OK, Talk Me Into/Out of a Premium Bullet for Elk

Nuthin' agin premium bullets. Them what likes 'em oughta use 'em.

Me, I'd stay with my Sierra loads for my '06. The 180-grain SPBT gives me three-shot half-MOA with book-max H414, and on steel makes a bigger dimple than the 150s.

But I'm not an elk hunter--which is why I loaned my rifle to Justin so he could ship me some elk steaks. Hey, that worked!

165 grain or 180 grain Remington Core-Lokt soft point...Another good bullet is the Sierra Gameking , either soft point BT or hollow point 165 grain HPBT.

At .30-06 velocities, premiums aren't necessary if you go heavy caliber. I load the 190 Hornady BTSP for a guy. Penetration isn't everything, but the great thing about the premiums is that you can drop bullet weight and still get the penetration, increase your velocity, flatten trajectory at mid ranges, etc.
Anyway, for an -06, it's the 190 Hornady, or I'd drop weight and go for a 168 TSX or similar (ETip, etc)
For Partition-like bullets mid weights are fine=165 or 180 Partitions and AFrames.
For Tipped and bonded boattails like the Interbond/Accubond/Scirrocco, I like to stay heavy for caliber=180-200 grains. May as well take advantage of the ballistics they offer and they tend to be soft, opening up quickly.
Good penetrators buy you a little margin for error, and the Partition and bonded types still get plenty of fragmentation and expansion.
I'm not a big fan of monometals in standard calibers. I don't think you can drive them fast enough to take advantage of their toughness.

Interesting article for you:
http://stevespages.com/jpg/bestbullet.jpg

I chose the Accubonds because I like their accuracy. My dad has successfully harvested an Elk, a Black Bear and a Moose with plain jane 140gr. Winchester Super X soft-pointed bullets in .270. Talk about old school. If I got a chance now to take one of those animals, I would work up a quality handload with a premium bullet.

I vote for Nosler Partition.

Reason: Have taken 16 elk with 18 of them.

I voted nosler partition just because I have had great luck with them in both 30-06 and 300wm, 180 grain in both. 13 dead elk don't lie, I will admit that I shoot everything twice unless it folds up and hits the ground befor I can work the bolt but thats mostly cause I don't want to follow a wounded animal, ever.

The reason I like and will keep using tough bullets for elk is that most of the elk I have killed were Not perfect broad side shots. The one and only bull I have taken was a 340 yard down hill shot on the last day of a not cheap hunt in Idaho, the elk was facing almost stright away so I held just ahead of the rear hind quater and broke the front sholder on the off side with a 180 grain NP (300wm). I would have taken the same shot with my 06 with equal confidance. In the grand scheme of hunting good tough bullets are pennies well spent IMHO.

Pick the one that's accurate in your gun. In my .308, Barnes works, though I've not tried anything else in it. I normally shoot 150 Ballistic Tips on hogs and deer. My 7 mag shoots GREAT with 160 Partitions.

Nosler partitions, simply because they WORK. I like Sierras, but they don't seem to do as well as Nosler for me

I know some guys don't feel like a real man unless they have the latest gee-wizz magnum and bullet, but just between you and me, the Remington CoreLokt is still one of the best large-game bullets there is (and I'm no Remington fan).

The problem with Remington CoreLokt bullets for me is that they have never grouped worth a darn for me. I have killed many deer with them, but if I am shooting at any distance over 100 yards, I am going to use a better bullet.

I'm not a big fan of monometals in standard calibers. I don't think you can drive them fast enough to take advantage of their toughness

Click to expand...

I was kinda thinking that as well, but my buddy won't shut up about how the TTSX is the best bullet ever made, yada yada.

Click to expand...

Haven't really played at all with the TTSX's, but I did shoot a large cow elk with an XLC about 5 years ago. I was shooting my 6.5x55 rifle, and had handloaded the ammo (140gr XLC) to a chrono'd MV of 2800fps. Range was 100-120 yards (paced off). IIRC the bullet shed some petals, so I don't think velocities were too low to take advantage of it's thoughness.

Now, I'll certainly allow that the TTSX's might be tougher than that old XLC load, but since I can't get them in 140gr weights so I haven't had much interest in trying them.

If you take easy broadside shots, stick with the cheap stuff you like, otherwise try Interbonds...they are strong enough and cheaper than the Triples and Partitions.

I voted for the Accubonds, Partitions are my second choice and would use them if they shot better in my rifle. I'm not a big fan of Barnes bullets, while they might be the kings in the penetration department, I haven't been impressed with how they expand.

