hi
i am a 30 caliber lover and wonder if 3006 loaded with 220 gr hornady or nosler can put the largest bears down easily. If you have experience of this caliber and bears then please tell me your opinion on this matter,
regards
danny

I've used the 220gn bullest in a .30/06 in Africa with all one shot kills.

Most of these(all of them from memory, but some might have slipped my mind) looked like someone pulled the rug out from under them.

That said, I don't know if I'f use it for bear if I had something else availiable, but then again I am buying a lightweight .300SAUM with the vauge dream of one day shooting a bear with it if I ever did a trip where weight was a concern.

For what it's worth, my opinion of the 220-grain bullet is that it's obsolete and probably always was a bit too heavy for this cartridge. I know it's the classic heavy for the .30-06, but other weights like the 180s and 200s will outshine it handily.

And if you have your heart set on a roundnose, the 180 is a fine weight for the -06, the spitzer being even better.

RSY

At the sportsmans show here in Pittsburgh a few years ago there was a guide from Alaska who brought some videos of his clients killing brown bears. One clip showed a guy using a 30-06 BAR with 220 grain bullets. He was shooting at the bear while being backed up by a guide with a 375HH. The bear took three direct hits into the shoulder and hardly moved! He would just look at where the bullets hit, Finally on the 4th shot the guy hit him in the head and the bear started to react and attempted to run away. The guy hit him a 5th and final time before the bear fell. The guide then popped him with a 375 round. All of this was at a distance of 40 yards! Based upon that clip I WOULD NEVER book an expensive brown bear hunt and use the 06 as my main rifle. There are to many that are better suited for the task like the 338, 375HH or even the 35 Whelen using 250 grain bullets. JMHO

[ 12-04-2003, 05:36: Message edited by: Iron Buck ]

Not only no, but HELL NO! There's no way I'd ever go after or with anyone using anything less than a .338 Mag. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, they've been killed with .22 rimfires. But my opinion is that to use anything much less than a .338 isn't conducive to a long life span. I've been around them a bit & have a lot of respect for them. Bear in Fairbanks

The 30/06 has been dependably taking brown bear in Alaska since before any of us were born. And it still is. And a lot of them were taken with lighter bullets......180 to 205 gr.

Are there a lot of larger, more powerful rifles available today? Sure. Does this mean the /06 won't work any more? No. Does it mean if you have one of the larger rifles that you can't be mauled by a wounded bear? No.

We will never escape the universal law that it is not WHAT you hit them with......but WHERE you hit them. The /06 will still be taking bears when most of us are dead and gone.

06 enough??? I saw yes and I remember in the fifty and sixties (my age showing ) reading about stories in Alaska shooting big bears with 06's..
But with a premium bullet you will be able to get up to 2500fps with a max load and if you are a very good or great shot and do practice the bullet will not let you down... But shot placement is and will always be more important then a big bullet...IMO

Mike

There are still a few places where 250 grain Barnes originals are available...they will also work!
best,
bhtr

danny pay;

i have experience with both the .06 and a boone and crocket brown bear and many trips to ak.

i have found that many times the opinions of guys who have not taken the b.b. and the guys who have, is different. guys who have, have more respect for the bears and what it takes to put them down with authority.

rsy;

i agree with him in many ways. however, the 180 gr. is the best size for the .o6, but, not for the b.b.. it is too light, u should use at least a 200 gr bullet. i beleive that the 200 gr. nosler would be superior to the 220 r.n.h.. the 220 is too heavy for the caliber and the nosler is a better bullet with more velocity with the 200 gr and better penetration.

let's remember that not only is this a relatively light bullet for b.b. but it is also .30, a small hole to put in an animal that tough, who does not bleed well. the 10' b.b. is a different and much more formible quarry than the 8-9' b.b. when it comes to taking punishment.

as usual i agree with bear in fairbanks, he said it well. i can tell he speaks from experience.

when it comes to brown bear hunting the universal law of it is where u hit them that counts and with what....
i would also add, it is also how hard u hit them and how often. few b.b. kills are one shot.

hitting them is not good enough, u have to put them down hard and break them up so they don't get away, dangerous stuff.

i am a big fan of the .30-.06. i have a great set up for it too. win m70 pre 64 classic w/ boss in stainless and synthetic, bedded w/ trigger job that shoots tight w/ fed' h.e. 180/200 nosler. i wanted to shoot my b.b. with that because i knew i would not miss and it is weatherproof, it holds 5 rounds instead of the 3-4 in other magnum guns, and i would not have to buy and learn another gun. the recoild would not be an issue.

