Coyote Hunter,
You were very firm about using super-premium bullets for deer in a thread a year or two ago, just in case the angle was a little wrong. So why are blue box Federals OK for elk?
I'm not arguing about bullet placement versus construction, just wondering why you changed your tune.
The poster I was responding to apparently doesn't handload and has been shooting the Federal blue box 180's "a year or two" with groups "usually well under an inch". With Federal Partitions he was getting "around 2" groups". Not a lot of difference but perhaps enough to change the outcome at extended ranges. I've always agreed that standard bullets will suffice the majority of the time and have stated on multiple occasions that premium bullets become less important as bullet weight increases or velocity decreases and that the most important factor is placement. The Federal blue box (Power-Shok) 180g ammo, which I consider fairly heavy, is listed at 2700fps - not exactly a speed demon. It is heavy enough and slow enough I wouldn't worry much about the bullets coming apart at normal ranges. If the poster does his job the 180g blue box ammo will likely work quite well.
For myself, I'll continue to use the premiums. This year I'll be taking the Ruger American .30-06 Dad gave me last year. What it will get loaded with is still to be determined. I had thought about using the 165g Federal Premium Sierra GameKings because he gave me 4 boxes with the rifle. After shooting one into water jugs last weekend, they are no longer in consideration. Dad also gave me a single box of Federal Premium 165g Trophy Bonded Tip loads and while they are a definite possibility, I don't intend to purchase any more so practice opportunities with them will be very limited - the primary reason I was considering the GameKings. Because the Ruger American is short throated I can't use my normal .30-06 loads. Instead I have three development loads sitting on the shelf, ready to take to the range. They consist of 150g Ballistic Tip, 168g TTSX and 180g Ballistic Tip. If the Ballistic Tip bullets work they will get replaced with AccuBonds far enough in advance of the hunt to get some range time in with them and verify they shoot the same as the Ballistic Tips (which has been my experience so far).
Also, deer are primarily targets of opportunity, to be taken when doing so doesn't interfere with my elk hunting or helping others in my party get their elk. As a result I use the same loads for both species and have found that my elk loads work very well on deer. I see no reason whatsoever to have two separate loads. Nor do I see any downside to using the premiums on deer. A few years back I drove a 140g North Fork SS from the right ham of a buck through to the sternum, where it was recovered. A standard cup-and core bullet might have made it that far but I wouldn't count in it. No deer or elk has stopped a Barnes MRX/TTSX for anyone in my party, regardless of range, and no premium bullet we've used has flown to flinders as I've seen cup-and-core bullets do.
The last time I hunted and killed game with a standard cup-and-core bullet in a bolt gun was also my first. For the next 20 years my choice was Speer Grand Slams, which performed very well in every case. These days I use mostly North Fork, Barnes MRX/TTSX, Nosler AccuBond, and, in one rifle, Swift Scirocco II. The only cup-and-core bullets I've hunted with since the early 80's are in my handguns and lever-guns, where cup-and-core construction works just fine. Even some of the levers get premiums (Partition RN in the .30-30 and North Fork in the .45-70).
Changed my tune? I don't think so.
