Bought a new Tikka 30'06 earlier this year and since I'm from Ohio I don't have much rifle experience. I will be leaving for Africa in a couple months and want to use this rifle for moose next year as well as deer. The largest animal in Africa will be kudu and zebra. From what I've read it seems like everyone likes 165 or 180's. I do reload but will be buying factory rounds for this rifle. I also see alot of mention of partitions and accubonds. I'm asking for suggestions and more specifically what exact brand as from what I've looked up there are several different kinds to every manufacturer. Thanks

Consider Double Tap ammo...

A great all-around load for your .30-06!

Bullet : 180gr Nosler Accubond

For each inch increase in barrel length over 22" add 25 fps to the muzzle velocity.

Ballistics : 2800fps at the muzzle - 3135 ft./lbs. - 22.0" bbl. Remington 700

100yds - 1.7" high 2651fps / 2808ft/lbs
200yds - zeroed 2506fps / 2511ft/lbs
300yds - 7.3" low 2367fps / 2240ft/lbs
400yds - 20.7" low 2233fps / 1993ft/lbs
500yds - 41.2" low 2103fps / 1768ft/lbs

Caliber : .30-06 Springfield

My buddy (Ted Thorn) just used his 30/06 in Africa for Kudu, Water Buck, Gemsbok, Black and Blue Wildebeest and a bunch more.
His load was 150 grain Accubonds in his 30/06.
I think it performed flawlessly.
150, 165, 180 Accubonds, TTSX's, Partitions would all work great. Pick something that appeals to you and see what your rifle likes.
My personal opinion is that with well constructed bullets you don't have to go quite as heavy, for instance a 150 or 165 TTSX or Accubond you will probably get all the penetration you need and not need to go to 180's. (however your rifle may really shoot 180's or prefer them)
If you follow the above template then find out what is most accurate in your rifle you will have great performance.
Then it's up to you to shoot straight and you'll have a pile of animals.
Good choice on picking a 30/06 and try Federal Premiums or Winchester Black box (I think they are "Supremes?")

By the way once you have that rifle shooting good from the bench practice with shooting sticks, in Africa they prefer you to shoot that way. I practiced with the sticks before I went and it helped. I was used to shooting in the field prone resting over rocks, logs or backpack or sitting using sling knees and elbows but I did practice sticks and was happy to have done so.
Out of 7 animals I shot 6 from sticks.

The newer bullets are much better AND the factories are loading them.IF I did not reload, I'd try Federal premiums w/ the 180g NP or AB or Remington's Safari /w Swift A-frames OR if you really want the best, Superior is now loading CEB bullets.
Good luck.

I took my .300 Win Mag to South Africa and shot the Barnes Vor-tx 180 Grain TTSX bullets. Took a HUGE Zebra and even bigger Blue Wildebeest, as well as a large kudu, Gemsbok and a few other smaller antelope. All were pass-through shots.

I'd strongly suggest you see if your rifle will shoot the Vor-tx ammo, and give either the 168 grain or 180 grain loads a try!

http://www.barnesbullets.com/p...your-vor-tx/6607-2/#

Good luck!

John

Id go with Federal premiums using the 180 gr. Nosler partition bullet..You will never go wrong with Nosler bullets. My second choice would be Nosler Accubonds if some factory loads them??

Well I did a lot of reading today and it seems the Barnes TTSX, AB and partition are solid choices. Some like the AB's and some say they dont expand enough likewise the TTSX expands too much with not enough penetration. Also the partitions seemed to be liked by a majority and then some say the top part falls off and whats left pencil's out the other side only retaining approximately 60% (which seems like that's what they are designed to do).

I thought this'd induce an overflow of replies....

I've been on three safaris, and on all I shot a .30-06. The biggest quarry I took was Eland.
On one safari I also shot an 8mm rifle.
Incidentally, my latest acquisition is a Tikka T3 Synthetic Stainless Light in .30-06 which I used in Namibia taking game up to Blue Wildebeest and a couple of oryx.

Based on this, I can recommend the 180grs AccuBond bullet by Nosler. It's factory loaded at least by Norma (I used handloads).

