Thread: Federal trophy bonded bullets

Originally Posted by superdiver

Yeah I have a good load for a soft point but feel the calibre is a bit wasted using them to an extent esp for longer stuff.

I might be misunderstanding you here @superdiver, but if its longer stuff you're interested in then don't go for a bonded bullet.

Some good comments here already, and probably not going to tell you anything you don't already know... but the main thing is that bonded bullets are designed for max weight retention and to not fragment, for tough heavy game. At longer ranges, where a hit a bit far back is a real risk due to windage, a hard bonded bullet on our deer species can be very unforgiving.

In 300 Win Mag pretty much any 200gr bullet will do the bizzo on our game if put in the front of the engine room, but in lesser calibres and speeds, if ranges are getting out towards ~2200fps or less impact velocity, you'd better hope you're on the money.

Just a personal preference, totally get what @Tahr is saying - he's got a good dog - but as a dogless hunter I prefer a bullet to open fast and fragment a fair bit, and if I find the remains on the other side hide, then all good, cos the animal is dead-o and probably right where I shot it. My experience is that fragmenting hunting bullets kill a whole lot faster than bonded bullets, on normal sized deer. And at longer range >500-600m a soft bullet is better all round.