Colorado Cajun

I'm thinking about starting to reload for my 3006. I'm looking for an all around bullet with a load good enough for Elk without going to the super expensive bullets. Looks like Hornady and Speer has some good offering. I'd like to hear from folks who reload and use these bullets.

Thanks,
Mitch

aaalaska

We have used he Hornady 165 Bt over a lot of years on moose with very good results.

skiking

I really like the Accubonds and Partitions for hunting purposes and am not much of a fan of the Barnes bullets. Like Relentless said, use a cheap bullet for range time and a premium for hunting, but I would upgrade to a 180 gr over the 168 gr pill as my personal preference.

skiking

While the 168s will penetrate well, I have not been very impressed with the wound channels produced by mono-metal bullets, there is more to killing an animal quickly than penetration as you know. I would much rather see the vital organs turn into a red chunky goo than to see a nice clean hole through them.

To each their own, I am just not sold on Barnes.

Colorado Cajun

SkiKing, my 700 seems to be more accurate with 165gr. bullets over 180. That's why I'm looking to start reloading with 165's.

Relentless, are you getting the same POI with the 2 loads you mentioned above? If I can work two different loads (cheap target and premium hunting) with the same POI I will be happy.

Thanks guys! Keep the input coming...

skiking

Yeah, cajun, if you are getting better accuracy with the 165s go for it.

Relentless, yeah, I keep the same POA with my bow as I do my rifle most of the time. It works for me, all but 2 of my kills have dropped in their tracks, and one of those was an elk with a 30-30, so not much surprise there.

skiking

While I have shot several deer in the CNS. The biggest problem I have with the skeletal hits is there is meat around bones, and I like the meat. But you are right, a the X bullets will break bone and keep going, it just isn't my style.

n5638b

Colorado Cajun, You might try Remington Core-Lokts (PSPCL). I've found that they are the cheapest production bullet per round, but they are just as accurate as the ballistic tips if loaded right. Plus, in my .308 last month, the 180 grain pspcl I loaded completely turned the heart of the bull elk I shot into jelly, nothing left but pieces of goo! That was after it went through the back of the leg, busted a rib and passed through part of the lung. Did it's job perfectly and costs me $.41 per round to load for the powder, primer and bullet.
As far as accuracy, I load for my son's Remington 700 (30.06) with both 165's and 180's. The key is to find the correct powder charge that your rifle likes with that particular bullet. Once we found the right load, he regularly puts 5 rounds within an inch square at 100 yards, almost that good at 200.
Another thing you can do is do a ballistics test on your hand loads to see what you like. I use 5 gallon buckets with 3-4 inches of sand in the bottom, pack the rest with newspaper, 2 inches from the top I put a round piece of 3/4" plywood to simulate bone (somewhat). I fill the bucket with water and soak everything the day before going to the range, then drain the water out, lay the buckets on their sides at 100 yards, then shoot one of each bullet I'm testing into the bucket. 1 round per bucket. It's not a perfect method, but it's cheap and does give you something to compare between different bullet types and brands. Hope that helps!

Colorado Cajun

That's a beautiful buck Relentless...

n5638B, I bought a box of 165 gr. PSPCL at Wal Mart last week to try out in my 06 to see how it likes those. I've heard good things about them. One thing I noticed out of the box of 20 I bought is the tips have a lot of slop on them. Are the bulk packs of bullets the same way?

I still need to get me a good scope for my 06. I had a cheap Bushnel on it and the cross hairs moved around. I'm going to get a Nikon Prostaff. I took it off and shot open sights at 50 yards and got a one inch group with Winchester power points but I can't find power point bullets for reloading in 165 gr. I only seen the 165 gr. PP at Wal Mart that one time. Winchester doesn't even list the 165 on their web site. All the 165's I shot grouped better then all the 180's. I did kill a 5x5 bull last year with a 180gr. Silver Tip at 70 yards. It clipped the top of the heart and both lungs were mush. The exit hole was the same size as the entry hole. No blood came out of either hole. Wasn't a big deal because he side stepped about 3 steps and laid down to rest for the last time.

skiking

Nice elk

Still searching for one this year. Had a spike in my cross hairs yesterday, maybe tomorrow will yield something with brow times.