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I know I may be kicking over a can of worms here. But...... Here goes:
PSP or BT for a 25/06 Whitetail deer?
Same question on Tennessee Black bear but I'll add option (3) *black bear will be a 308
(1) Bonded core SP/PSP -- eg: Hornady American Whitetail / Remington Core-lokt
(2) Balistic Tip -- eg: Nosler Balistic Tip / Hornady SST
(3) Hornady GMX 165gr
I'm using a .260 Rem for whitetail and I like the bonded core & ballistic tip. (Swift Scirocco II is my latest favorite). With proper shot placement about any bullet designed for hunting will be fine. It's the marginal shots we hope never occur that, it is hoped, a more premium bullet which may be overkill for a 200 yard broadside may perform better than the shooter if it doesn't quite go to plan.
Pick a bullet designed to expand well at the velocity you expect it to be travelling at the range you plan to shoot; that your rifle shoots with accuracy.
I think it would depend on load velocity, projectile weight and range you plan to shoot at.
TN Whitetail and Black Bear arent super difficult to kill. The 25/06 and 308 will do the job well with just about anything you would feed them shy of frangible or varmint type bullets. I grew up in West TN, and spent about 12 years in East TN before moving to TX, and between myself and other hunters in the family we've dropped scores and scores of deer and a handful of bear..
Before I started hand loading I pretty much used Rem Core Lokt factory ammo for almost everything centerfire rifle. Its an old school cup and core design that simply works. Today I almost exclusively use mono metals like Barnes TSX and TTSX.. Theyre on the pricey side, but they shoot well in everything I feed them to.. and they perform exceptionally..
Im not personally a big fan of ballistic tips.. they seem to do significantly more meat damage than other options to me and dont get nearly as much straight line penetration on thicker/tougher game as a bonded soft point or a mono metal.. not really a big deal on a deer.. but might be a small concern on a really big boar bear..
I use Hornady American Whitetail in all my deer rifles, all do very well for me. I don’t use the same rifle all the time, just me but like to swap around. Built a Axis in 30-06 to use this year and scored at 95 steps and went about 25 yards so rest of season used 111 in 25-06 I built last year but have not killed with it yet. Also have used Hornady in 308, 7mm-08, 7mm mag, all shot well and recovered without having to track.
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