Okay I reload in my 40's. I want to know what you guys think about using 180 grain or 200 grain bullets in the 06. I heard from a few people that they use 165 grain bullets for both elk and deer. So whats the pro's and con's with the 180 an 200 grain bullets. My range 250-300 yards for mule deer and elk. The bullets will be the poor man's budget. Your thoughts will be helpful

HAve killed numerous animals with my '06. Never had the 180 Nosler partition fail on elk, sheep, deer, caribou and bear

My go to load for the 30-06 is 180 gr Sierra btgk . If I were going to load the 165 gr. bullets, would go with a premium bullet like Barnes or nosler. Use Whatever weight bullet your gun likes best. You don't need premium bullets in 30-06 to kill elk and deer, especially in 180 and 200 grain. Been doing it for 40 yrs.

Truth is, Remington Core-Lokt ammo shoots and kills well and you can get it cheap.

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Truth is, Remington Core-Lokt ammo shoots and kills well and you can get it cheap.

Yep.

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Originally posted by DIs:
My go to load for the 30-06 is 180 gr Sierra btgk . If I were going to load the 165 gr. bullets, would go with a premium bullet like Barnes or nosler. Use Whatever weight bullet your gun likes best. You don't need premium bullets in 30-06 to kill elk and deer, especially in 180 and 200 grain. Been doing it for 40 yrs.

The quote above by DIs is very similar to my results. I've killed numerous elk with the 180 grain Sierra Gameking bullet.
Excellent results. Always a complete pass through from 35 yards to 425 yards. I wouldn't cripple the 30/06 with a heavier bullet for any reason, the 180 works great.

pro's and con's.
recoil, trajectory, accuracy.
the heavy bullets will get to 300yds, but what it the real world drop of a 24-2600fps. projectile?
are you gonna remember it or be able to judge those last 25 yards?

I've been killing elk & mule deer here in Colorado for the past 35 + years with my 30/06. I've killed big 6x6 bulls to eatin size cows. I've even taken a WY moose, NM oryx, black bears, hogs, mtn goat, bighorn sheep and countless deer. I use factory ammunition---Federal, Remington, Winchester and Hornady. All with 180
grain bullets. The results are the same with any of them. Dead critters. I see no real difference in any of them---Corelokts, Power Points, Interlock and Partitions. The only elk I didn't recover was a cow that I tried to thread the needle with to break her spine. It missed the mark & I trailed her all day. I finally lost the trail & had to hike out in the dark.

I shoot a Remington 700 with a VarX-III 2.5 x 8. I've sited the rifle 2" high @ 100 yards for these past 35 years.

Use 180 grain bullets & you're good to go. The real reason to reload the 30/06 is because you like to reload. You gain nothing in the hunting world IMO. Bob

I've been lucky and never had to shoot anything with an '06 in 50 years of serious big game hunting but the 150 Partition from a 270 or a 160 from a 7mm Rem mag or a 180 from my 300 Win ALWAYS did the trick on deer or elk.

So....There's no reason not to think that a 180 out of an '06 wouldn't be just fine (I use a 210 Nosler from my 300 RUM but I like BIG stuff).

Zeke

I've killed an elk most years since 1966. Except for one bull that I killed with an arrow, all the others were killed with .30 caliber or smaller bullets, and none that weighed more than 180 grains.

180's will likely be great! but thy some 165's for fun. I had an '06 that HATED 165's. shot them all over 8" at 100 yards. 150's and 180's were 1". Killed deer and bear with the 150's and elk with 180's. All factory loads (Federal Fusion 150 and Federal blue box 180, with a few Winchester plastic tip jobbies thrown in)

I shot the 180 NOsler for many years and they never let me down..but today I can drive a 200 gr. Nosler partition or Accubond at the same muzzle velocity as the 180,gr. and I much prefer the Accubond..It works on Coues deer, Hill country whitetail and Mule deer and elk to perfection. That shouldn't be but it is a fact. I culled Hill country does last two seasons and used my 06 and 200 gr. nosler on about 15 or 20 of them..Good place to test bullets for sure we kill 96 each year, all meat goes to orphan homes, etc. Processing donated by local butchers. The Lometa, Llano,Goldwaite counties contain the largest deer herd in the USA Im told..Ive had quicker kills on elk with the Accubonds so far..None have made any distance, maybe 30 yards at most..Had the same luck with the .270 and 7x57 but on a lesser scale..This year will be my 7x57 test ground on deer and elk. I have used the 7x57 with 154 Hornadys and 160 and 175 Nosler partitions, it does the job..I guess I no longer use my .338 or 300 Win. or havn't in the last couple of years.

