Top 5 30-06 Ammo for Elk Hunting
The 30-06 Springfield cartridge has been one of the most prolific cartridges for elk and other big game over the last 50 years. The 30-06 is an incredibly versatile cartridge and there is a load for nearly every shooting discipline. Here are a few things to look out for when choosing your next 30-06 elk round.
Bullet Weight
With most bullet weights in the 150-180 grain range, and a muzzle velocity over 2,700 fps, the 30-06 is a great choice for elk out to several hundred yards. The 30-06 offers plenty of knockdown power for big game, but still has a very manageable recoil for a comfortable hunting experience.
Bullet Style
Soft Point – Soft point rounds are incredibly popular for 30-06 rifles. They have been trusted by generations of hunters because of their devastating would channels and energy transfer. You can find soft point bullets in popular ammo lines, like Hornady American Whitetail, Federal Power-Shok, and Remington Core Lokt.
Polymer Tip – Polymer-tipped bullets offer impressive ballistic coefficients for long-range accuracy and consistently devastating expression. If you’re looking to take down big game at several hundred yards, polymer-tipped ammo like the Barnes VOR-TX, Sierra GameChanger, and Nosler Trophy Grade lines are great additions to your ammo supply.
Range of Rifle Options
The 30-06 Winchester is chambered in countless rifle lines, giving hunters plenty of options. Without a quality rifle and barrel, the right ammunition can’t do much. Choose a 30-06 rifle from brands like Browning, Bergara, Remington, and more!
This list is our 5 best 30-06 hunting cartridges for elk hunting,
you can check out all 30-06 ammo here.
Hornady Outfitter 30-06 Springfield Ammo 180 Grain Hornady CX Polymer Tip Lead Free Box of 20
From the backcountry to the back-forty, trust your hunt to Hornady Outfitter ammunition. Featuring corrosion resistant nickel-plated cases that are sealed watertight and topped with the accurate and rugged CX bullet, Outfitter ammunition is designed to perform under the toughest conditions. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer-primed, reloadable nickel-plated, brass cases.
The CX (Copper alloy eXpanding) bullet from Hornady represents the most advanced monolithic hunting bullet on the market. Its optimized design offers extended range performance, greater accuracy, high weight retention, and deep penetration. One-piece copper alloy won't separate and delivers devastating terminal performance, deep penetration, and 95% weight retention. The Heat Shield® Tip is made of a heat resistant polymer that resists aerodynamic heating and provides a consistently high BC for the bullet's entire flight path. The Heat Shield® tip also gives the bullet a perfect meplat (tip) for bullet-to-bullet and lot-to-lot consistency. The grooves on the CX bullet maximize aerodynamic performance while effectively reducing bearing surface and fouling. Fully California compatible and appropriate for use in other areas that require nontraditional bullets, CX provides a great option for everything from medium-size to large game.
Features
- Monolithic copper alloy
- Heat shield tip
- Optimum groove geometry
What Customers Are Saying
Pleasantly Surprised
This is a great bullet first time using it. The ammo line was first rate also. The rounds are sealed at the bullet and primer for maximum moister resistance. It shot under a MOA in my rifle. We shot an elk at 15y with it. The bullet hit high shoulder and bottom of the spine. We found the bullet right under the skin on far side. The bull dropped in tracks and then was given another round to finish it. This round went through the ribs and lungs. We recovered it and it was the prettiest mushroom you have ever seen. It has changed my mind about all copper bullets.- firetool, 11/4/2022
About Hornady
“Ten bullets through one hole” is the philosophy that brought Hornady® Manufacturing from a two-man operation in 1949, to a world-leading innovator of bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture today. Change is their constant and daily challenge. They outperform their competitors by ensuring the products they make are the ones their customers need right now, and accurately predict what they’ll want in the future. They recognize trends, and respect when to leave well enough alone. Their workforce includes an ample number of hunters and competitive shooters, as well as veterans and former law enforcement officers. At Hornady® Manufacturing, ammunition is more than their livelihood. It’s a major part of their daily life.
Shop NowBarnes VOR-TX Long Range 30-06 Springfield Ammo 175 Grain Barnes Long Range X (LRX) Polymer Tip Lead Free Box of 20
Barnes ammunition is manufactured to precise tolerances to ensure excellent accuracy and consistent velocities. VOR-TX LR is an extreme-distance load combining super-premium components that are assembled with a level of precision never before attained in factory ammunition. Each box includes ballistic charts that identify the G1 ballistic coefficient and address variables such as velocity, drop, energy and wind deflection – calculated at sea level and 5000 feet elevation. VOR-TX LR achieves match-grade accuracy and unmatched terminal performance on game at close and extreme distances delivers the quick, clean, ethical kills you’ve come to expect from Barnes. Distance can change all it wants. The terminal performance of VOR-TX LR never will. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer-primed, reloadable nickel plated brass cases.
