Good hunting ammmo for Weatherby Vanguard .30-06

[GWARGHOUL]

What do you guys shoot in your Vanguard .30-06? I think it has a 1-10 twist..

I just bought one today(from a fellow member), but can't pick it up for a few days, so I figured I would do some ammo research..

I'm not talking TOP DOLLAR.. but you know.. a good hunting round.. one that does the long range and short range on a good sized deer or such.

This round might be what finally coxes me into reloading. But I wanna try some factory stuff first to get an idea of where I stand.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[LoonWulf]

Any mid weight (150-180) spitzer will be decent out to 350-400yds. Just try a few different types and see what shoots best. If you dont mind spending the money look at the plastic tipped rounds (normally in higher end lines of ammo), they usually work well at 06 velocity and shoot pretty flat.

 

[T Bran]

150 Grain Remington Corelocts I have had great luck with them in several rifles. My Rem 760 likes the 180 grain a bit better than the 150's but not enough to matter in the field.
Congrats
T

 

[ms6852]

Gotta agree with T Bran, both of my 30-06 love remington core-lokt.

 

[Eb1]

I have reloaded speer 170 grian fn that are usually used for 30-30s over imr4064 for a mock Ballistic Tip reaction in the .30-06. The softer lead and fn really puts the smack to whitetails. But any spitzer from 150 to180 grains is standard fodder for the .30-06.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Thanks guys.

I'll try some Remington corelokt and some hornady 150 and 180 grain.. see which one does the job.

 

[ants]

Standard Remington or Winchester 180 grain on sale, usually much less than $20 box.

We make good use of 180 grain soft point Rem or Win, because its velocity is a little slower than 150 and 168 grain, which helps give it time to be effective as it passes through game (nearly all 30-06 will penetrate clean through an average deer). The usefullness of a heavy-for-caliber bullet is not to pack extra punch, but to take advantage of lower velocity to open up better while still carrying good energy throughout its entire flight. 30-06 with 180 grain soft point bullet is very effective from 50 yards to 500 -- if the shooter is capable of shooting that far.

If we want to use lighter bullet weight, we drop down to 270 or 308 or 7mm. The advantage of 30-06 is the extra case capacity, so it shoots heavier bullets very nicely. We've been shooting 180 grain in 30-06 since the 1950's.

For some extra money you can buy Federal Premium with the Trophy Bonded bullet or Nosler AccuBond bullet, or Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertip. Those are very accurate in the rifles we own. Definitely more accurate than standard Remington or Winchester ammo, but costs $20 more per box of 20 and you never find it on sale. For its cost, standard Rem or Win is a great buy and plenty accurate for deer.

 

[slowr1der]

I'd try the Federal Power Shok 150 Grain rounds and see how they shoot. If they are accurate, I think they are a good choice. I also like the 150 grain Fusions. Really, for deer I don't see any reason for a premium bullet in this caliber.

 

[Geno]

For the cost, I like these (and for the performance):

http://www.winchester.com/Products/rifle-ammunition/super-x/power-max-bonded/Pages/X30061BP.aspx.

I used the equivalent in my .308 Win this year. It hits very hard!!!

Geno

 

[Eb1]

My father has a Browning BAR from oh I'd say 1976 or 1977. Anyway. He still has the ammo he bought from then, or in the 80's. It is 180 grain Federal Hi-Shok.
That rifle will shoot 3 shot groups at 100 yards that you can cover with a dime. It has an old Redfield scope on it that looks like a wide screen TV. LOL....

It shoots good with those older Hi-Shoks.

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I have recently been very surprised and pleased with Remington CoreLokt 140gr in 6.5x55...they group to 0.75" out of my Ruger No. 1A and seem quite consistent.

I have used Federal Premium Hunting loads with Barnes TSX bullets...they are accurate and have excellent terminal performance. My preferred hunting hand loads use Barnes TSX 168gr bullets in .308 for my .308 Wins and my .30-06. In my experience, Federal Premium is ammo you can count on, though YMMV.

FH

 

[Eb1]

I prefer the blue box Federal ammo.
I tried Federal 117 grain .25-06 in my rifle, and it looked like I was shooting buckshot.

I find that the blue box Federal works best in my firearms and for my wallet.

 

[pbrktrt]

Weatherby recommends Federal Hi-Shok 150 gr or 165 gr for best accuracy. A good place to start.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Weatherby recommends Federal Hi-Shok 150 gr or 165 gr for best accuracy. A good place to start.

Thats some excellent info, thank you. I imagine if they recommend it that's probably the "premium factory ammo" that they use. My rifle is closer to a 1 inch group on the test target, than it is to 1.5 inches.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Of course, I don't see any "hi-shok" listed... only vital-shok and power-shok....

 

[Art Eatman]

On the high end of price is the Federal Premium High Energy load. I tried a box of it. Same sub-MOA as my handloads. In an email back-and-forth, a guy in Australia who had chronographed it claimed that it indeed pushed a 165-grain bullet to 3,150 from a 26" barrel. Definitely a Ma Bell load.

Based on what it did to a poor innocent coyote from my 26" rifle, I'd have to figure it would pretty much do in most anything in the 57 D) states, this side of the big bears.

 

[Geno]

Art is correct. I have never had a bad experience with Federal Premium ammo, in any caliber.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I load pretty much all of my own ammo, but I recently bought a 30-06 and wanted some ammo to hunt with so I tried a few factory flavors.

Winchester 165 and 180 grain (Super-X, silver box) = Terrible accuracy in my rifle (and my sons), 3 MOA was the best it would do.

Remington 180 CoreLokt (green box) = Good stuff, 1 MOA.

Winchester Power Max Bonded 180 grain (red box) = VERY GOOD STUFF for the $$$. This ammo grouped sub-MOA in 2 different rifles...300 yard groups were 2.5 -3 inches.

 

[pbrktrt]

To correct my previous post, I meant Power-Shok. They use this and Vital-Shok to test all non-Weatherby chambered rifles.

 

[HOOfan_1]

150 Grain Remington Corelocts I have had great luck with them in several rifles. My Rem 760 likes the 180 grain a bit better than the 150's but not enough to matter in the field.
Congrats
T

Just shot a deer last Saturday with 150 grain Core-Lokts at 250 yards, and my rifle wasn't even sighted in for them...it was sighted in for 150 grain Sierra Game Kings.

The bullet went through and through, so no chance to recover it, but there was plenty of damage done on the inside.

Now they call them Remington Express R30062