Best Hunting Ammo by Caliber: What Hunters Buy in 2026

Buy Hornady American Whitetail if you hunt with a 6.5 Creedmoor or a .308. It's the deer load our buyers pick most in both calibers this season, it's in stock, and it costs well under the median for a hunting round.

The short answer

6.5 Creedmoor: Hornady American Whitetail 129 grain InterLock. About one in seven 6.5 Creedmoor hunting load picks since July 1, around $29 a box of 20 today. Precision Hunter 143 grain ELD-X is a close second at about $39.

.308 Win: Hornady American Whitetail 150 grain InterLock, about $27 a box. It ties with Fort Scott's 150 grain TUI solid copper, the most bought lead free deer load on this page, at about $38.

.270 Win: Hornady Precision Hunter 145 grain ELD-X, about one in ten .270 hunting picks and around $37 a box. American Whitetail 140 grain is the budget pick at about $24.

.45-70 Govt: Federal Power-Shok 300 grain soft point, about $47 a box. The most bought 45-70 load is actually a 300 grain Fusion subsonic, but that's a suppressor load, not a deer round.

.44 Magnum: Hornady LEVERevolution 225 grain FTX, about one in ten .44 Mag picks and around $28 a box of 20.

.223 and 5.56: Winchester Deer Season XP 64 grain, about one in three 5.56 hunting picks and around $31 a box. Federal Power-Shok 64 grain soft point leads in .223 at about $19.

Hornady

Hornady American Whitetail 6.5 Creedmoor 129 Grain InterLock Spire Point 20rd Box

In stock

$28.99 at BrownellsCompare 9 stores+ Add to build

Hornady

Hornady 8090 American Whitetail 308 Winchester/7.62 NATO 150 GR InterLock SP - 20rd Box

In stock

$28.35 at True Shot AmmoCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

HORNADY

Hornady Precision Hunter, .270 Winchester, ELD-X, 145 Grain, 20 Rounds

In stock

$36.99 at BrownellsCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Hornady

Hornady 92782 LEVERevolution 44 Remington Magnum 225 GR Flex Tip Expanding - 20rd Box

In stock

$31.39 at Palmetto State ArmoryCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Federal

Federal 4570AS Power-Shok 45-70 Government Speer Hot-Cor SP 300 GR - 20rd Box

In stock

$47.32 at BattleHawk ArmoryCompare 8 stores+ Add to build

Winchester

Winchester Ammo X223DS Deer Season XP .223/5.56 NATO 64 GR Extreme Point - 20rd Box

In stock

$30.35 at BattleHawk ArmoryCompare 9 stores+ Add to build

What it costs per round

A box of deer ammo lasts most hunters a season or two, so the price gap matters less than it does for range ammo. Still, the cheap picks here are real options. American Whitetail in .270 and .308 costs about $1.20 to $1.35 a round today, well under the caliber median.

Lead free costs more. In 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 and .270, copper loads run about 20 to 25 percent above lead core loads in our feeds.

6.5 Creedmoor

6.5 Creedmoor buyers split between two Hornady loads. American Whitetail uses Hornady's InterLock soft point, a cup and core bullet with a ring that keeps the jacket and core together. It's built for deer at normal hunting distances, and it's the cheaper of the two.

Precision Hunter uses the ELD-X, a polymer tipped bullet built to expand at long range as well as up close. If you shoot past 300 yards, that's the one to buy. You'll pay about $10 more a box.

For a lead free option, Hornady's Superformance CX 120 grain and Federal's Barnes TSX 130 grain both drew a steady share of picks and are in stock today.

.308 Win

American Whitetail 150 grain is the default. It's in stock at several merchants and costs about $27 a box.

Fort Scott TUI 150 grain is a solid copper bullet that's designed to tumble rather than mushroom. It's tied for the most bought .308 deer load, and if your state or your land requires lead free, it's the one most of our buyers chose.

Federal Power-Shok 150 grain and Remington Core-Lokt 180 grain round out the picks. Both are old school soft points that still work.

.270 Win

.270 buyers spread their picks wider than any other caliber here. Precision Hunter 145 grain ELD-X leads, but no load tops about one in ten picks.

If you want cheap and proven, American Whitetail 140 grain costs about $24 a box. Federal Terminal Ascent, Nosler AccuBond, Barnes TSX and Federal Trophy Copper all drew picks too, so you've got options if your usual load is sold out.

Straight walled: .45-70 and .44 Magnum

These two get bought for a reason. Ohio and several other Midwest states let deer hunters use straight walled rifle cartridges where bottlenecked rifle rounds are restricted, and .45-70 and .44 Mag both qualify. Check your state's list before you buy.

.45-70: Federal Power-Shok 300 grain is the most bought full power deer load. Remington Core-Lokt 405 grain is the heavy option at about $54 a box. The 300 grain Fusion subsonic is popular, but it's built to run quiet through a suppressor, not to reach out.

.44 Magnum: LEVERevolution 225 grain uses a soft flex tip that's safe in a lever gun's tube magazine. It ties with Fiocchi's 240 grain hollow point for the most picked .44 Mag load, and it's the one we'd put in a lever gun.

.223 and 5.56 for deer

Where it's legal, a 5.56 AR can take deer with the right bullet. Range ammo won't do it. You need a bullet built to expand and hold together.

Winchester Deer Season XP 64 grain is the clear favorite, about one in three 5.56 hunting picks. In .223, Federal Power-Shok 64 grain soft point leads and costs about $19 a box.

Some states don't allow .22 caliber centerfire for deer at all. Check before you go.

How we pick

Picks are the expanding hunting load in each caliber that our users clicked through to buy or added in the Ammo Finder most often, counted once per person, from July 1 to November 4, 2026, among loads in stock at write time. Match, full metal jacket and defensive loads are left out. Box prices are the lowest in stock price today. Per round figures are the median in stock price per round across every merchant feed we track. Bullet descriptions come from Hornady, Federal, Winchester and Fort Scott.