.30-06 for whitetails: 150, 165 or 180?

[eidsvolling]

I'm carrying 180 grain Remington Soft Point Core-Lokts in my .30-06 this deer season. It seems from reading another thread here that many of you agree with that choice (which surprises me just a little.) So, if you have actual experience with at least two weights, which one do you prefer and why? I don't have such experience and I'm interested to hear your perspectives.

(If you're carrying the 220 grain for deer hunting: I used to live up there and I know two things -- you're not hunting whitetails, and you don't want to have to share your blacktail with something "bigger" )

Recoil isn't a big consideration here. The alternative I have to use in these dense New England woods is 12 ga. 3" Brenneke slug rounds, which are no fun whatsoever at the range . . .

 

[MCgunner]

Personal preference. I think they'll all work. I'm pretty impressed with the penetration of the Nosler 150 Ballistic tip on white tails down here, though. Our deer ain't huge, but I shot a deer in the butt as he turned and jumped. It went in the ham, penetrated the length of the deer, and blew a fist sized hole in his throat on exit. The deer dropped dead in his tracks. He went 125 lbs field dressed, good sized buck for down here. Was an 8 point. The shot was about 100 yards with a .308.

I also shoot a 140 grain Barnes, have taken hog with it, though not deer. It's definitely a penetrator, longer bullet than the Nosler 150 (solid copper) and faster out of the barrel and flatter shooting. Being a controlled expansion bullet, you don't have to worry about the bullet blowing apart. It peels like a banana back to the base of the hollow cavity and retains 100 percent of its weight, or so they say. I've never recovered a bullet to know. It expands at .30-30 Contender levels, too. I have shot hog with my contender using that bullet.

I'm shooting a .308 and these are my choices in bullets. I've never fired a factory load in the gun. Some folks really like the 165 grain stuff, splits the difference from the 180. To me, 180 grains is an elk bullet for the 06, but that's only an inexperienced opinion since I have never hunted elk.

But, hogs can be pretty tough. I can totally recommend the Barnes bullet in whatever weight you decide you like. The 140 has an SD closer to a 160 grain lead bullet. The advantage is it'll shoot faster given its weight. Barnes stuff is accurate too and they're only about double the price of a Nosler. They're about 10 to 15 bucks, but you get 50 in a box instead of 100 with the Noslers.

Inexperienced opinion again, but 200+ lb deer up north, I'd not have a problem with the Nosler 150 Ballistic Tip. It's proven itself to me.

 

[geo57]

When using a 30.06 for our big whitetails here, I have used both 150 and 165 gr. loads. I too feel the 180's, while perfectly lethal, may not expand and stop deer quite as quickly as a lighter, more expanding projectile would. I used a Rem. Core Lokt , 165 gr. out of my ' 06 this fall to drop the fellow below.

 

[ID_shooting]

For deer, I shoot a 165 grain bullet. 150 is perfectly fine, especially for white tails. We have alot of mule deer here and that is why I choose 165. 180 or higher may be a bit much. Not to say they won't get the job done, but most of them are designed for elk and up and may offer too much penetration (pass thtough with no expansion) for smaller deer.

Go with what you are comfortable with, were it me, I would use 150 or 165 at the most.

 

[Steve H]

I would think that 150 gr. would be fine. Hve you thougt about reloading your own? If you are try the Barnes X bullets.

 

[Oldnamvet]

I've used both 150 and 165 grains on deer. They sure couldn't tell the difference and neither could I. They all pretty much dripped on the spot. All shots between 75 and 150 yds.

 

[Matthew Temkin]

I have killed six deer with a 150 grain 30-06 and all but one was not just a one shot stop, but they actually dropped in their tracks.
I now use a .308 with 150 grain bullets and have had similar results.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

Let your rifle choose which one to shoot. Mine like a 165 gr Nosler ballistic tip. Works great. Deer aren't that hard to kill with the '06, if you do your part.

 

[eidsvolling]

Thanks to all for the replies -- keep 'em coming please.

