Practice bullets vs hunting bullets

[45-70guy]

I’ve been searching to find conversations about regarding this topic and I’m certain many people have done this.
As certain bullets go in and out of stock for though the years I’ve stocked up on both cheap and premium bullets for calibers I use,
Since my loads are not MAX for these situations what I’ve done is load the same train weight bullet with the exact same recipe and shoot these to get field practice through the year.
Then switching back over to my other stock of already worked up premium bullets which is the same recipe to keep everything simple and foul a barrel, confirm zero one last time, and hunt.

Though I have taken different weight bullets with a different POI as long as it’s not extremely different.

My current load before I was planing on going to Africa was for a 35 Whelen running 225g TSX at 2500 fps; but instead of just non stop reloading my good cases and primers I took a Speer 250g hot cor; loaded it with resized 06 brass ( I have pails full of it ) and a mod charge of IMR 3031 ( I have pounds and pounds of it ).

Ironically this load hits 2-2.5” high at 100 which at 2150 fps is light but gives me a dead hold at 200 to hit steel for practice. So no dialing but saves me from shooting all the premium stuff just to get trigger time in.

Fast forward I’m last minute going to Africa for the first time, different rifle same caliber.
Northforks 225’s at 2650 being the load, this load I interchange with Sierra 225’s mostly to keep the northfork stock back up until they become more available.

There must be guys who do this instead of just shooting premium stuff all year ?

 

[farmer_john]

I’ve been searching to find conversations about regarding this topic and I’m certain many people have done this.
As certain bullets go in and out of stock for though the years I’ve stocked up on both cheap and premium bullets for calibers I use,
Since my loads are not MAX for these situations what I’ve done is load the same train weight bullet with the exact same recipe and shoot these to get field practice through the year.
Then switching back over to my other stock of already worked up premium bullets which is the same recipe to keep everything simple and foul a barrel, confirm zero one last time, and hunt.

Though I have taken different weight bullets with a different POI as long as it’s not extremely different.

My current load before I was planing on going to Africa was for a 35 Whelen running 225g TSX at 2500 fps; but instead of just non stop reloading my good cases and primers I took a Speer 250g hot cor; loaded it with resized 06 brass ( I have pails full of it ) and a mod charge of IMR 3031 ( I have pounds and pounds of it ).

Ironically this load hits 2-2.5” high at 100 which at 2150 fps is light but gives me a dead hold at 200 to hit steel for practice. So no dialing but saves me from shooting all the premium stuff just to get trigger time in.

Fast forward I’m last minute going to Africa for the first time, different rifle same caliber.
Northforks 225’s at 2650 being the load, this load I interchange with Sierra 225’s mostly to keep the northfork stock back up until they become more available.

There must be guys who do this instead of just shooting premium stuff all year ?

I do. Also use smaller calibers to practice with as well. Depending what im doing.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Fast forward I’m last minute going to Africa for the first time, different rifle same caliber.
Northforks 225’s at 2650 being the load, this load I interchange with Sierra 225’s mostly to keep the northfork stock back up until they become more available.

There must be guys who do this instead of just shooting premium stuff all year ?

Heck, I buy "pratice" bullets in bulk and shoot them by the dozens without worrying about what little they cost.

 

[45-70guy]

I’ve done the smaller caliber thing but at this point now the only thing my suppressed 22 is gaining me is speed. 308 seems to be the happy medium to control recoil and stay on target.
22 is like cheating at this point

 

[JimP]

For a few of my rifles I'll load factory blems or cheap bullets for practice. When I am forming rounds for my 7-30 Waters I'll use blems or cheaper bullets. This round takes a 30-30 case, blows out the shoulder and necks down the neck from .30 to 7mm. I have also found that my loads for forming cases are just as accurate as my full power loads.

For practice off of sticks I'll use my 25-06 in stead of using my .340 Weatherby. I can shoot that lighter caliber all day long where with my Weatherby 10 rounds is about it unless I put the brake onto the barrel.

The big thing with practice off of sticks is your muscle memory, if you can get it locked in with a lighter caliber then it should be good with a larger one.

 

[Firebird]

I’ve shot hundreds of inexpensive Speer hot cor bullets compared to a couple dozen Swift AFrames. I definitely utilize this method.
On my scopes with custom turrets however I do not switch back and forth.

 

[Beefeater]

For my 416 Remmag I run my hunting loads - Barnes TSX , Varget , Norma Brass , Federal Prumers - all year for practice. Gives me confidence in what I use when in the field. For my non dangerous game rifles I buy the cheapest factory ammo for practice and reload premium for hunting.

 

[arniet]

Be on the hunt all the time. I use Nosler Partitions in .30 and .338. I bought seconds, when they were on deep sales. Still shooting 30/180 from the 1990's, but I bought a wheelbarrow load. Same for 30/150 partition golds, I and my rifles liked them so I bout a bunch when they were discontinued. For this stuff, I can't buy practice bullets any cheaper.
A custom reloader went out of business in 2017, IIRC. From them via Gunbroker I bought Barnes 458/450's, several thousand in plastic bags. The price just kept dropping until I couldn't resist. They are practice slugs, and I hunt with CEB 420's, however the Barnes would most certainly get the job done. Ditto on Cast Performance 360 grain slugs for the 454 Casull. The practice slugs are the loads.
About 2 years back, I bought break down 375/300 grain bullets. They were bought for practice because of the nicks and scratches. However, they shoot just as good as new in the box, so they are practice and hunting bullets now.
In summary be on the lookout for bargains for practice, and sometimes they become your hunting bullets.