You can take them effectively with a bow so a well placed shot with a less than premium bullet will work just fine. But....in the big picture the cost of a premium bullet is a fraction of the cost of the hunt if you aren't hunting in your back yard. Accubonds are hard to top.

I am a Barnes TSX fan for all of the larger critters. I also use larger than 30 bore calibers. Never an issue with great accuracy and quick kills every time.

I think you're going to have to spend some money, buy a few different brands, and use the one that shoots most accurately out of your rifle.

I like the Barnes TSX and TTSX:






There are folks who claim they do not expand well....but when pressed for info/evidence, they rarely have a bullet to back up the claim.

More often than not, the bullet expanded...but simply exited the animal/object ..never to be found.

Because the bullet did not stay in the animal/object....it is incorrectly surmised that it did NOT expand.

I've gotten very good results using the Barnes bullets on medium to large sized game.

Are they "necessary"? Perhaps not.

Are they good? You Betcha!

Flint.

There are folks who claim they do not expand well....but when pressed for info/evidence, they rarely have a bullet to back up the claim.

Click to expand...

I have recovered a 2 130 gr .277 TTSX bullets from deer shot at 200-300 yds, they did expand but far less than any other bullet I have used, I had to blood trail them ~400 yds, and upon gutting them, there was much less tissue damage than with softer bullets. I don't have evidence of it, I don't keep bullets that I can't use and I am not shutter happy. After those deer, my hunting buddies and me won't use Barnes bullets.

To each their own, both partitions & TSX work on game. You know what they say about opinions... I say pick whichever your rifle shoots better. Mine shoots TSX far better, I've tried both. Plus I like the idea of guaranteed no lead in the meat. I don't know if my TSX have expanded because I've never recovered one. All my elk & deer have however fallen over right away, so I'm good with it.

skiking wrote:

I have recovered a 2 130 gr .277 TTSX bullets from deer shot at 200-300 yds, they did expand but far less than any other bullet I have used, I had to blood trail them ~400 yds, and upon gutting them, there was much less tissue damage than with softer bullets. I don't have evidence of it, I don't keep bullets that I can't use and I am not shutter happy. After those deer, my hunting buddies and me won't use Barnes bullets.

Click to expand...

If you don't mind me asking...(and you can remember the details of the hunt), can you please tell me something about where these deer were hit (the wound channel/bullet path)?

Even with zero expansion...it is hard to imagine a deer traveling 400 yds. before expiring (assuming good shot placement).

I am sorry to hear of your bad experience using the Barnes bullet. It is so different from what I have experienced...that I am curious to hear more about yours.

I have used the TSX (and recently the TTSX) in 7mm-08, .308 and .458 SOCOM, all with pretty much the same results. I have yet to recover a bullet from a deer....but sometimes get one on large hogs. Never had an animal run more than 75 yds. (usually DRT).

Sounds like you might do better with the partition.

Thanks for your input,

Flint.

If it is deer and hogs I am chasing a simple Hornady spitzer has worked just fine for me in 308 (165 gr) and 270 Win (130 gr). Deer die pretty damn easy IME, particularly the little southeern whitetail that so many shoot. As such one does not need a hell for stout bullet. When I chase larger critters like elk, black bear, moose, nilgai and the larger African plains game I use the Barnes X or TSX in a larger bore caliber. That said, the 210 gr Partition has also worked beautifully for me on elk in my 338-06. I have quite a number of photos of recovered X/TSX's that display perfect expansion and dead right there performance. I am closing on a grizzly hunt for next year and you can be sure that my rifle (still debating one of my 35 Whelen's or 9.3x62's...) will be launching a TSX.

If you don't mind me asking...(and you can remember the details of the hunt), can you please tell me something about where these deer were hit (the wound channel/bullet path)?

Click to expand...

Yeah sure.

Was hunting in eastern MT, bro in law shot a 5x5 mule deer quartering away, bullet entered behind ribs and hit both lungs a little on the high side, bullet was found just under the hide. This deer ran west and piled up next to the fence on the other side of the field. His Padre shot the next one, a 4x4 mule deer, quartering towards, bullet hit both lungs and then tracked under skin into the rear leg. This one was shot at the top of a coulee, deer ran down into the coulee and north towards the river and piled up on an old road crossing the coulee. Both bullets had quite a bit of penetration.

No bones were hit either time, but both lungs were punctured on both deer. I have just been far more impressed with partitions and accubonds. They penetrate far enough and from my experience do more damage.

I voted Partition. If it aint broke, dont fix it.