Best .30-06 elk bullet
- Thread starter joelkdouglas
- Start date
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joelkdouglas
Handloader
- Jun 5, 2011
- 1,310
- 3
What else would you buy, if not a Remington? I'd love a GA Precision or a Borden or Nosler Rifle, but my .30-06 is a Remington 700 and I would probably buy another one tomorrow if it fell off a cliff.
joelkdouglas":3u2akmtf said:
Joel I really like my M70's a bunch. I like the safety, trigger and action more than my Remingtons. If a M70 35 Whelen was an option, I'm pretty sure I would own one. I do like the CDLs lines and handling though and their old style triggers are excellent. Just my preference though. I have always liked Winchesters but when I wanted a Whelen the only one out there was a CDL so that is what I bought and have never regretted it. I doubt it will ever leave me. Scotty
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,312
- 5,975
Joel,
I joke about rifles a lot. Remington can make a very good product, and they assuredly have done so in days past. There is a reason why they are the largest manufacturer of firearms in North America. Really, the availability of well-built rifles today makes me wonder how people ever managed to tag game even a couple of decades past.
I joke about rifles a lot. Remington can make a very good product, and they assuredly have done so in days past. There is a reason why they are the largest manufacturer of firearms in North America. Really, the availability of well-built rifles today makes me wonder how people ever managed to tag game even a couple of decades past.
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
- 5
I don't know about you DrMike but a couple decades ago, I could see and sneak up on them a lot better than I can now.
Plus, my Remingtons a couple decades ago were better also.
Plus, my Remingtons a couple decades ago were better also.
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 37,312
- 5,975
Charlie,
Sneaking seems to get more difficult each year. I'm pretty well resigned to hunting blind, deaf and slightly retarded moose and elk anymore. I quit trying to outsmart them long ago, just looking for those that would only dilute the herd intelligence if they bred.
Sneaking seems to get more difficult each year. I'm pretty well resigned to hunting blind, deaf and slightly retarded moose and elk anymore. I quit trying to outsmart them long ago, just looking for those that would only dilute the herd intelligence if they bred.
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
- 5
Survival of the fittest, DrMike, or in my case, learning to shoot a .340 well so I do not need to sneak up close anymore. By picking on the oldest and least fit, hypoxia against dementia!
noexperience
Beginner
- Sep 27, 2011
- 8
- 0
two bulls, one cow elk with 30-06. two sierra flat based 180 spitzers..one with 180 grain hornady. 7 bull elk with 270 and 150 gr partitions. Can't tell a dang bit of difference between any of them. all shots were behind the shoulder so perhaps the super premiums would be better if you happen to run into a shoulder but all this hype is just that I think..thousands of elk have been killed with a lot less bullet than 180 grain cup and cores and thousands more with 180 gr corelocks. Not to say there has not be progress, but hit in the boiler and they die, its that simple.
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
- 5
Oh dear, and I was having a good time shooting geriatric game with the Accubonds and before that Partitions, for all these years. After all, this IS the Nosler forum and I would bet that most of us do not use conventional cup and core Sierra BT's for shooting elk, at least not lately? I quit cup and core bullets when I lost an elk shot with a Power Point bullet which blew up on an elk shoulder 45 years ago. My guess is that this has never happened to you?
CatskillCrawler
Handloader
- Jul 30, 2011
- 1,205
- 4
Oldtrader3":3nyr6ry1 said:
Now that there's funny! :lol:
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
- 5
And true, unfortunately.
roysclockgun
Handloader
- Dec 17, 2005
- 736
- 1
I killed my one and only bull elk using a Tikka Whitetail Hunter in 30-06. When I decided to go after elk, I left my trusty 270Win. Mauser rifle home for the first time. I tried a number of bullets, all 180gr. and the one that shot best in that rifle, was the Speer Grand Slam.
