30-06 bullet weight
- Thread starter chuckAA
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milkbone96
Member
- Location
- Southern shores of Georgian Bay
The 180gr Trophy Bonded Tip (factory Federal Premium ammo) has always been a solid performer for me.
nomad 68
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Imo, the .30/06 is at it's best for deer and moose with a 165 gr bullet. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't need a cannon to kill a moose.
What makes it a "sweet spot"? Having reviewed the ballistics from different manufacturers and considering that about 1500 ft lbs is good for moose and we wouldn't need to push that just to blow bigger holes in the deer...I like the 165. I only shoot within 350 yards and I use 150 when I don't have a moose tag but shoot deer as well with 165 when I do.
^ this quote
Take three different 06’s (or any Cal for that matter) and they’ll rarely shoot the same ammo and get the exact same results. One may like one 180’s, another 150’s and the last 165’s. People need to realize that it may take 2-3 boxes of different grain weights to get their accuracy.
For mine it was 168gr Barnes TTSX
milkbone96
Member
- Location
- Southern shores of Georgian Bay
I think Longitude said it best... go with whatever shoots the best out of your particular setup.
When getting my stuff figgered out, I tried 165, 168, 178, 180, and 200. I hunt deer in ON and moose somewhat regularly in NL.
My Tikkas liked the 180 the best, followed closely by the 168s, so thats what I went with. YMMV.
When getting my stuff figgered out, I tried 165, 168, 178, 180, and 200. I hunt deer in ON and moose somewhat regularly in NL.
My Tikkas liked the 180 the best, followed closely by the 168s, so thats what I went with. YMMV.
165 Core-Lok by Remington....
The sweet spot is determined by the rifle!
Some like a certain bullet weight or loading while the next rifle with a sequential serial number in the same chambering may like a totally different loading and bullet weight.
You must determine through testing what bullet weight and loading your rifle prefers.
For 30/06 think simpler is better, blue box Federal’s seem to have fairly broad acceptability across their normal weight offerings (150, 165, 180)
Oh ya and if you’re a factory fodder shooter, and you find your sweetheart load, stock up on the same lot number, because factories will change primers and powders quite often with lot number changes…..
Some like a certain bullet weight or loading while the next rifle with a sequential serial number in the same chambering may like a totally different loading and bullet weight.
You must determine through testing what bullet weight and loading your rifle prefers.
For 30/06 think simpler is better, blue box Federal’s seem to have fairly broad acceptability across their normal weight offerings (150, 165, 180)
Oh ya and if you’re a factory fodder shooter, and you find your sweetheart load, stock up on the same lot number, because factories will change primers and powders quite often with lot number changes…..
Shoot what is most accurate goes without saying for me in any rifle or cartridge combination so try a few and use what works.
I’m a reloader and love the versatility of the 30/06 so I tend to use different loads for different purposes just keep in mind the POI needs to be adjusted between them.
For moose I favour 180’s and personally like the partitions.
For smaller coastal deer most shots are usually short range (0-150 yards) and I’ve found the 150’s can group excellent with the bullets I’ve tried and leaves devastating results on game with very mild recoil.
I’ve purchase a quantity of 130 Barnes to try in both the 30/06 and 308 but haven’t had the time to do load development as of yet but for smaller game the published numbers do stimulate the curiosity…
I’d like to say if I was inland hunting deer with potentially longer ranges and bigger animals I’d go up to the 165 grain bullet but if I find myself in that geography my primary target is moose so the 180 bullet is what’s with me but if deer was the primary target I’d definitely develop a 165 load for that task.
But these are my preferences and nobody’s suggestions are wrong, the 30/06 is just that versatile for the multitude of conditions and game which why it’s so popular…over a hundred years old and is still the benchmark used to compare against.
I’m a reloader and love the versatility of the 30/06 so I tend to use different loads for different purposes just keep in mind the POI needs to be adjusted between them.
For moose I favour 180’s and personally like the partitions.
