125 grain bullets in 30.06

[jimmyraythomason]

I tried some of these bullets in my Howa Lightning 1500 hoping to use them for deer and coyote hunting in place of my usual 150 grainers. They group extremely well @100 yards and I am very happy....until I put 5 rounds of 150 grainers through the rifle. Ckecking the target shows all complete misses. ???? I finally see a little knick at the very top of the target. I adjust my scope accordingly and am back to shooting 10s. Since I don't want to have my rifle dedicated to only shooting 125 grain bullets i guess I'll stay with 150/165 grains for hunting. Is this typical of lighter weight 30 caliber bullets? My rifle scoped with a Nikon Buckmaster 3x9x40 groups the 125s extremely well but also does with the 150s just at a much higher point of impact than the 125s.

 

[30mag]

Well, .30 125gr. bullets have a (relatively) awful coefficient of drag (they're pretty short and stubby) IIRC. Since they have less mass than the 150 gr, they won't have as much inertia as the 150gr, which means they will slow down faster (not necessarily to a lower velocity than the 150 gr[acceleration vs. velocity]). If they're the reduced recoil loads from Remington, they'd be slower than than the average 125gr.
ALL OF THIS combined might result in a lower trajectory than the 150 grain bullets. But, it's hard to say. I had some 55 gr. sabot rounds I shot some, and their POI was crazy different than my 150-180 grains.
I don't know if it's normal. I would guess so.
What size target were you shooting at?

 

[rcmodel]

Yes, it's perfectly normal for a rifle to change zero every time you change loads or bullet weights.

Light fast bullets will generally shoot lower because they don't kick the rifle off-target as much before the bullet gets out of the barrel.

Most of the 125 grain .30 cal bullets are designed for varmint hunting.
Probably not a good choice for deer at 30-06 velocity unless you like hamburger with a lot of shrapnel in it. They are very destructive!

rc

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The target was a 14''x14'' set at 100 yards. Point of impact difference between the 125 and 150 grain bullets was 8''. These were NOT reduced recoil loads,they are Remington Express Rifle 125gr.PSP R30061.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

it's perfectly normal for a rifle to change zero every time you change loads or bullet weights

I expected that just not an 8'' difference!

Probably not a good choice for deer at 30-06 velocity unless you like hamburger with a lot of shrapnel in it. They are very destructive!

Yeah I thought about that! I was looking for a multi-purpose load(I think the 150 Hornadys will remain my choice).

 

[30mag]

150 gr. are good.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

150 gr. are good.

I agree. My Howa AND my Mauser 98 all shoot 150s,165s and 180s with-in a half inch of each other so I guess the 125s will become a failed experiment(well at least now I KNOW) and won't be repeated. I MAY zero one of my rifles for them and shoot them up or hunt only coyotes with them until they are gone.

 

[Heavies]

150's are the bomb. I use 155 amax's. Not too much kick and dead nuts accurate.

 

[natman]

Yes, it's common for point of impact to change when you change weights, sometimes by a lot.

Light for caliber bullets can be driven fast and are usually fragile so they expand rapidly. This can produce impressive kills if the bullet slips between the ribs and blows up in the vitals. The problem is that sometimes you'll hit a rib and the fragile bullet will do what it's designed to do: blow up. This produces a nasty surface wound and an animal that runs of to die from infection.

Use 150 grain bullets designed for deer on deer.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

unless you like hamburger with a lot of shrapnel in it.

I have had this happen several times on deer using a 7mm/08 with 140 grainers.