Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Heavy or Light-for-Caliber bullets for Elk

That 180 gr. Partition is just right for the 06.

For the better penetration one should look at the weight of the bullet after it stops, not before it's fired.

The reason the Barnes, the Hornady GMX and the Nosler E-Tips work well if a bit lighter then what is "normal" for a given type of game is that they shed almost no weight at all. So a 150 grain bullet will weigh 149 or 150 when it stops.

If you look at others with lead cores, they usually shed weight, and some of the worst ones shed about 85% to 90%. The good ones shed only 20%-35% But if a 180 grain bullet sheds around 30% it weights 115 to 120 when it stops and a 150 that still weight 150 is going to do just as well or better. All lead core bullets, even bonded and Partition bullets shed some weight. Most expanding solids shed only 1%to 2% if they shed any at all.

The objective is to get a good diameter hole clear through and out the other side even if bone is hit.
How you do that is not important, as long as the hole is fairly straight and clear through.

Either of your two existing loads will work excellent. My Dad and I have taken 5-6 moose , a couple elk with 180 grain Power-Points. I have also taken one moose with 165 gr Interbond.

My favorite load for deer and hogs for my .30-06 is a 200 grain Nosler Partition or Sierra Game King over 56 grains IMR 4831 at about 2600 FPS. It's not the flattest shooting load I have in the books but it knocks 'em down like the Hammer of Thore.

I can't imagine anywhere in the West that elk hunting is different than hunting in Alaska, unless you want to shoot from ridge to ridge way out past 400yds. However, If you have time, inclination to work up a different load, here is what I suggest. The 30-06 with 150-168 TTSX on the lighter end (some use the 130 TTSX!) and the 200 (from Partitions , TB, Swift, to Sierra & Speers as fast as you rifle can push them) on the heavy end. Also, the Woodleigh 240gr round nose is "made" for the 30-06 ( for wild cattle and water buffalo in AussieLand) I like both ends of the spectrum, seldom hang long in the middle myself! Have a ball though Pard!

Although the OP's question was repeatedly answered on page 1, this is the best explanation as the only reason heavy bullets existed was because they fell apart in the earlier designs during penetration.

Use an appropriate bullet! That is the beginning and end of the inquiry.

In your 30/06, the combination of 168 TTSX and H4350 is proven worldwide on everything you can hunt in NA and everywhere else to boot. Use is until it fails you. It never will. If more is needed then get a 375. All lead core bullets are in third place. Second place is empty.

Yes it is just that easy.

Your opinion of course...

Man, I am not chucking all those BBCs in the trash or selling them cheap! Good try Rick

At 600 yards, I've had a few 180 accubonds stop in elk. Not sure why you'd want to run a 165 when the 180 is kinda the bees knees for that animal out of a 30 bore, at least shy of a 200gr.

Copper bullets are nice but lots of people like a bit of fragmentation as well as penetration.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Because I like to mess around I’ll probably try some 165gr TTSX, and probably try to tweak the 165 accubond load as well.

I've used Barnes TTSX 150 grain bullets in my model 70 30.06 for years. Antelope, Deer, Elk and one Moose. No complaints, excellent performance on all of them. I've used partitions in the past and have had mediocre results. Switched to Barnes years ago.

I used a 180 partition to kill my last bull.

But this time......he is correct! memtb

My normal go to rifle for elk is my .35 Whelen. One one elk hunt a few years back when checking out my rifles at the Whittington Center in Raton the day before the hunt I learned that the scope on ,y .35 appeared to have turned toes up. Rather than gambling it would work out OK i used my back up rifle, a custom Mauser with a 1 in 12" twist 24" barrel that runs the 165 gr. Accubond right at 2880 FPS. I shot on the the money so that's what I used. I shot a fair sized cow at roughly 100 yards. The bullet hit right at the short ribs and angled into the left lung. The cow went maybe 30 yards and expired. We never did find the bullet but there was no sign of an exit wound. I figure it was still the mess that was the left lung.
Paul B.

Slow and heavy if one wants a through and through wound channel. My hot rod Weatherby's rarely leave a mark on the far side of the body cavity. The elk have not complained though.

What about a 200 Partition?

Of course lots of people on here talk about using a 150 Partition out of a .270 Winchester and some even claim to take them with a .243 so I know the 200 grain will do it, I'm just wondering which would be better on elks out of a .30-06, a 180 or 200. know they'll both work but I don't know what's optmum because I've never been elk hunting. I'm just fishing around trying to learn. I have killed deer and hogs with the 200 grain in an 06 though, It can be a hammer. Even a softer Game King is a hammer on deer and hogs. I once shot a hog between the hams (Yeah I know, a lot of people don't like a Texas Heart Shot) and the bullet ended up under the skin at the brisket, That's pretty good penetraton for a SGK but a 200 grain anything will go a long way. That hog went no where but straight down. Is that type of penetration necessary or will a 180 be better because it would have a little more velocity?

I've had 168 gr TTSX out of 3006 stop in both elk AND mule deer.

I've never had a 200 gr NPT from 3006 or 300 mag stop in anything including antelope, whitetail, mule deer, black bear, lots of elk, and moose.