The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting 30-06 180gr Bullet for Plains Game...Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I am going on my FIRST HUNT to Namibia with my Remington 798 30-06 rifle to hunt PG; Kudu, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala, Springbok, and Warthog... I am reloading for the first time and would like to know what would be your choices for a 180 grain bullet and powder charge for accuracy and terminal performance? You folks have been there and done it... Your experience would be greatly appreciated! Interbonds? TSX? Partitions? A-Frames? Accubonds? I'm looking for a starting point... Which two bullets would you try first and with what powders and charges? Again, thank you for any help you can provide this NEWBIE!!! | ||
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The first consideration lies in your list of quarry. It features some of the toughest plains game around (Gemsbuck, Zebra, Wildebeest, not to forget the ubiquitous Warthog). Use the best (strongest) bullet that shoots well in your rifle. In my experience, that should be the Partition. A-Frame or TSX. Others may differ. Sorry I can't help with loads - our South African components (powders) would be meaningless to you. Good luck! | |||
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Any of these should do the trick, so it may be a matter of which one you can bring to shoot well in your gun. I have had great luck with the Barnes TSX in terms of performance on (plains)game (large and small) with mostly great accuracy to boot. For the .30-06, I'd probably choose a 165-168 grs TSX instead, but the 180 grs would do a great job as well. - mike ********************* The rifle is a noble weapon... It entices its bearer into primeval forests, into mountains and deserts untenanted by man. - Horace Kephart | |||
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180 TSX's if you think you might change your mind and take an Eland when the opportunity arises. Otherwise the 165-168's will kill everything well. In fact they kill Eland too if you hit them right. FB | |||
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I would highly reccommend the A Frame. I have not used it in the '06, but I have used it both in 7mm Rem mag and .375 H&H. I took gemsbok, kudu, warthog, blue wildebeest, zebra and impala with the 160 grain 7mm version, all one-shot kills. Same with buff and Nyassa wildebeest in .375. It's a very tough bullet, retaining a high percentage of its weight and expands usually to around double diameter. All bullets you mentioned are excellent. The A Frame is exceptionally accurate in my rifles, moreso than the others, so I use it exclusively in Africa. BTW, the Interbond has been discontinued by Hornady. It isn't as tough a bullet as the rest. Just my 2c. | |||
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I think most PH's will recommend you bring along only 'premium' ammo. Your choices fit that requirement. However, Barnes recommends that because of their solid copper design, you go one bullet weight lower than what you would normally use in a cup-and-core style. Not only are 165gr TSX's accurate, but they will be more flat shooting over the longish distances in Namibia. Also, as you can't bring back any of the game meat, and you'll pay a trophy fee on a wounded animal that isn't recovered, best black trackers in the world notwithstanding, I would suggest this: practice, practice, practice off shooting sticks with the front shoulder as your aim point, not the lungs. Knock the wheels out from under them first, then run up and administer a coup de grace, if needed. You've only got so many days in the bush, why waste time tracking tiny blood spots all over creation? Accurate shooting off the sticks is key. I won't suggest load data as I didn't use an '06 on my hunt. Zebra and antelope are 600 to 900 pounds; I chose a .338 caliber and 225gr X flatbase bullets. 85gr .257" for springbok as they are a little smaller than pronghorns. Good luck! | |||
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I found the 180 Swift A Frames worked exceptionaly well in my 300 Win Mag. They are a little hotter than the 30-06, but I loaded them marginaly so for accuracy. I used them on Gemsbok, Water Buck, Spring Buck, Kudu, and Eland. All but the Eland were "bank flop", because of poor shooting on my part  Get a copy of the "Perfect Shot". Pay close attention as the anatomy of African Game is different for Whitetail. Jim "Bwana Umfundi" NRA | |||
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I would not consider the new Barnes MRX bullet. I tried it in a Federal factory load on a recent mule deer hunt. In the course of shooting and feeding, the blue plastic tip feel off one round and jammed the feed mechanism in my Model 70 CRF rifle. I would not use that bullet if I were you. | |||
