Giving my 30-06 yet another face lift and will be using a CDS scope this time. So what bullet do you guys like to cover "most" hunting, mainly deer, black bear, caribou so on, nothing really hard to kill but I would like to find one load and spend more time shooting and less time swapin loads.

165 Accubond?

I have shot numerous whitetails and a few mule deer with 150 gr Hornady Spire Points. Every single one was DRT.

155gr Scenar

Hornady 165 BTSP never a bad choice.

It depends on the '06. I use 180's in my FW; NPT's, IL's or Core-Lokts over 57 gr H-4350. I used it on antelope, blacktail deer, coyotes, elk, whitetails and mulies. I used 165's in a M70 Standard Grade for a long time. Hornady BT's and 165 Interbonds with R-19.

I think the 165 Accubond should be a dandy choice based only on what I have read. John Nosler wrote that the 165 developed the best performance of all weight s in the '06.

Favorite is the 165 gr. Hornady SP flat base).

165 Nosler partition.

This.

Dink

180 gr. speer hot cor

180 Swift A-frame if I had to choose one bullet for all game that I hunt: moose to small coastal island blacktails. I hunted several seasons with only that bullet. It does not feel like a favorite so much as the most capable that I have tried.

My emotional favorite bullets to shoot in 30-06 are all 165 grain. I fudge and shoot 165 Hornady Interbonds for most deer nowadays when outside of grizzly areas.

180 grain Nosler Partition

I'm w/Bobin & Dink. Muddy

My choice, as well.

The 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip!



These bullets are so accurate, ya don't even have to aim, and they shoot so flat, they beat a laser! Killing power? No problem, mice to mammoths!

Enjoy.

Guy

180gr Partition over a max charge of IMR-4350. If you can't kill it with that load, it don't need killin'.

I've been using IMR 4350 for a long time, but H4350 gets a big nod these days. I also like 180gr. partitions for big game and 180gr. Winchester powerpoints for cheap target practice and deer hunting. I load them up with the same seater die adjustment and similar powder charge wts and get pretty good accuracy. I've also had very good luck with the Hornady 165gr. sp interlock in the ol 06..

If I were you, I'd just use 180gr. Nosler partitions and rock on. Look for the blemished ones to be on sale at SPS:



If you can't kill all the animals on your list with the 180gr. partition, it is definitely not the rifle/cartridge or bullets fault...

I went through a similar exercise recently with mine and chose the 168 gr NBT.

Because they've beefed up the jackets so much on these the bonding is superfluous. Plus I've not gotten as much accuracy from NABs as NBTS in my rifle.

I ordered 4 boxes from Dan H & am well stocked!

This is my "load to kill them all" (NA game).

Love me some NBTs... and Hunter... 2875-ish?

Mine shoots B-tips into tiny clusters at about 2950 IIRC. I like the B-tip but Im worried that its not tough enough for an all a rounder.

When did they beef up the jackets? Did they just beef the jackets on the 168 or 165's too?

Most any 165 will cover anything in NA. Go premium or plain jane, your choice.

Of the half-dozen -06's I've had not one would shoot a NP of any weight as well as they did some others, PJ and Premiums both. Acceptable accuracy (under 2" MOA, but not by much) just not as good as others.

That said, my favorite is the 180 wt. I just like it!

Currently I am using 150's for caribou to ranges of 500 yards. Killed that bull moose back in November right dead also- head shot at 30 yards....

I50's are not my favorite, but they will do, and may even be preferable in some situations. But I would not choose them for a one-load for everything in NA.

It's my understanding that they've both been beefed up.

Dober used to be a hard core proponent of the 168 NBT on elk and that got me thinking.

If I recall correctly that bullet test thread w/ cow femurs included the 165 NBT and results were excellent.

Anybody have a link to that?

I really like the Sierra Gameking and the Nosler Accubond, both in 165 grain.