my outfitter had been mauled the previous year and would not take me with a .30-06 he said. he is not alone in that rule either.

i got a great deal on a used german .300 wthby. i called him and told him the good news and he said he won't take me with a .30 caliber. he said get a big gun, a .338 or .375. i broke down and bought a .340 wthby.

when my big opportunity came i was glad i had the bigger gun. i thought that this gun, a veritable howitzer w/o the wheels, would flatten the bear w/ one shot game over , wrong. i knocked the bear down with all 4 shots, until the gun was empty. yes, they were all vital hits, that had done an unbeleivable amount of damage. wounded, i am watching my trophy escaping at high speed w/ 1,000 grs of lead in the chest, into the heavy and tall brush at top speed. a fifth shot to the neck ended the story.

as much as i love my .06, it is a poor choice for b.b. and would have failed me miserably in the above situation. good thing i did not have it along. not only does your shooting have to be up to the task, so must your gun. if i did not see it with my own eyes i would not have beleived the punishment that these bears can absorb and still function at a high level of speed and toughness. i had a whole new respect and view of the brwon bear. not an animal to be toyed with, them must be controlled to be safe.

use enough gun......

cold zero

The original question was whether a .30-06 could easily put down a brown or grizzly using 220 gr. bullets.

The short answer is NO!

The 220 grain bullet should not be used in this round in my opinion.

An aquaintance of mine once was going to Alaska on a brown bear hunt. I asked him what rifle he was going to take as I knew he was absolutely nuts about his 7mm Mag. Of course that was what he was going to take. I said, "you'd better talk that over with your guide". He did and now he owns a .338 Win Mag. which was what his guide recommended he use.

You have to break bone. I've only hunted Grizzly's and they are smaller, but both required 2 shots from a 300 Weatherby, though both of them went down at the first shot. I wouldn't go after a Brown Bear with anything less than a 300 Winchester and 200 gr Noslers, but would feel much better with a 338 and 250 gr Noslers.

When you get to Anchorage, walk down to the end of the airport and take a look at the 2 Bears that they have displayed there. Then ask yourself if the 30-06 makes you feel "comfy"...if you still think that it's enough, when you get to Kodiak, take a look at the Bear that is mounted with the deer. You can't miss it.

[ 12-04-2003, 07:48: Message edited by: JBabcock ]

jbabcock;

i know all the mounts that u referred.

hate to be the bearer of bad news. the bear and deer mount u refer to in kodiak is no longer there. the new contingent of TSA fed' security people needed more room so the displays had to go.

ain't it a hoot, even when these animals are dead they still can't get anyspace....

cold zero

That was some of the finest taxidermy I'd ever seen. Even the deers eyes looked scared! Nice rack to boot. I was there before they moved the Kalakala.

The finest fishing I've ever experienced was on Kodiak. Silvers were running, I was standing in the mouth of the river in the tide flats, one right after another, my left thumb was almost to the point of bleeding from releasing fish. Average size was about 12 to 13lbs. With a 15 pounder thrown in once in awhile to keep things exciting. Just a giggle a minute

I digress, a Brown Bear hunt is a great excuse to buy a 338 Win Mag. After 2 successful Grizzly hunts, I sold my 300 Weatherby and moved up to the 338 Win Mag. You want a bullet that can penetrate the Bear completely from any angle, and absolutely destroy the shoulders in the process.

[ 12-04-2003, 09:11: Message edited by: JBabcock ]

cold zero (and others),

With all due respect, I have to say this.

We recommend to Danny Pay that a 30-06 is not enough for big bears because, among other factors, it often takes many shots to put it down. So are we to believe now that a 340Wby is not enough either? If 4 vital zone shots from a 340Wby didn't put down the bear what will?

Maybe bullet performance is at play in this case. If you nailed the vitals 4 times I can only assume the bullets didn't expand at all and left pencil-size holes. This seems unlikely, but then I don't really know all that much about it. Did you recover any bullets from this beast?

How about the 06 with 165 FailSafe or X bullets? Velocity will be increased over the big 200gr stuff and expansion should be reliable.

I would pick a 200 partition 180 failsafe or a 180 northfork in the 30-06 (or .300 mag).
-----
Brown bears are not known for going down easily but the 30-06 has put down many a Brown bear.
-----
Of the few guys that I know that have shot them.

One used a .300 win mag with 200 partition. The bear was quartering towards him and was hit once between the neck and shoulder into the vitals and dropped dead in its tracks.

