By 1916 the .30 Winchester Smokeless (.30-30) had several bullet choices, including a 170 grain with plenty of lead exposed at the nose. The .30 Gov't Model of 1903 (.30-03 Springfield) had a 220-grain softpoint bullet, while the .30 Gov't Model 1906 (.30-06 Springfield) was offered by Winchester with a 180-grain Full Patch bullet or a 220-grain softnose in that year's catalog.

The best big-game bullets are accurate as well as effective in penetration and energy delivery. This three-shot 100-yard group was produced by the author's Morrison Precision rifle firing Nosler AccuBond bullets.

Sophistication rules today. Most new designs have some sort of non-lead tip, reminiscent of the Remington Bronze Point but not metal. Lost River Ballistic Technologies, located in Arco, Idaho, has its J-36 High Ballistic Coefficient Big Game Hunting Bullet the company calls state of the art. Promised to retain 80 percent of its original weight "even during high-velocity impacts of more than 4,000 fps," this bullet also boasts that it "expands reliably at the lower velocities of long-range impacts." It also "expands to 11?2 to two times the original bullet diameter." And if that is not enough, the J-36 is also "the most accurate hunting bullet ever made."

I have yet to drop a beast with a J-36, but I have launched this missile downrange at paper, and it proved extremely accurate. Mr. Clean Sweep typically prints half-inch three-shot groups at 100 yards, and the J-36 was no exception. Be prepared to lay down about two dollars per bullet for the J-36 180-grain .30 caliber. But what's the cost of a bullet compared to the rest of the hunt?

I heard a tale of two new bullets coming on the market, one Remington, the other Winchester. I envisioned each before seeing either. Both would be streamlined to buck the atmosphere. They would have generous shanks but significantly pointed noses. There would be no lead exposed--rather, each would have a polymer tip. Remington sent its bullet first--rocket-ship shape, of course; a polymer tip with a space-age name: Premier Accutip. No surprises here. Mr. Clean Sweep produced half-inch hundred-yard three-shot clusters.

Winchester's newest child also came as loaded ammo, .30-06, 180 grain. The Morrison Precision cut-rifled barrel again put three shots into a half-inch at a hundred. The company calls this one its Supreme Elite to distinguish from its Supreme brand. The new bullet is dubbed the XP3 and has a small red polymer tip, Lubalox coated to reduce bore fouling. Prideful Winchester engineers promise, "The XP3 comes closer to perfection than any other rifle bullet ever developed."

Big-game bullet development is ongoing and will be as long as cartridges are made. The study is fascinating. Sam's Bullet Box, my simple tool for testing bullet behavior, has placed myriad projectiles on trial, all of them at least hinting at, if not overtly declaring, to be the best big-game bullet hunters of planet Earth. Some were decided failures in proving their lofty claims; others snapped at the heels of ideal.

Perhaps there can be no perfect big-game bullet for all big game everywhere under all circumstances. A bullet that penetrates the full breadth of a moose may pass through a whitetail like a red-hot knife through a quarter pound of butter and with little telling effect. I have learned, and relearned, the truth of this. That is why I always walk up to the point where I, or anyone with me, take a shot on a big-game animal. I look for any telltale sign of a hit, right down to a clipped piece of hair. Had I not investigated, there would have been a number of fine big-game animals left in the field as predator food.

Not that I mind feeding the coyotes and now the wolves that live just down the road from me, but being selfish, I prefer to secure the meat for myself.