On the third day of the hunt, just outside of Parachute, Co., I had plotted all likely landmarks in my notebook with distances noted. Three hundred yards down a steep incline, was a bare knob. I looked up to see a cow descending the knob, coming uphill toward me. Six cows later the bull appeared, tail-end Charlie in the parade.He was descending the knob, presenting me with a shot at his head and a partial straight on at his back. The first shot clipped his skull, cracking it badly and lanced down into his back, partially taking out a lung. He staggered badly but kept walking after the cows. The second shot caught him straight on, in the chest and split his heart, but he was still on his feet and staggering after the cows. The third shot took him just under his left eye and he went down so fast that I was not sure that he had not turned down a fold in the ground and disappeared. When I walked down the mountain he was stone dead. I field dressed him and hung my underwear on his antlers and butt, as I was rapidly losing light and the rancher had told me that if I made a kill, he'd go up in the morning with pack horses and get the meat out with me. Next morning, he would not approach the bull until I removed my underwear from the kill! When we cut up the bull, the rancher remarked that all three shots were killing shots, but that I had done right to keep firing, as long as the bull was on his feet. The Grand Slam bullets had penetrated well and had good weight retention. After that experience, I would not think of going after elk with a bullet lighter than 180gr. A guide in Montana kills all his elk with a 22-250, but I am not going to go all that way and be undergunned.
Best,
Steven in DeLand, FL
On the third day of the hunt, just outside of Parachute, Co., I had plotted all likely landmarks in my notebook with distances noted. Three hundred yards down a steep incline, was a bare knob. I looked up to see a cow descending the knob, coming uphill toward me. Six cows later the bull appeared, tail-end Charlie in the parade.He was descending the knob, presenting me with a shot at his head and a partial straight on at his back. The first shot clipped his skull, cracking it badly and lanced down into his back, partially taking out a lung. He staggered badly but kept walking after the cows. The second shot caught him straight on, in the chest and split his heart, but he was still on his feet and staggering after the cows. The third shot took him just under his left eye and he went down so fast that I was not sure that he had not turned down a fold in the ground and disappeared. When I walked down the mountain he was stone dead. I field dressed him and hung my underwear on his antlers and butt, as I was rapidly losing light and the rancher had told me that if I made a kill, he'd go up in the morning with pack horses and get the meat out with me. Next morning, he would not approach the bull until I removed my underwear from the kill! When we cut up the bull, the rancher remarked that all three shots were killing shots, but that I had done right to keep firing, as long as the bull was on his feet. The Grand Slam bullets had penetrated well and had good weight retention. After that experience, I would not think of going after elk with a bullet lighter than 180gr. A guide in Montana kills all his elk with a 22-250, but I am not going to go all that way and be undergunned.
Best,
Steven in DeLand, FL
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
- 5
Good story. The last elk that I killed was with a .30-06, 180 grain Failsafe bullet and I had to shoot him 3 times as well. The first shot at about 150 yards did not stop him despite being through the lungs. The second shot was fatal but not instantaneous and so I put one more lung and heat shot into him for insurance. He fell at about 250 yards with the third shot but had stopped moving after the second shot and drooped his head. Like you, I shot again to be better safe than sorry.
roysclockgun
Handloader
- Dec 17, 2005
- 736
- 1
I had my own place on a Maryland reservoir property for many years. Years ago, I pulled a lot of bullets out of dead deer, where the jacket had completely separated from the lead core. Since the advent of bonded bullets, I have not seen that sort of separation. Certainly the old style bullets will kill but we are not always presented with what I would call perfect chances to put the bullet behind the elbow and blast into the heart lung area, without having to bust through a lot of muscle and/or bone. Even then, deer can run and even jump fences with hearts that are shattered. Whenever called upon to do so, I want deep penetration and even an exit wound. Nobody is going to convince me that premium bonded bullets do not do a better job than the old designs. I have simply seen the newer bonded bullets get the job done on marginal shots, where the bullet had to plow through a lot of muscle and even break bone to put the animal down. Were we always presented with a good left or right profile, I would not pay for the insurance of premium bonded bullets, but that is just not always the case. Granted, most of my kills have not been on the giants like elk and moose, but the proof that I have seen on mule deer, white tails, pronghorns and pigs, proves to me the value of premium bonded bullets. Besides, I hand load, so why spend my time on inexpensive bullets that may blow up after hitting heavy muscle, when for pennies more per round, I can load the best that I can find.