Another one was shot with a .338 and 230 failsafe ammo. One shot but don't remember the details.

Another took 5 hits to the chest with a .338 win and 250 noslers. My buddy thought the bear was unkillable for a few terrifying moments(while reloading his rifle).

Another took several hits from a .358 norma mag.
This guy had to reload also. (these last two guys are brothers )

These are the only brownies I remember right now.
----

I plan on hunting Brown bears and grizz in the near future but I will be using a 375 ultra.

Gentlemen,

I don't have experience with hunting brown or grizzly bears, so I'm not commenting on that, but I highly disagree about the usefulness of the 220 gr. .30-06.

It has been used here in Africa to great success on nearly every animal large and small that walks, swims, crawls, or flies. At reasonable ranges, the 220 gr. penetrates all day long and doesn't damage a lot of meat.

Abusing the Back button.

[ 12-04-2003, 10:47: Message edited by: RMiller ]

g.f.p.;

putting the bear down was not a problem, keeping him from getting up was. i am not saying that a .340 was not enough gun. in that particular situation i could not have picked a better setup if i had a gun store right behind me. what i am explaining is that they can and do absorb tremendous punishment and still get up and run, toward u or away from u. either way , that is bad.

as far as the holes go, i would say that the holes thru the lungs were more like the size of my thumb and not a pencil. the first shot blew the aorta (top) of the heart right off. causing an instant and massive drop in blood pressure. there was an exit hole on the far side chest that looked almost big enough to put my size 8 hiking boot into.

danny pay's original question asked about perf' on the biggest bears. this bear was the biggest bear. what is a marginal choice on an 8' footer is a worse choice on the 10' plus. a separate category. indeed, 10 foot bears have gonzo freak power.

i still feel that the .338/.375 are the two best choices. i did recover 2 of the bullets, noslers, perfectly mushroomed in the hide on the far side. i remember the heart and lungs were gone and the two front shoulder were both broken in multiple places. The first shot killed him deader than s--t. the problem is that they can take a long time to die, due to a naturally slow heart rate and a tremendous will to live. they can do a lot of damage or cover a lot of ground in the time they take to die.

don't think any guide would allow the use of a 165 gr. bullet as this would not provide deep enough penetration. some guides will allow the use of 180 gr., though. when it comes to the big bears the heavier the bullet the better.

nosler partition, has not failed me yet.

cold zero

fortunately, we caught the whole thing on video. just like being there.

While I also agree a bigger caliber might be in order if you were going after Brown Bears than the '06, it still does not mean the old girl will not do a decent job.

Those that RAP on the old 220 grain Round Nose, must not have any personal experience with them in my opinion. Have any of you critics of the 220 grainers, ever had one fail??

I never did.

And a long time ago, in places like Alaska, the Yukon and the like, the two most commonly used rifles on the Big Bears were the 45/70 and the Old 30/40 Krag with the 220 grain Round Nose.

If the 30/40 Krag could do the job in those days, and was highly respected by the people in those days ( who were probably more defending their lives against attacks than just hunting) with a 220 grain Round Nose, then I am darn sure that a Modern Constructed 220 grain RN in a bolt action 30/06 should be able to do a good job.

Some of these guys would carry a LAW or a Bazooka if it was legal for hunting the big Bears.

There may be better choices, but their are also a lot worse choices to boot.

While I dearly love my .30-06 if I was going after the big bears, I'd be toting my .375 H&H

The Alaskan Brown Bear is one magnificent animal and has all my respect. I would never care to harvest one and enjoy watchimg them just be their self. The boars will grow from only a few ounces at birth to as much as 1600 lbs or more at full maturity. The Brown Bear gives you the impression that he is a gigantic stupid creature, and that is far from the actual facts. Brown Bears are deliberate and methodical in all they do in the wild. They will stalk and kill humans as a food source if the opportunity presents itself. Brown Bears are majestic unbelievably powerfull animals who don't even know their own strength. They can out run a full grown Elk on flat ground over a short distance. They like to attack running down hill to maximize their speed potential.

The Brown Bears domain is vast and only man poses him any problem when he invades his territory. Not long ago one of those mentally challenged animal rights activists and his girlfriend were killed by a Brown Bear, when they pitched camp in Bear country. He and his girlfriend actually believed since they posed no threat to the Bears, the Bears would do them no harm, what an astounding stupid human action. Only a fool would venture into Brown Bear country unarmed.

