I ended up happening into a Ruger American in 30-06, which is a nice story in and of itself since I had planned on buying a Weat

[jdwood]

I ended up happening into a Ruger American in 30-06, which is a nice story in and of itself since I had planned on buying a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in .270. But to the question, what would you say is the best all around 30-06 grain cartridge that you would feel comfortable taking both deer and larger game such as elk with that would allow you to only sight your rifle in once.

[99explorer]

For many years, deer hunters switched to 180-grain 30-06 bullets for elk hunting, but with today's controlled-expansion bullets, many hunters are comfortable using 150-grain bullets for both deer and elk.

[JPMNTMAN]

165 grain accubonds nosler

[WA Mtnhunter]

I can say from personal experience that a 165 grain Barnes TSX or TTSX will get the job done in a .30-06 Sprg. That is the only load I use in mine for deer and elk.

[357]

WA and i are of a like mind on this one 165 barnes are my go to for deer and elk

[Treestand]

With to-days Ammo.The 165GrTSX is the way to go,Zero in 1/2"High @ 100Yd your good to 265+Yd for a one time zero.

[DEER30]

I have experimented over the years and found that 180 gr. Federals perform best through my Remington model 700.
I can get 3 shots touching at 100 yards. 3" high at 100 = dead on at 200 and 8" hold over at 300.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Go with 180 grain. I don't like the damage that 165 grain causes and not enough knock down power either. A lot of guys want to go with the lighter bullet to stretch the distance. Don't do that. Take good safe shots at 200 or maybe 250 yards max. There are times that I could barely get the job done on moose and elk with 180 grain (that would be 13 elk and 6 moose total - see my profile for some of them). Don't heat up the loads either. No need for that. 200 yards and it's either going to be dead or your going to know you hit it hard for sure (providing the placement is correct). Long distance shooting belongs on the range. The paper targets aren't going to walk away and die somewhere.

[Amflyer]

Here is the thing about Barnes bullets: Being all-copper, they aren't as heavy as lead core bullets. The length of a TTSX 165 gr is going to be really similar to an 180 grain Accubond, or partition, or what have you. So the BC is better.

Also, with a partition or Accubond, your retained weight is going to be great, but not the near 100% you'll see with the Barnes. Chances are, the retained weight of both will be very close. It's pretty common to drop down a bullet weight with the TSX and TTSX's.

Penetration will be very close as well. Penetration is what you are after for big game like elk. You need to get that bullet into the vital organs and break them. That's what takes down game. A well-made bullet of sufficient caliber is going to do the job just fine.

Do keep in mind that the copper bullets have a minimum velocity for expansion. Don't expect a beautiful picture-book case of expansion for a TSX traveling 1500 FPS. Bu then, you shouldn't be shooting from that far anyway, should you.

[WA Mtnhunter]

On expansion of TSX and TTSX, the TTSX expands more quickly than the TTSX due to the polymer tip and larget HP cavity. Both are designed to adequately expand at 1,800+ fps impact velocity. A 165 gr factory load is only going about 100 fps faster than a 180, so the BC does matter here. On a similar note, if you are concerned about 15 grains of bullet weight, you need to get a bigger gun in the first place. 30 grains weight is another matter with a lighter bullet with a lower BC. I use 150 grain Barnes TTSX in my 7mm Wby mag and it shoots clean through elk at 250+ yards DRT, but it is stil moving 2,800 fps at that range.....just sayin'

[jdwood]

Thank you for all the input, if I can find some ammo anytime soon I will put some of these to the test to figure out what my rifle likes best.

[DakotaMan]

I'm gearing up for my first elk hunt and I'll be using WAM's favorite bullet in my 30-06 back up rifle. I'm not worried about a one shot zero though as I'll probably shoot a few hundred getting accustomed to that load. I like the Barnes bullets and will certainly use them for elk based on WAM's experience with them.