Hornady 130 SST Superformance and standard velocity SST work great. Just about any Hornady interbond and interlock shoots good. Federal Fusion 130 also stacks bullets. All the ammo seems to shoot great so I didn't try much beyond the ones mentioned.
I shot a nice 8point with my bow this year and didnt need to take my JOC deer hunting. I took a field doe with my 223 simply because I didn't want to destroy any meat with the big 270. I did take my JOC rifle bear hunting. Ammo of choice for the thick underbrush of bear season was the Federal Fusion 130. The rifle carried beautifully and was very well balanced. I found the rifle to be light and nimble. The Leupold VX6 3x18 with firedot was a awesome piece of glass. I can't tell you how impressed I was with the VX6. The first day out, the weather turned very nasty with hard bands of sleeting rain. Here I am with my JOC rifle's first hunt and the weather was as bad as it could get on this $$$$ rifle.
No worries, I buy my guns to hunt and shoot with and the weather cant hurt it. The stocks shape was outstanding to hold and carry for hours. The shape fit my hands with and without gloves and felt custom perfect. The checkering was great in the wet weather and remained grippy. There is no way you could drop this rifle even holding it with one hand while climbing up steep rocks. Balance was perfect.
The VX6 cut through the sleet and I could see across the fields with amazing clarity. I am sold on the Firedot! A quick wipe down at the end of the night and the rig was good as new.
No bears this year.
The final evaluation:
You just don't know with a new rifle set up until you get it in the woods a few days and see how it carries, holds, and performs. You can set a rifle up and it can seem good at the range, but real world hunting in the woods and carrying a gun for hours over miles of mountainous terrain can expose issues you never thought of. I am convinced that my JOC rifle /optic set up is a damn near perfect hunting rig. I wasn't that worried it wouldn't be great, how could a JOC rifle not be a outstanding real world hunting rifle???