1) Nosler Partition
This bullet epitomizes the concept of “way before its time.†Designed in 1946, the Partition still sets the standard by which all other hunting bullets are measured. This is the most enduring hunting bullet design of modern times and I doubt there is a species of game animal on Earth that has not fallen to it.

2) Remington Core-Lokt
“Price point†is an overused term these days, but this bullet matched the concept of performance with an affordable price. The result was the most popular “price point†bullet on the market. If there ever was a bullet for the masses the Core-Lokt would be it.

3) Sierra Matchking
Built for accuracy, the Matchking is the most winning match bullet sold today. It offers top-end, custom-bullet accuracy with a mass-produced price. If your rifle won’t shoot with this bullet, it’s time to sell it to your brother-in-law.

4) Hornady Spire Point
Joyce Hornady started his company with the .30-caliber 150-grain Spire Point. Still popular today, it is the bullet that launched a shooting dynasty.

5) Barnes X-Bullet/TSX
It takes a “shop guy†to develop new ideas, and Randy Brooks once told me that he is most comfortable with concrete under his feet. It also takes a guy who (to use an overused phrase) “thinks outside the box†to conceive an idea worth developing. Browning, Colt, Ruger, they all were those kinds of guys; Randy is too. When everybody else believed that rifle bullets should be made only out of lead wrapped with gilding metal, Randy made a homogenous, all-copper bullet. The X-bullet became one of the best-performing game bullets ever to whack a moose, and with continuing refinements it just keeps getting better and better.

6) Nosler Ballistic Tip
When this plastic-tipped bullet was introduced it was designed to stop bullet damage in the rifle’s magazine. Nobody gave much thought to the ballistics, so when the design turned out to be accurate and devastating on game it was almost a surprise. The point is Nosler had no clue that they were launching a revolution. Polymer-tipped bullets now rule the hunting world from varmints to big game, and it all started with the Ballistic Tip.

7) Trophy Bonded Bear Claw
Bonded-core hunting bullets have been all the rage for several years now, and it all started with Art Carter’s Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. The newest incarnation, the Tipped Trophy Bonded, takes it to the next level and will set the standard for lead-core hunting bullets for a while to come.

8) Winchester Silvertip
You gotta love the name—it just shouts refinement and class. When it was first introduced the affordable Silvertip looked high-tech, expensive and cutting edge, and it ranked very high on the “cool factor†scale. That alone sold it, but the fact that it’s a pretty good deer bullet ensured immortality.

9) Swift Scirocco
Some ideas are just so obvious that you wonder what took so long. It was inevitable that somebody would combine bonded-core technology with a polymer tip. Everybody has a bonded-core, tipped bullet these days, but Swift did it first.

10) Fusion
When Speer developed a new way to build a bullet by plating the jacket to the core one molecule at a time they rocked conventional wisdom. This design brought bonded-core technology to affordable ammo. It’s accurate and it performs well on game, but more importantly, it’s priced to sell. The name is kinda catchy, too.

I have shot and killed all kinds of game with all kinds of bullets.

The number one bullet for me is the one I have in my gun at the time I need to kill something.

I'd replace the Sirocco with the Winchester Power Point.

Match King?

While I realize some game will be killed by it, I would not put this in the top 10. Yes its accurate, but I don't think much of its terminal performance. It will work some of the time, but I don't think its in the same group as the others.

cb

Barnes TSX and TTSX. My first trip to Namibia this month solidified this for me. The performance was great they did exactly what I expected. Awesome penetration, massive internal damage and very, very accurate.

the win power point has proven itself for decades (much like the core-lokt), it is relatively cheap and very popular. to put it below any barnes bullet (if this is truly a popularity comparasion, and popularity is best judged by SALES) is certainly a mistake. there is no way any barnes bullet is more popular that the pp.

Before there was the Trophy Bonded Bearclaw there was the Bitteroot bonded bullet. Show me your age and tell me who remembers THAT bullet. I still have a few, somewhere. FYI, I still use Nosler Partitions for 75% of my hunting. I even have a number of .375/300 gr bullets with the relief groove over the partition.

Here's my list, and in no particular order:

Partition
Aframe
Northfork
Btip
Accubond
Powerpoint
Corelokt
Hornady Interloct
GS Custom
Federal Power Shok

How the hell the Fusion got on that original list is beyond me, especially in lieu of the Accubond and Aframe or even the Speer Grand Slam.

Could you please let us know what magazine this article came from. MatchKings are great target bullets, but even their manufacturer (Sierra) says they should not be used for hunting. Why Mr.Towsley thinks they should be number 3 on the all time list of HUNTING bullets is beyond me.

How would you compare the terminal performance of the Nosler Partition with that of the Barnes TSX? Say in .300 Win Mag on elk if you need that detail in order to make the comparison.

Let's hope VARMINTING or tracking wounding game is high on his listing of activities he calls "hunting" with that list! A few would be questionable at best of all time hunting bullets. Not having read the whole article I'm guessing there is either a pay-off or a crack pipe involved.