Never venture into Brwon Bear country with only a camera and fond thoughts in your mind and back pack. Chances are nothing bad will happen to you, unless you happen to cross paths with that one nasty tempered Boar or Sow with cubs. Be in the wrong place at the right time and the most powerful rifle ever conceived in the mind of man will save you from the savage attack of the gigantic powerful Brown Bear boar. Once a Brown Bear boar or Sow with cubs commits to a charge he or she is prepared to kill you or die in that attempt. Keep your distance because no human could ever out run the largest Brown Bear ever recorded. They are like the Dodge Hemi and only use what energy is needed to prevail at any given instance with tons of energy left in reserve.

Several implications as to the "220 gr bullet".. What needs to be considered is WHAT 220 gr bullet was the hunter shooting?

The 220 Silvertip is way too soft, and works good for Deer, and the 220 Core Lokt, and Sierra are not far behind.

The 220 Nosler Partition would be my choice, followed by the 220 Hornady.

The 30-06 used by a good shooter, using the 220 grain tougher bullets can do the job, if hit right. What happens if the Bear is not hit right can be your problem. My brother-in-law shot a charging 91/2 ft. Brown at 25 yards with a 30-06 using 220 grain Silvertips, hitting him twice in the head with a Remington Pump rifle. The Bear died at 10 steps. As it turns out he had been hit in the leg two days prior, and was a very mad Bear. I have a buddy buried 6 ft. under up there who had killed several with a 30-06, but the last one he shot was a bad hit, the Bear killing him as it died. Your choice and your call entirely, just remember, once you make that choice, you live or die with it. Good shooting.

[ 12-04-2003, 18:28: Message edited by: phurley ]

A 30.06 in the boiler room is better than the
newest wizbang magnum in the arse.All the power
in the world is useless if you can't hit 'em.

That said...For me

Brown Bear country = 338WM + IF you can shoot it well.

[ 12-04-2003, 20:28: Message edited by: JeffP ]

Seafire/ B17G:
After being jumped by a large boar & having him approach to within about 10 yds. of us this last Oct. on Afognak Island, I would have felt much more comfortable with a LAWS in my hands. My .338 felt like a .22 rimfire against this guy. The 2nd time in my life I've felt that way.

Phurley: Your comment "What happens if the Bear is not hit right can be your problem", is, I think a bit misleading. You would be correct if you referred to an Alaskan resident hunting on his own. However, a non-resident needs a licensed guide for the big bears. Therefore, the idiotic use of a .30-06 becomes the problem of the guide. I doubt seriously that many guides would allow the use of a .30-06 given that it's the guide going into the thick stuff, not the client.

In short, were I a guide taking clients after the big bears, my requirement would be a minimum of .338 Win. Mag and the ability to place 3 well aimed shots into the kill zone on a bear at 100 yds. If, after arriving in my camp the client did not have the minimum caliber and/or could not show performance with it, his deposit would be forfeited & he'd be out of camp on the next plane. There's no way I would endanger the client, my camp staff or myself any more than absolutely necessary. Now, you guys can flame all you wish. Don't worry though, I don't guide so you wouldn't get stuck with me. Bear in Fairbanks

Hell the 06 will work, question the man behind the gun, not the gun. In the last 5 yrs Ive seen 8 bears shot, most out in King Salmon, during commercial fishing season. 2 were killed with 223's and 4 with 06's the other two were hit with a 416, and a 460 wby. I'll start with the 223's, one was a lung shot, it stoped, looked around, and fell over, just that fast. Second, a big boar charged a guy, it jumped his quad and came right at him, he spun, and fired his Mini-14 once, from the hip, the bear droped, 10 ft away, shot through the neck. The 06's eight bears, all shot in the lungs/heart, all took 1-2 mins to die, but never went more than 100 yds. The 416, knocked the bear down, he got up, continued over the hill, and went down the other side like a rocket. He died, almost a mile away, going on full burner. The 460, flipped him in mid air, and droped him on his back, he scrambled over, and flew up that very same hill, and down the other side, he then came over again, 2 minutes later, and received 3 shots from the 460, every time he got back up and came after the guy.

So, you could say that of those 8 bears, the 223 killed the best, but would you say the 223 is the best?

cold zero,

Thanks for elaborating, most interesting. Amazing how stubborn those things can be. I guess I'll have to find a guide that will let me go out with my 300WinMag and 200 or 220gr Noslers. Well, at least until I can afford a 416 RemMag. Maybe I'll get a 358Norma to get me halfway there first.

Great discussion so far, unlike some of the Sierra threads.