My ultimate fallback round is, however, the 180grs Norma Oryx. If all else fails, use that!
I have never heard of anyone in whose gun the Norma wouldn't be accurate. The Oryx bullet is dubbed the poor man's premium, and it certainly seems to be so.
In Sweden, it's the most popular hunting bullet, I believe, and it's been developed for moose. The Swedes hunt mostly with the 6,5x55 but also a lot with the .30 calibers. Thus, the Norma bullet is also ideal for moose! (Haven't shot any moose with the Orys myself, though.)

I must also note that neither the Oryx nor the AccuBond gave pass-through. If you wish that kind of performance, you need a tougher bullet - maybe a Swift A-Frame, Barnes X or Lapua Naturalis.
In Namibia, my friend enjoyed stellar performance from the Lapua Naturalis in 9,3x62. He ueses it exclusively, also on moose.

My other friend with 10 safaris under his belt recommends Federal ammunition. I have no personal experiences with Federal ammo, however.

I think factory ammunition is not a poor choice, and I hope you will not try to save some cents on the ammunition....

If you only have a couple of months before the trip, I advice you dry practice every day!
I did that for about 2 months before my first safari and it paid off.
Practice fast reloading after the shot (VIGOROUS bolt action!), fast target acquisition through the scope, and clean trigger job. 10 to 20 minutes each night is plenty.
On the range, shoot from the sticks and offhand - maybe some field positions but preferably not just bench rest.

- Lars/Finland

I've been shooting 168 TSXs over a max charge of RL19. I'm almost out of them so I'm going to next try the 150 TTSX. You won't go wrong with most modern bullets. Accubonds or the TTSX would be my first choice. You'll be hardpressed to find anyone critical of the Accubond's accuracy or on game performance.

LWD

Any premium bullet will do just fine. My preference for your situation would be 180's although the Mrs. has taken up to zebra with 165's in her 308.
Try a few, find something that your rifle likes and have fun. You really don't need to overthink it.

Thanks everybody for the responses, I'm gonna try a box of the accubond's in 180 and the TTSX in 180 also maybe 168. From your responses and what I've read those should work fine.

Clarification on Nosler Partitions. The old screw machine partition bullet blew the front end off and the base exited as designed..They were awesome killers and gave you an exit hole to boot.

Later the partition was changed to expand and on occasion it blew the front lead out and the base bemained and usually exited making a larger exit hole as the expanded bullet looks like a Barnes X or regular monolithic with peeled back pedels and so designed by changing the mixture of the copper.

Todays Nosler, depending on caliber, has moved the partition a tad forward and it expands much like the perverbial mushroom so adored by todays casdores, as does the Accubond, Swift A frame, swift Sirroco, North Fork, HOrnacy IB, etc. and all are premium quality bullets and this biz of comparing them is mostly campfire gossip, they all work great. The days of bullet failure have all but disappeared. The 40s and 50s had a goodly number of bullet failures, but mostly they did kill the animal or ranther most were recovered.

The Nosler partition is the bullet by which all other bullets are compared, and that's no slight praise. they work and as Ross Seyfried once said in print that those who claim Nosler partition failure are full of it or something on that order and I have to agree with that.

What you are looking for is a 180 gr. premium bullet, end of story. I personally like the Nosler partition and the Accubond both, but the other premiums are also outstanding. Another of my all time favorite bullets is the Woodleigh and the GS Customs. I base my opinion on lots of game shot and lots of up to my elbows in blood and gore finding those bullets and observing the damage done. We are known in the trade as "bullet diggers"

I have checked several online places and can't find any of the 180 partitions but have found the accubonds in 180 may just order those. Gonna make a trip over to Bass Pro and see what they have before I order online. Thanks for every ones help.

Probably can't go wrong with these.

http://www.midwayusa.com/produ...cm_vc=ProductFinding

Here are some Partitions in 180, as well as Accubonds. The Blem is strictly cosmetic and has no effect on performance. Bottom of first page. I never pay full price, if I don't have to.

Nosler Blem

180"s are great medicine from the -06 when pushed over 2750 up to 2800
As great as they are out of the -06 with a bonded bullet the 180 is not needed for plains game

The 165 grn Accubond is a great bullet and perfect compromise of speed and ft. lbs.