For smaller coastal deer most shots are usually short range (0-150 yards) and I’ve found the 150’s can group excellent with the bullets I’ve tried and leaves devastating results on game with very mild recoil.
I’ve purchase a quantity of 130 Barnes to try in both the 30/06 and 308 but haven’t had the time to do load development as of yet but for smaller game the published numbers do stimulate the curiosity…
I’d like to say if I was inland hunting deer with potentially longer ranges and bigger animals I’d go up to the 165 grain bullet but if I find myself in that geography my primary target is moose so the 180 bullet is what’s with me but if deer was the primary target I’d definitely develop a 165 load for that task.
But these are my preferences and nobody’s suggestions are wrong, the 30/06 is just that versatile for the multitude of conditions and game which why it’s so popular…over a hundred years old and is still the benchmark used to compare against.
For deer, anything you want basically. If I only ran the aught six for deer and elk, and had two bullet choices, I would use the 120 Barnes tac-tx for deer, and the 190 nosler accubond long range for elk.
The 30-06 will run that tac-tx easily from 3300-3500fps, depending on barrel length and powder choice. But they you can hold exactly where you want to hit a deer out to a little over 300 yards without any drop compensation. And very little drop out to 500, easily compensated for.
The 190 accubond long range is right in the sweet spot for the velocity the 30-06 launches it at. I choose the long range version to get a slightly longer range with expansion than running a typical 180 grain bonded bullet. Any premium 180 grain is a great choice as well, I just believe the 190 ABLR is a bit better choice to make the cartridge punch a I've it's weight. If you only shoot elk to a hundred yards, load up some 220's.
The 30-06 will run that tac-tx easily from 3300-3500fps, depending on barrel length and powder choice. But they you can hold exactly where you want to hit a deer out to a little over 300 yards without any drop compensation. And very little drop out to 500, easily compensated for.
The 190 accubond long range is right in the sweet spot for the velocity the 30-06 launches it at. I choose the long range version to get a slightly longer range with expansion than running a typical 180 grain bonded bullet. Any premium 180 grain is a great choice as well, I just believe the 190 ABLR is a bit better choice to make the cartridge punch a I've it's weight. If you only shoot elk to a hundred yards, load up some 220's.
They are all good hahaha. So I have a rifle shooting 168gr accubond long range, one shooting 190gr Speer impact, on shooting 165gr corlock factory, I use to shoot tsx, TTSX, gmx all 180gr, I’ve shot 200 and 220gr bullets as well, all seems to shoot plenty good enough for hunting to 300m, best(most accurate) factory was 178gr Eldx but I won’t use that anymore.
I think accubond, partiton, hotcor, impact, are all great bullets for moose as for deers I don’t know we don’t hunt them up here but I would think 150-165gr cup and core bullet would be just fine and a lot cheaper.
Hard to beat a Speer hotcore in the weight you like for a cheap effective bullet.
I tend to like a bit tougher bullet my self, lest meat waste and moose dies fast enough with a good bonded bullets that I never had to run after one.
I think accubond, partiton, hotcor, impact, are all great bullets for moose as for deers I don’t know we don’t hunt them up here but I would think 150-165gr cup and core bullet would be just fine and a lot cheaper.
Hard to beat a Speer hotcore in the weight you like for a cheap effective bullet.
I tend to like a bit tougher bullet my self, lest meat waste and moose dies fast enough with a good bonded bullets that I never had to run after one.
168 grain TSX has been my go-to bullet in the '06 for a mighty long time. I've never had one fail to open up properly out to 400 yards and that's a hard range limit for me when it comes to shooting things that live and breathe.
Man I'm surprised there is not more love for the classic 180gr. I don't hunt with a 30-06 but 3 of my hunting buddies do, and they all use 180gr.
I feel like 180gr is a bit heavy for 308win, but 30-06 is a big enough case to push the 180gr fast enough for my liking.
I feel like 180gr is a bit heavy for 308win, but 30-06 is a big enough case to push the 180gr fast enough for my liking.
