Which bullet for my .30-06

Nosler Ballistic tips.

How big are your deer?

I use the interbonds in 7mm.08. 139gr loaded to right at 3000fps range. I used to use the SST's but I had exactly what you are worried about a couple of times. Short range shoulder blowups. The Interbonds have all held together exceptionally well on both white-tail and wild hogs.

Unless you just cannot get 150's to shoot well in your gun there is no reason to go heavier for deer. I'd save some money and buy the cheaper 150 gr Hornady interlock bullet. If It didn't shoot accurately enough I'd try the same bullet in 165 gr. Some 30-06 rifles just shoot that weight a little better.

You don't need a premium bullet to kill deer, and you don't need the plastic tipped bullets at 250 yards. At that range even a round nose bullet is going to shoot flat enough to not be a problem. For larger game, or longer distances then the premium bullets might offer an advantage. Most anything will kill a deer at those ranges.

Naaaa, Fallow deer are around the same size as Southern deer are here in America. Maybe even a little smaller on average. The Interbond bullet would serve you very well. Remington Core-lokts would be fine as well. Just don't load them so hot. Keep them under 2800fps and they would be fine. I've taken a few Fallows over the years (one of my all time favorites as far as flavor). A couple were with my old trusty .30/06, a couple with my old .30/30, one with a .444marlin, and 6 with Bow. If I remember correctly, they were all taken with core-lokts in the rifles. If you are not going to be passing 250 yards, there really isn't a need to heat up your loads to blazing speeds. 2700 to 2800 with a standard cup and core bullet would serve you very well. If you feel you just have to pump up the speeds, I would recommend the Interbonds. They are a bit tougher over all.

I use accubonds in my 3006 and in my 6.5x55 my pet load for my 06 is a 165 accubond pushing 2980fps does a wonder on deer and elk.

The 165gr Hornady Interbond holds together well at around 3100fps. A Nosler BT at the same speed has fragmented for me. YMMV.

Freedom Fighter's suggestion of a Rem Core-Loc would be a good choice at the range you're talking about. IMHO, they don't fly very well at long distance, but inside of 300yds, they should do just fine. That's my limited exp w/ factory loaded core-locs.

What kind of hogs do you have in Sweden?

I have always liked to use 180's for whitetail deer and have had great results. I tried 165's one time and could not tell a ton of difference in those and the 180's. Went back to the 180's. My hunting is 100 yards or less in real thick woods. A 150 or 165 are probably plenty, but I just like the 180's. Each person has their preference and since we live in the land of the free, thank God I have a choice.

Core-lokts .......................

Swede,

You don't have to go crazy with different bullet manufactures. Hornady SP, Remington CL, Winchester PP are all good bullets. Especially for deer. The heavier bullets are better constructed.

Alot of controversy is contributed to "Fashion".... don't get caught up in it and let these guys talk you into other than what works. I don't buy that John Nosler designed his bullets based on bullet failure of other bullet companies.

Case in point... Sierra Game Kings. The boat tails don't hold up to high velocity short range hunting, the prohunter flat base bullets do. That's not mentioned of course to sell... So keep that in mind.

Some folks call and tell Sierra they use 130 grain .270 caliber bullets on elk... Carroll Pilant mentined that. "they're one tough bullet".

"Sierra Game Kings. The boat tails don't hold up to high velocity short range hunting, the prohunter flat base bullets do. That's not mentioned of course to sell..."

100% correct. The 150-grain Sierra SP flat base has always given me the same sub-MOA accuracy in my '06 as the boat-tail, but doesn't blow up at close range. Handloads from my 26" barrel were producing right at 3,100 ft/sec.

The 180-grain SPBT, however, won't come apart and based on the comparative "dimple depth" on steel at 500 yards, should give excellent penetration in elk-sized animals.

Of those choises i'd grab the Accubond and run!!

DM

Not mentioned is the speer grandslam bullet. These are designed to mushroom and hold together from 40 to 400 yards. This is an early premium bullet and for your shooting the rem core-lokt, sierra game king or hornady spire points will get the job done. 150gr. or 165. These three bullets are cheaper than a premium one and worked for many years. Have fun and bangaway.

Jack O'Conner used Speer hotcores for years but then switched to Nosler partitions. He mentioned if Partitions were available he would have used them instead of Speers. I blasted Speers through wet telephone books and Speer Hotcores mushroomed the best. BUT Sierra showed the best rapid controlled expansion out of all, awesome wound channel: Hornady, Speer, Nosler, Winchester, Remington.

I have the accubond in 165 and 180. I like them for velocity retention and accuracy at longer distances. I also use the nosler partition and a-frame in 180 gr for tougher game.

I like the swift scirocco but they are too hard to find - but I did like their high BC.

I had one dud in the accubonds and emailed Nosler - a couple weeks later then sent me 10 free replacements. I appreciated that.

All in all, it seems to me that people either over-think the deal or worry too much. My anecdotal example is my father, who used an '06 with 150-grain Hornady Spire Points ahead of a GI load of 4895. His highest-count year was 32 bucks, which only happens when one is invited to lease hunts so the whiskey drinkers and poker players had something to take home to Mama.

I've seen him hit the white spot in the 50- to 250-yard ranges. Witnesses have spoken of watching him call the shot at 500 yards, and not just once but several times.

In other words, getting all married up with your rifle and being able to hit a specific point on a critter beats worrying about standard or magnum or type of bullet and all that stuff. I sorta used to do that worry-thing when I was bunches younger, but then I quit bothering with stuff that didn't really matter all that much.

Interbonds. You have already heard above how SST's can fail. Interbonds will set your mind at ease and allow for more shot opportunities. They work well. Otherwise, Triple Shocks or GMX's will do fine as well.

for fallow deer just pick the one that shoots the best combined with the one you can afford to shoot the most. i personally shoot 165 grain nosler ballistic tips now (shot 165 grain flat base interlocks before and never had an issue). there is a reason the .30-06 works so well...most all of the bullet weights will kill just about anything in the deerish family.

I returned, to Hornady, SST's 130 grain .270 for SP Hornady. Upon filing them open I noticed the Interlock wasn't really there. Is it really needed? Who knows, I don't. But I compared it with a .311 Interlokt and the noticed a defined lock. Anyway... Nobody has interlock and they work, so it probobly doesn't matter. The harder base is what supports the upper half, and I'm not sure Hornady has a harder base in liue of the interlokt. Hornady, Sierra, and Speer and others.. the Rem's and Win's, Feds, all work well, but as said before flat based bullets will hold up, and who knows... some ammo loaded with boat tails are used and misused and give the manufacture a bad name. Just like certain hand tools are misused and then folks turn around and blame the tool.

pick your bullet but don't forget a good range finder . write down your bullet drop out to at least 600 yards.you may not shoot 600,but it's nice to have it available. if you have access to a chronograph,chrono your loads so you can determine bullet performance.

hi swede,
i shoot 30-06 i load 50 gr of N140 and 165 gr hornady interlock spbt. It is a good strong bullet that holds together close range and expands sufficiently for longer range shooting. The price is good too. Accuracy is good.

It might be a consideration?

steve in the UK

I've been shooting remington core-lokts for 30 years 150 grain. Short or long distance it did not matter. It's a 30-06 round and the deer won't care which bullet type you chose.