good bullet for 30-06

Status
Not open for further replies.

trapperjohn

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Messages
567
after a many year layoff, I am hunting again. I have the urge to handload for my 30-06. I am thinking something in the 165 gr range as I mostly hunt whitetail but MAY try something else in the future. I am wanting suggestions on what hunting bullets to look at. Sierra gameking has been around a long time and is prove, the new Barnes copper bullets look interesting. Would love to hears some thoughts
 
Barnes triple shock 168gr. There are plenty performance reviews online as they stand out as being “different” and make for an interesting article for shooting publications. They stand up to the hype. Check them out for yourself.

Also on cabelas they have a 4.8 star rating for 360 reviews
4.7 on bass pro for 370 reviews
And 4.8 on midway for 60 reviews.

I cannot attest to their upper end performance as deer are not so tough and most any 30-06 will do the job as these did
 
after a many year layoff, I am hunting again. I have the urge to handload for my 30-06. I am thinking something in the 165 gr range as I mostly hunt whitetail but MAY try something else in the future. I am wanting suggestions on what hunting bullets to look at. Sierra gameking has been around a long time and is prove, the new Barnes copper bullets look interesting. Would love to hears some thoughts

I have been revising my opinions about the 30-06 and hunting bullets. I have shot tens of thousands of 168 SMK's, and they shot fantastically on paper, but of course are not hunting bullets. I did buy lots of 165's, but you know, I don't see any reason not to use 150's. I can easily push a 150 to 2800 fps, without experiencing over pressure conditions, and they shoot pretty flat out to 300 yards. Which is about my limit for staying within 6 inch lethal zone, at distance. I talked to one bud who had used these 150 Federal Fusions, and the thing left a big exit hole on the deer.


2DJgIzd.jpg

0FOrHm3.jpg

ntsVm33.jpg

7Hc9YxN.jpg


caR0NyC.jpg

wgm1Lzh.jpg

YfEOsKA.jpg

YSI4JZj.jpg

LdRIM6H.jpg

You know, you can push a 130 grain bullet in the 30-06 faster than a 270 Win, and that bullet made the reputation of the 270 Win. I don't see any reason why a 130 grain bullet, in the 30-06, going 3000 fps, would not be dynamite on deer, given good shot placement, and out to 300 yards.

I am not one of those who thinks long range shooting is ethical. So anyone making claims of 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000 yards shots at animals, ought to show their cold bore shot placement at that distance. Which they won't, the people making kills at that distance, are tossing "Hail Mary's" and only talking about the animals they found. I will bet there are lots of wounded animals they did not collect, for every one they actually anchored.
 
Last edited:
ANY 150-165 cup and core bullet that groups 2moa in your rifle will work fine on white tail.

If you you want to use barnes I would highly recommend the ttsx (poly tipped) variety and dropping the weight of the bullet down to 130 gr. to ensure adequate performance on light skinned game.

I wouldn't waste much time over thinking the decision but rather working up a safe, stable, and accurate load in your rifle.
 
I happen to like tipped bullets, and Hornady, so usually shoot heavy Amax, or Eld-m/x. Any of them 150-180s should be a fine choice tho.
 
after a many year layoff, I am hunting again. I have the urge to handload for my 30-06. I am thinking something in the 165 gr range as I mostly hunt whitetail but MAY try something else in the future. I am wanting suggestions on what hunting bullets to look at. Sierra gameking has been around a long time and is prove, the new Barnes copper bullets look interesting. Would love to hears some thoughts
Welcome back to the hunt! What kind of shooting are you talking about? Do you call 100 yds a close shot or a far shot? Do you hunt where b.c.s are necessary for wind calls? Do you wreck the shoulder or just zip through the boiler room? Lots of good suggestions here so far, I'm a Sierra fan myself, and for all around performance at average hunting ranges, it's hard to beat a prohunter. They're tuff, accurate, and expand well. If you want to just grenade inside the ribs, bergers, and Hornady ssts are the way to go. If you prefer bone wrecking penetration, Barnes/etip/gmx followed by bonded(scirocco, accubond, fusion, interbond, oryx) and a frame (swift a frame nosler partition).
 
I prefer 165's for deer and bear in my -06 too. To me, the Sierra Gameking HPBT (#2140) is a heckuva bullet. Devistating wound channel, very accurate, and the tips don't get damaged in your magazine because there is no exposed lead. I do download mine slightly to minimize meat damage, about 2550 fps.

I've also used the Hornady 165 interlocks, both boat tail and flat base, and they are a fine bullet too.
 
Whitetails aren't hard to kill, as VoodooMountain said, pretty much any hunting bullet in the 150-165 that gives decent accuracy will do.

I would do is take a look at your terrain and likely shot distance. I really like Nosler Ballistic Tips, I've killed over 40 deer with them and a couple mountain goats and never lost an animal. They'd not be my choice though in wooded terrain with predominately close shots as they open up rapidly, can fragment and tear up meat depending on your hit. For those closer shots I'd go with a partition or a bonded, possibly even reduce my MV some.
 
For deer size game, it would be hard to find any 150-180 gr factory load by a reputable manufacturer intended for deer, that would not work and work well. Kinda why the old ought-six is so popular among deer hunters. My dad and grandpa used 180 grainers and as such is what I was started on when I got my first '06. Have gone back and forth, but after half a century, they are still what works well for me in my gun. Since I have delegated my primary firearms season deer weapon to revolvers the last decade, my opinion may not be fresh, but I'd wager it's still viable.
 
Honestly a 30-06 has enough juice that about any bullet would work on anything from an elk down. I've played with various premium bullets over the years but I've killed more animals with the standard green and yellow core lokts than anything else. I used partitions on the two occasions I've gone moose hunting, once successfully (the other I didn't get a shot).