 

[45-70guy]

I used to be mainly a lever action and revolver guy. So cast bullets are a massive staple in my inventory, which at 100 yards for the rifles the loads would be very close with similar bullet weights.
Stepping it out to even just 200 yards, which is almost unheard of in my redoing for our hunting, there does not seem to be a discernible difference in field conditions as that 1.00-1.25” group at 100 on the bench, goes to double that on stick with hunting loads.
One concept I’m slowly gaining is to not focus on the group size and focus on the acquisition and shot on target concerning sticks

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Good topic.

I always practice and hunt with the same bullet and the same ammo. Accuracy, repeatability, predictability are the upmost importance to me.

The last thing I want to consider is why one bullet is performing different than the other when I actually get to the hunting grounds. Or Waste a bunch of expensive match grade ammo trying to get my rifle back to where I need it to be prior to a hunt.

If you were practicing to develop a skill set or get rid of a bad habit, then I could appreciate using a lower recoiling caliber. But if that lower recoiling caliber is a primary hunting rifle, then use the ammo that you intend to hunt with.

Once my Rifle is dialed in, I put it away. Prior to a hunt I shoot it once or twice at the range to validate accuracy and if that means 2- 3 shots, that’s it. Once I get to my hunting destination, I repeat for validation.

 

[MauserDuff]

Be on the hunt all the time. I use Nosler Partitions in .30 and .338. I bought seconds,

Have you found any accuracy differences with the seconds? I just got some (.284/175gr) , but haven't shot them yet. The only difference I could tell was a less refined nose--weights were consistent with firsts. I figure any round after the first will have a more deformed tip from recoil, so they should be fine.

 

[arniet]

Have you found any accuracy differences with the seconds? I just got some (.284/175gr) , but haven't shot them yet. The only difference I could tell was a less refined nose--weights were consistent with firsts. I figure any round after the first will have a more deformed tip from recoil, so they should be fine.

In hunting I could never tell any difference. My son is picker. He sorts on appearance and then by weight. I just use what is left, or what I come to first. Opps, I should say I haven't shot any "firsts" since the 1990's. They and the seconds might be different today.

 

[30-06Ken]

Been doing this for years. I buy factory overruns from Midway or Raven Rocks or direct from factory at Sierra. Sometimes they are a 1/3 of the cost of hunting bullets.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Yep, we use cheap bullets for practice and preimum bullets for hunting.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

I shoot Hornady Interlock for fun and Nosler Partitions for hunting. Both bullets have the same ballistic coefficient and remarkably hit at the same point. I use the same powder charge and primer so the only savings is in the bullets. I am also lucky that my primary hunting area doesn’t allow for shots over a couple hundred yards.

 

[PARA45]

This is what I do, and it works for me. For practice, I'll shot a 22 LR and the rifle I'm taking using the shooting sticks I'm planning on using. I'd start with a session with the 22 LR, followed by AHR CZ-550 375 H&H (I took last year), back to 22 LR, and ending with the 375 H&H. Normally no more than a box of the 375 H&H during each session. I will shoot reloads (cheap bullets) until a month or so prior to my trip and then I'll switch to the factory ammo/bullets I'll using during the hunt. I would normally start 6-9 months prior, and I would practice once a week, until a week prior to leaving. This has helped me tremendously during the hunts in South Africa.

The only time I shot off the bench was to verify zero, and that was it, the rest of the time was off the shooting sticks.

 

[farmer_john]

This is what I do, and it works for me. For practice, I'll shot a 22 LR and the rifle I'm taking using the shooting sticks I'm planning on using. I'd start with a session with the 22 LR, followed by AHR CZ-550 375 H&H (I took last year), back to 22 LR, and ending with the 375 H&H. Normally no more than a box of the 375 H&H during each session. I will shoot reloads (cheap bullets) until a month or so prior to my trip and then I'll switch to the factory ammo/bullets I'll using during the hunt. I would normally start 6-9 months prior, and I would practice once a week, until a week prior to leaving. This has helped me tremendously during the hunts in South Africa.

The only time I shot off the bench was to verify zero, and that was it, the rest of the time was off the shooting sticks.

Same. But im not super focused on shooting atm. Alot ofntraining can be done without lice rounds. I got some sticks from MTA recently here. And im going to just focus on set up amd getting on sticks with snap caps to build muscle memory. Just like i used to do mag drills in army. Then ill start doing some stuff with live fire.
But you can do a whole lot of solid training with snap caps and focus on positions

 

[Longwalker]

I commonly load cheaper bullets for practise. For example and as already mentioned, Hornady flat base interlocks shoot to the same point of impact in my rifles as my hunting loads with Nosler Partition or Swift Aframe bullets.