150 gr bullet questions (30.06)

[semi]

i have been shooting 150 gr bullets in my 30.06, i will most likely hunt deer in the midwest. But, what type of game before i move up to 165 gr or 180gr bullets? I am thinking that the 150 gr bullets would be pretty good for deer, black bear, elk etc... When would you want to use a 180gr and could you get away with a 150 gr in those situations if need be? I ask this cuz i see people hunting larger game with .270's using a 130 or 140 gr. So a 150 should be a good gr bullet for most things correct?

i am trying to determine that if i get to hunt larger game, having to re-sight my rifle for heavier bullets or if i can just use 150's for most things. Where are 150's no longer a good idea?

[Jorgy]

Personally I don't use 150 grain for my 06 when I'm after anything bigger than deer sized game. I bring my 06 along as a back-up rifle on elk hunts and I always use 180 grain

[oldrgr]

Morning, or probably afternoon your time.

I've been elk hunting for nine years now, not long in the grand scheme of things, but long enough to have done some research on bullets for use on elk. The guys in our group, up to 16, hunt with a mix of .30-06s, 7mm mags, .338 Win Mag and several of the relatively new ultra mag calibers. Those using the .30-06 use the 180 grain bullet. Most use Nosler Partitions. It seems to be a good bullet weight for elk. You're correct - some guys use .270s with 140 grain bullets and swear by 'em. Shot placement is always one of the most critical factors anyway. Heck, in Europe the 6.55 mm cartridge is popular for moose.

The .30-06 is quite adequate for elk. I read an interesting article several years ago in Outdoor Life on making your 06 act like a magnum rifle. It compared terminal ballistics of the 165 grain and 180 grain bullets at out around 300 yards. Gist of the article was that you could create a flatter trajectory using the 165 grain bullet (faster muzzle vel. etc) and out at 300 yards of so, the impact energy would be higher. The supposition was that if you anticipated taking a shot at that range, that the 165 grain might be better. Truth is most shots on elk are not at that range, but rather closer in especially in heavy timber. I have taken elk with the 180 grain bullet in my 06. Sometimes the animals have dropped after the first shot and sometimes they ran a 100 yards or so before crumpling. Again, shot placement is key. They are hardy animals. Regards.

[Aught Six]

The others have made some excellent posts here, so I'll keep mine short. I don't have any practical experience hunting elk or black bear. However, based on the ballistics and others' accounts, I would use a 165 gr. or 180 gr. for elk, and a 180 gr. for black bear.

[bigbulls]

Most likely you will need to resight your rifle any how. 90% of the people that use one rifle for all game don't use the same constructed bullet any how even if they use the same weight. Many folks will use a conventional bullet like a corelokt for deer and then step up to a Nosler or better for big game such as elk. This still will require resighting of your rifle.

I still wouldn't use a 150 grain bullet out of a 30-06 for elk except for a Barnes X bullet. If you want to stick with one bullet for deer and larger animals like elk I personally would shoot Federal 165 grain trophy bonded bear claw. It has all of the properties that make it an exceptional bullet for all species and is plenty enough bullet for elk, black bear and moose.

IMO, with the bullets that are available today such as the Barnes, trophy bonded bear claw, Fail safe, A-frame, and the new polymer tiped bonded bullets the need for the heavy for caliber bullets (ie: 180+ grain in the 30-06) are not needed like they once were twenty or thirty years ago. These super premium bullets will have all of the penetration, expansion, and extreme toughness that will be required to take down larger than deer animals.

[thndrchiken]

Like has already been stated, the 150-165gr bullets of standard construction are more than adequate for deer and black bear. When stepping up to larger hardier game like moose or elk the premium bullets such as the partition, tbbc, failsafe, accubond, etc. in the 165-180gr are best suited in the 06. I personally feel that shot placement is more important than bullet choice providing that the bullet used is of adequate construction. I would not hesitate to use a Sierra Gameking, prohunter or Hornady interlok for any game.

[handloader1]

180 gr. premium bullets for elk are your best bet. Good luck.

[Nomercy]

I use 150grn bullets for whitetailed and Mule deer here in Kansas, I've also used them for buffalo (hunting and putting down sick/injured pasture bison), they weren't great for the buffalo, to say the least, but I'd definately consider them ample for deer species up through elk and moose (lighter side moose that is). I've also used 150grn bullets on black bear, I wasn't very satisfied with the results, even if I did get a one shot stop, the bear ran about 50yrds, the penetration wasn't as good as I'd have liked it to have been, and I certainly wouldn't use 150grn bullets for heavy bruins or browns (also barring any larger bear!!)

I'd suggest the following scheme for the best killing efficiency:

110-130grns=coyotes/varmints, antelope, light whitetails
150grn=whitetails/mulies
165grn=elk/light moose, very light bruins, Caribou, Most sheep
180grn=moose, heavy bruins, browns, mountain goat, buffalo

But that's just what I'd suggest, your mileage may vary.

[noway]

If you want to shoot one bullet for everything:

168 gr Barnes triple shock if you reload and I think Federal Premium may be offering them in a factory load. Proving to be a very accurate bullet and all around bullet performance can't be beat.

If you can't find that go with the 165 partition. This bullet will work great for deer and ok for elk. If using the partitions I would go to the 180 on elk.

[BigBore1895]

I personally use a 440 grain soft point for elk and a 405 grain SP for deer and black bear