What bullets for big deer out to 500 yards?

[Guy M]

Hard to beat Reloader 22 and a good 160 - 168 gr bullet from the 7mm Rem mag. Typically velocity will be 3000 - 3100 fps with excellent accuracy.

A big mule deer isn't all that tough to kill with a well placed shot, so I'd concentrate on using the bullet with the greatest accuracy. A 160 Sierra SPBT Gameking, 160 Nosler Accubond, 168 Berger VLD. I'd start with those.

My little old .25-06 with a 115 gr Berger VLD dumped a Wyoming mulie at 400 yards, one shot, instant drop. Your 7mm mag is bigger & more powerful, should have no problem whatsoever with a good hit.

Regards, Guy

 

[7mmfan]

Thank you guys so much for all the info, its been very helpful. Still havent made my choice, I just like to know what works. I wish some company would sale "sampler" packs of bullets with like 10 or 12 of the same weight and different brands.
As far as what my rifle likes now I dont know, I havent ever built a load for it. I went through a short mag stage for awhile and then grew up and moved back to normal length cases. This rifle is fairly old, its a mossberg model 810 bhsm but the twist isnt stamped into the barrel, I got it from my dad who bought it brand new, and if he had to guess maybe 200 rounds through it.

 

[sniper762mm]

sierra 165 gr. hpbt gameking

 

[MHO]

160 Accubond. Whacked lots of mulies. My advice to you is keep your bullets in your pocket the first day.lol. I see so many people who have never hunted Mulies come out on opening day and shoot dinks. Yes they are larger than most whitetail you see, but for mule deer, too young too small. Be patient. your in a good unit and it will pay off if you stay off the trigger. good luck and have fun.

 

[7mmfan]

160 Accubond. Whacked lots of mulies. My advice to you is keep your bullets in your pocket the first day.lol. I see so many people who have never hunted Mulies come out on opening day and shoot dinks. Yes they are larger than most whitetail you see, but for mule deer, too young too small. Be patient. your in a good unit and it will pay off if you stay off the trigger. good luck and have fun.

Man I heard that. Ive actually only hunted mule deer never baby whitetails. I have a pretty cool and unique buck on the wall from a few years ago, not massive by any means, but its a buck you look at and say "thats a cool lookin buck." He scores somewhere in the 165-170 range so Im looking for one bigger than him

Thanks for your input though

 

[Chuckhunter]

130 Berger VLD's out of my 6.5X47 Lapua. Sweeeeeet

 

[MrMajestic]

162 gr. A-Max in front of H4831 or RL22 in a Norma case ignited by a 215M primer. Hard hitting long range deer load. Tweak powder amount and jam or jump for accuracy in your rifle.

 

[the teacher]

What a question! You are opening up a can of worms. I think you should be asking "what load can I come up with that can kill any antlered game at 500yds"? You are not limiting yourself to mulies are you?
Develop an accurate load that is easy on your shoulder (Start at 2700 fps with the heavier bullets) and then practice, practice, practice with it. You will remove a lot of frustration and guess work if you find one good load/bullet and make it your baby. Go out and shoot steel and rocks out to 6 and 700yds. Then 4 and 500 will seem like child's play.
But I would say that a good 160-180 gr should kill everything from antelope to moose with the 7mag inside of 500yds w/ any kind of vital hit IMHO. Select a bullet with a good BC (around .500 or better) and you will have lots of energy working for you.

 

[eaglesnester]

X-2 on the 168gr Burgers for elk, one other choice would be the TSX in the MRX line. The New MRX has a derlain tip that will allow the bullet to open at much lower speeds. I live in Northern B.C. Canada and our critters up here tend to be on the larger size. I use Bergers for everything, from 168gr in my aught 6 to 300gr VLDes in my 338/378. Them burgers put game on the ground right now and they fly ever so good. Those of you that do not use the Burger precision bullets are missing out on a very accurate and effective hunting and target bullet. One other bonus is they do not cost an arm and a leg like some of the other premium bullets cost. Some rifles just will not shoot Burgers. I do believe that if your barrel is pitted with rust a Berger is just not your bullet.

 

[RT2506]

Well after killing hundreds of deer in the past 40 years or so I have come to the conclusion that it don't take a cannon to kill a deer. Most any standard cup and core bullet will kill any deer that ever left a hoof print in the mud. It is all about bullet placement. I personally would pick the the Hornady 154 gr SP or SST or 150 gr Sierra Game King and between 59 and 60 grs IMR 4350 for around 2900 fps in the 7 Rem mag. It has been my personal experience and is MY OPINION that the 7 Rem mag is too much gun unless you are going to be shooting over 300 yards for deer. I experminted with a 7 Rem mag for a while using many different bullets at many different velocities on the farm I helped control hunt for 15 years were we took 100 deer each year. I had more deer that was hit perfectly through the shoulders run off a ways and have to be trailed up to recover with the 7 mag than anything I have ever used. I can't explain it because their vitals were mush and they had to be dead on impact of the bullet but they still ran close to 100 yards a lot of times. It worked better with the two bullets mentioned at around 2900 fps muzzle velocity for me. If you don't want to track them get you a 25-06 and shoot a 117 Sierra between 3000 and 3200 fps.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Thank you guys so much for all the info, its been very helpful. Still havent made my choice, I just like to know what works. I wish some company would sale "sampler" packs of bullets with like 10 or 12 of the same weight and different brands.
As far as what my rifle likes now I dont know, I havent ever built a load for it. I went through a short mag stage for awhile and then grew up and moved back to normal length cases. This rifle is fairly old, its a mossberg model 810 bhsm but the twist isnt stamped into the barrel, I got it from my dad who bought it brand new, and if he had to guess maybe 200 rounds through it.

Well here you go....

The quickest, most economical
way to maximize performance of your rifle.
No rifle will shoot all brands of bullets with equal accuracy. The only way to achieve maximum performance with any rifle is to test several brands of bullets.
Our Sample Paks allow easy, fast and economical testing of a variety of premium bullets. We'll provide you with several rounds using different manufacturer's bullets; enough of each for you to shoot a representative group. Powder charges and seating depths are precisely measured, so the only major difference is in the

www.superiorammuntion.com

 

[bkondeff]

You are getting a lot of advice here, sometimes it can be too much. To 500 yards you don't need the highest bc bullet. I shoot and like the berger, but it is likely harder to load for than most. Don't feel the need for the highest tech or most expensive bullet. Any 7mm mag can put any bullet up to 160 grains downrange to 500 yds with plenty enough speed/energy for even the biggest muley. At 500 yards you don't need sub moa performance either.

Now I'm not saying the most expensive bullets or .50 moa performance is bad, just not necessary here.

While others would argue with me, and I have no experience hunting with them, I would not go for bullets like the AMAX or Sierra Match King(SMK) that are primarily target bullets. For what you want I would take a bullet with a little more solid construction and a little higher probability performance.

I myself drew a good late season tag and the last thing I want is bullet failure.

 

[pjracer]

Barnes TTSX in 140-160 gr range.

 

[CBS]

I've been shooting accubonds for a few years and have been disappointed in the performance. I think they are too solid and don't open up as quickly as I'd like on deer. I'm switching to ballistic tips for deer and saving the accubonds for elk