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I used the Remington Premier 180 grain A-Frames in my 30-06 on my safari in June. Four one shot kills and one followup on Fifth due to my bad aim. Perfect performance on recovered bullets from Gems and Kudu. | |||
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I used the 180 gr. Nosler Partition in a .300WSM in Namibia last year. I shot 10 animals, seven dropped in their tracks. Of the three that ran, the most distance was 40 yards. I would recommend either the Partition or the A-Frame. Follow the advice in the previous posts: pratice of shooting sticks, get a copy of the "Perfect Shot" book and/or DVD, aim no higher than half-way up the body right in the shoulder on broadside shots. | |||
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my son is taking an 06 on our plains game safari, next summer. He'll be using the Fed. factory round with 180 gr. noslers. Same bullet he used on black bear, in Idaho, a year ago. Mad Dog | |||
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Don't forget the TBBC (Trophy Bonded Bear Claw). These worked great for me on the plains game including Zebra, Kudu, etc. "I envy not him that eats better meat than I do; nor him that is richer, or that wears better clothes than I do; I envy him, and him only, that kills bigger deer than I do." Izaak Walton (modified) | |||
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I just returned from Namibia in May. I used the following 30-06 load: Nosler Accubond 165 gr. Powder - 57.5 grains H4350 Federal 210 primers I hunted all of the animals that you mentioned and shots were from 20 yards to 150 yards. The results were 10 one shot kills and nothing got further than about 40 yards before piling up. I recovered many of the bullets and they retained almost all of their weigtht and mushroomed nicely. | |||
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I have used Federal's 180 grns. trophy bondeds for the animals you have mention with good success. Take very good care of your bullet placement, specially for the larger ones | |||
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For bullets I would use 180gr North Forks or Nosler Partitions and H4350 powder. Here is the recipe I have found for the 30-06 that gives the best accuracy in any rifle I have loaded for. 180gr bullet 55 gr's H4350 Winchester LR primer In my opinion, the 06 will kill any of the game you list with no problem. | |||
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I don't have the experience of many here, but find a good 180 grain bullet that shoots good in your O6. I tried all the factory stuff I could find, then went through Nosler, Swift, Barnes, Winchester, Speer, and Hornady bullets in reloads. Ended up with 180 Nosler partitions with all the Reloader 22 I could squeeze in the case set .005 off the lands as the most accurate, full power load with a clean or dirty barrel. Everything fell over within 250 yards, and I only recovered one bullet (clipped a small unseen twig then angled through bone and a lot of zebra). Your choice might be different. Getting ready is half the adventure. As most have said, one bullet in the right place is better than three in the wrong place. Bfly Work hard and be nice, you never have enough time or friends. | |||
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IMR-4831, H-4831, H414, Rl-22, IMR-4064 are all good powders in the 30-06..find one that shoots about an inch to inch and a half and go with that.... The 180 and 200 gr. Noslers are the standard by which all other bullets are judged, that about says it all. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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IMR-4831, H-4831, H414, Rl-22, IMR-4064 are all good powders in the 30-06..find one that shoots about an inch to inch and a half and go with that.... The 180 and 200 gr. Noslers are the standard by which all other .308 bullets are judged, that about says it all. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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I would highly recommend the 180 grain Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, and Federal premium Factory ammo. Don't depend on reloads, and leave your extra ammo for the P.H. Good hunting! | |||
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I had good results with the Federal High Energy 180 gr. Nosler Partitions. These are supposed to do around 2880 in a 24" barrel. They killed 13 animals well........when I placed the shots properly.  ............................................. | |||
