220 Grain Partition in .30-06

[llsierra]

:grin: I discovered just how good the "old time" 220 grain loads were for the .30-06 last year. Arthritis killed my shooting with big bore rifles for my first trip to South Africa, so I reverted to the kinder .30-06. Since all the references I noted called for the heaviest bullet in the .30-06 even for plains game, I opted for the 220 grain Partition and went to work with IMR-4350. Turns out that there is a ton of data available for this bullet weight and load development was simple, which left only getting to Africa to see how it would all play out.

In practice, the 220 Partition proved excellent with 5 one shot kills, including a 56 inch Kudu, a Zebra, and a Wildebeest. I couldn't be happier with the 220. Going back next year to complete the collection, and the .30-06 will be the primary rifle again.

LLS

 

[Charlie-NY]

My buddy went to Africa on a plains game hunt. He shot many different animals, big & small. Every animal that he killed went down to the .308 win and a 180gr Partition. Shot placement is the name of the game.

Personally, I would have used someting bigger but that is obviously NOT necessary.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your Safari. Bullets with a high SD are very effective at killing game. Chances are that you never recovered any bullets, exit wounds the size of a quarter.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Dad used to hunt everything with his old '03 Springfield .30-06 and 220 grain bullets.

Except varmints... He'd go to little 130 grain hollowpoints for those.

The 220's never failed him. I generally use 180's in my .30-06, but haven't written off the big bullets. Congrats on what must have been a great hunt!

Guy

 

[llsierra]

Your are absolutely right, never recovered a single 220 grain Partition. I was pretty surprised to see that it shot thru such seriously big animals as the Kudu and the Wildebeest. High SD surely makes a difference. I've seen the same thing with 160 grain 6.5mms on deer, but was quite surprised to see the same with the big antelope.

LLS

 

[elkslayer308]

Yeah the 220 grainer is hard to beat out in a 30-06. My friend Thom uses them for elk in his battered old Remington 742. An old Bausch-Lomb 2.5-8X with tapered crosshairs sits on top. I have never used 220's personally but i love the 200 grain Partition at 2600fps and the 180 grain Partition at 2750fps especially in my 30-06 for deer and elk. The 180 and 200 have basically the same trajectory from 0-300 yds. Thats farther than i am likely to shoot at an elk with any 30-06 loading. Real accurate too!

 

[BFaucett]

Just to be old fashioned and nostalgic, I took a .30-06 (Ruger M77 MkII) to South Africa back in 2002. Handload was a 220 gr Woodleigh RN at 2460 fps using 52.0 grs of IMR-4350. It worked fine. The largest animal I took was a Red Hartebeest. I was after Kudu but didn't get a shot at one on that trip. (I got two Kudu on my trip in 2005 using my 9.3x62.)

The .30-06 using a 220 gr bullet fits right in with the other classic calibers using a high sectional density bullet at moderate velocity. Examples being the 6.5x54 M-S, 7x57 Mauser, .318 Westley Richards, 9.3x62, etc. With today's premium bullets the old heavy, high sectional density bullets probably really aren't needed any more but they still work. Besides, it's kind of fun to be a little old fashioned.

Some results from the 2002 trip using the .30-06:

Warthog

Limpopo Bushbuck taken along the Limpopo River.

Steenbok

Impala

Red Hartebeest.
Yep, I hit him a little high. He had just started to run as I fired. Distance was about 120 yards. The first shot put him down but he needed a finisher when we got up to him.

And, contrary to what some might think, the 220 gr bullet worked just fine on the smaller animals like the Bushbuck and Impala.

Cheers!
-Bob F.

 

[Eaglet]

BFaucett,
Very nice! awesome photo quality... yup I'm drooling!
What type and model of camera did you use?

 

[Guy Miner]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing.

Any thoughts on how the 220 Partition would do from a .300 RUM?

Guy

 

[JD338]

BFaucett,

Congratulations on your safari. Looks like the 30-06 was more than enough. Good job! Thanks for sharing.

Guy Miner,

220 gr PT from a 300 RUM will be a hammer. Should do the same as a
30-06 +200 yds.

JD338

 

[BFaucett]

Guys, thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. The camera was a Pentax IQZoom 140. It's a 35mm film camera (but not a SLR). Of course, my PH was the one that actully took these photos using my camera. I bought it back in 1998. I used it on my trips to South Africa in 2000, 2002 and 2005. The 2005 trip was probably the last time I'll use it, though. I need to get a digital camera. Heck, it's getting hard to even find film anymore!

Cheers!
-Bob F.

 

[Paparock]

llsierra, I had to give up my .375 H&H due to both a Neurological disease and arthritis so I'm returning to my first love the .30-06 for use on bear. I was looking at the 220 grain for maximum penetration so it was good to see your posts! :grin: I'm wanting through and through penetration when I can get it just in case I do have to do any tracking. It's mostly for some monster black bears but some of them can push 500 pounds and that's a lot of meat & bone.

I’m waiting on my new Kimber Montana in .30-06 to come in and now I have to decide what scope to put on it. I’m thinking of a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20mm maybe in Talley mounts.

 

[JD338]

I’m waiting on my new Kimber Montana in .30-06 to come in and now I have to decide what scope to put on it. I’m thinking of a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20mm maybe in Talley mounts.

Take a look at the VXIII 2.5x8, this scope is very versatile.

JD338

 

[MontananGuide]

The partitions are great and I use them along with TSX and TBBC.

I think the 180gr. ,even the 220gr. Partition is about perfect for all hunting that the 30-06 can do.