30-06 168 gr vs 180 gr

[wmp1991]

i'll be in Idaho bear country and am looking at shooting muleys and bear given the opportunity.

not expecting a shot over 300 yds - i've been shooting 180 gr so far, but wanted some opinions on the grains and the distance with animals in mind. this is new for me as i have bowhunted all of my life and am just picking up a rifle.

i'll be shooting barnes ttsx in either of these grains.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I personally would shoot whichever your gun likes better. If they both shoot well, I would go with the 168 grain for that use.

 

[efnm]

If you are shooting Barnes then there really isn't a reason to shoot 180gr. The mass retention of the of the 168 will act like the typical bonded lead 180 and have the benefit of going faster which addresses Barnes' one weakness: the need to be above 2100 or 2200 fps (in my opinion) to open up completely.

Personally, I shoot a 150 in Barnes after have shot 165 in Nosler bullets. Flatter, deadly, and less recoil is a triple-win in my opinion. I give up shooting over 400 yards which I wouldn't do anyway.

Good luck!

 

[rayporter]

i am a 180 guy

most of the 180 bullets were pass throughs but here are what i have recovered form elk and moose, they are speers.

the one on the right was not mine. it was in the hide and healed up. lt lay right beside the bullet that killed the elk.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

You said barnes so 168 for sure, the 180s will be too slow in a 30-06 for good expansion. That combo works pretty well 30-06 with the 168ttsx, I shot that for a bit before heavily using 7mm calibers. In 7mm the 145gr barnes has dropped bulls for me just fine if you are concerned about bullet weight.

 

[luke moffat]

Either one is more than enough for any animal on this side of the pond....yes including Alaska. If the 180s shoot good for ya then rock on. That said if wanting to shooting TTSXs they like velocity so lighter is better as you can drive them faster so nothing wrong with the 150, 165, 168 varieties either being as BC doesn't matter at the ranges you stated.

 

[Justin Crossley]

efnm and Luke said exactly what I was thinking but I was in a hurry earlier.

 

[N2TRKYS]

If I had to shoot a Barnes bullet it would be a 130 grain ttsx. I would rather shoot a 165 grain Accubond or Partition.

 

[mtnkid85]

I shot the 168ttsx in 30-06 for a while. It did well for me... until it didn't. At reasonable ranges it was a delight, but I stretched the velocity limits of what the 30-06 could manage and had two bullets pencil through a bull.

So if your dead set on the barnes bullet, Id say go for the lighter side and keep the speed up or more importantly just be aware of the range that your load gets below the ~2000ish fps barrier.

 

[Dioni A]

I hunt with an 06 and have had great luck with the 168s although I think either one would be good. Go with what your gun shoots well.

 

[rileybassman]

I shot the 168ttsx in 30-06 for a while. It did well for me... until it didn't. At reasonable ranges it was a delight, but I stretched the velocity limits of what the 30-06 could manage and had two bullets pencil through a bull.

So if your dead set on the barnes bullet, Id say go for the lighter side and keep the speed up or more importantly just be aware of the range that your load gets below the ~2000ish fps barrier.

How far away was the bull? Were you able to recover it?



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[rileybassman]

Wife and i have used barnes 150s, 168s, 180s and i have a load with 130 but have not used it on game, but it is over 3350 fps... All kill great if you keep above thr velocity suggestion of 1800-2000. Kinda asking a lot of a bullet to perform outside of its designed velocity window i think.

But yea, with barnes, lighter and faster is the rule. They arent crazy long rang bullets but should be good at 4-500.

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[Laelkhunter]

How far away was the bull? Were you able to recover it?



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Good questions.. I wonder also..