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L-B, I would consider a 165 grain bullet. Less recoil can be attained as well as down range trajectory. It doesn't take a cannon to kill larger plains game. As to bullet choice, I really like Nosler's Accubond. They are very accurate and expansion is excellent. One shot kills are the norm if you hit the boiler room. However, your rifle may or may not shoot them well, so regardless of your choice, you should try various powder loads to find the one your rifle shoots the best. If you have a factory load that your gun favors, call the company. They can give you the exact components of that load. I would be a lot more concerned with medium range accuracy (200-300 yards) than larger weight knock down power. Read P. Jilek's reply. Just my humble opinion. Good hunting, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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I've used Federal 180 TBBC's on 3 hunts, taking warthog, impala, Lechewe, ostrich, tsessebe and kudu. I recommend them highly. | |||
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On my 2003 plains game hunt in Namibia I took one rifle, a 30-06, and used only the 180 grain Nosler Partition ahead of Reloder 22. A grain or two below maximum yielded 2700+ fps from a 22-inch bbl, with excellent accuracy. On several other safaris in Moz, Zim, and Zambia I always used the Partition in whichever "light" rifle I took (either 7mm Rem Mag or 7x57, both with 160 gr Partitions). I never could detect any difference in effectiveness among the various cartridges--they all worked superbly when loaded with Nosler Partions. As Ray often points out (correctly), the Nosler sets the standard. Having said that, I would be happy hunting with most of the premium bullets others have suggested, especially 180 gr Swift A-Frame, North Fork, or Barnes TSX; I have no experience with the Trophy Bonded, but many AR members have reported excellent results with it. With any of these bullets the 30-06 should be perferct for your hunt. I'm sure you will have a memorable first safari. Good hunting! J.Turk | |||
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First throw away any recomendation that suggests you use smaller than the 180 grain. The 180 is the hunting weight for the 30-06! That said I have shot all my plains game with a swift a frame and have seen no reason to stray from my sucess. On another note the 3006 is a great plainsgame rifle and see no reason to consider any of the 7mm ,300,ect calibers. If your parents didn't have any children chances are you won't either. | |||
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 Geronimo | |||
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Thanks for all the comments and advice... I will heartily weigh each and everyones reply and give it much thought... So far I'm thinking 180 grain Partition, Accubond, Swift A-Frame w/ IMR4350 CCI 200 Primer... I want the 180Gr bullet so I can get in there if presented with a less than perfect angle. I would feel more confident with the 180gr bullet for that reason, not to suggest that it would be a problem for a 168gr bullet. You folks have made me understand a premium 168gr bullet will do the job really nice... But I'm just looking for some good insurance if the need arises for those tough shots.... Thank you for putting in the time and sharing each of your experiences with me... | |||
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I vote TSX for two reasons: - My recovered bullets look like the ones in the bullet ads. - The TSX is consistently accurate in all my .30-06 rifles (three). Tanzania in 2006! Had 141 posts on prior forum as citori3. | |||
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I would try the TBBC or Northforks. The TSX will shoot in just about any rifle..................though their knock down power is not as noticable as the bonded bullets. But you might try some of the new Tipped TSX; I believe Barnes has the 168 TTSX on the market now............it has a redesigned cavity to give faster set up. I am probably going to take a 300RUM shooting 200 Lapua Naturalis,( they are a monometal/plastic tipped projectile from Finland ) on my next hunt in Namibia in 2008. Enjoy, you will have a great time and practice shooting off sticks, prior. Verbera!, Iugula!, Iugula!!! Blair. | |||
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I live in Africa and shoot a fair amount of plainsgame myself every year. Swifts, trophy bonded and Accubond are good but i personally use a 180gr TSX in my 30-06 that leaves the muzzle at 2632fps (chronographed) sighted dead on at 200 metres. The bullets shoot really well in my gun, a standard BRNO ZKK and the accuracy is as good as you need for hunting. The only shot i would hesitate on is a direct point of shoulder on a big Eland bull. Otherwise there is no African plainsgame that i would hesitate shooting with this load. Provided you get your angles and placement right it will always do the job. Last month i shot a Nyala bull at a ranged 309 metres and we recovered the TSX which had mushroomed perfectly even at that range.Often they will exit which i believe is a good thing, an exit wound always bleeds more and your chance of recovering the animal if it has run a bit are much better than if the bullet remains inside the animal.Before the TSX came out i used traditional Barnes x in 165 grains and had no problems. | |||
