Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting elk bullet question

I would use the 130 before the 150, as the monos prefer higher velocity to open up well. The mono is not necessary with the .308 and a standard bullet works just fine, but you will have no issues with that combo. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

It wasn't the first bull I packed for him. Biggest so far, for sure, let's hope it's not the last.




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Yes they need velocity but 130 is going to loose it fast.

In my experience with a 30-06, the 130 Barnes TSX and tipped both act almost identical to the 180 Rem CoreLokts that I used to use. Similar penetration (but probably more with the Barnes) and similar holes.

Barnes 130 is all I use in the 30-06 anymore.

Go with the bigger Partition or Accubond hands down. You will not get any fragmentation from a Barnes. You certainly dont want a ballistic tip, but you do want some shrapnel bouncing around in there.

I know a lot of guys hunt elk with Ballistic Tips but Nosler says they're for smaller game. For elk, they have their AB's and PT's. I'm no expert but I'll go with that the manufacturer says. They've done the testing and know how well they hold together.

That depends on which Ballistic Tip it is.

There was a penetration test posted here using beef shoulder ball joints and wet news paper. Point blank shots The surprising winner inner chicken dinner was the 130 Barnes. The 130 Barnes held its own even with the 180 grain cup and cores if I remember. Just consider velocity is the magic in the monolithic. I believe 1850 fps minimum at impact is needed for good results.

Not surprising. An expanded TTSX has less frontal area and more cutting edge than a mushroomed bullet.

Same here!





So, you haven't had a single time that you felt the Barnes were sub-par?

Have seen Barnes lose their petals as well as sheared pieces in the meat.

My wife likes the 140 TSX or the 140 partition in her 7x57 Remintgon Mt. Rifle!

My group has not recovered a Barnes MRX or TTSX from antelope, deer or elk. I've personally had two tipped Barnes monos go lengthwise through mule deer. The only fragmentation we've verified was on 7/30/2006 when I put a 180g MRX into a string of water jugs about 25 feet away at 3100fps MV. The bullet was recovered from the 7th one-gallon milk jug with one petal missing.

In any case, some would argue loosing petals is a good thing as they create their own wound channel. I would only point out that losing a petal or four is a far cry from the shrapnel created when a lead core bullet fragments into hundreds of pieces, something I've seen recorded using multiple lead core bullet types, bonded and not, on the witness paper behind a single milk jug filled with water.

The Barnes tipped monos have proven very effective, which is why we use them. In fact they are the bullet most used by my group for elk. The rifles we use most are chambered for 7mm RM (2 people), .308 Win (2 people), .30-06 (3 people) and .300WM (3 people).