I have just read an article about bullets on another web site. The article discussed the author's personal experience with bullets, and the surprising conclusion was that the author preferred rapidly expanding bullets to the deep penetrating bullets for game up to elk. His experience had been that the deep penetrating bullets did not expand at all, even when hitting ribs, and were less authoritative than rapidly expanding bullets.
This gives me pause. For my October elk hunt (first time elk hunt for me) I was planning to try to find a commercial load that shot well in my.30-06 that also used deep penetrating bullets -- Nosler Accubond or Remington Core Lokt Ultra, for example -- but now I'm wondering if that is needed. I used a Remington Core Lokt (older technology, presumably softer bullet) 180 grain .30-06 on a modest sized whitetail doe last fall, at about 25 yards, and the bullet punched a good hole through the deer, even though it hit a rib on at least one side, maybe both sides. If the bullet was too soft, I would think that at such short range it would be highly subject to disintegration and likely to not punch through the other side.
Can those of you with rifle elk kills provide advice based on your experience? I don't want regurgitated information from either hunting magazines or premium bullet advertisements. I've read those, and they left me assuming the only prudent action was to take the deep penetrating, preimum bullets on an elk hunt. When providing your advice, assume a shot that misses the front shoulders and goes to the heart lung area. Also, my specific interest now is directed to 180 grain bullets in a .30-06 chambering.
I know the deep penetrating bullets are thought to be superior when hitting heavy bone, but is this the optimal bullet selection when the higher probability is you will take a heart/lung shot that does not hit heavy bone, such as the shoulder?
I have shot bull elk using failsafe, Nosler Partition, Nosler AB and Barnes TSX.So far allwere lung shots where heavy bone wasn't a factor and all produced 1 shot kill, easy to find animals.A less stout bullet may have worked as well but IMO the insurance factor of a bullet designed to hold onto some of its weight and pentrate is well suited for larger game such as elk. They are extremely durable creatures and not always will your "thought angle" be perfect to allow a marginal bullet to do it's thing. Elk are not anything like deer they will make the toughest bullets open up. Last year my TSX zipped through the lungs producingparts and exited with a larger hole, in short the bullet did its job. Year before AB did the same thing, while it made a larger exit hole and a little more jello in doing so. The difference was not appreciable IMO.
I suggest trying 180gr - Nosler Partition, Ab, TSX, etc. Personally think if you can get the NP shooting well it is still a bullet that is hard to beat - comprimise of expansion and pentration. It maybe be boring but highly effective and any rag writer or hunter will agree.
With all the time, expense, effort, planning, traveland vacation time it takes for an elk trip, I think that the best bullets you can get for your gun is still the best way to go. When I get my cross hairs on an elk I want to know that my bullet will do the job if I do my job. Nothing less than the best here. There are places to skimp, but not here.
Other than muzzleloading elk, all my elk have fallen to nosler partitions.
The beauty is that you really don't have to choose. The NP has a soft nose to open up and a solid rear to punch through.
Most premium bullets today are fairly similar. The winchester failsafe is another example: the petals open up if no bone is hit, but it has a solid core behind it to push through in boney places.
Nosler was the first, but most of the newer premium bullets give you the best of both worlds.
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All good advice. Just let me add one more thing. Whatever you choose, go to the range and put 2 - 3 into paper just so you know. AND . . . hit the range when you get to your hunt area. Always be sure of your equipment.
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Preminum bullets really come into there own when trying to drive a bullet through heavy bone such as the shoulder. Heck you can kill elk with a .22 hornet if you hit them in the lungs, but try driving that same bulletthrough the shoulder on a elk coming at you and your looking at a flesh wound. Im a shoulder shooter, prefer not to have to chase an animal and have it fall into someone elses hands, and a big fan of Barnes XLCs and TSXs.
I've killed five elk with a 30-06, and I'm no expert when it comes to round capabilities. I think, all five ofthose elk were killed with Remington Core Lokt, 180 grain. But these old boys here have forgot more about hunting than most hunters have learned yet, so I would listen to them. One thing I do know for sure though, try to find time to zero in at or close to the elevation that you will be hunting. I personally believe that is just as important as the round that you choose. Good Luck!
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Elk bullets?