One last story : In 2000, I was moving along a deep drain in Campbell Co., Wy., looking to spook out a buck that maybe was lying up on a hot afternoon. About a 150 yards ahead, a good sized muley rolled out and was rapidly getting to the rim of the drain, where if he got over that rim, he'd be long gone. He was moving away from me at a very shallow angle, nearly dead away. This was good and this was bad. Good, because when my scope came up the buck filled the picture going away and nearly looked stationary. Bad, because I did not want to make a Texas heart shot and put the bullet into his butt. He angled just slightly and I put the crosshairs way back on his ribs, so that the angle of the shot would end the bullet up in his heart/lung. The mind seems to always work rapidly and the rifle seems to come up and fire itself, if we have put in enough range time making practical shots standing. He was cresting the rim when the 180 gr. bullet caught him, way back on the rib cage, on his left side. He folded immediately and did not move. Reflexes had caused the bolt to be worked, slamming home a follow-up round into the chamber. But, on this one, the second shot was not needed. The bullet had torn up the heart/lung area and exited through his right shoulder, breaking it.
I have been sold on premium bonded bullets because of that deer and a number of others, where the shots were not taken broadside on deer standing still.
Steven
One last story : In 2000, I was moving along a deep drain in Campbell Co., Wy., looking to spook out a buck that maybe was lying up on a hot afternoon. About a 150 yards ahead, a good sized muley rolled out and was rapidly getting to the rim of the drain, where if he got over that rim, he'd be long gone. He was moving away from me at a very shallow angle, nearly dead away. This was good and this was bad. Good, because when my scope came up the buck filled the picture going away and nearly looked stationary. Bad, because I did not want to make a Texas heart shot and put the bullet into his butt. He angled just slightly and I put the crosshairs way back on his ribs, so that the angle of the shot would end the bullet up in his heart/lung. The mind seems to always work rapidly and the rifle seems to come up and fire itself, if we have put in enough range time making practical shots standing. He was cresting the rim when the 180 gr. bullet caught him, way back on the rib cage, on his left side. He folded immediately and did not move. Reflexes had caused the bolt to be worked, slamming home a follow-up round into the chamber. But, on this one, the second shot was not needed. The bullet had torn up the heart/lung area and exited through his right shoulder, breaking it.
I have been sold on premium bonded bullets because of that deer and a number of others, where the shots were not taken broadside on deer standing still.
Steven
crash0ride
Beginner
- Jun 5, 2011
- 37
- 0
I've been bouncing back and forth between partitions, accubonds and ttsx's.
They all perform great in my rifle (sub moa) with the TTSX shooting the best groups. So I'm going with the 168gr TTSX this year.
It's funny we all argue about what brand/bullet is the best when how many people drop elk with cheapo core lokts every year. :mrgreen:
Any premium bullet will do just fine, just use what shoots best in your rifle and go with it.
They all perform great in my rifle (sub moa) with the TTSX shooting the best groups. So I'm going with the 168gr TTSX this year.
It's funny we all argue about what brand/bullet is the best when how many people drop elk with cheapo core lokts every year. :mrgreen:
Any premium bullet will do just fine, just use what shoots best in your rifle and go with it.
Big Squeeze
Handloader
- May 29, 2007
- 828
- 0
Joel.............All bullets that have been mentioned so far will work just fine. Among the 400+ head of game killed, mostly hogs over the past 44 years, that also includes 10 bull elk. The brand and type of bullet you use, will depend really on what effect you wish to have internally within the elk after impact.
I`ve never been shy about trying new things AFTER doing some research and homework as well as reading the success stories of quite a few so called guinea pigs well ahead of me. And in doing so, I`m usually in the minority. Many prefer other bullets for elk. But for those who have used the VLDs on elk, prefer the VLDs.
On my last elk hunt two years ago next month, I successfully used for the first time a 190 gr Berger "hunting" VLD. It was fired from 328 yards into the bull`s right shoulder out of my shorty barreled 300 WSM Ruger Frontier. Only with the help of a very near max loading of RL17 and because of the lower temps, I was able to achieve about 2840 fps MV. At the range before leaving, that load chrony`d at a 2887 fps average. My guide couldn`t believe what he saw from such a shorty rifle. It was really the VLD that gave such a quick end result.
