30.06 bullets?

[ousoonerfan22]

My son has been shooting Federal Premium with the 180 gr partition when he's hunting deer or elk. He bought a box of Barnes with the tipped triple shock bullet in a 150 gr but considering the 30 caliber would a 165, 168 or 180 be a better choice than the 150?
I've had good luck with the Nosler ballistic tips and partitions but have not tried the accubond bullets or the Barnes triple shock or tipped triple shock bullets.
What bullets do you guys prefer or suggest for large deer and elk? Any 30.06 loads?

 

[swampratt]

That is a great bullet and do not for one minute think you will be under weight with the 150gr.
That bullet will do it's job.
I shoot 150gr hornady #3031 from my 30-06 and no deer has left my eyesight when shot with it.
I keep falling back on my original load of 52.5gr of IMR4064 with my 150gr bullet set in R-P cases but that gun is not that picky.
I also use 210M primers to light it all off.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

What about for elk would the 150 gr handle it?
Federal Premium had two loads with the 180 gr partition one is around 2700 and still available but there was another that was around 2900 and we had to order those from Midway but now I can't find that load available.

 

[Redmule454]

I shoot the Nosler Partition in the 180 gr for elk launched out of a .30/338 mag. I think they are the bomb, I have killed 6 bulls and 2 cows with them. In an ought-6 I would think hard about the 165 gr Partition in order to get a little more speed than the 180 gr. I might look at the Barnes all copper with ballistic tip. My opinion is that you need to hit them with as much mass as possible, I would not use 150 gr on elk. My
You can kill an elk with a smaller caliber and smaller bullet with a perfect shot at an animal standing still, no wind, 40 yds away in the open.....but that doesn't happen often. I want a bullet that will take the animal quickly even if I make a less than perfect shot. Stuff happens in the field.
I shoot deer and kill them quickly with my ol '06 with 150 gr Ballistic tips. I shot an antelope at 225 yds with that bullet in the .30/338 and the bullet expanded very violently on impact, blew a 4 in entrance hole in the lil feller. Ballistic tip was designed for a lot less speed than I was pushing it.
Good luck.

 

[dennishoddy]

I've killed 3 elk with a 30-06 using 165 grain Barnes TTX bullets. All 3 dropped in their tracks. 2 were spine hits, and one was in the neck, smashing the neck bone before being trapped under the skin on the far side, perfectly mushroomed. 425 yd shot and still performed perfectly.

 

[Okie4570]

Accubonds are nearly impossible to find, if you plan on reloading, great bullet though.

 

[aeropb]

why is he changing from 180gr partitions?

 

[walker]

I shoot 165gr Ballsitic tips for local deer. I used to shoot Accubonds but switched because they held together a little too well and didn't do as much damage on whitetails. I still keep the accubonds on hand for hogs which they work great on.
Ive never shot an elk, but I know a lot of reloaders that do every year and almost all of them use the 180 Partitions for a reason. Don't switch if they group.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

why is he changing from 180gr partitions?

His father-in-law has invited him to hunt antelope with them in Wyoming along with the elk hunting in western Colorado so I think he's looking for a flat shooting round for antelope, deer and elk. I guess if he continues to use the 180 gr partitions he could buy another gun for antelope.

 

[turkeyrun]

Agree with swampratt, been using 150 gr bullets over 52.5 gr 4064 for 40 yrs. Accurate and has never let me down.