Dark Paladin,
I've only hunted in AK once, this year, and was in mountain grizzly country as opposed to brownie country, so I am clearly no expert; but I'll say the thought of facing a bear of any type with a .223 is terrifying, and it's unbelievable that 2 one-shot kills resulted in those encounters. Seems that anyone crazy enough to go into bear country with .223's is asking to be bear shit.....

g.f.p.
many guides will take u with the .300 w.m., recommend the 200 gr. on that one. i would go w/ the 220 if we were talking wthby.

shame to have to buy a .416, if u are only going to use it for this hunt. .416 is better for a guide who will shoot in a defensive situation. it is almost over kill. but, better to be overgunned than under. dead is dead.

i agree about the midpoint. if it is not the .340 wthby. then it is the .358 norma, a fine round but, ammo is a bit scarce.

seafire b17/g;
yes, i have personally seen the 220 r.n.h. fail. i shot a 150 s.c.i. whitetail in saskatch', 310 lbs. shot him in the neck, hit the spine. the bullet fragmented and a piece of it went down into the chest. the kill was instant and dramatic at 50 yds. however, if those bones were a b.b., i could have had a bigg problem and endangered my guide in the process. this is not a premium bullet and even though it worked to me it was a shocking failure.

cold zero

More Polar bears have been killed with .222"s, .223's and .22-250 probably than any other caliber. Don't know why but these seem to be the caliber of choice used by the eskimo's up in the arctic. They buy these to shoot seals and use on their traplines. If they run into a problem polar bear they just shoot it with those. Tell an eskimo he's undergunned and he will shrug his shoulders and wonder what you are talking about and giggle at the white guy from the south with the cannon.

My man in Alaska, Phil Shoemaker, recommends the 30-06 as the minimum caliber for bear with a 180 Nosler or a 200 gr. Nosler and he used it for years until he had an out of body experience with a big boar brown bear...He switched to a .458, then to a 505 Gibbs...you be the judge...

My call is the 06 is fine if you place the shot and the 220 gr. Nosler at 2400 is the best bullet for big ugly, nasty, animals, its not outdated by a long shot...

I would require a guide with a big bore to back up that play should the need arise, and sincd that is law then there ya go..the 06 will work 99% of the time on big brown bears with a decent hit....Good shooting is always the key. that 1% can be a bitch.

Funny when I was a boy I rember reading many stories and watching Outdoor Life/ Wild Kingdom of both Griz and Browns and polar bears falling to the "little" 30-06, 30-40 even the 303!! Of cource that was way before all these
super "Magnums" came along. Did Griz and browns suddenly become armor plated? Also rember the 30-06 has taken the Big 5 in Africa as well!! All this was done with those super poor bullets of yesteryear as well!! A premium bullet of 200gr should work and give you alittle more reach then the 220gr but if your going to be within 150yds the 220 should work great. As long as you do your part. Hell I've even watched a guy take a brown at point blank range(15 yds) with a bow!! Lucky for him after the shot the bear went by him- looked like he was toaste- bear went by at a few feet the guy with the camera start shaking saying he's dead he's dead!! Bow hunter was so scared it took him a couple of minutes to pull his underwear out!! Bear went about 80yds before he died.

[ 12-05-2003, 09:01: Message edited by: Gunnut 45/454 ]

ray;

phil showmaker, is as salty a veteran as can be. as knowledgable as any man.

what i said was that the r.n.h., round nose hornady 220 gr. is obsolete. it is not a premium bullet and is subject to poor/unreliable expansion and fragmentation. it is a poor choice in bullet for this application. the 220 nosler is not available in any factory offering that i am aware of. lots of guys don't reload, myself included. i think a 200 n.p. would work better than a 220 r.n.h. in this application. 180 gr. is too light.

cold zero

The 180gr failsafe will retain more weight and penetrate better than the 220gr hornady or the 220gr partition for that matter.

[ 12-05-2003, 09:14: Message edited by: stubblejumper ]

Amen to what Ray said.....

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dogz

This is from the Alaskan Wildlife site:

http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/hunt_trap/hunting/kodiak/kod-faq.cfm#rifle

quote:

---

What is the best rifle to use for brown bear hunting?
Most experienced hunters consider a .30-06 rifle with a 180 grain soft-nosed bullet to be the smallest effective caliber for Kodiak brown bears. The .300 mag, .338 mag., and .375 mag. are popular and well-suited calibers. A waterproof rifle stock is also beneficial during a Kodiak hunt.

