big games. however, I also can't deny that a premium bullet of any sort will still work better on any game species larger.
I know I'm kind of preaching to the choir with this one but I rest my case.

Maybe those premium bullets aren't accurate in their rifle.

 

[Daisy]

And change is hard for people. Because you kill something with a cheap bullet doesn’t mean that the data on that bullet is up to sniff. That’s called anecdotal evidence….the worst kind!

I think PH and big time hunters know what has worked for them over years. I think they should be very slow to change and working with clients is not the place to try new things.

And, as new stuff comes to market and over time develops a reputation for success they should slowly transition to those bullets.

Seems this happened first with A frames, then with monometal Barnes. My feeling is the next change will be to hammer and raptor bullets.

 

[ftrovato]

A guy get lucky with a perfect broadside shot and puts an unbonded bullet behind the shoulder. It works and they think they are now experts. As soon as an off angle shot is needed and their bullet fails to reach the vitals for any number of reasons they are then scratching their heads....Hard to sell a close minded person on what is the right thing to do when they are not going to listen.

 

[Tango]

For larger, tougher game, there's no doubt a heavy duty bullet like a Barnes, Partition, A-Frame etc is the ticket but when it comes to small and medium game, a simple, accurate cup and core bullet can be a great choice. There's a ton of marketing fluff that goes into selling folks expensive kit that's not necessarily what's needed or "the best" for the job at hand. Of course, a lot of bullet performance depends on an appropriate cartridge pairing, but don't assume that "premium" always equates to "the best" for a given hunt situation.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

I don't know, the bullet itself is the least expensive component on the hunt, al things considered. Ask yourself this, would you trust your PH if he, she, they were using the cheapest brand of bullet in their back up rifle to bail your ass out of a life threatening situation?

 

[WAB]

Terminal ballistics are an interesting study. There are situations where a standard cup and core is a better tool than an A-Frame. My go to bullet is the swift A-Frame. However, a Speer hot cor is a better solution for whitetail on our farm. It will penetrate from any angle and provide more reliable expansion on a true broadside shot. For long range (6.5 PRC) I use 142 gr Nosler AB LR’s.

If I’m feeling like I want to see a whitetail completely flattened on the spot, I grab my 9.3x62 loaded with 270 gr Speer HotCor’s at 2500 fps. There’s not much tracking involved after the shot!

 

[Doug3006]

Premium bullets have their place. But even in Africa, they aren’t always needed. If a person goes to say South Africa on a plains game-only safari, with kudu being the biggest animal, I really don’t think they need premium bullets. In the case of leopard, I think most premium bullets are simply too tough. In either situation, a core lock will do just fine.

For cape, buffalo in the thick stuff, I like Swift A-frames, and Barnes triple shocks.

 

[Tango]

As I said, for large tough dangerous game, I agree, I'd certainly use a heavy duty bullet, but I've lost count of how many problems I've seen with soft "premium" bullets fired from magnum cartridges and then conversely, tough copper bullets that didn't open up on small-medium game when paired with mild standard calibers. A blanket statement that "premium" is always best is just not accurate.

 

[JimP]

If so why the move to barnes??

I jumped to Barnes for my 340 Weatherby. When I first started shooting it there were only 3 or 4 factory loadings and the Barnes 225 grain X bullet shot the best.

As for the rest of my rifles I just liked the way that the Barnes performed, but I could get just as good of accuracy with standard bullets in my reloads

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I used my outfitters, Sauer 100 in 30/06 and this is the ammo they supplied.

I took a zebra, couple warthogs, three impala and a duiker with this ammo in 180gr. I was very surprised by the performance and all animals were 1 shot kills with the zebra running the farthest at about 35 yards.

 

[Tango]

I used my outfitters, Sauer 100 in 30/06 and this is the ammo they supplied. View attachment 555524

I took a zebra, couple warthogs, three impala and a duiker with this ammo in 180gr. I was very surprised by the performance and all animals were 1 shot kills with the zebra running the farthest at about 35 yards.

Just got back from a hunt in South Africa. Used that same bullet in a 308 (Steyr Scout). Flattened everything from impala to wildebeest and kudu with one shot. Upsets recovered from the kudu, wildebeest and warthog. Great performance from the 300gr Barnes on my buffalo at 110 yards.

 

[mark-hunter]

something I can't fathom is how people can spend thousands of dollars on a hunt, sometimes thousands on rifles, optics, and all other kinds of gear. and in the same breath, will put a box of Remington core lokts or another budget cup and core bullet in their rifle. And what makes that worse today is that there are affordable premium bullet options now, even in factory ammo, such as the Federal Fusion which is still affordable but uses a better bonded bullet. and I can't deny that standard cup and core bullets are proven for many kinds of game such as whitetail and smaller big games. however, I also can't deny that a premium bullet of any sort will still work better on any game species larger.
I know I'm kind of preaching to the choir with this one but I rest my case.

Some random thoughts.
1. Ignorance

2. Using rental camp rifle, will leave you no choice in bullets. When you are in camp, you will use whatever they give you. If you dont bring your own.

3. Medium to smaller game (up to 100 pounds in weight), will better be taken with rapid expansion bullet, which is usually cheap. For example I hunt roe deer exclusively with nosler ballistic tip 30-06 . In the same time, for Africa, my choice is swift a frame. My choice is based on game species that I hunt, combined with caliber nominal energy and velocity. I want best performance, and humane kill, Nothing wrong with nosler ballistic tip for roe deer in my own heck of woods..

4. Premium bullets are for magnum speeds, or for thick skinned game.

5. There was no need for premium bullets 100 years ago, when bullet velocities were around 700 m/s or less. For example, I hunt wild european boars with classic soft point, 9.3x62, velocity 700 m/s (2296 fps) and conveniently, SP is also economical. But If I would be using 300 win mag for same purpose, I would use premium bullet. Bonded, monolithic or partition. I dont mind spending money on ammo, but not every premium bullet is necessary for every purpose.

6. Other group of people is those who dont spend time and money on international premium hunts. Those who hunt in their own backyard, and are of lower income. This may come together with ignorance. Cheap bullets. if one bullet cost 1, the other 5, why paying 5? lets pay 1, and go hunting.


There were two notable stories, when premium bullets were needed.
The story of mr Grey, who wounded lion with 280 Ross (3000 fps) and wounded lion mauled him to death. this ended the reputation of 280 ross caliber.There was no premium bullets available at the beggining of xx century. Mr grey, couldnt use anything better, except to use some other caliber for that occasion.

Second story is when John Nosler had a problem killing a moose with some soft point in caliber 300 HH. Moose refused to die, till after about two magazines emptied in him, and with hardly any lead getting to vitals. Close range shooting. (high impact speeds, magnum velocities)
This event motivated nosler to design his famous partition bullet, If he was using 30-30, or 30-06 on the moose, he might never get the idea. The rest is history.

Both stories describe problem of soft points and magnum velocities. Go down in speed, arguably you dont need premium ammo in general

 

[Elkeater]

I grew up using corelokts on whitetail deer. Killed a bunch of them. Killed my first elk with a 180gr corelokt out of my .300 win mag too. It left a softball size hole on exiting. I the discovered reloading and now I load for purpose. Target shooting gets a cup and core, varmints and predators get highly frangible bullets like a v max. All big game from pigs to deer to sheep, elk whatever pretty much gets a hammer bullet these days. Mostly because I know they’ll do the job, I have kids so I don’t shoot as much as I used to and the load work up is typically really straightforward.