30.06 in various grains

[stinger 327]

I'm sighting in a Beretta Tikki 3 with Nikon scope. I notice in this caliber there are many choices as far as bullet weight from 125 grains to 220 grains. Seems to be most common among the brands are 150 - 180. Which should I use to sight in rifle? What the criteria as I'm not hunting yet.
Which weight is good for what? Remington is the only brand so far that I find 220 grains in so is this as heavy as the 30.06 gets?

 

[bpl]

What will you be hunting? 165gr is a good all around choice. If hunting elk, maybe the 180gr. 150gr is fine for deer. 220gr for moose/bison or big bad brown bears.

 

[ArmedBear]

If in doubt, do 165. With the right bullet, good for just about anything you want a .30-06 for.

Note that different loads will shoot to different POI, even with the same bullets. Sometimes, the difference is dramatic. So, sight it in for what you will be shooting. EXACTLY what you will be shooting.

 

[cougar1717]

I'm sure there are going to be a lot of opinions on this. Like you said the most common loadings are 150, 165, 180 grains. 125gr bullets in 30-06 are sometimes a light load/youth load/managed recoil cartridge. The 220gr bullets are round nose thumpers for big animals but don't fly very well due to the BC. I would try a few different brands and loadings in the 150-180gr range and find out which one your rifle likes best. The 165's are a pretty good compromise of velocity and energy, but it really depends on what your rifle likes.

 

[stinger 327]

I'm sure there are going to be a lot of opinions on this. Like you said the most common loadings are 150, 165, 180 grains. 125gr bullets in 30-06 are sometimes a light load/youth load/managed recoil cartridge. The 220gr bullets are round nose thumpers for big animals but don't fly very well due to the BC. I would try a few different brands and loadings in the 150-180gr range and find out which one your rifle likes best. The 165's are a pretty good compromise of velocity and energy, but it really depends on what your rifle likes.

Last time I was out I sighted in 220 grains but ran out of ammo and all was left I had on hand was the 150 grains so I used that and came up with a completely different setting.
Will the 220 grains have less range than the lighter ones like 150 - 160 or 180 grains?
Back in the day when they used 30.06 in the wars which grain weight did they use?

 

[stinger 327]

What will you be hunting? 165gr is a good all around choice. If hunting elk, maybe the 180gr. 150gr is fine for deer. 220gr for moose/bison or big bad brown bears.

Not hunting yet but would consider boar. What is the largest animal that this caliber is good for?

 

[stinger 327]

Thus far Remington is the only brand that I have found the 220 grain bullet in 30.06.
The majority of other brands are all 150-180 grains.

 

[ArmedBear]

If you really want >220 grains, you should have bought a caliber that's made for it. Think .375 H&H, or at least .338 WinMag, .340 Wby, etc.

150-180 are the bullet weights that make the most sense in .30-06. That's why you see them so often in factory loads.

 

[stinger 327]

What grain did the military use?

 

[ArmedBear]

150, 173 and 151, in different revisions.

 

[Slamfire]

Depends on what you want to do with it.

Ralph Walker, of Walker Arms Selma, wrote an article stating the success he was having deer hunting with 130 grain bullets in the 30-06. The deer in Southern Alabama average around 90-120 pounds, which apparently a lot smaller than the monster deer that folks from the north report.

I hit a deer with a 125 grain bullet in the 30-06, first shot hit the hip socket, shattered the leg bone and hamburged the meat. Very impressive damage for a poor shot but it ruined the leg meat. Killing shot was through the neck and that was it.

If a 130 in the 270 is great, so will be a 130 in the 30-06.

I suspect millions of deer were taken with 150's.

The 150 gr FMJ was the standard military bullet of WWI , WWII, Korea.

Target shooters often used 150 match at 200 and 300 yards. The 168 Match was used all the way out to 600 yards. It would tumble at 1000 yards therefore the 190's/200's were used at the longer ranges. In the mid nineties Sierra offered the 175 and that is an excellent bullet at 600 and 1000 yards.

 

[USSR]

150, 173 and 151, in different revisions.

Don't forget M2 AP, which weighed approximately 165 grains.

Don

 

[wgp]

I have used 165 gr Nosler Partitions on deer for several years in my '06 after reading a pretty thorough analysis of various bullet weights in that caliber. Very accurate, effective, no complaints.
I generally use 150 gr in my .308, but it shoots the 165s fine too.

 

[stinger 327]

Depends on what you want to do with it.

Ralph Walker, of Walker Arms Selma, wrote an article stating the success he was having deer hunting with 130 grain bullets in the 30-06. The deer in Southern Alabama average around 90-120 pounds, which apparently a lot smaller than the monster deer that folks from the north report.

I hit a deer with a 125 grain bullet in the 30-06, first shot hit the hip socket, shattered the leg bone and hamburged the meat. Very impressive damage for a poor shot but it ruined the leg meat. Killing shot was through the neck and that was it.