Here you go my friend; I think you'll find is very helpful:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9747277/1

I used to shoot either the 165 grain or 180 grain Hornady BTSP. They shot well and were fairly easy to load. They worked very well on all the deer, antelope and one elk I shot. I had no complaints and saw no need to try any other bullet. Then I tried the Federal 180 grain Partition High Energy load. They also shot great and I got 2850 out of them. One loud to do it all: they were faster than my 165 grain handloads and hit harder. I stopped handloading after I started shooting them...until they discontinued that load. Now I am setting up my bench again and I'll probably go back to the Hornadys for most of my shooting. They work really well at '06 velocities and are a lot cheaper than the Partitions.

Nosler Partition bullets always work. But most bullets work just fine.

My favorites are 165 gr. Barnes TTSX bullets over IMR 4350 and Speer 165 gr. "Deep Curl" bullets over IMR 4064. I use them for Moose, Elk and Deer. Only recovered a few, and they were perfect 4 petal mushrooms with about 90%+ weight retention. When I find a combination that works in my rifles, I stick with it. No Complaints.

180 gr nosler partition works fine for the small moose we grow in AK..tic

I'm fond of the 200 gr Speer Hot Cor in a 30-06. Kills deer fine, haven't got to flatten an elk with it yet.

165 Hornady flat base is a great one also.

Thanks bro

Me too, with H4350. Cheap to shoot and works great.

168 TSX was my favorite..

+1. I use mine over H4895. If memory serves, it was the folks at shooters.com that suggested it. They also suggested a place called 24hourcampfire.com .

200 gr Partitions at 2700 fps for all things 30-06, it will CDS right nicely too.

I'll never need to load more 180 Partitions (and Hunter) for the rest of my life, though I'm sure I will.

180 grain Sierra Pro Hunter. Works great on deer, should do good on black bear. You ask for favorite and those are all I hunt with an 06. Change to Partition if after something bigger.

Anything except a 150-grain Silvertip.

That's NOT the "Ballistic Silvertip," which is a Ballistic Tip dressed like a penguin, but the original Winchester bullet. And I mention it because it's the only bullet I've fired into big game from a .30-06 that absolutely flat failed, coming apart on the shoulder of an eating-size mule deer buck. All the others (probably at least a couple dozen) have worked fine.

Garden Variety 180 gr. Hornady Soft point. Flat base.

165 Sierra SBT, 165 Partition 5 clicks to the right, 57 gr H4350

Love the description!

180 Speer Mag-Tip, I shot a bunch of them before they were dropped.

This.

With the 165 NP and 165 NAB being my favorites in that order...

OH yeah. Years ago befor Premiums, except maybe Partitions, Finn Aagard did a wet telephone book test on the .30-06 bullet weights.

The 180 had the best penetration.

Well, the 200 NP has better penetration, but most of my work has been with the 165 and 180.

A 165 kicks less and works about as well IMO.

Although I now shoot a 150gr TTSX, my fav -06 load is a 180gr Accubond between 2750 and 2800fps. One mean fugger and Nosler seconds are cheap..

Yup. I have really become a believer in the 180 gr AB. Nosler did good with this one.

A long time favorite of mine.

180 gr Sierra btgk.

180 gr Nosler Partition.

las,

I would have been difficult for Finn to publish a bullet comparison before Nosler Partitions, since he didn't start writing for magazines until he moved to the U.S. in 1977, almost 30 years after Partitions went on the market.

He soon became a staff writer for the NRA magazines, and the .30-06 article he did for them shows the 200-grain Nosler Partition penetrating deeper than any other bullet, though only a half-inch more than the 180 Partition. (This was also before the introduction of the 220 Partition.) His test media was alternating layers of 1/2" wet magazines and 1" pine boards.

I have been using both the 200 and 180-grain Nosler Partitions since the late 1970's, and in the field the difference in penetration is larger. In fact I have yet to recover a 200-grain Partition fired from a .30-06 or even a .300 magnum, and have killed more elk with that bullet than any other.