Don't wait until you get to camp to sight in your rifle. Sight in at the range and practice shooting from several positions. Knowing your own capabilities is as important as knowing how your rifle's ballistics.

---

And from http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/hunt_trap/hunting/huntak/huntak16.cfm

quote:

---

Shot Placement on Alaska Game
The objective of every conscientious hunter is to kill an animal as quickly as possible to avoid its suffering and to insure the highest quality meat. An animal that must be shot several times will have muscles flooded with lactic acid and adrenaline, resulting in poor tasting meat. Before a hunter takes a shot, it is his or her responsibility to be sure they can make a clean and accurate shot.

Alaskan game animals will quickly die when both lungs and/or heart are hit by a bullet or arrow. If you intend to hunt moose, brown bear, or bison in Alaska, use the most powerful rifle you can accurately shoot.

The emphasis is on accuracy, not power.
The dollars invested on your hunt may tempt you to take a shot beyond the distances at which you are certain of hitting the vital zone. Haphazard shots result in wounded and lost animals. In a survey of Alaskan hunters, almost 4 out of 10 said they had killed a big game animal that had been previously wounded! Do not take shots if you are unsure or cannot locate the vital zone areas. Make a quick, clean, and accurate shot or not at all.

To correctly place a shot for a quick and humane kill you must:
Use a rifle or bow that has been carefully sighted in so that you know that your hunting tool is capable of placing a shot in the vital zone.

Study big game anatomy and learn what organs or bones your bullet or arrow may hit from various angles.

Learn about bullet drop and wind drift. Study how distance and wind will affect your bullet or arrow. This knowledge must be gained by actual practice.

---

All that being said, I would not use anything other than a Nosler Partition or Barnes X bullet no matter what the caliber. You can put well placed rounds all day long into game, but if the bullet fails to perform, you only wound game. The only other round I would consider using is a hard cast large bore, 45-70, etc, but that would be reserved for very close range and only as a last resort.

Pete

Sorry for my misleading post, neither of the two hunters were carring 223's to kill bears, one was out to shoot a couple of wolves/rabbits/anything else, the other guy had one from his emergency kit, and was in the cabin, the bear had his wife stuck in the outhouse, and was clawing at the door so he droped the hammer on it.

I have hunted brownies several times.
We walk the creeks and check out the tide flats in the fall (got to watch those big tides!) and glass the avalanche chutes in the spring.

Spring hunting could easily be done with a 30-06 with a carefully placed, well constructed bullet shot into an unaware animal. Careful though bears can leave a crappy blood trail.

When we walk the creeks I do it with a man that is very cool under pressure and whom I trust intimately with a gun and with my life. The going is tough, the shots can come quickly and are usually at spitting range. Just for fun it is usually pissing down rain and we are wearing hip waders.
Heavy rain is very bad for blood trails! The possibility of having to walk past a sow with cubs is quite likely and very unnerving.

I pack a .416 Rem and me friend carries his lucky .375Wby. We have never had an incident. I would not be comfortable carrying a 30-06 while walking the creeks.

By the way... a big browny hit in the vitals with a 416 or 375 is not likely going to see 100 yards never mind a mile!

I think the 338 win is a great choice for anyone going with a guide.

Jamie

Cold Zero:

I will not question your experience of having a 220 grain RN fail. However, In my experience, you are the first person who has ever told me he has had one fail.

With millions of bullets made by the law of averages, a bad one is going to happen.
With the Wisdom of Ray Atkinson, I agree, the 220 grain partition is my choice of the 220 grains. It is my choice for any 30 caliber bullet in the '06 if the max performance is required./

However, In anything I have ever taken in game, a heavier round nose bullet, traveling at a MV of 2400 to 2500 fps, has never failed to do anything but a lot of damage and take the animal with minimal travel after being hit.

The last deer in Wisconsin I took with a 220 grain RN at 225 yrds, went straight down, Not forward fall, or anything else. Straight down.

It only had a dime size entry hole, and a dime size exit hole, with only a few drops of blood on the ground and a few kernals of corn laying by the exit wound. When I gutted it, the lungs, and liver looked like it had been stirred with a chain saw.

I'll never hunt Brown Bear or Grizzley, I'll never go to Africa, however if I am carrying a 30/06 stateside, and the range is going to be 250 yrds or less, the '06 with a 220 grain RN is going to be one of my first choices of bullet, followed by a Speer 200 grain SP. ( and if they still made the 200 grain RN, then I would be carrying it instead.)

With 220 grains and a sectional density of .330, and the proven round nose performance of penetration, I will carry it afield any day.