If a 130 in the 270 is great, so will be a 130 in the 30-06.

I suspect millions of deer were taken with 150's.

The 150 gr FMJ was the standard military bullet of WWI , WWII, Korea.

Target shooters often used 150 match at 200 and 300 yards. The 168 Match was used all the way out to 600 yards. It would tumble at 1000 yards therefore the 190's/200's were used at the longer ranges. In the mid nineties Sierra offered the 175 and that is an excellent bullet at 600 and 1000 yards.

So those are the most accurate rounds in 150 and 168 grains. That's what I was curious about the maximum effective range and accuracy or what is the standard round like in a .45 it would be 230 grains, .357 125 grains or 158 grains.
I have not seen any 168 grain 30.06 but I believe I have some 165 or 160 grains then some 180 grains.
I have more 150 grains so maybe I will use that for the most accuracy and range at this point now for sighting since it was used in the military which would be for all around use for accuracy and range.
I haven't found any "Match grade" 30.06 since this is a hunting round.

220 grains must be for bears

 

[stinger 327]

I have used 165 gr Nosler Partitions on deer for several years in my '06 after reading a pretty thorough analysis of various bullet weights in that caliber. Very accurate, effective, no complaints.
I generally use 150 gr in my .308, but it shoots the 165s fine too.

Is Nosler the brand? Maybe Cabela's sells this?

 

[ArmedBear]

220 grains must be for bears

Yes. The .30-06 has been pressed into service for shooting grizzlies at relatively short ranges. This my not be ideal, but the rifles are so common that they've been used for everything at some place and time.

Once again, the standard rounds in a modern hunting .30-06 are 150, 165 and 180.

What are you looking for? Someone to lie to you?

 

[ArmedBear]

Is Nosler the brand?

It's the brand of BULLET. Most of us end up loading our own sooner or later, so we buy bullets, not cartridges. Even if we buy factory cartridges, we have favorite bullets. At least some makers sell cartridges with brand-name bullets from other companies in them.

 

[stinger 327]

It's the brand of BULLET. Most of us end up loading our own sooner or later, so we buy bullets, not cartridges. Even if we buy factory cartridges, we have favorite bullets. At least some makers sell cartridges with brand-name bullets from other companies in them.

I'm not at that level yet of handloading or hunting. I was just told that use exactly what you are going to use for hunting. I know this is a hunting round However, I'm not hunting just sighting in for now.

 

[t george]

if you are going to hunt for any non-dangerous game in the U.S. and dont know which weight to use just pick a well constructed bullet in the weight that your rifle shoots the best. a good place to start if you dont reload is Wal-Mart, rem corlocts work ok for my rifle, but then again so does the winchester power poiint. I hunt deer and hogs mostly and stay with the 150 gr but thats just my prefrence

 

[Rokman]

Hard to go wrong with 165-168 grains.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Not hunting yet but would consider boar. What is the largest animal that this caliber is good for?

The '06 would be perfect for boar. As to the largest animal that it is good for, it's pretty good for just about anything in the lower 48 with the exception of the big bears. And there have probably been more than a few big bears taken with one.

Personally for deer, I like the 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips if long range is the rule.
If I'm hunting a stand where a shot will be no more than 100 yards, a good 165 gr soft point is the ticket.

That's the way I see it.

 

[WestEnd65]

Right now I use 180 grn Nosler partitions for everything. They shoot great out of my A- Bolt, and it will take down pretty much anything I am going to run across in Texas. May be a bit over the top for deer, but it has worked fine for me.

 

[Sunray]

"...just sighting in for now..." You'll have to sight in with whatever bullet weight or ammo you end up buying. You do have to try a box of as many brands and bullet weights as you can to find the ammo your rifle shoots best.
The best place to start, assuming you plan on hunting down the road, is a 165 grain hunting bullet. A 165 grain hunting bullet will kill any game you care to hunt. The .30-06 loves 'em.
Don't worry about hitting the 'bull'. Shoot for group only off a solid bech rest at 100 yards. Once you have found the ammo your rifle likes, then sight in(about 3.5" high at 100. That'll put you on target with no hold over out to about 300 yards.) with that ammo. If you change bullet weight or brand of ammo, you'll have to sight in again. Most brands with like bullet weights will be close though.

 

[Ky Larry]

Owning a .30-06 is a good reason to get into reloading. The combinations of bullets, powders, and primers are almost limitless. My CZ-550 loves Hornady 165gr SST's. I don't hunt anymore(except for critter control) but if I were deer hunting, this is the bullet I'd use.

 

[NCsmitty]

165 gr bullets in the 30'06 are a happy median, providing flat trajectory and good energy transfer. Sighting in with 165gr often will give you a point of impact that won't change a great deal if you switch to 150gr or 180gr ammo, but you still should verify by shooting.
220gr bullets in a 30'06 may not be as accurate unless they are round nose, and that shortens the range because of the poor ballistic coefficient.



NCsmitty