In fact, elk are what caused me to start using the 200, after a bad experience with a new "premium" 150-grain bullet in the .270 Winchester. At the time I was hunting elk in the thick, steep part of Montana near the Idaho Panhandle, and shots were rarely as long as 100 yards, and elk could be in any conceivable position. I didn't shoot any in the butt, but did take other angling shots. Once I switched to the 200 Partition there was no problem.

That was the old semi-spitzer model, turned on a screw machine with a "relief groove" around the area of the partition. It shot into about an inch in my sporterized 1903 Springfield. Soon afterward Nosler started impact-extruding their bullets, and the 200 became a spitzer. I have since used the spitzer in several other .30-06's, usually with 59-60 grains of H4831 for around 2650-2700 fps. My NULA Model 24 is my only .30-06 right now, and gets 2690 using 59 grains of H4831SC, the load shoots a lot flatter than most people would expect.

Since the 1970's, of course, many new wonder bullets have come along, but I haven't yet found another .30 caliber that would penetrate any deeper on game. It has gone lengthwise through more than one deer, including a mature mule deer buck, and once busted the shoulder joint of a quartering-on 6-point elk, then exited the rear of the rib-cage on the other side.

These days the 200 Partition might not be my #1 choice for the .30-06, but for over 35 years it has always proven reliable in widely varying conditions, whether pronghorns on the plains or elk in thick timber.

Great write up JB!

I've come to the conclusion, that there is better stuff out there, than what I have used with great success....

although my experience is a minute fraction of yours, I have found if it was working for 35 plus years... no reason to switch to something else, just to have the "latest and greatest"....

I admit my favorite bullet for the 06 is the 220 grain SMP Partition...

I have a few 200 semi-spitzers I either bought or was given back in the 80s. They were the extruded variety. Punched one into a bull moose at a pretty fair distance - at least from a 'hind-leg' stance- under severe cold conditions. I don't remember if it was a IMR 4350 or H4831 load, though neither was an Extreme back then. Neither of us was greatly impressed at the time. I keep thinking I should give the pointier variety a go one of these days.



I concur with you assessment!

And I have to wonder how many of the newer bullets really compete with the "old" Partition when it comes to broad excellence. I know there are many which do some things better. But it seems like few which actually cover so broad a spectrum well; near or far, fast or slow, soft or hard, ideal placement or no-so-much….

Someone else mentioned it earlier, but I love the Speer 180 Mag-Tip. Have used them on large bodied whitetail bucks, and a couple 1000 lb buffalo for butcher from a local farm.

I caught 2 Nosler partitions in 2 pigs that were around 180 lbs each. Fired under 50 yards both animals. This was my only experience with the Partitions but wasn't impressed with the "penetration" of them? I did manage two dead hogs though.

What bullet weight, what cartridge?

30.06 180 grain partition.

180 Partition or 180 Accubond for me, depending on which blems are available from SPS. I haven't been able to tell any difference between the 165 PT (mule deer, whitetail deer), 165 AB (mule deer, cow elk), 180 PT (whitetail, cow elk, bull elk), and 180 AB (mule deer, whitetail, cow elk) on game. They all died, and rarely did any of the elk do a "bang flop" but recovery was less than 50 yards from point of shot.

The majority of my 30-06 shooting through the year is 155 Nosler Custom Competitions, 155 Sierra Matchkings, and 155 Lapua Scenars. Haven't tried any of these on game, and probably won't.

Wow - that's the bullet that convinced me, 30 years ago, to rely on Noslers for reliable expansion and penetration.

Interesting.

Guy

John, I started my elk hunting using a Norma 308Mag. It loved the 200gr NP's. At magnum velocities, it really put the smack down on bull elk. As I've aged, I've become less able to put up with heavy recoil so have moved on to smaller, less recoiling and lighter weight rifles. Back to the OP's question, I'd use a 165gr NP for the animals you mentioned, it'll work near or far, good angle or bad. It's down side is it's not sexy, actually it's very boring.

