30-06 bullet recommendations?

[D Lee]

Greetings.

Some quick background.....

After a substantial amount of recent reload testing at the range - both .270 Win and 30-06 - no disrespect to anyone here - I no longer have faith in monos. Again and again accuracy was mediocre at best - averaging 1.5" to 2" @ 100.

Granted - it may have been my reloading recipes / procedures. I can say, I strictly follow the reloading manuals guidelines - always. Has always worked successfully over the decades with many different bullets in as many cartridges - MOA and better.

To those of you who are successful with monos - God bless you and congratulations. Keep up the good work. Please - NO need to reply with bullet or reloading suggestions. Thank you. I'm NO LONGER seeking advice on using monos.

I'm posting here for your specific BONDED bullet recommendation for my 30-06 only - 3 animals - 1) ELK 2) Moose and 3) Grizzly.

After reading countless books whose authors hunted world-wide and provided FIELD results - along with a few thousand credible articles / internet posts - it seems the 180 or 200 gr Partition would set a reasonable standard for comparison. If you would like to share your EXPERIENCE with the bonded bullet you personally prefer on the game animals I mentioned above - I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks.

Cheers!!

 

[nphunter]

I’ve killed a lot of animals with good ol Remington core-lokt bullets out of a 30-06. Mostly elk, out of the 20+ elk I’ve killed with a rifle half were killed with core lokt from several different cartridges, mostly 30-06 & .243.

Although I haven’t shoot them since I started reloading and started using VLD’s I would have zero hesitations using that ammo for any big game animal. The Remington Core-Lokt ammo has probably killed more big game animals than almost all other ammo combined and does it well.

I’ve had several rifles who have shot sub MOA 3 shot groups with factory Remington ammo too. Honestly for most hunting and most people 1.5 MOA is plenty accurate for the size of game we hunt at the distances we hunt. I love shooting long range and having tight grouping match ammo but I’ve never taken a shot at an elk at over 200 yards and most have been 100 or closer.

 

[hiker270]

Had good luck with 180 gr. Nosler Accubond in both the 30-06 and 300 mag.

 

[iburns]

The 180gr Swift Scirocco would be worth considering as well. Pretty similar to an accubond. Pricey but they seem to be easier to find right now than the Nosler’s.

 

[Sinistram]

Had good luck with 180 gr. Nosler Accubond in both the 30-06 and 300 mag.

This! Works great in my '06 with either IMR-4831 (more accurate) or Ramshot Hunter (a bit more speed).

Plus, if you stake out Shooter's Pro Shop, you can catch some blems or overruns for a good deal. I stocked up for life a few years back for a song.

 

[rayporter]

180 gr speer grand slam. always had a plenty of damage.
many have been pass throughs but a few have been recovered, from elk and moose.
the one on the far right was found in and elk, just under the hide and was healed -probably from the year before i killed it.
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[thinhorn_AK]

180g accubonds, 180g partitions, 200g accubonds and 190g ABLRs all work great.

 

[D Lee]

Gentlemen all...thanks for your replies. Reassuring.

The Partitions are old(er) bullets - yet time and time again yield splendid results in the field. Meeting or exceeding expectations. Yeah, we can talk about internal and external ballistics - BC's and SD's - but in the end - for we hunters - IMHO bullet placement & terminal ballistics are the critical performance yardstick.

I hear good things about the Federal Ascent bullet - don't know if I can buy the bullet for reloading?? In the meantime, 2 things. Will begin work with the Partitions I have in stock and will order some A-Frames for range development down the road a bit.

While my beautiful .270 typically comes out of the safe first - for Coyotes, Black Bear , Deer, et al - for the 3 game animals I mentioned earlier - the Tikka Laminated '06 with heavier bullets holds my confidence.

Thank you again. Be safe.

Cheers.

 

[z987k]

Gentlemen all...thanks for your replies. Reassuring.

The Partitions are old(er) bullets - yet time and time again yield splendid results in the field. Meeting or exceeding expectations. Yeah, we can talk about internal and external ballistics - BC's and SD's - but in the end - for we hunters - IMHO bullet placement & terminal ballistics are the critical performance yardstick.

I hear good things about the Federal Ascent bullet - don't know if I can buy the bullet for reloading?? In the meantime, 2 things. Will begin work with the Partitions I have in stock and will order some A-Frames for range development down the road a bit.

While my beautiful .270 typically comes out of the safe first - for Coyotes, Black Bear , Deer, et al - for the 3 game animals I mentioned earlier - the Tikka Laminated '06 with heavier bullets holds my confidence.

Thank you again. Be safe.

Cheers.

The Federal Terminal Ascent and the trophy bonded tip are both really great bullets. The only thing I see in stock on their website is the 136gr TA in 277.

 

[D Lee]

Thanks!!
Did you mean that bullet is avlbl for reloading - or ammunition?

 

[z987k]

Thanks!!
Did you mean that bullet is avlbl for reloading - or ammunition?

The bullet is in stock.

 

[D Lee]

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I shot 2 caribou and a large bull moose with my 18"30-06 loaded with 180g partitions with a MV of 2660. all three of those animals were dead with one shot but the moose got a 2nd just in case.

I'd use that bullet for pretty much anything.

 

[Deere90]

We have had the best luck with Hammers

 

[thinhorn_AK]

We have had the best luck with Hammers

Did you read the guys post? he politely asked that the discussion does not include mono metal bullets.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

I killed an elk at just over 100 yards with the 180 Interbond. No pics, it’s was years ago. Bullet exited with a would about the size of a quarter. It worked but not nearly the amount of tissue damage that a 178gr ELDM caused.

 

[Hoopleheader]

If I wasn’t concerned with feeding my children an extremely well documented neurotoxin known to cause lower IQs in children ant any measurable blood level , I would use nosler partitions on everything.

30-06 180 partition will both explode on impact to cause fragmenting wound channels that would make Form blush, and still penetrate for the Texas heart shot us Fudds dream about.

The only downside is narrow exits as the jacket folds back against the shank once the front half goes. I guess the BCs suck if you can’t stand stalking in range of something.

My experience is that accubonds look similar in terms of terminal performance (that was Nosler’s goal), but I don’t trust them as much to hold together against bone. No bad experiences though.

Scirrocos work great, are tougher than accubonds with more modest expansion (reminded me of Barnes like wounding)

The one I have a positive gut feel basis testing I have seen but never got to play with before I switched to copper was federal trophy tipped. Seems to have consistent expansion across velocities with a big fat mushroom that ain’t going anywhere.

 

[Hoopleheader]

Photographic evidence that 180 partitions can kill things and ‘03 Toyota Camrys can haul 200 lb Northern Wisconsin deer from the woods.

 

[Hoopleheader]

Photographic evidence that 165 gr accubonds can work on immature 3.5 yo 240 lb northern MN cervids on the condition of absolute perfect shot placement via doping the wind and dialing elevation on this 10 yard shot. I’m just glad the recoil was light enough that I could spot my shot impact to know if I hit him. Close call, phew