Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Penetration on african plains game with the NP and the Swift-A-Frames

To put a little of the reply in context here, I have my second barrel on this 30/06. The first had over 3000 rounds through it as I keep very accurate reloading records and have that log book. With this many rounds through this gun I have experimented and experienced a lot of different bullets, loads, and game taken.

When it comes to the 30/06 the 180 has long been the standard bullet weight. This was due to the lack of any premium bullet made during the first 80-100 years of it's life. There is no reason to use a 180 cup and core when there is a 165 premium. The 30/06 and the 165's were made for each other. For the same reason that a 300 mag kills faster then the 30/06 on many species the 165 kills faster then the 180 in the 30/06. The additional few hundred feet per second are impressive and actually make the 30/06 with a premium every bit the equal,and in my opinion the superior to the 300 mag when the latter uses a cup and core 180 grain bullet.

I even went to the 150 and 130 in the 30/06 just to see how low I could go. The 150's may be better, or more stunning impacts on game under 200 pounds, but as you get into the 500 pound and above range the 150's were not as impressive as the 165's and the petals struggled to stay on at 50-150 yards.

The 30/06 with the NP is a great combination. Think about how long this pair has been around and how many animals have been taken with them! Anyone critical of this match would quickly show how little experience they have! For this combo I think the 180 is needed because you loose a large percentage of weight automatically. Loss of weight means loss of penetration. In it's day the NP was the best design and function available. However today the TSX and the A frame have it beat for performance.

The Swift was for a few years the bullet of choice for me. Much like the Trophy bonded, and interbond. These designs also work far better in the 165 grain weight. Added velocity and impact were far better then the 180 grain bullets. Now I have had the conversation, or "debate" that some guys are loading the 180's to 2850fps Wow that is smoken with a 180 grain bullet. I'm not sure that my rifle in the sunshine with ammo that hot would be the prudent way to go. I can shoot 165's to near 3000 fps. That velocity difference is significant. A typical 300 mag shoots 180's between 3000 and 3100fps so getting near 3000 with a /06 and a bullet that will mushroom to twice or even 3 times its diameter. The Bonded core bullets deliver so much impact to game it sometimes look as if they are electrocuted for a moment. I' cannot count how many animals I have seen knocked down with the Aframe. They don't always stay down but there is never any doubt they are hit.

Exits are about as rare as a recovered bullet is with the TSX. There was a time when I debated with myself over the pros and cons of the bonded bullets and the monolithic TSX designs. I could see so many benefits of both types. What it came down to was the exits and the penetration of the X bullet. It allows that shot you need when the animal is not in the perfect boadside situation. The exits are the better bleeders too.

As a PH I loved seeing the impacts with the bonded bullets. This was a huge benefit to knowing there was a solid hit. Game shot the same way with the TSX might just jump and run at the shot without any indication of an impact. Yet we would find blood at the site. I shook my head in disbelief plenty of times knowing the shot was a clean miss only to see blood and a dead animal 100 yards away. I learned to never give up looking for game after the shot. That goes for any projectile today.

So the 30/06 without any question is a better rifle with the 165 premium( not the 165 NP) The debate you need to wrestle with comes down to this simple desire; exits, or visual impacts. Whichever is the priority for you makes the choice easy.

I'll also add that when you start getting into the 1000lb plus game size the TSX totally blows away anything else made. Nothing will penetrate through that much body mass like a TSX will. I shot an eland well over 2000 lbs at the same distance as the hunter. His 286 grain bonded bullet from his 9.3, and my 165 grain TSX were only a couple inches apart on the exit side under the skin. There is no chance that a bonded core bullet from the 30/06 would have made it that far with those huge mushrooms. This was a sub 100 yard shot on that huge beast and the 165 grain Bullet was a picture perfect four petal mushroom.