30-06 Factory ammo for elk

JimP said:

I would say that you quite possibly hit him in the jugular vein and the shock of the bullet stunned his spinal cord and he just bled out.

A 212 grain bullet is what might be called big for caliber out of a 06. Sure you can find 220 grain and larger bullets for a 06 but performance falls way off when shooting them. A .300 magnum has the powder behind the bullet to keep it going where a 06 doesn't.

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The shot was in the chest just behind the shoulder. I had suggested the 200 grain instead.

JimP said:

I think that I would just stick with a 165 gr Barnes TTSX

Any round that will drop a elk will work on 90% of the plains game in Africa

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Or vice verse. I used the factory Vor-TX 168 grain 30-06 rounds on my first Namibian hunt and everything dropped quickly with one shot including a zebra and kudu. The same boxed ammo also accounted for a couple nice caribou before aI learned to reload. I still use that round in one 30-06 for moose and 150s in another for lighter game like caribou.
The Barnes 168 grain was designed for the 30-06 and the factory ammo is pretty easy to find.

That is the thing with the 06, while it will shoot the heaver bullets you are better off shooting the ones that are intended for it. Just because all the bullets are .30 caliber doesn't mean that they will work effectively out of a 06.

JimP said:

That is the thing with the 06, while it will shoot the heaver bullets you are better off shooting the ones that are intended for it. Just because all the bullets are .30 caliber doesn't mean that they will work effectively out of a 06.

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That goes both ways. The main reason the 8mm Rem Mag suffered was that most of the 8mm bullets available at the time were designed for 8x57mm performance. as with any cartridge, it's best to fit the performance of the bullet to the velocity available with the cartridge.

I have 200 grains loaded to 2720fps in a 30-06.

Lapua brass
Eldx 200 grain bullets.
58.5 grains of IMR 4955.
*Please don't go loading this without proper testing.

2720 with a 200 grain eld X is a phenomenal load. .597 ballistic coefficient at that velocity helps cut the wind like a knife.

I am not sure what you mean when you say "what it's meant for". What is what meant for? You determine what the load, caliber, etc is meant for. Your specific needs may not be the same as another. If the OP is hunting thick brush where quick shooting is needed. I would go even bigger on the bullet. As velocity won't matter considering your shooting at less than 100 yards. Is the OP shooting out in the Dakota's where he could easily be shooting at extended ranges? 30-06 is meant to shoot any sized bullet. Depending on what you want it to do is what it's "meant" to do.

I agree I wouldn't go to 212 etc. They start to get too low for overall close and distant shooting. But the 200 grain at 2700+ fps. Is more then capable of killing a elk at 400 yards +. I always suggest heavier bullets. Two reasons. 1. You can't overkill a animal. It can't die too much lol. 2. The higher BC help with those longer shots. So even the novice shooter can stretch out a little more then they normally would. Because the heavy bullet with a high BC would make hold overs much less. Although yes they would drop more. But drop is practically a constant when talking about hunting distant shots. So with some range time you would know your elevation requirements. Wind is where people make mistakes. Especially in a high pressure hunting scenario. And if we are talking about close shooting only. Then low velocity of heavy bullets wouldn't matter anyways.

dailordasailor said:

1Federal premium w/ Barnes TSX 180gr
2. Barnes VOR-TX in 180gr
3. Swift a frame 180gr

what would best option be for elk in 30-06 anywhere from sub 100yds to 400yds? These three choices seem easy to come by online

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“Best” is really subjective as all three of those would be great on elk. If going to Africa, I’d say take the Swift A-Frames but for N.A. elk any of those will drop the elk where they stand or damn close to it. Norma Oryx rounds would be a good choice as well.

Hornady 178 grain ELDX seems to be a solid performer out of the 30-06, might be worth checking out.

Another vote for Norma Oryx.