Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Blue Box 180 gr 3006

Anyone know what bullet Federal loads in the Blue Box 3006 180 gr? Looks suspiciously like Speer Hot Core to me.

Also anyone have experience with them on elk?

Thanks.

Yes
Shot a spike elk at 190 yards through lungs but no pass through. With same cartridge. Didn't go far.

It would be an unusually bad 180gr 30-06 load that didn’t do a decent job on anything in North America

Federal blue box is my “go to” inexpensive ammo for any centerfire rifle I shoot: 6.5 CM, .30-30, .308, .30-06. If a rifle won’t shoot these loads accurately, there is probably an issue with the rifle. Frankly, I could stop buying boutique factory ammo and hunt everything I hunt with a centerfire rifle, deer, pigs, elk, with Fed blue box and if I lost an animal I shot at, it would be my fault.

Expat

When I was a young man, in Texas, my first use of Federal was their "Red Box" 30-06 loaded with an advertised "Sierra 165 SBT". Awesome on deer/hogs. When they went to the Blue Box, I used them in the 150. I have used the Blue Box in 300WM with an advertised "Sierra 150PH" back in the '90s. Accurate and acted like a Partition! I have used Blue Box in 30-30, 243, 270, 7mm RM and 25-06 too. I also "suspected" they used the Speer Hot Cor, especially in the early days. I have used Federal Brass alot, but I still feel it is a bit "soft" for my use. I run everything pretty Hot though. Federal Premium ammo has always been a favorite me, always worth trying in a new rifle. Like anything else, some rifles are just fickle and stubborn, kind of like I remember my Red Headed girl cousins!

If all I had to hunt elk was a 30-06 and 180 gr blue box I’d be happy.




P

That's for sure. It'd take a heckuca lot less for me to not go elk hunting.

Very true^^

Federal 180 grain blue box shoots lights out in my 308

I think it's a "go to" for a lot of guys. Especially when testing a new rifle. It's a great choice for that. Grab a box and your new rifle, and off to the range. It generally shoots surprisingly well.

I think I recall some Federal cartridges actually had Hot Cor on the box end label. Perhaps some or all their cup and core bullets are made by Speer or other companies. Once upon a time Hornady made a bunch of heavier soft points for Remington that were not labeled as Core Lokts. I don’t think there is much difference between any of the standard SP cup and core non-bonded bullets. There could be differences in quality by leaving voids in the core thereby making the bullet a bit unbalanced and potentially unstable downrange. Personally, an elk hunt is an expensive proposition and not using the best ammo for the job is foolish economy.

The Hornady American Whitetail 180 grain is very accurate in my rifle. Have no complaints with results on deer or elk. Farthest shot 250ish yards.
My youngest boy used blue box 270 130 grain and dropped a nice bull at 330 yards.

Federal has used Speer bullets off and on for years. Federal also used Speer bullets in some of their Premium ammo. I remember buying several boxes of Blue Box ammo 15+ years ago in 7mm, 300win, 308win loaded with Speer bullets. Pretty sure I still have some in the stash.

Good stuff.

I have used 180 grain in .30-06, for 2 decades, they will kill every species in North America, quickly.

What does a Box of Blue cost? I have been shooting Winchester SuperX for $21.50 a box, super accurate and deadly.

I don't know off the top of my head, but the blue box Federal 270 win 150gr ammo is $25/box at Wally world. I'd think the 30-06 ammo is about the same price.

24.49 sticker last time I looked .mb

Just out of curiosity, do you gentlemen prefer a bullet that passes straight through the animal or one that stays within the animal's cavity and bounces around inside the cavity a bit?

Personally, I prefer one that stays in the cavity. When I shoot my .300 Win Mag with 190 gr, ABLR's I see pass-throughs, when I shoot my .30-06 with SuperX, I do not recall a pass through and the animals are typically anchored.

Cheers ~

since i am a old handloader i roll my own i plan on trying some Hammer Hunter 160 gr. in my 30-06 i wanna see if i can get a little tighter groups .

Easy on the Hashish pete53, some of the stuff is mind-blowing 🤣

my computer battery died its finished now