In Missouri it doesn't make a hill of beans what you use. Take your pick and go kill deer.

What do you like and what do you think is the best all around bullet wieght for Elk and all the way down to deer?

i've killed several elk with 180gr partitions (and a few with 180gr failsafes).

an 06' shooting 180gr partitions is just hard to beat for any big game animal in the us.

I really like 125's cuz those big mean 150's really hurt my shoulder!

Really depends where I am shooting and what I am shooting.

Most of the whitetail hunting I do is served very well with a 150. Shots rarely exceed 300 yds. And the deer aren't HUGE.

For possible longer shots and larger deer I like 165's.

Bigger than that, 180's.

If I had to have only one load, it would be a toss up between a good 165 or a 180. I'd rather shoot too heavy a bullet on a small animal than too light a bullet on a big animal. By light I also mean construction.

quote:

Most of the whitetail hunting I do is served very well with a 150.

I use 180 grains for everything. Bullet of choice is the Swift A-Frame.

I have started using 165gr Accubonds for everything. To me the Accubond design has changed things.

I bought some 165 gr Partition seconds from Nosler that I will be loading for my oldest son when we head to Africa next year.

In the .284 dia. 140 Accubond, or 140 A-Frame. In the 30 cal. 150 Accubond, or 165 A-Frame.
I would have no second thoughts carrying any of these loads.

I like 180's in the 06. Sierra gamekings for deer, Barnes XLC's for anything bigger.

I have also used them all 150,165, 180 and 200 grain bullets in the 30-06 and killed game with them all deer, elk, sheep coyotes and about anything that neede killing.

I still shoot 165/168 and 180's, I feel the 180 is the best alround bulet in 30 caliber. I prefer the the TSX bullets for hunting but have and still do use others

the 200 gn nosler @ 2700 out of the 06, the more i use it the more i like it, even on small 100-150 lb animals it works great
the 180 nosler @ 2850 plus does not take a back seat out of the 06 either
im still not convinced with the mono bullets

Everything from 110 to 200gr.
For the little deer around here 150's work fine.
For larger deer, 165.
For elk on up 180.
For yotes, whatever is in the gun.
All mono bullets because we can't shoot anything else around here.

Well I grew up pulling the FMJ's from surplus ammo , neck sizing the cases and replacing them with 150gr Sierra's. That's about the jest of what my pop shot for hunting rounds for as long as I can remember. He played around with some other loads, but these seemed to be the ones he grabbed up and headed to the woods with. With those loads he shot everything from jackrabbits to mule deer.

Myself, I believe the 165gr bullets offer about the best combination of velocity, and weight. I would have no issues hitting the woods after anything up to and including elk or moose with them, should I ever have the inclination. There are so many good bullets available today that one doesn't need to really go bigger, IMO, when hunting NDG state side. If I need a heavier bullet, I would move up to the magnum cases to drive it as well.

what i use the most is cheap old winchester power point 150s. I came across about a 1000 of them a couple years ago for the ar10 and found they shot real well in both my o6s and have killed everything ive shot them at. Probably killed 50 deer with them so far without any kind of failure.

200



Elk offside just the shank showing

The 165s have always worked well for me. I've killed one elk with a 30-06 but for that I used a 200gr bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by LBGuy:
an 06' shooting 180gr partitions is just hard to beat for any big game animal in the us.

and this is true for most African plains game too, with the possible exception of eland.

I love the odd-six; when I bought my most recent rifle, I looked at all chamber options available to me, and decided to buy a second '06!

I use Hornady Interlock and Rhino (local) in 180 grain.

Going to start playing with Hornady Interlock 220 grainers soon.

You can kill an elk with 150's and a deer with 180's, but there are advantages to hunting deer with the 150's and elk with the 180's. Rather than being an "all around" bullet in the .30-06, the 165 seems like neither fish nor fowl and doesn't seem the best choice for any game. However, a 165 will do about 99% of what either of the others will do, so all we're talking about here is preference and prejudice.

