I tend to try to find one bullet that works and shoot it a lot, and I am on the hunt for one for my Marlin 45-70 XLR. It is scary accurate with Hornady's 325 gr. flex tips with no mods to the factory configuration. I am comfortable shooting out to 200 yards, which covers 98% of the scenarios of where I hunt. Now I want to see if I can find an all rounder bullet beyond the FTX.
Besides punching paper, I hunt deer and elk. I was thinking something around the 350 gr., around 1500-1600 fps. The age old issue of compromise - managing recoil, keeping it reasonably flat and getting the most benefit for the kill. I am happy to buy factory bullets, but am considering casting my own. As much as possible, I am trying to manage costs so that I can shoot as much as possible.
I have considered Hornady 350 gr. round points, but then wondered if this is the time I should really force myself to cast and build my shooting capabilities around a bullet that I can make. Ideally if I go the cast route, it would be nice to buy some to try first to see how my rifle likes them. And of course, if for some reason I can't do any casting, I can revert to buying them.
So for my shooting situation and hand loading, if you could only shoot one bullet what would it be? Any thoughts or suggestions?