I bought them to use as my 1 and only bullet for everything after reading the rave reviews here and the experience of others. I'm not sure if their is an issue with the specific lot I have or what the circumstance that limited the penetration? Neither connected with "major bone" and their isn't major bone in a hog in my opinion? I shot the first hog in the back lower spine going up hill to "anchor" it after it was already shot twice by another hunter. My pig I shot as he stopped in "light" brush which could have made some difference on it. He dropped at the shot but was kicking as I intentionally shot him "high" to avoid the brush. He was on his side with his stomach toward me, I put another one into him belly since this was the only shot I had and worried he may jump up. I walked up and he was still alive so he got a finisher. The partitions were nicely "mushroomed"!

I haven't totally given up on them but that was my two and only experiences with them. I may go to a 200 grain partition to try or buy a different box of 180's to see if there is any difference?

IMHO it would take a helluva hog to catch a 200 gr NPT Esox.

I have sent 180 gr. Partitions and Hornady flat base interloks into and out the other side of some pretty hefty feral hogs and find them excellent for the purpose. I hunt at night usually so many shots are not perfectly broadside either. I have recovered a couple of the Hornady bullets but none of the Partitions, yet.

I've never had the same trouble catching Barnes X bullets which so many people seem to have trouble catching either. Caught a 225 XFB from a 340 Weatherby in a caribou at under 100 yards in pretty much the same way: lower spine, etc. Caribou are nowhere near as solid as hogs, though often larger than the ones you were shooting.

I used Partitions early on and wasn't so much impressed (with a 150 on a small whitetail and a moose with a 200, for example). Consequently, I tried other things for awhile until I realized that 'they' all perform 'oddly' once in awhile. You just need to find a bullet that works under the kinds of conditions you subject your bullets to. Partitions are good 'broad spectrum' bullets, though perhaps not as good as some for certain narrower applications.

For killing deer, black bear, and caribou, a 165 or 168 grain BT our of a 30-06 is plenty. Plus an Accubond of the same weight should strike close to if not right on the same POI so you could mix and match them based on your worries. Shoot targets and deer with the BT and everything else with the Accubond if you so desire.

If you look at a pic of a cross sectioned BT you can see that the rear jacket is thick and it has a solid gilding metal base. I think they are excellent. The Accubond is just a bonded version of the same thing, maybe better for shooting something like Elk or Moose.

I will have to try out the 200 grainers never used them so may get to do some experimenting.

I still like the Sierra 220 gr Round Nose as I hunt elk a lot in the thick timber and don't need a long distance bullet.Close up at 2400fps,they don't do much meat damage should I pull a shot out of the lungs. If I am hunting open coutry them I prefer the 180 gr GK by Sierra. This coming year,I will be usinga 180 gr Nosler partition that I bought from SPS for $13/50 so I thought I would give them a try. I never did like highter bullets as they shed velocity and energy quicker than the heavys

180 grain Hornady Interlock PSP FB

Browning BAR 30-06

There is no better killing machine!


Bill

A buddy once shot a hog with a 150 PT from a 7x57 that didn't exit. His experience, like yours, is rare on critters this size and it shouldn't smear the bullets reputation, IMO. Sometimes things happen that you're not expecting. And I might add that his hog was DRT.

You will like them, I dont know why or how, but that extra 20 grs seems to make a big difference.

They are shooting very well at 3050 from my son's 300 Wby.. I have no doubts they will decisive on elk. The 180 PT's have always done well at the same speed.

10-4 B, that will work, I have loaded that bullet for more than 20 years for friends that hunt elk out west, I have had reported 3 or 4 times that those guys knocked elk down at less than 100 yards, one bull got up and staggered a half circle then was down again, for keeps.

They were all loaded in excess of 3000 fps in 26" barreled 300 Win and WBY mags, a helluva testament imho.

Interesting. I put ONE 165gr Partition from a 30-06 through THREE pigs at about 100yds. I think what this says more than anything is that the two of use need to shoot more stuff with Partitions even if just for data's sake!

