I'm going to take my 30-06 this year for elk out west. As I've always used a 7 mag I'm not sure what factory load to use in my 06. I've got some Hornady 180 grain SST and SP's. Are either of these recommended or does someone have a better alternative?
I generally shoot 150 gr Ballistic Tips for whitetails and have never had an issue with Federal ammo. I just happen to have a couple of boxes of the 180 gr in Hornady.-T
I always in Colorado shoot a 06 loaded with a case full of 4831 and the 165 gr Hornady spire point. A great bullet for the price. It has never failed on bear, elk or mulies.
Ive always used Nosler 180gr BT's pushed by 55 gr of IMR 4350 on our East Texas whitetails,im gonna try them on mulies in the next few days in Colorado.For something as thick skinned as elk id probably load Nosler partitions.Ive been told that they have better expansion on something that big and tough......JMO
Barnes X either 165 or 180 grain. Haven't used them in 06 on Elk but they worked great in my 7 RM Mag and 300 Win on Elk and a lot of big African antelope.
Leonard, I think I would stick with one of the premium bullets, in either 165 or 180 gr. I would see which one your gun likes. A 165 premium bullet (Barnes or any of the other controlled expansion types) will work just fine on elk. But if your gun does not like them, I would move up to the 180 and see what happens. Good luck out West.
BB
Thanks fellas. I'm pretty ignorant about this stuff. I'll take your suggestions under advisement and put a bunch of rounds through the gun to see which she likes best.
Bigbuck- I'm Tom Pattillo, not Leonard. He's the bald ugly guy....Nevermind, I see how you got confused.
I was at the range today talking to a fellow who has worked up a load for his 30-06 that pushes a 180 gr nosler partition bullte out the tube at 3000fps. This is unbelivable for the 30-06 but I do not doubt him. Must be some of the new powders available. He also calims that he is not getting excessive pressure and case extraction is easy. Wow, that would be a great load for elk.
I think if you will check out the ballistics on the 165 grain bullet, almost any of them, you will see that might just be your overall best bet- especially out west with longer shots.
Regarding RonE above, check out the Barnes reloading manual, and you will see you can reload 180 XXX to ballistics equal to a 300 win mag.
you dont need to go all fancy like these guys are telling you. reloads and all that 180 grain no need. i have only shot a 30.06 my entire life, i have a 300 and like the .06 better.
this past week i took an elk with my 30.06 at 448 yd with nothing more then 150 grain scirocco bonded. dont get to carried away with all the fancy stuff just get a bullet YOU like and site it in. make sure you are about 3" high at 200 yds and you will be ready.
yeah i have shot these for years i like them better in my 300 though
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