30 caliber bullets

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Lazer32

Well-known member
I have an a 300 WSM Tikka rifle that I am planning to use for an elk hunt in 2026. I was curious what 30 caliber bullets folks have used and their performance on large game species.
 
You need to decide on what type of terminal performance. Pass thru blood trail capability (at average hunting distance) or long range shooting with expansion/shock. Lead free or lead core is also a factor for some and cost. I have shot bull/cow elk with my 30TC and 165 gr Hornady SST. All one shot drt 130-187 yards, aiming to hit the off side shoulder.
 
What the first two guys said: 180 gr Accubond or the 180gr partition. Whichever is most accurate in your rifle. My dad filled a lot of tags with the good old 180gr Remington Cor-Lokt but the Nosler AB and partition are a better more modern bullet for elk.
 
I have a Kimber 8400 chambered in .300 WSM. After a bit of experimentation, I settled on handloaded 150-grain Barnes TTSX at 3280 fps. This load has worked one everything from coyotes to large bull elk. Performance is as expected with Barnes - good accuracy and generally two holes to provide a nice blood trail, if the critter doesn't just pile up right there.
 
I've only loaded Barnes TTSX 180 grain going about 2950 fps. I've only shot steel targets with these so I was curious what others have actually shot animals with.
 
If those 180-grain Barnes are accurate in your rifle, shoot them and you will not be disappointed with their performance on game. I've shot a bunch of stuff with my 150s and never felt let down.
 
My old 300 Win mag doated on 200gr SGK's...Never killed an elk but it worked well on large deer. The rifle went to an elk hunter and worked well for him.
 
Lazer32 said:
I've only loaded Barnes TTSX 180 grain going about 2950 fps. I've only shot steel targets with these so I was curious what others have actually shot animals with.
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I believe that’s what I shot my only coyote with. Barnes copper 180 grain out of my tikka 30:06. The wildlife officer was surprised it didn’t blow the coyote apart. Dropped him but wasn’t mangled or anything
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Newpond0 said:
I believe that’s what I shot my only coyote with. Barnes copper 180 grain out of my tikka 30:06. The wildlife officer was surprised it didn’t blow the coyote apart. Dropped him but wasn’t mangled or anything
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Not to surprising considering it's designed as a large game bullet. Probably minimal expansion with over penetration.
 
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I’ve only killed 2 bulls with the 190 grain accubond and wasn’t thrilled. I switched to the 212 eldx and killed 4 bulls in the next few years. I really liked the 212 eldx but that was shot in a 300 win mag.
 
Lazer32 said:
What didn't you like about the 190 grain Accubonds?
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I should have specified it was the 190 grain LR factory ammo. But I had a bull inside of 100 yards that I shot in the lungs. Turned into a rodeo and ended up trailing him a long ways before he bedded and I got another shot into the neck. Put another into him at the base of the head/neck area because he was still alive after the second shot. We gutted that one and found only one lung had damage to it. Significant but it was a broadside shot so it was surprising to see the offside lung was undamaged. The neck shot had a ton of bullet frag in the meat, which I don’t really question because that was about 75 ish yards.

The second elk, I hit square in the shoulder a little over 300 yards that bullet didn’t penetrate well. He made it into the timber and that turned into a bit of a search to get back on him. The second and third shots into the body cavity did penetrate pretty good and he died without fuss after that. Cutting that shoulder up though, there was tons of small bullet fragments like it just ripped apart.

Those are my only two experiences with that specific accubond LR bullet though. I switched to the 212 eldx and liked it. In my experience, it can fragment a bit too but I hadn’t seen anything like that LR accubond.

I shoot 108 eldms for my elk bullet now and have similar performance to the 212 eldx. Just my experiences though.
 
Hi Lazer, hope you are managing to stay warm up there :) . FWIW, I've shot a lot of nilgai cows with 165 gr. Nosler partitions in a 30-06 and .300 Win Mag before switching to the .338 Win Mag. My all time favorite bullet for Gemsbok and Nilgai in the .338 was the 210 gr NP; also used the 190 gr. Accubond which shot very close to same POI as the 210NP and performed very well on Nilgai and Scimitars. Never had any performance issues with either of the NP's, but as a rule, the AB usually edges out the NP in pinpoint accuracy.
Years ago found that Hornady 150 gr - 200 gr (IIRC) Spire points were the only cup-core bullets that didn't come unglued in a 308 Norma Mag, so Hornady is where I would start if you want to use C-C bullet.
Lots of folks love the Barnes bullets, but I was never able to get any of my rifles to shoot them to my satisfaction; maybe I just don't hold my mouth right?? :ROFLMAO:
 
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Are you buying factory ammunition or loading your own?

There are many great bullets out there for elk that I wouldn't hesitate to hunt elk with. As mentioned earlier, it just needs to shoot well in your rifle. I've killed elk with Nosler Accubonds, Berger and Hammer bullets. They all worked well. The Nolser partition is a very good choice if you are not shooting more than 400 yards and want a bullet that is effective and reliable.

There are a couple advantages to the all copper bullets like barnes, hammer, etc.
#1 - More likely to get and entrance and exit hole.
#2 - No concern about lead fragments in meat.

The advantage to bonded bullets like Nosler Accubond, Hornady ELD-X is more hydrostatic shock with reliable penetration. That hydrostatic shock tends to drop animals faster. The only 3 elk that I've killed that dropped in their tracks, were with Nosler Accubond and Berger bullets. Barnes and hammer bullets still kill the elk well but they are more likely to stay on their feet for a few seconds after shooting them.

Some people really like the non bonded bullets with thinner jackets like the Bergers or ELD-M. They will provide excellent hydrostatic shock but there is concern about penetration. They can still be excellent bullets for elk as long as you don't expect them to perform in ways they will not. For example, a guy shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor at an elk at 1000 yards in the shoulder with ELD-M and being disappointed it didn't penetrate the shoulder.

My main gun for elk is a 300 Win mag that I load with 199 gr Hammer hunters. I'm often taking my 338 Lapua with 300 gr Bergers or old 300 win mag with 180 grain Accubonds as a back up guns on elk hunts.
 
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