From the 10 elk I`ve killed, nine previous with a 300 Win, this last one dropped almost right there where he stood and was quicker drop than were the other nine. After impact, he staggered no more than two to three yards and down he went.
The bullet not only penetrated the thick right shoulder bone, but continued on to do what VLDs do best. There was a tremendous amount of wide wound channel damage along with bullet fragmentation found just below the hide on the opposite side. Obviously, no tracking was needed.
So it all depends on what affect you want. As I did at one time, many prefer having controlled bullet expansions, deeper penetrations, higher retained bullet weights along with having exit holes. Using the VLDs, I don`t need to be concerned with any of that. The vitals are located forward, and as always in the "middle" of the animal which is what needs to be disrupted. I would not take a VLD shot if the angle were say quartering away at more than 40-45 degrees. In fact, using conventional bullets on the previous 9 elk, I`ve never shot one at more than a 35 degree angle anyway.
Also over the past two years plus, 54 head of medium to large sized hogs have fallen using mostly 30 cal 168s and a few using the 175 VLDs. All were one shooters and all were pretty much a DRT scenario with a few running no more than about 10 yards. No tracking was needed with any of those hogs.
54 hogs + 1 elk= 55 head equaling 55 "hunting" VLD bullets used. All for the most part were a DRT result. I can`t argue with 100%, and I didn`t expect such a high DRT success rate.
There are many VLD bullet reviews on a few sites such as Midway, Reloadersnest and on a few other sites. Simply put, the VLDs kill elk and do so very quickly.
They kill by using a different and more un-conventional method.
I`ve never been shy about trying new things AFTER doing some research and homework as well as reading the success stories of quite a few so called guinea pigs well ahead of me. And in doing so, I`m usually in the minority. Many prefer other bullets for elk. But for those who have used the VLDs on elk, prefer the VLDs.
On my last elk hunt two years ago next month, I successfully used for the first time a 190 gr Berger "hunting" VLD. It was fired from 328 yards into the bull`s right shoulder out of my shorty barreled 300 WSM Ruger Frontier. Only with the help of a very near max loading of RL17 and because of the lower temps, I was able to achieve about 2840 fps MV. At the range before leaving, that load chrony`d at a 2887 fps average. My guide couldn`t believe what he saw from such a shorty rifle. It was really the VLD that gave such a quick end result.
From the 10 elk I`ve killed, nine previous with a 300 Win, this last one dropped almost right there where he stood and was quicker drop than were the other nine. After impact, he staggered no more than two to three yards and down he went.
The bullet not only penetrated the thick right shoulder bone, but continued on to do what VLDs do best. There was a tremendous amount of wide wound channel damage along with bullet fragmentation found just below the hide on the opposite side. Obviously, no tracking was needed.
So it all depends on what affect you want. As I did at one time, many prefer having controlled bullet expansions, deeper penetrations, higher retained bullet weights along with having exit holes. Using the VLDs, I don`t need to be concerned with any of that. The vitals are located forward, and as always in the "middle" of the animal which is what needs to be disrupted. I would not take a VLD shot if the angle were say quartering away at more than 40-45 degrees. In fact, using conventional bullets on the previous 9 elk, I`ve never shot one at more than a 35 degree angle anyway.
Also over the past two years plus, 54 head of medium to large sized hogs have fallen using mostly 30 cal 168s and a few using the 175 VLDs. All were one shooters and all were pretty much a DRT scenario with a few running no more than about 10 yards. No tracking was needed with any of those hogs.
54 hogs + 1 elk= 55 head equaling 55 "hunting" VLD bullets used. All for the most part were a DRT result. I can`t argue with 100%, and I didn`t expect such a high DRT success rate.
There are many VLD bullet reviews on a few sites such as Midway, Reloadersnest and on a few other sites. Simply put, the VLDs kill elk and do so very quickly.
They kill by using a different and more un-conventional method.