The Long-Range X Bullet (LRX) line is designed after the best-selling Tipped Triple-Shock X Bullet, the LRX bullet design increases Ballistic Coefficient values by increasing ogive and boat tail lengths to improve the bullets' long-range ballistic performance. For the hunter who is confident in long-range hunting, the LRX will fill the niche of this new hunting craze. LRX bullets will continue to be manufactured with the proven 100-percent copper, lead-free bodies. The bullet's polymer tip initiates expansion, causing the nose cavity to open instantly on contact doubling the bullet's original diameter while creating four cutting petals that wreak extensive internal damage. Exceptional performance means clean, quick kill.
What Customers Are Saying
You pay for a rifle once, ammunition every time you shoot.
For the money this ammunition shoots very well through my wife's 30-06. I shot this load and got the scope dialed in. Multiple touching shots at 100 yards with the first box of 20. We have never had to track an animal that this bullet has hit. Multiple trips to Africa and our PH always compliments how well the LRX bullet performs. Does not destroy the meat but does anchor the animals effectively. Have recovered a couple of projectiles from longer shots, 100% integrity.- HAWGSS, 2/7/2020
About Barnes
Barnes Bullets was founded in 1932 by Fred Barnes in Bayfield, CO. After 42 years in business, Fred sold Barnes Bullets to passionate hunters Randy and Coni Brooks who moved the business to American Fork, Utah. Randy and Coni were hunting brown bears in Alaska during the fall of 1985 when Randy conceived the idea of an expanding copper bullet. This prototype became the X Bullet, and its lineage continues today through five generations of improvement to the TSX, Tipped TSX, and LRX bullets you see today. Barnes Bullets produces a wide variety of components for the handloader, including lead-free and traditional lead-core bullets. Barnes also makes lead-free bullets specifically for muzzleloader hunting, in both hollow point and polymer-tipped versions. MidwayUSA also offers a comprehensive line of Barnes-manufactured ammunition including the popular VOR-TX product line.
Shop NowBarnes VOR-TX 30-06 Springfield Ammo 168 Grain Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock X Polymer Tip Lead Free Box of 20
Barnes bullets have historically had the reputation of offering quick, clean and humane kills. Now they are taking their highly regarded bullets to the next level loading them in ammunition.
Like its Triple-Shock cousin, the Tipped Triple-Shock bullet delivers the same "three strikes you're out" rule. Once as it strikes game, two as the bullet begins to open and a third impact when the cavity fully expands to deliver extra shock with maximum transferred energy. The added polymer tip creates a faster expansion rate as well as better long range ballistics. Ideal for deer-sized game.
VOR-TX ammunition is manufactured to precise tolerances to ensure excellent accuracy and consistent velocities. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer-primed, reloadable brass cases.
What Customers Are Saying
Accurate and deadly on African PG
Just returned from a PG hunt in South Africa using this ammunition. Prior to the hunt, it grouped less than 1" at 200 yards in my Blaser R93. Shot better than my handloads with the same bullet, so I brought these factory loaded rounds on the hunt. It is a warm load. Slight case head expansion and semi-flattened primers noted in both my R93 and a custom VZ24 Mauser. Still, it extracted and ejected perfectly. Sighted dead on at 200 yards, it was 2.75" high at 100 yards. Performed perfectly on multiple PG species at ranges between 80 and just over 200 yards. Multiple one shot kills, usually with an exit wound. This is now my go to round in .30/06 for everything except leopard. If a leopard was on the menu, I would use a much softer bullet for a first shot on a cat. Highly recommended!- Mark, 6/16/2018
About Barnes
Barnes Bullets was founded in 1932 by Fred Barnes in Bayfield, CO. After 42 years in business, Fred sold Barnes Bullets to passionate hunters Randy and Coni Brooks who moved the business to American Fork, Utah. Randy and Coni were hunting brown bears in Alaska during the fall of 1985 when Randy conceived the idea of an expanding copper bullet. This prototype became the X Bullet, and its lineage continues today through five generations of improvement to the TSX, Tipped TSX, and LRX bullets you see today. Barnes Bullets produces a wide variety of components for the handloader, including lead-free and traditional lead-core bullets. Barnes also makes lead-free bullets specifically for muzzleloader hunting, in both hollow point and polymer-tipped versions. MidwayUSA also offers a comprehensive line of Barnes-manufactured ammunition including the popular VOR-TX product line.
Shop NowHornady Precision Hunter 30-06 Springfield Ammo 178 Grain Hornady ELD-X Polymer Tip Box of 20
Accuracy and terminal performance are the cornerstones of Hornady Precision Hunter factory loaded ammunition. Great care has been given by Hornady engineers to develop superior, match-accurate hunting loads that allow the ELD-X bullet to achieve its maximum ballistic potential.
Propellants used in the Precision Hunter ammunition line are clean burning and loaded to uniform capacity for consistent shot to shot results regardless of temperature. This attention to detail provides the highest levels of accuracy and performance uniformity for the most demanding and diverse hunting situations.
