The Best Ammo For Big Game

By Jace Bauserman

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hunter holding 7mm Backcountry box and cartridge

Once a big game hunter squeezes the trigger and sends a round on its way, everything rides on a single projectile. So, make sure that round is the right one by choosing the best big game ammo for the animal, the location and your hunting style.

The Ultimate Big Game Ammo

Most big game ammo is designed to perform best within a certain range spectrum. Some tough rounds shine at spitting distance, some are at their best at extreme long range, and others excel somewhere in between. But there is one outlier that handles everything: Terminal Ascent. It holds together and penetrates deep at close range, yet still expands and provides match-grade accuracy hundreds of yards past the max range of so-called long-range bullets. Wherever you are, whatever big game animal you pursue, and however long—or short—your shots might be, Terminal Ascent will give you the best result.

The key benefits shooters will notice are that Terminal Ascent provides better accuracy and performance at long range, with less wind drift and drop, and better, more consistent expansion at the lower velocities typical of extreme-range hits. Terminal Ascent accomplishes this through a longer, sleeker, more aerodynamic profile and higher ballistic coefficient. It also features the advanced Slipstream polymer tip, for even better flight characteristics and expansion initiation at 200 fps lower velocities. Terminal Ascent’s AccuChannel grooving on the bullet shank further enhances accuracy across rifle platforms while minimizing drag.

Terminal Ascent cartridges lined up

Close To Mid-Range Ammo

A staple for any serious big game hunter is the Nosler Partition. This was the first round Federal loaded in the Premium line, and due to its consistency and reliability, it’s still offered across a broad range of your favorite calibers. With the Partition, you get a bullet that creates front-half mushrooming, producing rapid expansion and energy release, and a back half that remains intact to provide penetration and weight retention. This is a great round for the sit-and-wait Midwest whitetailer to those pursuing the toughest animals in North America.

If most of your fall is spent in the whitetail woods, Federal Fusion is right for you. The skived, pre-programmed nose provides consistent expansion and the copper jacket is electro-chemically applied to the core, resulting in a perfectly uniformed jacket.

And if you’re prioritizing value, Power-Shok will serve your close- to mid-range needs well. A traditional lead-core bullet that provides accuracy and knock-down power, Power-Shok loads have led to the demise of countless big game animals.

Long-Range Big Game Ammo

If the landscape on your hunt calls for distant shots, you want a bullet that provides flat-shooting accuracy and still penetrates deep. Along with Terminal Ascent options covered earlier, hunters can also choose the Berger Hybrid Hunter. Engineered for lethal performance on both medium-sized as well as larger game, the bullet, due to its hybrid nose design, blends a low-drag match bullet with a traditional hunting projectile. This bullet ensures superior accuracy across a wider range of popular calibers, but its non-bonded design means it’s less likely to retain weight and penetrate deep on closer targets.

hunter holding 7mm Backcountry box and cartridge

A design that bridges the divide between stout shorter-range bullets and sleek, lightly built long-range ones is Federal’s latest bullet design, Fusion Tipped. Like original Fusion, Fusion Tipped has a pressure-formed lead core molecularly bonded to a consistent copper jacket, so it offers the same great terminal performance, but with a polymer tip that increases ballistic coefficient, flattens trajectories and boosts energy for better accuracy and extended effective range.

Copper Ammo

For those who pursue big game where non-lead ammo is required, copper bullets are a necessity, but they bring more to the table than mere legality. Their monolithic (one-piece) bullet designs and all-copper construction means they shed virtually no mass on impact and their expansion is less dramatic than most lead-core bullets. Both come attributes make copper bullets very tough and deep-penetrating. The Barnes Triple-Shock X is a copper standout. This all-copper hollow point round will hold tight groups on distant targets, and it hits like a ton of bricks. Promising nearly 100 percent weight retention, the bullet delivers deep penetration and large, consistent expansion that will put big game animals down quickly.

The Trophy Copper is another versatile choice. It also features accurate, lethal copper-alloy construction that ensures up to 99 percent weight retention and aggressive expansion. A polymer tip married with a boat-tail boosts the ballistic coefficient, and the tipped bullet cavity means proper expansion across a broad velocity range.