This year I took my own advice and picked up a new rifle chambered in 7 PRC. Now I am agonizing over which bullets I want to shoot this fall.

I drew a deer tag for Murderers Creek, where longer shots are possible, so it makes sense to go with a relatively soft bullet like a Hornady ELD-X or Sierra GameKing that will expand well at lower velocities.

However, I am also going to Alaska in November for a Kodiak blacktail deer hunt. The same bullets would be good for the deer, but on the off chance that I happen to deal with a bear, a deeper-penetrating bullet like a Barnes or Hammer would be the better choice.

Today we are blessed with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to choosing which bullets to hunt with.

Traditional copper cup and lead core bullets like Remington Core Lokt or Sierra GameKing still work pretty well for the majority of hunting. They are typically inexpensive and give pretty good accuracy.

However, nowadays we can tailor the bullet we want to the type of hunting we do.

Folks in the long-range game lean toward match-style bullets like Bergers or Hornady ELD-M’s for the accuracy edge they give. I have even used them for antelope hunting with good results. They can work well at longer ranges where velocity has dropped off.

On the other hand, I have heard horror stories of match bullets failing to expand at all and exploding without any penetration at close range. Since I have gotten fine accuracy with bullets designed for hunting, I don’t generally recommend them.

On the other end, all copper, or monolithic bullets as they are called, like the Hornady CX or Barnes bullets, hold together very well and give deep penetration. The downside is that they tend to be pretty spendy and they need more velocity than copper/lead bullets to expand reliably. This shouldn’t be a problem for most of us since we really have no business shooting at extended ranges anyway.

Bullet makers have done a good job of splitting the difference between traditional copper/lead bullets and monolithics with copper-jacketed bullets bonded to lead cores so that they expand very well in a controlled fashion and still retain weight so they give good penetration.

This can be a mechanical bond like the legendary Nosler Partition, or chemically like the Federal Trophy Bonded. They also cost a little more and may not give the best accuracy, but they perform wonderfully on game.

One benefit of both monolithics and bonded bullets is that you can drop bullet weight to reduce recoil somewhat and still get reliable penetration.

Which one will I choose to take hunting this fall? I will let you know when I figure it out.

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