In my experience with elk hunting and killing, I have seen many killed with 30 calibers. In fact probably 1/2 of all the elk I have seen killed in the last 42 years were killed with 30s and the other half with every other caliber combined.
What I have seen in all those kills is that most times 150 grain 30 caliber bullets will not exit an elk. If I were to guess at the percentage, I'd say about 80% of the 150gr 30 cals I have seen hit elk were still in them when I gutted or butchered them. The very best of them, those that retain 80% or more of their original weight will some times exit.
Bullet weight is one factor, but frontal area of the expanded bullet is another, and retained weight is the 3rd factor. A 33 things come together in a complex equation, but to strip all the boring details away and just address the bottom line, what you want is a good hole that exits the elk to leave a good blood trail and to drop it's blood pressure as quickly as you can.
150 grain 270s almost always exit elk. Why? Because they have a thicker jacket in comparison to their overall diameter and because they open up to a maximum of about .53" where a 30 cal will open up to a maximum of about .60" So the one that is a bit smaller is going to push out less mass in front of it, meaning it goes a bit deeper. It's hole is a bit thinner too. The other factor is that the more any bullet tries to turn into a disk instead of a mushroom or a ball, the more it tents to come apart and loose weight.
So in a nut shell, if i were to recommend a 30-06 or 308 factory load with elk, and that load must use a 150 grain bullet my 1st choise is going to be Winchester white-box with Federal Premium being a close 2nd is loaded with Nosler Partition bullets.
why?
Because I have seen super good accuracy from WW White box, and the bullets I have recovered have all weight between 125 and 132 grains. please note that I have recovered some however, so that factor is the reason I would recommend a 165 or a 180 grain bullet before any 150 grain 30 cal. The 165s get out of the elk nearly every time and so do the good 180s
Stay away from Sierras or Burgers. I know I have NEVER seen a Burger work to my satisfaction on an elk from any gun at any distance in any caliber in any weight. I have seen a few Sierras do OK, but none are as good as standard Winchester Power Points or Remington Core Lokt. The Federal"Power Shok ammo is not very good either. Bullets come apart far too much to please me on elk.
If factory ammo is the only choice and 150 grain is the only option for some reason look hard at WW White Box, Federal Premium with 150 gr Nosler Partitions. Any good bonded bullet from any maker will be good, and Swift ammo (if you have lost of money to spend) Also any ammo loaded with Barnes X bullets will give you exits in many cases.
But the easy way around the issue is to use a good 180, 200 or 220 grain.
Last edited by szihn; 08/04/17.