The most satisfactory 30-06 bullet I ever found is the Hornady 190BTSP Interlock.It is very accurate, flies faster than any 180 I ever tried, and kills what I hit with it.

I'm a big fan of the barnes TSX in 168 grain. Bit more speed and complete penetration.

Starting about 1955 I tagged along with
Dad elk hunting. The old elk killers demanded
everyone use not less than 180 gr.

Bullets those days were a far cry from what we
have now. Couldn't depend on whether they'd
mushroom or poke right on thru.

I used 150gr on deer & antelope, 180's on elk.
Last couple deer I used 165's and believe they do less damage and penetrate better: thru.

9 of us in elk camp shoot .300 Win's. I loaded 500 180gr CoreLokts we split. I know of at least 35 elk killed with them. Several less than 50 yards. A couple less than 50 feet. Never a problem.

Yet I shot a cow at 200yds. Hit just right in the ribs and it blew up on the surface. Didn't even penetrate into the near lung. Blew a hole 2" wide and about 9" long, took out sections of three ribs. Knocked her down, then she got up and ran. I made a bad offhand second shot that hit top of her hip and spined her. Had to finish her up with the pistol when I got close.

How many millions of elk have been killed with 180gr C/L's without a problem? Just a fluke bad bullet in that batch of 500 is all I can think of.

I've gone to 200gr Sierra Game Kings since. Never gotten a shot with one, think I hunted two years before getting sick and haven't gone since '2011.

George

I've had more one shot, bang flops on mule deer using 168 gr Ballistic Silver Tips, but any good 165-180 gr game bullet should work well at normal -06 velocities.

BH63

Terminal velocity of the '06 at those ranges... the 165 or 180 grain Corelokt, or Nosler Partition bullets should take care of business. I would not go to 200 grains for mule deer or elk. Over penetration is of no benefit.

I like 180's. Barnes X, Nosler Partition. Whatever shoots best in your gun.

I usually messed around with 3030's and an 8mm mauser occasionally. I got this 06 from a friend. Honestly I can say I shot 1-4pt mule deer with an 06. I used pmc 180 grains about 15 feet away. Thats my experience with the cartridge. Rather it'd be hornady interlock or core lokts. How much fps is the 200 grain behind the 180 grain say at 250 yards

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Yet I shot a cow at 200yds. Hit just right in the ribs and it blew up on the surface. Didn't even penetrate into the near lung. Blew a hole 2" wide and about 9" long, took out sections of three ribs. Knocked her down, then she got up and ran.

Doesn't sound like a blow up top me sounds like more of angle or glancing hit.

The 30-06 for elk ??

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Yet I shot a cow at 200yds. Hit just right in the ribs and it blew up on the surface. Didn't even penetrate into the near lung. Blew a hole 2" wide and about 9" long, took out sections of three ribs. Knocked her down, then she got up and ran.


Doesn't sound like a blow up top me sounds like more of angle or glancing hit.

Yep. She either turned or the bullet turned on a branch then hit her in the ribs. The 9" part of your story tells us that is likely what happened.

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Originally posted by Fury01:

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Yet I shot a cow at 200yds. Hit just right in the ribs and it blew up on the surface. Didn't even penetrate into the near lung. Blew a hole 2" wide and about 9" long, took out sections of three ribs. Knocked her down, then she got up and ran.


Doesn't sound like a blow up top me sounds like more of angle or glancing hit.

Yep. She either turned or the bullet turned on a branch then hit her in the ribs. The 9" part of your story tells us that is likely what happened.

I seen a real blow up 87gr speer 25-06 impact velocity 3200 fps.

Deer the impact site was 8 in in dia lead fragments all over. Wound depth 3 inches a real mess.

But the deer dropped like a rock.

Enough frags got into the chest cavity to kill it.

Yes that sounds like a true blowup. Three ribs taken out is a bullet passing through them.