It isn't a sexy caliber anymore but the 30-06 is still really popular for good reason. I like Federal's 180 grain Fusions and will probably primarily use them going forward. They are priced reasonably and seem to have good performance out of a 30-06. In general I like 180 grain bullets in 30 caliber.
 
Last edited:
The .30-06 with either a 150gr or 165gr bullet is dynamite on deer. A Sierra GK or Speer HC is all you need. I tried the newer monolithic bullets, bonded bullets, tipped bullets & they all worked fine, but not better than the tried-n-true cup & core's.

JIMHO
 
ANY 150-165 cup and core bullet that groups 2moa in your rifle will work fine on white tail.
+1
I've never shot a white tail (they're few and far between around here) but I lost track a long time ago of how many mule deer have fallen to my 30-06 with regular, ol' Hornady 165gr BTSPs - over a charge of IMR 4350 that yields a little better than 2800fps at the muzzle.:)
 
Just about any standard cup & core bullet in 150 and 165 grain weights will work great in a 30-06. The standard load for many years has been a 150 or 165 grain bullet with 57 grains of IMR 4350. The good thing about what I just said is that you can vary the bullet from Sierra Gameking to Speer boattail and from 150 grains to 165 grains and alternate the powders from IMR 4350 to Reloader 17 or to IMR 4064 in various combinations and your point of impact will change very little so you don't have to materially adjusting your scope. What I said is that 57 grains of IMR 4350 performs like 57 grains of Reloader 17 or 50 grains of IMR 4064. Points of impact when changing these cup & core bullets or the powders listed will be very similar. That's not true with specialty bullets like Berger and especially Nosler Accubond. When you go from a standard cup & core to these bullets you have to re-zero your rifle. Not only that, your cost per round doubles. Up front I would recommend that you start with the Sierra Gameking or Speer boattails because they are accurate and work well in a hunting situation. It's great to hear that big whop when the bullet strkes an animal. You don't get that whop as loud with the Berger or Accubond.
 
Last edited:
For deer at typical ranges most any cheap 150-180 gr bullet does as good as another as long as impact speeds are between 2800 and 1800 fps. The one that shoots the best is probably the way to go. Larger game, and longer distances mean you have to start paying attention to the bullet.

If thinking about the copper bullets you need to drop down at least 1 bullet weight for best performance. A 130 TTSX out of a 30-06 will out penetrate a conventional 180 gr 30-06 bullet. You just don't need the weight if you go that way. A 150 gr copper bullet is a good all around choice. The heavier bullets really need magnum speeds to perform well.

If I were wanting to develop a single load, with just one bullet in 30-06 to use on everything in North America out to 400+ yards I'd use either a 165 gr or 180 gr Nosler Accubond. That is a tough enough bullet to use on moose, bear or elk, and it is aerodynamic enough to retain speed and energy at long distance. The 180 is heavier than needed for deer, but would be a better option for bigger game. The trajectory is close enough to call it a tie and the 180 hits a lot harder down range.

That ain't a cheap bullet, and probably more bullet than needed for most hunting. But if you only want one for everything, at any reasonable range that is my choice.

Or you could use a cheaper 150-165 gr bullet for deer, and come up with another load with the more expensive bullets later when/if you ever hunt larger game.
 
If you want to use standard run of the mill cup and core bullets a 165 Speer or Hornady Interlock are excellent performers. However my personal preference in the .30 cal bore for deer size game is a 150 Nosler Accubond and IMR4350. Plenty accurate and the Accubonds are proven performers. For a little less recoil if you desire use the 125 Accubond and load them to 2850fps.

BTW if your 30-06 won't shoot a 150 grain bullet and 56ish grains of IMR4350 your barrel is a tomato stake. I've never seen a 30-06 not shoot that load. USE WITH CAUTION. Follow all safe reloading practices.
 
Barnes triple shock 168gr. There are plenty performance reviews online as they stand out as being “different” and make for an interesting article for shooting publications. They stand up to the hype. Check them out for yourself.

Also on cabelas they have a 4.8 star rating for 360 reviews
4.7 on bass pro for 370 reviews
And 4.8 on midway for 60 reviews.

I cannot attest to their upper end performance as deer are not so tough and most any 30-06 will do the job as these did

My heavy rifle (literally) is a 24" Bbl'ed 10.5 lb. M1 Garand.

So the 168 gr. Barnes TSX makes for a great all-purpose load.

A little heavy for black-tail and javelina, but just fine for Minnesota white-tail (in the swamps of Louisiana), Western mulies, big hogs, and elk.




GR
 
When I started hunting with a 3006 I did lot of research to try and find the best bullet weight. Settled on 165 gr because it gave the best overall performance, flat trajectory of 150 and heavy hitting like a 180. Best of both worlds and since 168 gr are a match weight the choice was simple. Never regretted it 20 drt white tails Dr 25 -225 yds.
 
thanks everyone. I know that just about anything out of a 30-06 will take down a deer. for something interesting to do this spring I am just wanting to work up a handload that is as accurate as possible in my gun and at least in the back of me head I can think "I can use this on anything on this continent"
 
Agree with Buck, anything 150-180gr will kill deer well. I like the 168gr TTSX or 165-180gr Accubond.
Bazingo! Especially if you are also using those loads on elk. The Accubond has become my general use .308 diameter bullet. My next favorite is the TTSX. Unless I’m hunting elk then I like the TTSX better.
 
If the object is a deer-legal load with less recoil, I'd point somebody to Hornady's 150gr SP and, depending on bolt action or M1 Garand, 45-50grs IMR4064 or IMR4895.

As I recall, the M1 don't kick near as hard.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top