I tried the 210 ABLR's and it didn't like them.. Went to the 200 PT's and all is well in the world. I have a ton of confidence in the combo.

Barnes 130 TippedTSX for an easy-shooting all-around.

I wish those 180's would have done the same but unfortunately they didn't. Looking forward to harvesting some more pigs though either way! Good hunting!

Confidence is near half the battle won Beretzs, now we only need the 51% luck factor to make the critter show in the glass.

150 gr. Horn SPBT or 165 gr Sierra HPBT.. Both excellent for the game you describe. Loaded 100 of the 150's in about 1981.. I am still using from that stash.

180gr Hornady Interlock

I have a penchant for bullets 180 grains and up in 30-06 for an all-purpose hunting load, including many notorious C&C. I've got lighter bullets loaded, but they sit at home year after year. Certainly the weight isn't required for the tasks described here. I'd say pick whatever 165-168 your taste prefers and that shoots well. Nothing described on this thread is going to overtax a 165 in the '06. Choot 'em up!

Most anything named will work until you poke old Bullwinkle in one of those big leg pipes as he strides along through the mayhem. (Don't ask he how I know what a 165 cup and core will make a mess of!)



The 180 Partition works well going light and long for 'bou and is heavy enough to for moose (as this one did at 300 yards). A 200 would undoubtedly be a better choice if moose and other big and bitey creatures alone were on schedule. Then again, the plain old cup and core of the likes of the 190 BTSP Interlock has handily dispatched a couple bull-winkles for me.

Just an antidotal story---
About 5 years ago when I was combing the gun racks at a local gun/reloading shop in Superior WI, a man in in his late 60's said to me " do you see any Hornady 165 g Interlocks ? " I showed him where they were on the shelf. He said that he hadn't bought any since they changed the label on the box a few years back, hence the confusion. He then proceeded to put 10 boxes of the bullets on the counter. I said to him, " you must really like those bullets." He replied to me, " I could save you a lot of time and grief. You see all of those guns on the rack over there? All you need is a 30-06, with these bullets, over 57 grains of 4350. I am the hand loader for our group up in Ontario Canada, where I am from. I have been loading these bullets for all 8 of our group members including me since 1972, before they were called Interlocks just spire points. Each member of our group has taken a moose and a deer every year since then and we have never lost an animal. That combination ( 30-06 / 165 Hornady Interlock ) has proven itself over and over. It is all that you need. " It would be hard to argue with a track record like that.

I posted this story on another part of the forum yesterday. I thought it was relevant.

Great story.

You've posted that pic before, haven't you, Klik? It seems almost iconic, with that well-used knife and well-used Partition! I have the suspicion that when you say "moose" I should think "passenger vehicle" in comparative bulk.

I hunt with 165-180gr. Hornady or Partitions. May not be flashy or hip but they get the job done every time...ScottyO.

Hard to argue with that. For bigger game (Moose, elk etc) 200's are more better.

For deer I've never had a 30-06 that didn't love 165 Gamekings over 57g IMR 4350. Very accurate and has produced several bangflops for me.

If you want to reliably extend the 30-06's useful range look at the ballistics of a 200gr AccuBond at 2650-2700fps mv. This bullet performs well ballisticaly out to 500yds and terminal performance is excellent.

as has been posted so many times for a '06: 56-58grs of 4350 and the 165gr bullet of your choice. And it doesn't have to be any sort of magic bullet neither; just whichever plain jane that shoots best in your rifle.
I've shot most of the various bullets (no monos)through a 30-06 and settled on a plain jane core lokt. I've never sent one after anything that it didn't fetch. But then, so did the other bullets.

