do all 30 06 load

sndmn11

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Diff elevation Im sure so probably different for you, but 425 is right around 2000fps for me with factory 168’s. At least one person on this forum whose handle begins with an F insists these need 2200+ for reliable expansion. I’m at 2200 at 350yds. My ttsx’s have always resulted in a dead critter too, but never large exits.

9000' elevation gets me to about 500-525yds depending on temp according to strelok. Starting at 2995fps.

I know that cow died because I cut through the width of her diaphragm and she couldn't expand and contract her lungs. There wasn't much damage to the rear of her lungs or liver, and she had no blood in her mouth or nose.

I only found her because I followed my nose the 25 yards she went into the trees. Very literally no blood anywhere at all.

My other shots with monos have been either down in a few feet, or 30-40 yard sidewalks of blood.

I am fully on board with other bullets being better for killing, hands down.
 

eamyrick

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What distances?

I killed an elk at 400-425 yards last year with a 168ttsx from my 30-06, and it was a small hole in and a small hole out. Zero blood but died well under 100 yards.

I am either concluding a fluke or not enough velocity to expand.

Switched to monos in 2021 when I started doing flip flop of my legs and grilling the ribs. Caught a lead fragment between my front teeth eating ribs and with some of the data out there thought I’d switch. Hunted with 150 Hornandy sst out of a 30-06 my whole life with 100% bang flop kills but a ton of meat loss. Last 2 years distances were:
Whitetail 165
Whitetail 180
Mule deer 47
Mule deer 150

Nothing ran over 50 yards. No bullets recovered. Pretty solid wound channel. I’m not married to monos, but they seem to kill just fine for me and they have always been very accurate.
 
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sndmn11

"DADDY"
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Switched to monos in 2021 when I started doing flip flop of my legs and grilling the ribs. Caught a leg fragment between my front teeth eating ribs and with some of the data out there thought I’d switch. Hunted with 150 Hornandy sst out of a 30-06 my whole life with 100% bang flop kills but a ton of meat loss. Last 2 years distances were:
Whitetail 165
Whitetail 180
Mule deer 47
Mule deer 150

Nothing ran over 50 yards. No bullets recovered. Pretty solid wound channel. I’m not married to monos, but they seem to kill just fine for me and they have always been very accurate.

I think those distances are in the wheelhouse; anything under 300 with the cartridge and bullets we have been talking about.

We do it because of our kid.
 

MAP1

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Barnes 175 LRX. Spoke to the good people at Barnes they expand down to 1500 FPS which means you want to stay above this to be safe. The bullet will expand well beyond distances 99% of people should be shooting. Second I would go with 165 Accubond.
 

Oldffemt

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This is a 150gr factory ttsx. I shot a wt doe with it at 220yds with my 22” m70. Frontal shot, found the bullet in the ham. I purposely aimed for bone to help this bullet expand. Obviously the deer died but I’d say performance would be lacking beyond 350yds. Meat damage was extensive after the bullet took out the front shoulder. Killed a 350” bull the next year with the same rifle using 178 eldx at 515 yds. He did a backflip and died on the spot.
 

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dneaster3

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Memphis, TN
I used to load 180 gr TTSX up to around 2650. Worked well on whitetail, pronghorn, and mule deer, but I always suspected I wasn't getting full expansion fast enough.

After a few years I decided to switch to 150 TSX and was able to safely push them to 3050. Much better MPBR and better/faster expansion with the higher velocity. I am pleased. Also, with the weight and composition of the all copper bullets you get the same sectional density as a 165 grain lead core. In other words, think of the monometal 150's as hydraulically equivalent to the lead-bonded-to-jacket 165's.

All that being said...

One of the reasons the .30-06 is still with us after 117 years is the versatility in load choices. Nothing wrong with trying out 130 grains for small does or pronghorn, nor is it a bad idea to load 200 or 220 grain round nose bullets for bull elk and moose. The variety is part of the fun!
 

medvedyt

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Inside of 100yds, maybe. Mayyybe.....
Other than that, it'd be close to my absolute last choice. I can't think of many loadings less suitable, to be honest.
the 180 gr tsx is a great bullet in 30-06 for bison but i do not shoot them passed 200 meters. expansion is still there but your experience may vary of course.
 

thinhorn_AK

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the 180 gr tsx is a great bullet in 30-06 for bison but i do not shoot them passed 200 meters. expansion is still there but your experience may vary of course.
For sure, I actually don’t really shoot monos through my 30-06 rifles. I think the meat bullets are the accubonds and partitions out of that cartridge.
 

