Bullet type for hunting?

[Flyingbullet]

Hi guys, I just want to thank everyone for their help! I ask a lot of questions and get great answers! Now for my question... What bullet type do you prefer when hunting? A penetration round or a bullet that is going to knock the animal down? I have a 30/06 and will be hunting deer this season and I'm trying to get some premium Winchester ammo, but I can't decide on what type of round to get? Pros and cons?

 

[jbkebert]

I have no experience with a 30/06 and Winchester ammo. Heck I have almost no experience with a 30/06 at all. My first deer rifle was a .270win so I have never seen a need for one.

I can tell you that the Winchester premium ammo have always shot very well ou tof my .270 and .243. The ballistic silvertips produce some of the most horrific wound channels that I have ever seen. The flat tear stuff up out of a .270win. I have used the XP3 line of ammo from Winchester and it holds together much better in my experience with them. They seem to fly about as good as the Ballistic silvertips just without the massive wound channels.

Deer are not hard to kill. A well placed shot from a core-lok or power point works as good for less $.

 

[Art Eatman]

Most any brand of 150-grain which gives decent groups in your rifle. Somewhere better than two inches at 100 yards for five shots. You don't really need the premium stuff, but avoid the El Cheapo. Many people have spoken highly of the decades of excellent track record of the Remington CoreLokt.

If you "just gotta" do the premium thing, I found that the Federal Premium High Energy groups as well as my similar handloads, and reports have it that the performance is as advertised.

 

[MCgunner]

I handload, don't shoot .30-06, but I find a 150 Nosler BT works great on Texas deer from a .308 at 2800 fps. I've always liked Sierra Game King bullets, too, very accurate and deadly on medium game. No need for Barnes or Partitions or what not on whitetail. That's for elk and such.

 

[jmr40]

Most any run of the mill bullet from your 30-06 will be fine. Use the cheapest round that shoots well in your gun and you are good to go. The premium bullets are helpful when you are pushing right to the edge of a particualr rounds abilities.

If I were hunting deer with a 223, I'd be using the best bullet available. Same with the 30-06 if I were hunting Coastal Brown bear in Alaska. Under these conditions you can use every advantage you can get. But a 30-06 on deer is pretty much overkill with most anything.

 

[Flyingbullet]

The only reason I said Winchester is because when I shot my 06 with Winchester it was very accurate compared to using the Remington CoreLokt.

 

[Fremmer]

Art and the other guys are right, use whatever soft-point or premium round that shoots the best out of your rifle. Let the rifle pick the round. Your .30-06 wil do just fine with penetration regardless of what you use on deer!

Seriously, if a less expensive core lokt or power point (or whatever winchester round it likes) shoots the best, use it!

 

[Skyshot]

I handload also,but IMO the cheaper Winchester 150 gr powerpoints or Remington Corelocks do a mighty fine job on deer.

 

[Kachok]

I load 30-06, no luck with Winchester power points but core-lokts are pretty good, the best hunting bullets in 30 cal IMHO are the Serria Game King, Nosler Ballistic Tip, and Hornady SST (Super Shock Tip) they all have a well earned reputation for accuracy, and dropping deer where they stand.

 

[303tom]

CoreLokt.....................

 

[shaggy430]

I've used Power Points before and they've always killed every deer I've shot with them. My personal preference in 30-06 is for 165 grain Accubonds or Partitions just because I like to use one bullet for any critter I might be hunting, but on deer the Winchesters will do just fine.

 

[interlock]

hi, i would like to add my voice to the chorus. any of the regular soft point rounds in 150-180 gr bracket would be fine. i use 30-06 and use hornady 165 gr interlock, i shoot lots and lots of deer with them.

 

[rcmodel]

A penetration round or a bullet that is going to knock the animal down?

No bullet will "knock the animal down" unless you shoot it in the head, or the spine.

As others have eluded to, a deer isn't very hard to kill.
If you shoot it through the boiler room with any 30-06 bullet, it ain't going very far to die.

rc

 

[T.R.]

For deer, I prefer the 180 grain round nose bullet with lots of exposed lead at the tip. You get hard hitting rapid expansion like the faster 150's but all the momentum of the 180. WIN WIN.

TR

 

[wyohome]

I used 150 grain Core-Lokt for years, went to 150 grain Ballistic Tips 5 years ago. Unlike many other people, I cannot tell any difference between a dead deer that went 15 feet and one that dropped dead in 25.

 

[788Ham]

Handloaded Hornady 150 gr. spire points have always brought the "bacon" home, in the '06 you mentioned. Like rc mentioned, not always a smack down kill, but haven't had any bad luck using the bullets mentioned. Specialty bullets are just another way to spend your money, IMHO.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

With a .30-06 and whitetail deer, any expanding bullet is going to do what you want.
Just don't use a fmj or other non expanding bullet. You don't want a tiny hole in and a tiny hole out.
If you're going with factory ammo, I wouldn't worry about spending $40+ per box. I would get a box of 150 grain Core Lockts, a box of Federal 150 grain soft points, and a box of Winchester 150 grain Power Points and use whichever it shot best. All of those are $20 a box or less. If you were hunting elk or moose, I would say go ahead and get a premium bullet like a Nosler Partition or a Barnes, but whitetails don't require the penetration that the larger animals do.
Like rcmodel said, a bullet through the pump station with a .30-06 and it aint making many more tracks.

 

[dubya450]

When i was using my 30-06 for deer i used the federal fusion 180's for two season's and they work just fine and they're cheap. Core lokts are in the same boat. I haven't tried factory nosler bt loads but my cousin gave me 20 handloads with 150 gr BT bullets and the one deer i shot with them dropped where she stood but also had a football sized exit so be careful with them if you do use em.

 

[BADUNAME37]

I use mostly Barnes Solid Copper Triple X Bullets. They say to use one size lighter than you would typically use with a 'standard' projectile. For deer, I would think the 150 grain bullet would be best, so with the X, you can drop it down to about 130 which will give you plenty of energy and a flatter trajectory (due to the higher speed).

 

[Patocazador]

I reload and have had tremendous results from Nosler Partitions. I have used them on deer, elk, moose, antelope, and 13 African animals without a lost animal even though some of the shots were in non-textbook spots .. like liver, etc.
I don't use Barnes copper X bullets because of poorer accuracy in my favorite rifles than the Partitions.