More important that weight is bullet construction. Shooting "hard and heavy" bullets at deer is asking for longer, more difficult recovery. Shooting "light and frangible" bullets at elk is asking for much less certainty of a clean kill. I like Ballistic Tips and conventional cup-and-core bullets for deer, while elk merit bullets with a terminal advantage like a Partition or a bonded bullet.

If limited to one choice for everything you encounter with an '06, it would have to be a Nosler Partition 180. The front section expands amply for light game and the rear section hangs together to penetrate on larger game. Game over.

The first place that I used my 30-06 was Africa so I used 180 gr TBBCs. Haven't had any need to change.

Woods - great shooting! What rifle/glass are you shooting?

I shoot 165's in my 300 sav and 308 180's in my 06's and 300wm.

I do have a 06 scout I use some 220's in for hogs why because I had a few boxs of 220's works real well on the hogs I have shot. My daughter used one of them out of her 06 to kill a 500lb blk bear this year.

I have and seen many dozens of deer killed with 30 cal 150's

Shoot game in a proper spot let the bullet travel enough to destroy lungs heart ect and you will kill what ever you hit.

quote:

Originally posted by Doublegun:
Woods - great shooting! What rifle/glass are you shooting?

Steyr Forester SBS with a Kahles 3.5x10x50 with TDS reticle



Can't beat a Steyr for out of the box accuracy

I've settled on 180 grain partitions with Reloader 22. I always liked them on whitetails, because they work great up close and far away. In Africa, I had great expansion and pass through on smaller antelope and jackals, and great expansion and penetration on zebra and kudu. For me it's hard to ask for more.
Bfly

Woodsey, don't let the Steyr secret out of the bag...might affect resale prices! Most accurate rifles I've ever owned.

I've only hunted deer, black bear, and hogs with mine, but for deer sized game, I think the 165-grainers have given me the best performance, for deer around here, they just drop when you put 165 grains of lead in the right place. If I do my elk hunt in 2012, though, I think I'll be trying some 180-grain partitions that I have, thats the plan, anyway.

If there ever was an all around bullet for the 06 its gotta be the 165gr. I wouldnt specifically go moose hunting with it but ifs thats all i had i wouldnt be worried either.....

I use whatever bullet shoots best in that particular rifle. Any of them 150 on up will take deer and elk. One of mine likes the 165 bullets and the other likes 180s.

I use 150 grain Hornady Interlock BTSP's in my '06 (for deer only). If I were loading 1 bullet for everything, I'd probably just bump up to 180 grain interlocks. They seem to work just fine at '06 velocities.

Sorry for the noob question but what's the difference between interlock and core lock in bullets? My pre-64 shoots over-the-counter Remington 180-gr round nose Core Lokt pretty well and I've never considered making a change for anything except for coyotes.

For the little SE deer we have around here 150 grainer's.
For larger Northern deer, 165 grainer's.
For elk on up 180 grainer's.
For 'yotes get shot with whatever rifle I'm carrying and with whatever is in the rifle.
'yotes are targets of opportunity.

quote:

Originally posted by Doublegun:
what's the difference between interlock and core lock in bullets?

InterLock and Core-Lokt are two brand names for Hornady and Remington bullets, respectively, which employ an internal collar to "lock" the internal lead to the exterior copper cup. They are very similar in design, and in my experience the InterLock works very well at impact velocities <= 2,500 fps.

quote:

Myself, I believe the 165gr bullets offer about the best combination of velocity, and weight.

Yup, Nosler Partitions

My 1950's FN Mauser is partial to 165grns. 150's are ok, the 165 are the trick in it. I haven't tried any 180's. I guess I should, but verything I have shot w/ the 165's have dropped. groups under moa. Good gun, uncle gave it to me when I was 18. Been shooting it 31 yrs. She's nice.

I prefer a Sectional density of at least .250 so the 168 would be the lightest I would choose in a standard lead constructed bullet. I would ventue lighter with the monolithics but have yet to find a load that I really like.