30-06 Ammo Setup for Elk

[Buckbrush]

Oh nice but for the price I don't think I'm going to be rushing to buy any.

 

[pilsner]

Why the worry about cup-n-core bullets since the Federal Fusion is a bonded bullet?

 

[Don Fischer]

My experience has been nothing but poor kills and full core/jacket separations.

With the reputation core-Lock has I would say you need a bunch of work either on your shooting skills or understanding shot placement. No bullet will ever get the reputation of Core-locks by proforming the way your talking about, no bullet!

 

[Don Fischer]

I agree, 180 grain in anything but FMJ or match bullets should kill an elk. I have stepped down to 165 for mule deer and African plains game just for a little more range. For decades I hunted elk and moose tracking them in snow so shots were usually fairly close. 180 gr cup-and-core worked well for that but I did experiment with 190 gr towards the end (bullet no longer made by Hornady).

Don't try to fix what isn't broken.

I like most of the things you have to say but I believe your off base here. FMJ and Match bullet's correctly placed will kill, period. Are they good choices? I don't think so. We don't always take good shots and using something like match bullet's and FMJ's require great bullet placement and general placement other than normally spoken of.

Bear in mind your trying to kill. How careful would you be if what you were trying to kill would come try to kill you if you screwed it up? My elk bullet of choice in my 30-06 in a 180gr Hornady Inter lock. Lot of people look down on them, just cup and core bullets. But I don't take shots through heavy meat and bone. have used that 30-06 on three elk and all one shot kills! That generally does not happen by accident.

Now would the FMJ or Match Bullet be my reasonable choice for hunting, not a chance!

I think the ability of the cartridge and the bullet is greatly over done. Crippling or missing an animal is really not hard to do and has nothing to do with the cartridge or the bullet! I think maybe the most failsafe bullet's just might be the monolithic bullet's, I don't use them because of cost and with them if you make a bac shot, the bullet is not going to change a thing. A good shot with a cup and core bullet will kill better and faster than a bad shot with the most expensive bullet you can find! I believe the only real problem with bullet's is understanding them. A 130gr 30 cal bullet in a 30-06 will kill an elk. Problem comes in on how to place it that will make the kill! To get around a lot of the placement problems, go up to say the 180gr bullet. The 180gr bullet will still fail if not properly placed but because of it's construction and lower velocity and greater weight the good placement opens up doors!

I use 180's because of the door's it opens for me. If necessary I could kill an elk with my 22 mag! it's all simply killing!

 

[OntarioHunter]

I like most of the things you have to say but I believe your off base here. FMJ and Match bullet's correctly placed will kill, period. Are they good choices? I don't think so. We don't always take good shots and using something like match bullet's and FMJ's require great bullet placement and general placement other than normally spoken of.

Bear in mind your trying to kill. How careful would you be if what you were trying to kill would come try to kill you if you screwed it up? My elk bullet of choice in my 30-06 in a 180gr Hornady Inter lock. Lot of people look down on them, just cup and core bullets. But I don't take shots through heavy meat and bone. have used that 30-06 on three elk and all one shot kills! That generally does not happen by accident.

Now would the FMJ or Match Bullet be my reasonable choice for hunting, not a chance!

I think the ability of the cartridge and the bullet is greatly over done. Crippling or missing an animal is really not hard to do and has nothing to do with the cartridge or the bullet! I think maybe the most failsafe bullet's just might be the monolithic bullet's, I don't use them because of cost and with them if you make a bac shot, the bullet is not going to change a thing. A good shot with a cup and core bullet will kill better and faster than a bad shot with the most expensive bullet you can find! I believe the only real problem with bullet's is understanding them. A 130gr 30 cal bullet in a 30-06 will kill an elk. Problem comes in on how to place it that will make the kill! To get around a lot of the placement problems, go up to say the 180gr bullet. The 180gr bullet will still fail if not properly placed but because of it's construction and lower velocity and greater weight the good placement opens up doors!

I use 180's because of the door's it opens for me. If necessary I could kill an elk with my 22 mag! it's all simply killing!

Okay, a better choice of words was needed. Sure FMJ and match bullets could kill an elk but not a good choice. Less trauma with FMJ and less likelihood of exit wound using match bullets. Less likelihood of finding the elk if shot placement is off a bit.

 

[old roper 42]

With the reputation core-Lock has I would say you need a bunch of work either on your shooting skills or understanding shot placement. No bullet will ever get the reputation of Core-locks by proforming the way your talking about, no bullet!

 

[old roper 42]

I'm not sure he's posting about Remington bullets. This what he posted.

Had more issues with federal and Winchester core-lost style bullets having jacket/core separation and just not doing the job. All solid chest hits.

 

[Farmerj]

Because Remington is such high quality stuff…

 

[Don Fischer]

I'm not sure he's posting about Remington bullets. This what he posted.

Had more issues with federal and Winchester core-lost style bullets having jacket/core separation and just not doing the job. All solid chest hits.

I haven't heard much about Federal but have read about failure's with the Winchester silver tips. I would not be to crazy about jacket core seperation but in truth even if they do separate, the core keeps going. One thing that kept me with Hornady years ago was shooting them into a stack of newspaper from 100 yds. The core was loose in every one of them but none separated. I could turn those core's with my finger's in the jacket's!

I see what your saying. I don't think Federal or Winchester either made a core lock style. Closest I've seen was the Speer mag tip. The lead was just barely past the tip in them. Seems that most the lead core bullet's Ive ever seem has had more lead tip exposed than the core lock except the Speer mag tip. When Speer brought it out they showed a normal lead core exiting a barrel and the tip had melted down and it looked like a mag tip. Difference with the Speer is it was a bonded, hot core.

 

[old roper 42]

Because Remington is such high quality stuff…
View attachment 250944

Where is your Federal and Win ammo?

 

[Farmerj]

Where is your Federal and Win ammo?

You get what you get when you’re trying to source brass with the correct headstamp

 

[Red-Team 98]

Highly Recommend Federal Premium 180gr Nosler Part or Accubond for Elk
If you handload 55.0 of IMR 4350 with Fed Brass and Fed 210M primer with 180gr Part

 

[David58]

Going to try the Remington CoreLockt Tipped. Bought two boxes - if my rifle likes it, I likely won't have to buy much more.

David
NM

 

[Red-Team 98]

Going to try the Remington CoreLockt Tipped. Bought two boxes - if my rifle likes it, I likely won't have to buy much more.

David
NM

I expect Rem Tipped will perform similar to Nosler Ballistic Tips in game performance.

 

[Mallardsx2]

180 grain cor-loks.