Features
- BEST-IN-CLASS BCS - Verified by Doppler radar, the Heat Shield tip defies the effects of aerodynamic heating and retains its shape to maintain the highest-in-class BC over its entire trajectory.
- MATCH ACCURATE HUNTING BULLET - Streamlined secant ogive with optimum boattail design + highly concentric AMP bullet jackets + Heat Shield tip combine for radically superior aerodynamic efficiency.
- DEVASTATING CONVENTIONAL RANGE PERFORMANCE - With high velocity, 0-400 yard impact, the bullet continually expands throughout its penetration path. The thick shank of the jacket and high InterLock ring keep the core and jacket together providing 50-60% weight retention.
- BEST EXTENDED RANGE TERMINAL PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE - Upon low velocity, 400+ yard impacts, the Heat Shield tip drives backward into the bullet to initiate expansion. Exhibiting controlled expansion with a large mushroom and 85-90% retained weight, the bullet provides deep penetration and large cavities. Available as component bullets or in factory loaded Precision Hunter ammunition.
What Customers Are Saying
Perfect LR CX2 bullet
This factory ammo helped turn my 34yo Vanguard back into a sub-MOA rifle. Older .30-06s seem to really gravitate to the heavier, slower bullets and mine was no different. It had been struggling to group even 2" with 150gr Remington Hypersonics,which got discontinued and thus forced a switched to these and it's like a whole new rifle. A WORD OF CAUTION: these are thin-jacketed, cup and core bullets with relatively big hollow points and a weak interlocking ring. In my opinion, the ELD-X bullet is an ideal low-velocity bullet (< 2600fps) for Class 2 game. I took a whitetail doe at 85yds, DRT, 0 steps and literally knocked her for a flip, awesome damage. Next up was a 3yo whitetail buck at only 60 yds, complete jacket and core seperation and no exit wound, jacket was mangled up against the opposite side hide and lead fragments seemingly went everywhere during his cleaning. He was still DRT as he ate every ft/lb of energy that bullet had but I caution hunters that are realistically just shooting whitetails unde...- DK, 2/19/2019
About Hornady
“Ten bullets through one hole” is the philosophy that brought Hornady® Manufacturing from a two-man operation in 1949, to a world-leading innovator of bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture today. Change is their constant and daily challenge. They outperform their competitors by ensuring the products they make are the ones their customers need right now, and accurately predict what they’ll want in the future. They recognize trends, and respect when to leave well enough alone. Their workforce includes an ample number of hunters and competitive shooters, as well as veterans and former law enforcement officers. At Hornady® Manufacturing, ammunition is more than their livelihood. It’s a major part of their daily life.
Shop NowFederal Premium Terminal Ascent 30-06 Springfield Ammo 175 Grain Bonded Polymer Tip
Federal Premium Terminal Ascent Ammunition allows you to go beyond what you ever thought possible. Any hunt. Any range. Bonded construction penetrates deep on close targets, while the patented Slipstream polymer tip initiates expansion at velocities 200 fps lower than comparable designs. The bullet’s long, sleek profile offers an extremely high ballistic coefficient, and its AccuChannel groove technology improves accuracy and minimizes drag. Now available in a full selection of long-range hunting cartridges. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable nickel plated brass cases.
Features
- Match-grade long-range accuracy in a bonded hunting bullet
- Extremely high ballistic coefficient
- Exclusive Slipstream polymer tip helps flatten trajectories and initiate low-velocity expansion
- Less wind drift and drop
- AccuChannel groove technology minimizes drag
- Copper shank and bonded lead core retain weight for deep penetration at any range
What Customers Are Saying
Accurate and DRT Terminal Performer
Used these for whitetail hunting out of an older Remington 700. Nice rifle, but not the most accurate - usually get about 1.5" to 1.75" 5-shot groups in factory ammo. However, the test groups with the Terminal Ascent 175gn gave me 0.95", 1.15" and 1.03" 5-shot groups. Both deer shot with this load went straight down. Wound channel and exit hole about what you'd expect from a non-fragmented bullet.- Tom, 2/12/2023
About Federal Premium
Federal Cartridge Company, as we know it today, started in 1922 when Charles Horn purchased Federal Cartridge and Machine out of receivership. Federal’s first products were shotshells, followed by rimfire in 1924. In 1976, Federal Premium was launched, combining boutique bullets with premium propellants and nickel-plated brass to create the “best of the best” in centerfire ammunition. Over a century later, MidwayUSA offers a complete spectrum of Federal ammunition, ranging from shotshell offerings like: Top-Gun, High Over All, Game Loads, Gold Medal Grand, and Prairie Storm; and centerfire rifle ammunition such as Fusion, Power-Shok, Gold Medal Match, Meat Eater; to centerfire pistol ammunition: HST, Punch, and American Eagle. Federal continues to manufacture rimfire ammo in the form of AutoMatch, Champion, and Game-shok. Federal supports handloaders with standard: small pistol, small rifle, large pistol, large rifle, 209 shotshell primers, and the Gold Medal-series match primers.
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