Doc,
Didn't you just buy 1,000's of TSX's... but they didn't make your list? Please explain.

Thanks,
Kyler

quote:

Could you please let us know what magazine this article came from.

That's from the current issue of the NRA's America Hunter,

Top 10 Hunting Bullets Of All Time

I saw Sierra Matchking's listed as #3 and thought, "Hey, the guys at Accurate Reloading will enjoy this".

If I find an article singing the praises of buckshot for Cape buffalo I'll post it on the African hunting forum.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Match King?

While I realize some game will be killed by it, I would not put this in the top 10. Yes its accurate, but I don't think much of its terminal performance. It will work some of the time, but I don't think its in the same group as the others.

cb

I have to wonder if Bryce meant to say "Game King" and confused himself with Match King?

Has anyone tried the new 270,7mm or 30 cal non lead Nosler E Tip bullets on game?

What a crock! The MatchKing gets mentioned as the #3 bullet all-time (on his list) while the GameKing doesn't even appear.

But I will agree that the Nosler Partition belongs at the top of the list. It remains today the most infallible thing ever to come out of a rifle barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by mustbhuntn:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
Match King?

While I realize some game will be killed by it, I would not put this in the top 10. Yes its accurate, but I don't think much of its terminal performance. It will work some of the time, but I don't think its in the same group as the others.

cb

I have to wonder if Bryce meant to say "Game King" and confused himself with Match King?

Perhaps, but he said "Built for accuracy, the Matchking is the most winning match bullet sold today"

Sounds to me like he was speaking of the MatchKing.

Was this based on "on game performance" or "sales".

Either way, I don't agree.

Nosler Partition.
Who needs anything else...

Woodleigh didn't make the list? It probably is more responsible for the current interest in the big bore double rifle than anything else. The Woodleigh is one of the best if not the best bullet for calibers in the 375 range upwards and should have made the cut.

All the lsited bullets are American, not one from overseas. The British and Europeans invented dangerous game hunting and paved the way for most of what the Americans have come up with. We need to give them their due.

Mac

I always take Towsley's opinion with a big grain of salt! My thoughts on guns, and hunting differs greatly from his. I miss Finn greatly!

He touts a Scirocco like it was a first but doesn't mention the Rem Bronze Point??
MATCHKING?? I ain't even gonna go there. Yes Virginia, if you hit a 100# Whitetail with a 175gr hunk of lead in a reasonable spot it will probably kill it regardless of it's designation, even tho, there are a myriad of much better suited bullets out there designed to do the job better, they don't have the boyhowdylookwhatIcando appeal.

I think the parameters should be clarified a bit; no mention of the Woodleigh bullet for example. General hunting? dangerous game? varmint? what?

I emailed the author. Apparently the editor changed the name of the article from top bullets, to top hunting bullets, and he wasn't aware of it. He said he was going to contact the editor and get it corrected.

That's the problem with much of the media today. There are far too many people in top-level positions who don't have a single clue about what they are doing.

They may know Xs and Os, but they are often sadly lacking in any significant knowledge of the content itself. The Hornady 5th Edition Loading Manual is a perfect example.

I haven't used enough different bullets to make up my own top 10 list but I will nominate the Nosler Solid Base as THE best cup and core bullet ever put out.

til later

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
Doc,
Didn't you just buy 1,000's of TSX's... but they didn't make your list? Please explain.

Thanks,
Kyler

I sure did, but what I did was try to blend proven bullets in the field with the majority of opinion as well as my personal experience.

I'd say the 2 most controversial bullets for hunting would be the Barnes (X, TSX, TTSX), and the Btips, and I have plenty of experience with the TSX and Btip. I included in my list bullets that I've never even used but realized their popularity and reliability: power point, northfork, and GS Custom.

I've killed 10x more animals with btips than with the tsx, so in all fairness, I only wanted to included ONE controversial bullet and it happened to be the one I've killed most of my game with.

If I was to create a list from my own experience I would eliminate the above referenced bullets that I've never used and replace them with Berger VLD, TSX, and Swift Sciroccos.

My first list was an attempt to be reasonably fair to bullets I've used and not used but cannot deny the history of proven bullets in the field.

Finally, I will be using the 110 TTSX in my Ruger/Hart bbl 270 Win in just over a month while in TX. I shot 4 three shot strings this past Saturday with it over 58.0 H4350, WW brass, Fed 210 match primers seated 0.035 off the lands. In every group there is one big hole about the size of a dime. Hopefully I will get to shoot some hogs with this combo as I am eager to see what it will do.

I wondered if anyone would question my list for not including the TSX bullets since I am such a fan and will continue their use until I have reason not to.

No A-Frame on the list? And the guy is sitting behind an Eland in the pic? No credibility at all based on this. Agree with Nosler and Barnes on the list.

Taken with a grain of salt.

My list from bullets I have personally used.

Premiums
1. TSX maybe it hasn't been around long enough, but it is my choice.
2. Partition- given it was the first maybe it should be #1. It's not what I load when I want premium performance anymore.

