Coues With Big Heavy Bullets

[AverageJoe]

I shoot a 300wsm & my wife shoots a 270win all coues have hit the dirt one shot. From 150-800yrds. The 300wsm is devastating at all yards with a 180gr Sierra game king not the best BC but the gun is dead on out to 850. I've loaded 168 tsx and had to hit the deer three times same goes with the 180 tsx no expansion on bullet but there is a lot of factors in that matter. The 180 GMK has worked the best so far for me and Family. This year I loaded up the new Sierra tipped match kings in 168gr so I'm excited to see how they work. My wife and dad both shoot the sst 130gr out of there 270 and have great success, the bullet never blew through we always find it on the exit side with A bulge in the skin. Let's just say I've never shot twice with the Sierra game kings or hornady sst.

My experience as well. Barnes bullets suck. SST and SGK are devastating on deer and elk.

[firstcoueswas80]

I have watched two very sad coues kills with a 7mag shooting VLD 180s. One was a fairly small buck shot 5 times in the chest before being finished off by another gun shooting different billets. The other was a big buck that just would not die. The hunter put 7 pretty good shots in him at 250 yards before he finally dropped for good.

 

I have also seen some nice one shot kills with the same set up. Not sure if it is a problem with the VLD or just isolated incidents, but I have no confidence in them. I have friends that are not willing to shoot anything else.

Do you happen to know which exact vlds you guys had issues with?

 

Barnes bullets defiantly do not suck. They do work better on bigger game, or when driven into bone.

[jeremiahjohnson]

I shot the 196 grn vlds out of my 300 rum, couldn't get them to shoot great. Now I'm shooting the,200 grn accubond. Love this bullet. I've found on big dense animals like elk, bear, this round is the hammer of god. On coues deer, I wasn't impressed,shot my buck at 250 last yr. Thought it would lift him off the ground, not the case, zipped through so fast, I don't feel the bullet got to totally perform. Overall, my gun loves them. Out of a 257 I shot the 110 grn accubond, awesome performance, watched my ex slam hogs at 300 like it was nothing with this round.

[jeremiahjohnson]

I shot the 196 grn vlds out of my 300 rum, couldn't get them to shoot great. Now I'm shooting the,200 grn accubond. Love this bullet. I've found on big dense animals like elk, bear, this round is the hammer of god. On coues deer, I wasn't impressed,shot my buck at 250 last yr. Thought it would lift him off the ground, not the case, zipped through so fast, I don't feel the bullet got to totally perform. Overall, my gun loves them. Out of a 257 I shot the 110 grn accubond, awesome performance, watched my ex slam hogs at 300 like it was nothing with this round.

[KGAINES]

Several years ago my brother shot a coues at about 225 yards with a 325 grain out of a 45-70 and it tore it up. Not really what you're looking for, it hit no bone and exploded in the deer. Much different bullet and gun, but it is big and heavy.

[trphyhntr]

Out of a 257 I shot the 110 grn accubond.

That's what I'm shooting at coues this year

[colablanca13]

In my humble opinion, there is all this talk about using heavy bullets on coues when you really don't need them. I have hunted Coues in AZ and Mexico for over 20 years and not once did I use anything heavier than 140. When I used a .223 I used 60gr Sierra Varminter (evil little bullet); in a .270 it was 130gr Nosler Partition; in a .280 it was 140gr. Nosler Partition or 140gr Sierra Game King, and in the last five+ years I have used either 140gr Nosler Partition or 140gr Ballistic Silver tip in a 7mm Remington SAUM.

Shot many grey ghosts both standing or on the run, anywhere from 50 meters to 400 meters and all these bullets worked very well as long as you place your shot well. Except, I passed on some long shots with the .223.