30-06 hunting all around bullet opinions

[Ksmirk]

Evening fella's! well seems I screwed up, bought a Winchester 670 chambered in 30-06 to build me a strictly hunting rifle and I ended up shooting the thing BAD IDEA! I got the bug and well did a little playing like bedding the action then floating the barrel and now the dang thing seems to shoot pretty well BUT all I really have in the way of 30 cal is target bullets and am pulling my hair out trying to decide on a good all around bullet. I'm going to do my best to leave this rifle alone as I don't have a truly just plain ol' hunting rifle and am slowly getting back into it. I live in Oklahoma and most hunting is going to be deer and hogs BUT me and some buddies have been kicking the idea around of Elk so that'll give a little idea of where I'm trying to get, I had my mind set on the 165gr class of bullets and am really looking at the Sierra GameKing soft point boat tail but keep wondering if that bullet would be enough for an Elk? or would I just be better off to jump to a 180gr and call it a day is sort of my thinking now.

Fella's if some of you Elk hunters could chime in I'd appreciate it and would appreciate your opinions in general as this is my first 30-06 and think the bug has bit me on the 06. Thanks and sorry for the novel. Later,

Kirk

 

[savagedasher]

Barns ttsx they work .Larry

 

[riflewoman]

I recommend 4. The 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip the 180 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip and 180 Nosler Partition and the Hornady 165 gr Spire point for practice and an alternate to the Nosler Ballistic Tip

 

[mmcu]

I'd keep it simple and go with either the 165 grain, or 180 grain, Nosler Partition. Several years back, after experimenting with all different kinds of bullets, I finally settled on the 180 grain Partition for everything that I hunt with my '06 and have not regretted the decision. Heck, I even convinced one of my stubborn, pig-headed brothers to do the same - he said it's the best advice I'd ever given him....

 

[msinc]

Nosler Partitions perform very well on big game. It has been my experience that they may not perform as well as target type bullets on paper. But, nobody measures groups when hunting bear. Don't ever sell the Remington Core-Lokt bullets short either. More big game has fallen to them than any bullet ever made, they just don't have the luster of a custom big game bullet like the Partition, but you can believe they have the performance. Speer Grand Slam bullets work very well to, I prefer them, but they are usually hard to find.
On medium game like deer Ballistic Tips or Hornady SST's are devastating, but I don't know if any of those would be my first choice on a bigger animal like elk, moose or brown bear. I think I want something that will be a little longer on penetration and a little less explode on impact.

 

[Ksmirk]

Thanks fella's for the start, I've hunted forever but always shot a 243 and 70gr Nosler BT's and never an issue on deer, my 30 cal is a 308 target rifle and for the most part all my rifles are either LR rigs or p dog rifles. It's been hard to not change this one toward my LR side but going to do my best

I will check out some of those bullets and hopefully find a winner, the rifle really shoots the 175 SMK's so may just go with the 180 class and call it a day. Thanks again! Later,

Kirk

 

[Matt in Virginia]

fwiw,
According to Nathan Foster at www.ballisticstudies.com, I have all of his books, you could make a case the perfect bullet for the .30-06' is the Honady 208 grain A-Max. From contact to extreme range it is lethal... Take a look at his site. His findings are based on bullet studies from personally cropping 7000 animals. He is the sharp end of the terminal ballistics stick. I may stretch the case a bit to say what Litz is to external ballistics he is to terminal ballistics and more. Check it out...

Best Regards, Matt Garrett
Chesapeake, Virginia

 

[rockrat]

The 165gr Partition should be all the bullet you need

 

[areaone]

I have used the 180 gr Nosler Accubond in Africa on everything including Kudu and Black Wildebeast with fantastic results from a 06. My son has used the 168 Barnes TSX on everything to include Kudu, Zebra,Blue Wildebeast with devastating results in the 06. So take your pick, either one is great for soft skin game.. Anything that will promptly kill Blue Wildebeast and Zebra will definitely work on any Elk.