Like Snellstrom said.....I killed 11 different species of game in South Africa in mid. June

All with a 150 grn Accubond at under 2900 fps with most shots causing two holes

Impala
Warthog
Blue Wildebeest
Waterbuck
Kudu
Gemsbock bull
Black Wildebeest
Blesbok
Bushbuck
Vervet Monkey
Hyrax

As always placment trumps every time as well as being familiar and confident with your rifle and load

Or I'm too hard headed to understand that a 150 while works great for girls, teenagers and women it just won't cut it fired from a man's shoulder.

My Kudu isn't long nor is he massive but he has a wide twist

Here he looks great holding my ruty old 30-06 after falling to a single 150 grn Accubond at over 200 yards off sticks......frontal

My Waterbuck was a suprise that I couldn't pass on. Very steep uphill quartering away shot put low in the last rib exiting out of the off shoulder (look for it) at just over 200 yards off sticks

Same 150

Thanks for the pics and advice on the accubonds. The reason I was gonna go with the 180's is that graf's had them in stock in the 180 only. I'll be stopping by Bass Pro this weekend to see what they have. I'm sure the 150-165 are enough but I was think of next year with the moose in mind. I'd say by next year though I will be reloading for it but as I don't reload 30'06 now and not enough time with another family vacation before then I'm gonna go with factories.

Sounds like a good plan. The 180 won't let you down.

Remington loads the Swift A frame and the Scirroco in their Premier line of ammo. Both are bonded and would work well for what you are wanting to do. Pretty sure Bass Pro carries them. I know I have seen them at the one here in Vegas.

Thanks Palladin, I will be checking there this weekend.

The new Sako/Tikka rifles in 30 caliber are all built on 11" twist barrels. While this does not matter with a rifle chambered for the 308Win, where the standard spec is 1:12", it means that 30-06 and 300 Magnum rifles will not do as well with with longer bullets. The standard spec is 1:10".


GSC has developed a 140gr HV for the 30-06 and 146gr HV for the magnums, to work best with this 1:11" twist. The ogive protrusion on a 30-06 is more generous than that of the 300WinMag, for example and the 140gr HV has a longer ogive than the 146gr HV.

Ammunition can be had from Monolithic Munitions. It depends on what you want and how custom made you want the finished product.

Keep in mind with a bullet like the Barnes TSX to TTSX, you can go down in bullet weight and retain the same performance as those bullets that shed some weight.

I would think any of the premium bullet lines in an appropriate weight will serve you well. Pick up what you can and let the rifle tell you what it likes, shoot straight and pile up a bunch of critters in the skinning shed!

Good luck!!

Federal Premium Trophy Copper 180 grain. Hill Country Rifles goes first to Federal Premium for accuracy testing. Federal switched to these bullets now that Remington owns Barnes bullets. When HCR restocked my Model 70 SS Featherweight '06, it came with a sub 1 MOA target and I've been able to replicate that performance myself.

I've got my order ready for the 180's in accubond but have a question on the Barnes. I can either order the 168 TTSX-BT or the 180 TTSX. Should I get 168's because they are BT or 180 non-BT. I'm gonna order a box of each to try.

Townsend Whelen once opined, "the 30-06 is never a mistake." I would add to that, "the 30-06 with 180 grain Nosler Partitions is never a mistake."

Mart

quote:

Originally posted by Redlander:
Federal Premium Trophy Copper 180 grain. Hill Country Rifles goes first to Federal Premium for accuracy testing. Federal switched to these bullets now that Remington owns Barnes bullets. When HCR restocked my Model 70 SS Featherweight '06, it came with a sub 1 MOA target and I've been able to replicate that performance myself.

Depends on the caliber. My HCR 7mag was tested with Hornady Custom 154g Interlokt's @ .495".

Bayou, like tedthorn, I claimed 12 animals in Namibia this past May with 160 AB's from a 7mag. Awesome performance. Don't let anyone tell you that TSX/TTSX is mandatory for bullet performance on plains game, but they are great bullets as well. May 2013 in SA me and my buddy killed 14 head of game with the PH's 30-06 and 180 partitions. Worked like a charm as well.

Oh BTW, you're gonna love that Tikka. I predict you'll be bugholing shortly. All of mine have been boringly accurate with factory ammo....any ammo for that matter.