That last reply is the reason I haven't tried something else -- the 180 made me very happy at the range "right out of the box." (Is there any better feeling than knowing it's going right where you want it to go?)

I wavered initially between 165 and 180. I think that I'll give the 165 a fair chance to show its stuff after the season ends next weekend. Don't want to take the remaining precious few days to experiment at the range.

 

[DogBonz]

seeing how they all will work on deer

How about going with the weight that your rifle likes the best. I know that generaly speaking, my Model 70 (30-06) likes the mid-weights the best and is more accurate with them.

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

I shoot 150 hornady SST out of my '06 but that's because it gave me the best accuracy. If 165's or 180's had shot better I would be using them. Any of them work great for deer.

 

[GooseGestapo]

The 150's are superior for deer.
Flatter trajectory and better expansion at longer ranges due to higher impact velocity to approx 400yds.

If your deer run larger than 300lbs, then a 165gr may be called for. I've found them to be overly destructive on whitetail's at under 100yds.

The 180's may not expand sufficiently at ranges beyond 200yds.

My brother uses a Nosler 150gr Partition in his .308wcf. His handloads chrono at 2,900fps (two different chrono's). He has yet to recover one from the 5 elk, and numerous deer he's shot. Not to mention the Pronghorn he nailed at 180yds. this October. This is the only load he will use. I gave him 100pc. of Rem. 150gr Corlokts. He traded them at a local gun shop, and paid the difference for another box of Nosler Part's. He's that contrarary !!!!!

If your rifle shoots the 150's poorly (over 3"@100yds), then I'd choose the 165's.

I've shot over 50 deer with my .30/06 and bullets from 125gr to 180gr.

I prefer the 150's for deer. Perhaps second is a 125gr slowed down to ~2,800fps for reduced recoil application (younger shooter or wife/daughters).

For any application requiring a bullet heavier than a 180gr in .30 caliber, I have bigger guns.

 

[Oldnamvet]

On a "field shot" when adrenaline is pumping and I'm leaning against a deadfall or tree to steady myself, I don't think I could tell the difference between bullets at the ranges I normally shoot (less than 150 yds). At the range there would be different POI but normally at around 100 yds it is a matter of a few inches. And as to group size, I don't think it makes much difference in the field if you rifle groups 2" or 3/4" with any particular load. I don't hold steady enough on an actual hunt to tell the difference.

 

[Joe Meyer]

I use a 150 Nosler ballistic tip in front of 60 grains of IMR4350.Out of a Savage 111 with a 22" barrel.All the deer I've shot with that load die REAL quick.

 

[plexreticle]

I would see what the rifle likes and what's most comfortable to shoot. Any 30-06 round should have no problem dropping a deer.

 

[bearmgc]

I've used all three and never saw any difference in killing a deer, both whitetails and mulies. I've more recently been using the HSM 165gr BTSP and the Rem 180gr corelokts because I have a whole mess of them. They are all very accurate out of my Tikka. I save the HSM 150gr SP for antelope now. The corelokts and Silvertips are now on sale, and I have to stay away from that place. I have enough ammo already.....well, maybe I need some Silvertips. They're great too.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've used the 165s on a couple of deer, but most have been taken with the 150s. Maybeso around 20 bucks. Mostly under 200 yards, but one at 350 (Remington Bronze Point) and one at 450 (Sierra SPBT). Pretty much one-shot kills, mostly DRT.

My father used the 150-grain Hornady Spire Points exclusively. Distances to 500 witnessed yards. Dangfino; maybe around 100 bucks? I wouldn't be surprised at that number.

So, I don't figure there's a lot of point to the 165s, and the 180s are not at all necessary. Caveat: The super-biggies, maybe; those in the 250- to 300-pound dressed-weight category.

Art

 

[gdvan01]

I would see what the rifle likes and what's most comfortable to shoot. Any 30-06 round should have no problem dropping a deer.

Agreed. I've used both 165's and 180's with plenty of success.

My Uncle actually had a 30-06 loaded with either 200's or 220's one day (it's been a while...can't remember). That chunk-o-lead hit a large corn-fed doe broadside at nearly 100 yards and barrel rolled her. She never took a step.