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i shot my cape eland one shot eland was stone dead droped,but i hit it in the neck,regards ur 3 greatest hunts r ur first ur last and ur next | |||
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Thanks for all the advice... I have one more question... Accubond vs. Partition What's the differences between the two in your opinion in regards to plains game performance? | |||
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Say Federal Premium Vital-Shok 180GR NP shoots acceptable groups in my rifle, If I call the factory youre saying they would tell me the load? | |||
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Technically there are quite a few differences between the accubond and the partition. If you are shooting out to 200yards i personally would say there is not much difference in terms of accuracy. But for me in the field, terminal performance is what really counts. They are both good bullets but the accubond is slightly,slightly "softer". The TSX and A frame are however better than both if you are looking for a bullet that can get in there if the angle is not great - i wouldnt count on either of the Noslers if that is what you are looking at from a bullet. | |||
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I used Nosler 220 grain Partitions in my .30-06 on my first Safari for everything, and the 220 performed perfectly. I tried a .270 with Partitions on my second Safari and was seriously disappointed, didn't loose any game, but was not a happy camper. Took one shot with a borrowed .30-06 and a 180 grain Core-Lokt that was again, perfect. I'm carrying that .30-06 on my next Safari with either 200 or 220 grain Noslers once again. The 06 can do everything well, it's just not exotic!!! LLS Mannlicher Collector  | |||
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YES!!!!! That is exactly what I'm looking for in a bullet... I need more comments and input on the Swift A-Frame and the TSX bullet... Thanks to all... | |||
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Both are excellent PG and DGR bullets. I would also add Northforks to the list, then pick the one which shoots most accurately in your rifle and use that bullet. Geronimo | |||
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I've never tried the Accubond in Africa but have used Partitions. I have used the Accubonds here on Australia on deer sized game and they are much easier to get to shoot, but softer. I would try either the 200 Grain Partition or Swift or Northfork and as a last resort the 200TSX...........that weight will give noticably better performance than the 180's Verbera!, Iugula!, Iugula!!! Blair. | |||
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For all those 180 gr. Nosler partition fans out there (of which I am certainly one,) try the 200 gr. Nosler partition at about 2600 to 2700 FPS, they are just more of the good stuff... As to penetration mentioned above anyone that has use the partition knows it does not lack in that catagory and I have shot elk, Eland, waterbuck and Kudu lengthwise with the 180 Nosler, and the 200 gr. partition surpases the 180 by a good bit. Also you will get less frontal loss with a 200 if that suits your taste.. Ray Atkinson Atkinson Hunting Adventures 10 Ward Lane, Filer, Idaho, 83328 208-731-4120 rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com | |||
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Late-Bloomer, My wife used 180 gr. Northforks over 59.5 gr. of RL19 to take gemsbok, zebra, impala, and warthog in July. I also worked with the 168 gr. and 180 gr. TSX, as well as with H4350 under each bullet, and the first combination just worked best in her gun. The lone recoverd bullet (from the gemsbok) looked like a textbook mushroom and retained 98% of its weight. Different caliber, but I used the TSX in my .338 WM for eland, kudu, wildebeest, blesbuck, impala, and warthog, and had similar excellent results. BTW, this was our first African and we had an absolute blast. I learned an immense amount of information from this forum. I hope you have a great time as well! | |||
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Late-Bloomer Weighing in late I will say as`an old man who has used the 06 in over 50 years of shooting,(in the US) that the 180 gr seems fine for everything except zebra. You don't need to hear the old bromide but I'll say it anyway - bullet placement, bullet placement, bullet placement. I do have one reservation about your list - zebra. I hit a zebra with a 375 H&H, 300 gr. bullet at about 60 yards distance. The bullet hit just below the collar bone. ( He stepped downward on a small slope just as I squeezed off) It took some 8 hours of tracking to run him down and when finished off at near darkness he still was on his feet. Zebra are very tough hombres and frankly, much as I love the 06, I would want to be very sure that I could make a killing shot before using one on a zebra. Just my thoughts from a one time experience with zebra. | |||
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