Cup and core
3. Hornady Interlock
4 Remington Corelokt
5. Federal
6. BT

I have never used any swift, speer, Sierra or other boutique bullets for hunting.

I pretty much have two brands on my reloading shelf anymore. Barnes and Hornady. If I can't get it done with those two, I'm in trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by olarmy:
Could you please let us know what magazine this article came from. MatchKings are great target bullets, but even their manufacturer (Sierra) says they should not be used for hunting. Why Mr.Towsley thinks they should be number 3 on the all time list of HUNTING bullets is beyond me.

Because like a lot of other HVLD match bullets if you put them in the spine they drop game like hammers. And only accuratly placed bullets kill game.

I don't think they are the top ten.

My personal pick for the top bullet is the Barnes "X". So far I have not been able to get the TSX to give the same level of performance. JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Here's my list, and in no particular order:

Partition
Aframe
Northfork
Btip
Accubond
Powerpoint
Corelokt
Hornady Interloct
GS Custom
Federal Power Shok

How the hell the Fusion got on that original list is beyond me, especially in lieu of the Accubond and Aframe or even the Speer Grand Slam.

Doc:
I would bet that Fusion is sponsoring some hunts for Towsley lately. Hell, if they would send me all around the country to shoot private land deer and antelope, I bet I could find a few good things to say about the bullets used to take the animals. The manufacturing of th Fusion bullet is innovative, but I do not think it has been around long enough to be established as one of the top ten of all time.

Here's my list, mostly in order of what I think is most used to least, primarily for American hunting, but this is just a guess.

1) Rem Corelokt
2) Winchester Power Point
3) Winchester Silvertip
4) Rem Bronzepoint
5) Federal Factory whatevers (blue boxes today)
6) Sierra Gameking
7) Hornady Spire point
8) Nosler Partition
9) Nosler Solid base
10)Nosler Ballistic Tip

And no, I didn't forget Barnes, or other premium bullet makers, but I think the others have outsold them over the years.

My top ten hunting bullets of all time start with North Fork first, Nosler Partition in second and Swift A-Frame in third. You can add to the list as you see fit for the remainder of the ten. These are my list of performing bullets on all types of game from dangerous to non dangerous. For Towsley to list the Sierra Matchking as a hunting bullet, cost him my respect. I have never shot the GS Custom or Woodleighs, but can only imagine them to be a top notch bullets. My reloading and hunting experience while not as extensive as those with unlimited funds, I have been all over North America yearly and to Africa for Buff and plains game, and plan to go much more. ----- None of the writers ever gave the North Fork bullet it's due, because Mike didn't supply them bullets to shoot. Somehow I managed to have 32 boxs of North Forks in my larder when Mike shut down and will continue to reload them for me and mine for a long time. Good shooting.

Going back to Adam and Eve in my case. It goes as follows and in this order:

1.Remington Corelokt
2.Win West. Open Point Expanding (light game)
3. Silvertips (older ones)
4. Hornadys came along and stole the show.
5. Woodleighs always were good and still are, but I didn't know about them until some years later in my huting career.
6. GS Customs, a great monolithic bullet.
7. Northforks (no longer)they were excellent.
8. Bridger bullets (no longer)wonderful solid.
9. New Hornadys are impressive
10. Noslers, the bullet by which all the rest are judged...

So much depends on what caliber you shoot them in..One brand may not be so good in a 30-06 but works like a charm in a 25-35.

I love the Win. Silvertips in the 30-30 and 25-35, but not in the 300 H&H or 30-06.

I like the old 75 gr. the BarnesX in my 6x45, and the Barnes bullets work great on Buffalo and heavy animals in the big bores..In the rest of the calibers I am not a Barnes X fan at all, had failures to open on more than a few ocassions....

I love Nosler partitions, but they work "best" in 30 caliber bores and "above" calibers.

I love the 130 gr. Speer in .284 caliber but the 270 gr. 9.3 bullet is way too soft...

Given the above, its hard to make accurate decisions based on brand names..and it takes a lifetime to figure what bullet is best for which caliber on what game, but in time you will figue it out, then you die of old age the following day...

Given this! is why you see so much conflict in opinnions on bullets, most of which is just so much hype based on peoples successes and failures on a small number of kills, but hey thats part of the game of hunting!

I take Bryce's view for exactly what it is, his opinion; nothing more.
Bryce is a good man.
Hell, if I wrote a similar article, I'd have everyone in the house bashing me..
An article like that is based on his history, his experiences. And, so would an article written by anyone else.
As I mentioned above, Nosler Partitions rule at my house....

Don

I take exception to any X bullet being on a top ten list of hunting bullets. Continuing refinements, more like trying to fix something that works "SOME" of the time.

Matchkings are NOT hunting bullets.



Its not even winter yet.

Corelokts have probably killed more game than all the others put together. I like Partitions but I use a controlled expansion bullet that is most accurate in my rifle. I always put more faith in shot placement.