Speed kills

I would probably disrespectfully disagree with the 99% thing for the way I hunt and the shots I take and most of my deer have been killed with .308's and 30-06's with 150 and 165 grain bullets. The ones that stopped those bullets have been big bodied, fully mature deer in the mountains at quartering to angles. Typically, in the nastiest terrain imaginable. You have to take what you can get when you only get to see them for a couple of seconds in the woods. And surprising, they will occasionally (has happened to me a few times) tote that 165 grain bullet for 75 yards which might as well be a mile when that 75-100 yards is through a nasty, mountain cutover. And with no exit hole, it is crazily difficult to find one that went ONLY that far. I know everybody hunts different situations and such, but those experiences are what have led me to the Barnes bullets (and Partitions before that) for my WOODS hunting.

On the contrary, now that I have been blessed with some big crop field to shoot across and such, I seriously doubt any Barnes bullets will end up being carried in my field guns the more I study. If I take a shot at one at 300 or 400 yards, I'm gonna be shooting at ribs on an essentially broadside, perfectly still shot or else I ain't shooting. He/she can just live to see another day otherwise. Ribs are way different than shoulders, hips, long distances of entrails, or all of the above often. I say all of that to say...I very much understand both trains of thought depending on the variables of your hunts.

Agreed Jughead and I maybe shouldn't have said 99% of the time but I believe on a broadside deer it is however sounds like you got my point. Maybe I just love big calibers and don't hunt in the mountains. I shot a big 11 point two years ago quartering to with my 25-06 117gr sst. Did I get a pass through no BUT he was quartering to me and I didn't wait for a broadside shot. I did however put a second round in him as he was running and he expired within 50 yards. Actually have both mushrooms from the deer at the house.
I have seen big bucks shot with big calibers and still did not get a pass through, one being a 338 win mag. Sometimes it doesn't matter what type of lead you sling it wont go all the way through

That's why you shoot bullets that don't have any lead in them pal.

In all seriousness, with everything I have seen all around the web, my own experiences, etc.....I don't believe there is a whitetail deer on this planet that will stop that 130 grain Barnes TTSX at 3000 fps inside of 100 yards. At any angle. It's all physics, but that 100% weight retention is closer to magic as far as getting an exit goes.

Ill have to keep that in mind if I ever reload for my regular hunting calibers. It seems like most folks here shoot the barnes and have good success with them. Ill have to do some research as well. I have never had a problem with the lead based bullets and hope I never do.

I've never shot Barnes. Are they that much better than Hornady or Nosler?

If your rifle will group a alloy bullet yes.If not no,Barnes projectiles are longer thus tend to be lighter in weight.

Better is a relative term. Better at getting pass-thrus and causing lots of damage at short range when shooting light for caliber at high velocities....in my humble opinion....yes.

I concur with this. Accuracy is number one. From my limited real life experience and lots and lots of research, Barnes bullets will flat shoot if you get them tailored to your rifle. They seem to be more finicky to get them to shoot accurately versus other bullets overall, but simply not having them far enough off of the lands seems to be what bites most people with no experience loading them. It amazed me at what a tack driver my Finnlight became with them after I backed them up to 0.080" off the lands and swapped to Barnes' recommended powder. Barnes will also tell you to not even waste your time at loading their bullets closer than .050" off the lands as they admit accuracy goes to pot. Not sure why, but those bullets love a good jump.

You probably not going to get over 2800 with a 20" barrel , and the deer not going to know the difference.

Shot around 3060 to 3085 today with 49.5 grains of tac. Tac was the cure.

Awesome deal brother! Did it shoot good? 48 or 48.5 either one shoots fantastic in my 85 Finnlight.

Man it shot awesome. I worked up from 47 grains a half grain at a time and my widest 3 shot group was about 1.25". I'm going to try to work up a little more and try to see what my ceiling is.

Dead on Dave, too short a bbl. to realize any gain from drop in weight an increase in powder, and yes, the deer will still be DRT with the 150's.