Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 30-06 One Bullet for Lower 48

165 or 180 grain Ballistic Tips, SST's or TGK's, if you want bonded bullets, Accubond, Interbond or Scirocco II's. For mono metal bullets, 150 or 165 grain E-Tip, GMX or TTSX. Honestly for the lower 48 with a 30-06, just about anything that you use will work, just pick one you like.

180 gr Accubond and 58 grs of H-4350 which is the top load in Speer’s book and on line site. Gives factory velocities or slightly above. It’s accounted for nine bulls from 25 yards to 475 yards and a few whitetails.

NICE there Nav


Jerry

Barnes TTSX 150 grain bullet & IMR 4350 or 4064 powder.

i've used the same load for years. don't know if these are available. 180 gr ww power point round nose with 47 gr 4895. in my old model 70 it chronographs at 2600 and is a sure killer on whitetails and pigs.

Been thinking of a load like this for woods ranges.

Not full house but not 30-30 type loads either.

165gr. Sierra Game King over 56gr. IMR 4350 has been my go to load in .30-06 for several years now, accurate and deadly on whitetails.

30-06
All game from Antelope to elk.
Ranges out to a max of 400 yards.

Like many others here it would be a 165 grain Nosler Partition, or perhaps a good bonded 165 from Nosler, Hornady or Swift.

In the 30-06 for all-around use, I doubt you can beat the 165 gr Partition although a very few others may match it.

Hard to disagree with that.

Guy

At that range.......... 180gr partiton or 180gr Accubond... same same

Come on, it's a 30-06.

Not big enough to require boutique bullets to hold together.
Big enough to not require boutique bullets to enhance its performance.

Any decent hunting bullet from 150gr up will be fine.
Since elk are in the mix, you might want a bit more weight.
But depending on many factors, it may never be needed.

The POS 760 I picked up cheap loves to shoot 180 Pro Hunters
with 59gr H4831. Figured it would be fine to shoot anything I
would ever hunt. Especially as it's a backup. And I had them sitting there!


Have a stash of 165 Partitions, if I was going to pick a load for everything
listed, probably be those. No elk? BT's Maybe a 180 BT with elk?

You can kill a moose with a much smaller bullet than that. But the 180 grain partition is a great choice as is the 200g version. If you handload it’s fairly easy to get those up to 2900fps which will kill anything in the USA. Also remember the shiras moose while bigger than elk are smaller than the Alaska/yukon version. My friend shot his Montana bull with a 130g bullet, I think it was an accubond out of a 270 and I’ve seen several guys here in AK use the 130-150g bullets out of a 270 for moose.

If he’s really talking about every species in the lower 48, I’d worry about the ones that are harder to knock down like mountain goats and aoudad.

I have successfully killed Deer (Arizona Mule) and Elk with 130 TTSX and Varget. I have successfully killed Elk with 168gr Berger Hybrid Hunter (Federal Factory load - really goods stuff if you can find it). I have seen 150gr SST's (factory loads) fail on Cow Elks. BUT I've met others who swear there is no finer bullet so... YMMV

AKP

Even tho I have NOT hunted Mtn Goat/Aoudad, years back I was seriously interested in it. I read and researched the subject, success and failures by hunters and I learned something FROM those who DID.

(I don't have to pee on an electric fence like some here)

Whereas Goats got the reputation from being tough and hard to put down.....the consensus was that 'TOO many hunters
used TOO tough bullets and more or less got pass thrus.
They found using a lighter constructed bullet resulted in quicker and faster kills.

Again - Not my results but FROM Goat hunters.

Jerry

Jerry,

I suspect the same reason is why aoudad have the same reputation for being tough to kill. Maybe 3-4 years ago a good friend and fellow gun writer had booked an aoudad hunt, as I recall one of the free-range hunts on public land in West Texas. His guide, like many Texas guides, recommended a .375 H&H.

But my friend had a beautiful "traditional" custom rifle, based on some sort of short CRF action with a fancy walnut stock. It was a .250 Savage, and shot very accurately with 100-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. He asked (1) if the bullet would penetrate sufficiently, and (2) if it was enough for aoudad. I told him my experiences with the and he decided to take the .250.

They found a big ram about 250 yards away, and my buddy shot it through both lungs. The ram ran about 50 yards and fell over dead.

This goat dropped in his tracks, 270 with a 130gr Barnes TSX. Shot was approximately 170 yards.

For a very good standard bullet, check out Speer Hotcores. I've used them a lot out of a 270 with excellent results. They have very good weight retention and have been quite accurate in my rifle. I haven't tried them in a 30-06 but I have in a 300 WSM. They worked great in that one. The problem is finding them. Right now Midway has a few selections in 165 and 180gr.

The 165 .30 Hot-Core works very well in the .30-06. Have one I recovered from an angling-away whitetail buck that not only dropped him within 15-20 yards, but retained 85% of its weight!

I have lost track of how many moose either on my own or with bullets I have loaded for hunting partners I have seen drop to my 30-06 Tikka M65. I started out with 180 Winchester PP and 54 grains of IMR4350. They shot well and killed well at the ranges I usually shoot stuff at -- typically 150 to 300 yards. then I found the Barnes TSX and their dope said tio drop one bullet weight so I went with 168 TSX and 57 gr of H414. That load gives me 2900 ft/sec and consistently shoots between 5/8" and 1.25" at 100 yards.

My wife gets "pink bullets." 150 grain TSX with a light load of IMR3031 which pushes 2800 fps in her Tikka M65. She has shot deer at 200 yards. She also shot a nice bull moose with the same rifle and load. Range was 60 yards. Bull died on his way to the ground. She loves heer 30-06 and those custom pink bullets.

My hunting partner likes my Hornady 165 gr BTSP interloks chased along by 57 gr of IMR4350.

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This goat dropped in his tracks, 270 with a 130gr Barnes TSX. Shot was approximately 170 yards.

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So VERY NICE ! Love the scene - Backdrop - Subjects - SS rifle - ?Composite Stock ?

Goat looks big to me (no experience w/them)

Horns --- 10+ "...??

WELL done

Jerry