30-06 , opinion on bullet weight for large deer

WhelanLad

WhelanLad

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Gday guys the permit to acquire for my 30-06 has arrived!
Im not goin to be jumping into the picking up of the rifle as my Son is over on holidays..priorities fellas :D ! (if he were 16 different story) lol

Im going to load with Woodleigh bullets from here in Aus , which gives me a few options.

ill be hunting the Sambar deer, a Large Deer species of similiar size to that of an Elk bull.
this particular rifle may just wear the spare Leupold VX2 x50 that i have here and with that 300meters with either backline hold or slight hold overs will be used, a potential of 350m perhaps....


generally speaking ive not used a 30-06 before on Animals... sounds odd but its one of those Cartridges i avoided like the plague LOL

Ive owned the short action Brother of .308 winchester an used 150gr corelokts for general stalking an seldom shot game past 200m. this bullet worked well an dumping its energy on the beast 90% of time. I later switched over to Noslers Accubond 150gr an found them Great.


typically the Aussies use a 180gr projectile in the 3006 for sambar, yet im asking on your opinion on which weight would be best suited.

options are 150gr ppsn, 165gr ppsn and 180gr ppsn..........
Varget will be powder of choice.

rifle is the Marlin X7 :)

Cheers folks, any hunting discussion is good discussion, right?!
 
Never shot a Sambar. Don't personally use a .30-06. If I did use one and wanted to hunt elk sized game I would us 180 grain bullets, likely an Accubond if it shot well enough.
 
I usually use 180g here for elk and moose here and I wouldn't hesitate to use 200g for either out of the 3006. But I prefer a heavier bullet than a lighter one.
 
Ordinarily I wouldn't say this, but beteeen 165 and 180 grain Woodleighs in a 30-06 use whatever shoots the best. I ended up
with 180s and a stiff load of your 2209 with no complaints.2850 fps out of my 26" Benchmark.
 
I want to get some 240gr, just because :), but a 180gr will do you just fine as long as it shoots well for you.
 
For elk and deer in Alberta I use 180gr ballistic silver tip.

I would also comment that I find heavier bullets in some of my hunting rifles (incl. the 3006) to be more reliably accurate.
 
180 grain @ 2750-ish is never "wrong", for anything a 30-06 is suitable for. Bump up to 200 grain @ 2600-ish for a bit more "smack", especially at ranges that were mentioned.
 
Another vote for 180 grains. This is what I use for whitetail deer and moose. Bullet placement is key, regardless of what you end up choosing.
 
black powder said:
150 for deer and caribou ..180 for moose ..oh i also use BARNES BULLETS only for hunting ..cheap LEAD bullets on the range ..
Click to expand...

Thats a nice little snipe there BP, Im not goin to bite on that little quote of yours regarding those, thats a whole nother can of worms , the ol Monolithic V Bonded Jacketed Core projies..
 
I'll stick to the easy path and say whatever shoots the best, which in turn, will give you the faith that you will hit where you wish to.

I have shot from 110 grain to 180's in a .308, and honestly, the real difference to me was essentially the label on the box they came in. IIRC, I have a bunch of 150's loaded up now, just finished a batch of 180's last fall, and when I find a good price on 125's will likely stock up.

The deer have not yet indicated that they cold tell the difference. :)

I have seen for myself how a 50 grain cup and core out of a .223 behaves on mule deer.

How much deader do you really need the critter to be, than all the way dead the first time?
 
I did a little 600 animal test with the 30-06 awhile back, with Hornady Interlocks, Woodleigh and Barnes TSX being the main culprits. There were some blue box Federal and factory Norma in there too. There was no doubt that the TSX had a firm grip on last place. My spotters learned to hate them.
 
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