168 TTSX, 165 Interbond, 178 ELD-X...30-06 dangerous game?

[Nomosendero]

Yes, I used some of the early X Bullets and they were "hard" or poor expanders, just as the "old" Nosler Bal. Tips were too "soft" and were quite explosive.
I find the recent TTSX or tipped Barnes to have it about right if the BC matches your distances where you shoot game. I would say the OP would not have to worry about that part for his friend until or unless this person reaches that experience level, then that will take care of it's self.

I shoot nothing but 168 TTSX out of my 300 RUM and my 30-06. I only had one issue out of the 06, and and found out why. The shot was over 400 yards and, as it turned out, the bullets I loaded were from one of the first batches Barnes made, and were designed for magnums only. Basically, the bullet didn't expand. I've had no issues since, and I get .5 moa.

 

[DynamicAVP]

Unfortunately, my LabRadar died a horrible death halfway through today's session,

How does that happen?! Did it fail or did you somehow shoot it?

 

[DynamicAVP]

Before I get a herd of folks screaming NON OF THE ABOVE!!!!!

Those are the choices I have. Period. End of story.

Why? (not "end of story" I guess) I'm loading up some ammo for a buddy who's new to shooting. The rifle is an older 700 ADL, and he's just dipping his toes in the water. He hopes to learn to shoot, perhaps hunt NY whitetail, and maybe even someday do some "big game hunting out west". If the latter ever happens, I'll be tailoring him an appropriate load at that time.

Thing is, he's got a little bit of a "zombie apocalypse" thing (no worse than the rest of us, I assure you), and would like to at least possess something more "lethal" than the 178 ELD-M load I'm gonna feed him for targets and whitetail.

All I have in hand is a few leftovers of the aforementioned 168 TTSX, 165 Interbond, and 178 ELD-X. I'm not gonna buy $40 worth of bullets for 10 rounds to go in his "what if a bear?!?!" kit. He won't either. The TTSX and IB didn't shoot well in my 308 LAR-8 some years back, so they're essentially free as they've been collecting dust on my shelf.

So...Which do you think would be the best for relatively close range penetration/doom/destruction on lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)? I'm not going to go into load development beyond some chrony data to find a decent speed.

I'm leaning towards the TTSX, but have absolutely ZERO experience killing anything with any of them.

I am sorry if I'm thick headed, but where do you indicate he will be hunting dangerous game? I see mention of possibly going out west and a little "zombie apocalypse" anxiety. Yes there are grizzlies out west but there's really not much considered "dangerous game" out west. Most encounters are with black bears, which kill more people than grizzlies, but there not very big. I know people who kill them with 243's. If the need to defend his house is needed, he's not gonna want something that over penetrates and keeps moving to the next house.

So any bullet that groups well will work here for N. America, would be my guess

 

[memtb]

If memory serves Jack O'Conner used 220's in the 06 for brown bears and noted he got a pass through every time. He dropped down to 180's and I think was satisfied with that. So any 180 cup and core with decent weight retention and I'm sure about any 165 bonded or monolithic would work for hunting.

As best I can recall, Ole Jack rarely hunted without a guide when hunting......except perhaps Coues Deer. If hunting alone for dangerous game or in country were dangerous game abounds...."better is better"! Many folks kill the big bears or dangerous African game with handguns, but dangerous game handgun hunting may not be as popular.....without that guide with that big "stopping" cartridge! We can takes risks, live on the edge without fear.....provided someone is there to "bail" us out! JMO. memtb

 

[rustyshackleford]

As best I can recall, Ole Jack rarely hunted without a guide when hunting......except perhaps Coues Deer. If hunting alone for dangerous game or in country were dangerous game abounds...."better is better"! Many folks kill the big bears or dangerous African game with handguns, but dangerous game handgun hunting may not be as popular.....without that guide with that big "stopping" cartridge! We can takes risks, live on the edge without fear.....provided someone is there to "bail" us out! JMO. memtb

For sure. I'm not saying it's a "bear stopper" by any stretch but that it has been used to take bears before without incident. As for a 100% bear stopper, it's probably mounted on a turret or it's the thing the turret is mounted to.

 

[Allen Kitts]

The tipped Triple Shock would get my vote because I think it is a great bullet, just my opinion. I have killed a lot of animals with these bullets just not this particular caliber. I have shot animals with the 7mm version of the ELD-X and none of them have gone anywhere. I am sure if he gets one of them to shoot good out of his rifle any of them will do just fine.

 

[entoptics]

How does that happen?! Did it fail or did you somehow shoot it?

Well over 1000 rounds of braked 300WM, and half again that many other rifles, rattled it's guts loose I think. There's been something rattling inside for awhile, and yesterday, something else broke loose.

 

[DLJ6]

Another vote for the Barnes pills. Ive been loading their stuff since the '90s and it has never let me down.

 

[Jerry M]

NATO vintage 1960's still in stripper clips

Sorry NATO adopted the 7.62X51 in 1957. Definitely not .30-06 surplus in 1960....

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/79a3/03b5cddc58558495656e1142460d4206c1f9.pdf

Round Nose was used by some countries as late as WW II, Italy comes to mind. But I'm not aware of any countries loading 220 FMJ .30-06 after WW I.

That being said, I do know that modern .30 caliber FMJ bullets are manufactured.

Good Luck

Jerry

 

[One Hole]

I live and hunt in North Idaho and my goto hunting rig (for deer, elk and black bear) is a 30-06 with 165 or 168 TTSX or TSX (I actually like the non-tipped TSX) better for expansion. I've been hunting with these for over 20 years and have always been impressed with the terminal effects. 90% of my hunting is within 200yds where the 30-06 has plenty of velocity to expand the TSX. I wouldn't advocate using them at ranges where impact velocity drops Barnes recommendations.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

I use 165 gr Sierra Game Kings or Nosler Partitions or Accubond and 168 Barnes TTSX respectively ahead of 57 grs IMR 4350, CCI BR-2 primers and Lapua Brass. gotta tweak 'em a bit given the bullet but around 57 grs. I get 2820 out of that and never had anything but DRT kills out to 300 yds or so, just never had a shot longer when I was carrying that rig. Nothing on the planet you can't kill with a 30-06...ask Ernest Hemingway! Africa PHs love that caliber and the lowly .308 Win or 7X57. My wife slayed 'em hard with a 7mm-08 and 145 Barnes LRX for comparison sake.

 

[DSheetz]

hum I seem to recall some 175 gr 30-06 rounds in Vietnam special use rounds .

 

[Jerry M]

That was the .30-06 M72 Match ammunition loaded with the 173 grain FMJ projectile. That same projectile was also loaded in the 7.65x51 (NATO) M118 Match ammunition. Both cartridges were used by snipers in Vietman. They were not round nose projectile.

Good Luck

Jerry

 

[DSheetz]

Cpt. Worrel used a Winchester model 70 chambered in 30-06 with a Unertal scope on it during the day and an M14 chambered in 7.62x51 with a starlight scope for night time use . It's kind of spookie when you see a green circle looking back at you during the dead of knight because you know that guy has you in his scope too .