Marbles

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What distances?

I killed an elk at 400-425 yards last year with a 168ttsx from my 30-06, and it was a small hole in and a small hole out. Zero blood but died well under 100 yards.

I am either concluding a fluke or not enough velocity to expand.
Caribou at about 80 yards with a 180 168 gr TTSX from a 308 had a small exit, not a huge amount of lung damage either. It only traveled about 200 yards. I saw a cloud of red mist from the exit wound as he turned and ran. Exit was larger than entrance.

180 gr AccuBond from a 30-06 at ranges of 20 and 25 yards with similar shot placement resulted in 2 deer and 1 bear being on the ground within 20 feet of where they were shot.

Too small of a sample to draw meaningful conclusions from, but enough to make me think about going back to AccuBonds.
 
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I was always a 165 grain accubond fan until I couldn't find them during the pandemic. I found some 180 grain accubonds and am thankful I did! I went from .75 average to .25moa. I have no experience with monos and realize I may have to someday if lead bans become more common. Otherwise that the only reason I would shoot a mono over an accubond. I am like you where deer and bear are my most common targets and my load maybe overkill for most of what I do however I only have 1 round to worry about and it can handle anything.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
 

mitchellmountain

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180g partition with 60g of H4831

165g accubond with 58g H4350

I do t like shooting monos out of 30-06, the 2 loads I listed are what has worked the best for me.
That 165 gr accubond load is exactly what I use in my kimber Montana, getting 3010 out of the 24" barrel.
 

sndmn11

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Caribou at about 80 yards with a 180 gr TTSX from a 308 had a small exit, not a huge amount of lung damage either. It only traveled about 200 yards. I saw a cloud of red mist from the exit wound as he turned and ran. Exit was larger than entrance.

180 gr AccuBond from a 30-06 at ranges of 20 and 25 yards with similar shot placement resulted in 2 deer and 1 bear being on the ground within 20 feet of where they were shot.

Too small of a sample to draw meaningful conclusions from, but enough to make me think about going back to AccuBonds.

The friends I hunt with the most shoot 165/168 accubonds from their 300wsm at...wait for it...2950fps. They have a lot of imr4350 on hand.

I watched a lot of gushy impacts through the spotting scope and things have died on the spot. I am pretty sure all have been 300-500yds.
 
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I've had good luck with the 168gr TTSX in my .30-06 this year. Taken a handful of blacktail deer, a mountain goat, and a caribou. No problems at all, and I'm shooting at ranges from 20 to 300 yards. Muzzle velocity is 2,770 using H4350 powder. No experience with the 180gr TTSX, though I am curious how fast I can drive a 150gr projectile in this rifle.
 

sndmn11

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I've had good luck with the 168gr TTSX in my .30-06 this year. Taken a handful of blacktail deer, a mountain goat, and a caribou. No problems at all, and I'm shooting at ranges from 20 to 300 yards. Muzzle velocity is 2,770 using H4350 powder. No experience with the 180gr TTSX, though I am curious how fast I can drive a 150gr projectile in this rifle.

I have data for my rifle and the 130ttsx. What mv it ended up at had it carrying 2300fps further than the 168ttsx and flatter. If I had more I'd be rolling with those this year.
 

JFK

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Caribou at about 80 yards with a 180 gr TTSX from a 308 had a small exit, not a huge amount of lung damage either. It only traveled about 200 yards. I saw a cloud of red mist from the exit wound as he turned and ran. Exit was larger than entrance.

Although the bullet should have worked at 80 yards, I believe this type of scenario is where the bulk of bad experience with monos comes from. Moderate velocity cartridges, pushing heavy for caliber bullets is not the way to go with monos.

Muzzle velocity of 3000+fps should be the goal. More is better.
 
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I have data for my rifle and the 130ttsx. What mv it ended up at had it carrying 2300fps further than the 168ttsx and flatter. If I had more I'd be rolling with those this year.
That's cool, what results have you had on animals? I'd be interested in trying those.
 

Marbles

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Although the bullet should have worked at 80 yards, I believe this type of scenario is where the bulk of bad experience with monos comes from. Moderate velocity cartridges, pushing heavy for caliber bullets is not the way to go with monos.

Muzzle velocity of 3000+fps should be the goal. More is better.
My memory was off, I just looked at the box and it was a 168 gr TTSX. Still on the heavy side for the cartridge.
 
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