I shot a spike last Saturday and didn't get the ideal shot but still put it in the lung. It was quartering towards and the 120SST made a huge mess. Organs were torn open that I wish weren't. Any recommendation for a less explosive bullet, that is available? A simple cup & core would be nice but it seems no one is making them.

There are plenty of cup and core bullets in .277 .

What are we shootin em out of, Gary? Any idea how fast they're moving?

If you are shooting that 120 SST, I’m guessing you are shooting a 6.8SPC. If so, the bullet is doing about 2400ish fps. If you are shooting it in a 270, it probably isn’t tough enough for the higher velocity.

Sierra prohunter 110

Had great luck with these and reduced loads in 270 win.

My favorite for deer in the 6.8 is the 115gr Speer Gold-dot. Controlled expansion with good penetration without blowing the deer to smitherines. I've also had good luck with 130gr Fed Fusion bullet (also a Speer Gold-Dot) but lower velocity heightens mid-range trajectory. The Nosler 110gr Accubond performs well in the 6.8 on deer but more destructive than the gold-dots. I've shot several large axis with both the 115gr & 130gr GD with great results. Just about always a pass-thru so no recovered bullets to show off.

I found a nice run of the 90gr Gold Dots and love them. I've recovered two bullets from deer and one weighed 89gr and the other 86. Always an option.

The 115 gr Fed Fusion loaded in 6.8 SPC has served me very well. Nearly 20 deer and all one-shot kills. They got hard to find, though, and I switched to the 120SST but haven’t shot a deer with it yet.

Sorry I failed to mention, loaded in 6.8SPC, about 2450FPS.
Sierra prohunter 110, first choice but not available.
90gr & 115gr Speer Gold-dot not available.
Nosler 110gr Accubond not available.
115 gr Fed Fusion not available.

Have you had any length issues with 130gr? At this point it seems a solid copper might be my option.

I’m shooting SST bullets in my Grendel because that’s about all that’s available in non-copper. Looks like you are in the same situation. I do know a guy that swears by the TTSX bullets in the Grendel. Surely they’d have bullets for the 6.8. I’d try them, but am doing fine with the 123 gr SSTs.

They do, but the Barnes quickly got too expensive for me. Gotta take advantage of what's available, though.

gary,

I suggest you check-out 68forum.com There are numerous threads showing 6.8 bullets from 130 grs on down shot into wet newspapers. Also members post their recovered bullets & detail their experience. The rave is over Cavity-Back bullets designed specifically for the 6.8. They are all copper & a bit pricey. Personally I'm a cup-n-core guy & think 100 gr is minimum weight for deer from any caliber.

What bullet(s) do you prefer to shoot in the 6.8? I just got in thousands of brass and am about to start loading ammo. I was thinking some of these:

85 grain Barnes TSX
110 V-max
120 SST
possibly 100 grain Hornady CX (copper)

I have always liked the Speer Gold Dots, and would love to get some of those in.

Chad, I'd like to have the 90gr Gold Dots too but haven't seen them for sale in maybe a few years now. Sierra Pro-hunter 110gr, same story.
This is what I'm considering because they are in stock:
Sierra 130gr Gameking (might be too long)
Hornady 100gr CX (expensive)
Barnes 95gr TTSX (expensive)
Barnes 110gr TSX (expensive)
Nosler 130gr Ballistic tip (might be too long)
Speer 130gr Hot-Cor (might be too long)
In reality, I don't plan to shoot a bunch of my deer loads so the expensive solids are certainly not priced out of my attention. It's really peanuts in the bigger picture.

I’ve killed 2 deer with 130 Interlocks. They worked ok, no excessive damage. The deer went about 50 yards. No exits. I loaded up 130 Partitions this year. Most my shots will be 100 yards or less. The 130 spritzers will likely fit in an AR. I’ve been using a bolt action so I can load to 2.35” col.

I've killed 14 deer of which 2 were large Axis bucks all one shot kills with the Barnes 110 TSX. Never recovered a bullet. They are a little expensive, but you don't shoot targets with them after you get your load developed. I picked up about 400 of them when Nosler was selling them out after buying SSA and they were cheap so I have no reason to try others, but the 95 TTSX is also supposed to do a great job along with the Cavity Back 105 and 120 grains. All of those being solid copper.

95 grain Barnes TTSX at 2988fs from my 6.8 is quite nice! Just saying! AR platform.

How on earth are you getting that velocity?

I could definitely see it. I get 2700fps with 90gr gold dots from my 12.5" 6.8 using H4198. I think H322 is capable of even higher velocities.

I have been a 6.8 guy for like 15 years and have handloaded most of the options available .
My favorite for a long time was the 95g TTSX loaded very hot, like 2850 FPS out of a 16" barrel (if memory serves me correctly)
Pigs and deer didn't stand a chance.

I eventually switched to the factory 120 SST loads and they great for me.. big pigs, deer, etc..
I generally neck or head shoot does for meat and so explosive means DRT and no tracking.
They also will roll a big pig running so I like them a lot.

H322 can push a 90gr to 3,000fps out of an ARP 16in barrel.

That's a mean load!

22" barrel 29.5gr RL10x and it's of my chronograph. So if anyone thinks it's BS, whatever!