[QUOTE]Hill Country Rifles goes first to Federal Premium for accuracy [/iQUOTE]

My 270 was returned by HCR with a group by Hornady Custom 130gr.

Going back to western Tanznaia next year. Believe it or not I'm considering a .30-06 as a light rifle. Might have to take a shot to 3-400 yards. Longest shot I've made with my .416 was 300 and that was a stretch.

Awfully light, but it shoots.

What I was curious with is to boat tail or not. The 168's are BT but the 180"s aren't in the Barnes selection. The 180's in AB are BT. I'm sure the lower weight is fine with bonded rounds but the Accubonds that I can get a deal on 180, 168 BT and 180 non BT ttsx.

I like the 180 gr. bullets in the 30-06 for all around use, come what may it can handle everything well enough including going away shots or big stuff..

I use the 150s on deer and antelope size animals from time to time, but can't tell much difference in the effect. They kill well on game up to 300 pounds I suppose that's pretty accurate.

I like the 200 gr. Woodleighs or Noslers at close to 2700 FPS on Eland and Moose and DG..

Given one load for all game, then the 180 Nosler partition and GS Customs 165 gr. works as well as anything out there.

150gr Barnes TTSX is my choice.

Been hunting with this bullet a couple of seasons now.

My 3006 love them and I have taken upto waterbuck and zebra.

Kudu and eland I will not hessitate to use the same bullet.

As usual shot placement is everything it does not matter what caliber you hunt with.

If you like Federal Premium ammo, they offer the 180 gr. Tipped Trophy Bonded Bear Claw High Energy, which is a boat tail bullet at 2880fps.

I have only used my 30-06 in Africa so all my knowledge is about African game. My last shot was a Wildebeest at well over 300 yds and the shot was a good heart shot. I only used 220gr Nosler Partitions and they shot beautifully in my 06. I recovered the bullet I shot the Wildebeest under the skin on the off side. The recovery was very unusual as the rear portion of the partition showed perfect expansion with the petals folded back against the base - what was unusual was that the front lead was also there perfectly mushroomed. The total weight of both pieces was 207.1 grains on my powder scale. Can't ask for much better than that. I would have no qualms about using this combo on anything except Elephant. I have been using Nosler Partitions for over 60 years and have yet to see one not do it's job. Why change or even experiment. Dead is dead and success is success.

Due to the huge popularity of the 30-06 and the considerable product development done on it, it is hard to find a bad 30 caliber hunting bullet in the 150 to 180 grain range. I've had good luck with Noslers and Core Locts, but friends of mine swear by Swift, Barnes and others.

Well I finally got around to testing the 180 AB's today. I used the Fed 180's SP to sight in since they were a lot cheaper. I know everybody does it different and I do when I reload but I did 3 round groups and the last being a five rounder. The first three were to confirm and foul. I read nothing bud good reviews on the Tikka's and I like it but I was not impressed today. I do realize that every rifles shoots each round differently and I need to find what it likes to eat.

1st---sight in
2nd---2.5
3rd---2.5
4th---1.25
5th---2.5
3 shot groups for an average of 2.125

5 shot group---3

I did let the barrel cool between strings. This Tikka doesn't seem to like the Fed 180's in AB. I didn't save the targets from the other day but I'm pretty sure the 180 SP's shot better. I'm gonna try a box of the Barnes 180 TTSX in the morning.

Unless you're shooting way passed 300 yards, a BT does nothing for you. To the point that I no longer consider a BT bullet when I start load development. At a guess, there are more deer and elk killed each year with plain old Remington ammo using a 165 or 180 gr bullets than all the rest combined.

Among factory rifles out of the box, the Tikka is probably the most accurate that I have seen. I would put them ahead of Sako from what little I have seen.

If you are reloading TSX / TTSX, remember to seat bullets a bit deeper (0.050 off lands) to keep pressures within limits.

A boat tail does more than just change the BC. It is a common misconception that it does not matter if one uses boat tails or flat base bullets if one does not shoot far.

Boat tail or flat base determines where the center of gravity of the bullet lies, what the dynamic stability, hence the launch speed, of the bullet will be and so on.

These factors are often more important than the BC and it is also possible to have a bullet with a flat base that has a better BC than boat tail bullets of similar weight.