 

[BsChoy]

I used 150 SST's this year on a medium 4 pointer and even at 20-25 yds it fully penetrated broadside and butterflied the heart. I will probably try the 165's before next season but time will tell

 

[MinScout]

I'd go with the Remington 180 gr round-nose softpoints if the range is fairly short, say 200 yds or less. I hav'nt been happy with the performance of lighter bullets on close range deer, though I've still recovered the animals. That's the great thing about the ol '06. You have a lot of choices

 

[Johnny Guest]

You won't go wrong with either 150 or 165

You mention New England. I can't imagine any game east of the Mississippi River and south of moose country that you couldn't take cleanly with the 150 gr. .30'06 load. I've taken a few small Hill Country white tail deer with the 150 and it worked just fine. And speaking of imagining, Art Eatman and his family have been killing Texas deer for several decades using 150 gr loads, and I can't picture arguing with that.

Some years back - - could it be THIRTY years? - - I decided to standardize my .30 caliber loads at 165 gr. I wanted just one load that would do it all. Deer, either white tail or muley, hogs, elk if I got a chance, black bear, whatever. And the ballistic tables tell us that at EXTREME range, the 165 retains velocity better than either the 150 or 180. That's kind of academic, because I don't think this is a factor at sporting, game shooting, ranges.

The guy on Sierra tech assistance line told me several years ago that the 180 GameKing my son was loading for .300 WinMag wouldn't be a good choice in .30-06 (for elk)- - You can't push it fast enough for reliable expansion out beyone, say, 100 yards. Now, this might not be a problem where you want very deep penetration before expansion.

The 180 has been called the worldwide '06 load, though. I imagine this takes into account African plains game, some of which are quite large and tough. Also, the 180 would be a comfort if there was a possibility of encountering animals with big teeth and claws - - African lion, big brown or grizzly bears, and so forth. Personally, I'd want a bit larger rifle if any of these were the primary target, but sometimes a hunter must use what he HAS, rather than what he'd LIKE to use. Col. Patterson hunted the Tsavo lions with a Lee Speed .303.

Best of luck to you
Johnny

 

[Idano]

My pet round for deer in my Model 70 with a fixed Weaver K4 is a 125 gr Spitzer from Sierra loaded with 50 gr of IMR3031. The bullet is moving out at around 3100 fps and maintains a nice flat trajectory out to 300 yrd if you sight in at 250 yds. When I am hunting the last think I want to do is worry about elevation when seconds matter. I have taken six mulies with this round and lost none. I have attached a picture of three of the bullets I recovered from three of my kills along with a sample of what they looked like before. The weight of each of the four bullets are: 165, 116.7 111.4, 93.2.

 

[sacp81170a]

the 180 made me very happy at the range "right out of the box."

Sounds like your rifle likes that particular loading. That's not at all uncommon. That would be the most importan criteria to me, that I hit what I'm aiming at, or, more importantly, that I'm confident that I'm gonna hit what I'm aiming at. I've taken mulies up in Wyoming with a 25-06 and 117 gr. Sierra GameKings (.243 is the minimum caliber for hunting in Wyoming, last I knew).

 

[drt30-06]

.30-06 220 Grain

What do you guys think of hunting Whitetail in Alabama with the 220 grain. My spot is thick cover, lots of under brush low visibility. I never have any shots in excess of 50-75 yards. I am new o hunting but have dropped 2 8 points from my stand the shots were only about 25 - 30 yards these were pretty big bucks (biggest I have vere killed and they dropped in their tracks with the 220 grain 30-06. I am shooting an Remington Carbine 7400.

 

[MCgunner]

I know a 220 round nose would work, but I like lighter bullets. The round nose WILL expand and WILL penetrate. So long as you limit your range (probably around 200-250 max), I don't see a problem. No real need for it, though, IMHO. I don't know how it could kill 'em any deader than the 150 Nolser ballistic tip does.

Just make sure that big bullet shoots accurately. It might be a little long for your rifling.