 

[expiper]

K ,,,I reccomend Sierra 150 BT,,,these have worked well for me and my family for 50 yrs,,,deer,sheep,hogs,elk,and a train load of groundhogs hahah,,,,,Roger

 

[Ksmirk]

Roger I didn't have much luck getting the 150's to group what I thought acceptable BUT those were factory loads. I'm feeling the urge to play with some of the suggested bullets you folks have mentioned so I'll see if I can place an order and do some experimenting. That's for the advice fella's! I appreciate it greatly. Later,

Kirk

 

[Deton8tor]

165 AccuBonds are my go to bullet for my '06 The Partition is also very effective.

 

[XTR]

In my last 308 hunting rifle I was never able to get 150 SGKs to shoot well; on the other hand both of the Sierra 165 SGK bullets shot 3/4" to 1" for me at 200 yards. They were a little heavier than I wanted for your average TN white tail, but the accuracy did give a degree of confidence. I know it's not a 30-06 but the data point may be useful.

 

[Ksmirk]

I've found that while most of the time I WANT to shoot XX bullet the rifle sometimes will and sometimes won't shoot XX bullet I want, I WANTED badly to shoot the 105 A Max in my new 243 LR rifle but no love! SMK's oh yea! Berger's well I hope to know this weekend. From the replies above I should have a good list of bullets to try, a couple of PM's with some advice has me on the right track and a good place to start. I've never felt the need for an 06 as I think it's a canon BUT when something sorta drops in your lap and works why not run with it Again thanks fella's! Later,

Kirk

 

[Berger.Fan222]

The 165 TTSX should be on your list to try.

 

[oldroper]

On a bull elk tag, my 30-06 I use 180gr Partition and that rifle also like's the Nosler AB.

 

[justinp61]

I hunted deer and groundhogs for 35 years with my Model 70 in 30-06. Federal 150gr soft points (I know factory ammo) is a hammer on deer and will destroy groundhogs : ). The only deer that wasn't bang, flop was shot facing me. he only went about 40 yards. It's probably light for elk but I'd look at something I the 170-180gr range.

 

[Swampbuck]

Accubond or Partition for Elk.
Hornady Spirepoint for deer and hogs.
Noslers will work but the Spirepoint are cheaper and fine for soft game.

Let the Rifle decide

 

[JarheadAZ]

I have a Garand, Win 70 sporter length, Ruger 77 MKI sporter length, and a Savage Axis II; all chambered in .30-'06. A friend recommended a load for me, 168SMK, Rem Brass, CCI-400/CCI BR-2, and 48.1gr of IMR-4064. All the hunters but the Axis II shot it sub MOA at 200yd off the bench and bags. The Axis II was later diagnosed with a bad scope mount.

Substituting with the 165SGK, the Win and Ruger shot essentially the same groups at 200, with about a 2MOA POI shift. My latest deer, shot with the Win 70 at about 50yd with a quartering shot, penetrated from behind the left lower chest to exit the right brisket. Wound track was clearly adequate for deer. Having never even seen an Elk at shooting distance, I cannot offer any recommendations regarding suitability.

Later, the load was compared against FGMM 168, and both group size and POI appeared to be virtually identical.

Greg

 

[1holeaddict]

We hunted Whitetails on a ranch in Wyoming for many years. Our hunting parties choices were always 7MM Mag, 7MM Ultra Mag, 300 Weatherby Mag, and variants of the 300 Mag. The rancher's entire family including the women hunted elk and would kill large bulls every year. We always wondered why when we were in their presence with our firearms there was always smiles and giggles. I spent an afternoon set with the Rancher one day and during conversation i asked " Why do you guys always seem to find it funny when you see our firearms?" He began to tell me how his entire family including his wife and two daughters have been killing elk every year with 243's and 100 grain hollow points. He said all you easterners show up with cannons for these little deer!!