Watched a hunt on youtube yesterday called "Gila Rifle Elk Hunt - New Mexico" by Uneven Terrain Outdoors. Tikka T3 .30/06 with $199 Vortex Scope and some $20 Federal PowerShok ammo. Around 300 yards and the bull drops.

It made me think that I may overthink a lot of this hunting stuff. And I could probably sell off a lot of my collection and enjoy some more hunting with some cheaper reliable rifles.

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And I could probably sell off a lot of my collection and enjoy some more hunting with some cheaper reliable rifles.

Need went away with my first 30-06

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Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Watched a hunt on youtube yesterday called "Gila Rifle Elk Hunt - New Mexico" by Uneven Terrain Outdoors. Tikka T3 .30/06 with $199 Vortex Scope and some $20 Federal PowerShok ammo. Around 300 yards and the bull drops.

It made me think that I may overthink a lot of this hunting stuff. And I could probably sell off a lot of my collection and enjoy some more hunting with some cheaper reliable rifles.

You bring up a great point. I tend to over think my ammo/guns as well. The biggest issue(s) I have ever had were from Hornady and Barnes "Premium" bullets.

A boring 30/06 or .300 is just fine by me....

Mighty hard to beat an '06.

that cow was broadside, the 9" blown out
ran lengthwise of her body. Patch of hide
was more round than long.

No way in hell that bullet "went thru those ribs". Even the skin tissue just under the ribs wasn't cut or opened. No part of the ribs or= bullet penetrated deeper than the depth of
ribs.

I've had surface splashs, this was the same
other than the shape of the damage.

Regardless: TWO hundred Yards, no bullet
should NOT penetrate.

Sorry for hijacking your thread.

George

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Originally posted by georgeld:
No way in hell that bullet "went thru those ribs". Even the skin tissue just under the ribs wasn't cut or opened. No part of the ribs or= bullet penetrated deeper than the depth of
ribs.

Reminded me of one of the weirdest things I saw in the ED. Guy had been shot with a .45 ACP Marlin camp carbine. EMT radio report said entrance near midline back, exit left chest near sternum. On arrival guy was sitting up talking to everyone but sore. XR showed no collapsed lung or evidence of cadio-pulmonary injury. We finally realized the bullet deflected on a rib and followed it around to exit in front.

OTOH, I had a 180 gr Hornady Spire blow up on impact on a 120# ish doe rib. In recoil saw a 2" hole open up. Impact vel would have been about 2600 fps, the supposed ideal impact velocity for a cup/core bullet. Bullet jacket found just under entrance, like the bullet had a zipper on one side. The core was never found, but must have been what killed the animal, along with bone fragments.

Weird things happen to bullets on impact. Wonder if any bullet is immune from bad behavior....maybe a flat point monometal/solid?

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Originally posted by georgeld:
Mighty hard to beat an '06.

that cow was broadside, the 9" blown out
ran lengthwise of her body. Patch of hide
was more round than long.

No way in hell that bullet "went thru those ribs". Even the skin tissue just under the ribs wasn't cut or opened. No part of the ribs or= bullet penetrated deeper than the depth of
ribs.

I've had surface splashs, this was the same
other than the shape of the damage.

Regardless: TWO hundred Yards, no bullet
should NOT penetrate.

Sorry for hijacking your thread.

George

Yes Sir. You were there and I was not. Just sharing thoughts and indeed, bullets do strange things.

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Regardless: TWO hundred Yards, no bullet should NOT penetrate.

All depends on the angle.

Regardless of some posters telling you that they can shoot 200's as fast as 180's, that simply isn't true if the proper powder is used and the same pressure standards are adhered to. The 180's will have a bit of advantage in trajectory, which, at as much as 300 yards can make an actual difference in avoiding an aiming error. Advantage: 180's.

I have a friend I hunt with who shot a bull with 180 Partitions out of a .300 Win. Like lots of big bulls, this one refused to go down immediately, even though both shots were into and out of the thorax with proper expansion apparent. My friend wondered if he should go up to 200's. I asked him that since the 180's expanded and penetrated completely, what it is that 200's could achieve that the 180's didn't? The answer is, of course, nothing.

My son shoots nothing but 180 Partitions at elk (as well as kudu, zebra, oryx, etc.) and sees no need for a heavier bullet, either. You don't have to use a premium bullet as a good conventional cup-and-core usually works just fine, but the cost of the bullets is negligible compared to the cost of the hunt, so why skimp?