I have shot many different bullets out of my 30-06. For years a favorite was the Speer 180 gr. flat based bullet. I shot everything in the ribs and all was well but until the mid eighties I mostly hunted in the open country and even the 150 grain cup and cores worked well on elk. Then I moved to western Washington and I began hunting where seeing 50 yards was tough. I took the scope off my rifle and mounted a peep sight. Immediattly I noticed just how destructive a 150 gr. Speer spitzer pushed to nearly 3000 fps was on the Blacktails I was now hunting! I lowered my velocities a bit (around 2400 fps) and began using the 200 gr. Speer flat base and the 180 gr. Partition. Could not have asked for more on those big Washington elk and the deer were not so damaged either! This is when I really started to like the Partition.

For deer, I like a fairly mild load with the Barnes 130 gr. Triple shock at a little over 3000 fps from a short barreled '06 and Nosler's 180 Accubond for elk (from 23 yards to 475).

It's a damn good thing I have about 400 of those then... I was also going to say 180 partition because I've used them on deer and elk and they work great. The 200's are just sitting there waiting for me to work up a good load..

Good points. I had a bull elk catch a 180 gr. nosler partition in the offside hide once. The bull was DRT. so the bullet did it's job nicely. No need to track it. To be honest, the bullet did clip the shoulder blade and it probably tumbled a bit. I was still surprised it didn't exit. But this is how it is sometimes. I guess I'm going to have to load up some of those 200's I have laying around..

ARNS9, nowhere did I "smear" the Partition only relayed my experience. You take it for what it's worth?

Esox, I didn't think you were trying to smear the partition name. I appreciate you bringing up valid personal experience with that particular bullet. I also had 1 experience that mirrors yours with that bullet, but it was on a bigger animal. I also used to love the 165 gr. Nosler solid base because it was so damn accurate in my 30-06's. Every 30-06 I ever had loved that bullet, but after I shot a few deer with it I changed my mind about it. I ended up going to the 165gr. Hornady SP interlock because I ultimately got much better penetration and results from the Hornady. Accuracy was top notch with the interlock as well...

No problem BSA. It was never my intention to talk trash about the bullet. Heck that was why I was using it. I heard great things about them. Still ready to try out the 200 grain Partitions this upcoming season!

Good luck with your hunting. I always appreciate the guys here who are honest with us and themselves. Your input is appreciated..

A Partition is generally a good and reliable penetrator....but like any bullet you are more likely to recover them at close range and under high impact velocity than at longer distances where velocity has slowed down somewhat.I have even seen Barnes bullets recovered under such circumstances,so nothing is really exempt if it's an expanding bullet.

None of this is really worth worrying about and IME amounts to maybe a 50-50 proposition. Usually you will find them balled up under the off side hide after having busted up everything on the way. So long as I chose a reasonable caliber and bullet, I have never seen them fail to break heavy shoulder bones,i.e. humerus and upper leg bones on elk sized animals...... But I'm not talking about shooting elk with a 100 gr from a 243 either.

I have recovered 165 gr from elk, fired from a 30/06. Nothing less seems to stop these including those 300 pound whitetails and mule deer, and black bears; and 180 gr from 300 magnums...but not many of each.

Once, I know a 200 gr from a 300 Weatherby was stopped in the off side of a bull elk,but did not dig around for it. But it went from the last ribs on the right, quartering away,aimed to angle into the off side shoulder of a mature 6x6. A long ways but the bullet made it and smashed the heavy off side bones at the end of the wound channel. That's a long ways on a bull elk and you can't ask for much more.

Have a handful of 270-130's I've recovered. On the northern deer I hunt, and black bear they mostly exit even at woods ranges and through heavy bones; ditto the 140 and 160 7mm's.I've used the partition from 25-100 gr to 270 gr 375 on a variety of animals from brown bear down. Few bullets give more consistent and reliable performance in penetration and expansion....seems they all look the same on recovery...when you recover them that is.


When I hear someone say a Partition "failed", I suspect there was something funky going on. "Really? Tell me all about it."

First load up the spout in any 30/06 for me is a 165 Partition and 58-59 gr H4350. I figure I am on safe footing for about anything in the lower 48 and maybe more.I'd shoot a grizzly with it with no hesitation.