Grain weight for .30-06 and Deer

[d2wing]

Many big Minnesota deer have fallen hit by my '06, and many by lighter rounds than 150 gr. 150 gr. is more than enough if you can hit them in the vitals.

 

[Frozen North]

150 is plenty.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I was wondering if the Remington Core Lokts were any good.

This 165 grain Core Lokt was taken out of a 6 point whitetail, shot quartering away at about 150-175 yards. The bullet entered at the shoulder and travelled almost the length of the body before coming to a rest just under the skin in front of the off side hindquarter. It mushroomed perfectly and held together well, just like it's supposed to do.

 

[dougwx12]

For deer, any bullet not labeled "varmint" will work, regardless of weight. A 110 TSX would more than get it done.

 

[skipbo32]

150 grain will drop a deer with some left over. do it.

 

[Oceans]

A benefit to the 150 is there is less recoil involved when sighting in and practicing, though with only 2 boxes I don't know how important that factor is. A 150 grain will have a flatter trajectory to around 300 yards, which is really all the distance you want to ethically take game like that at.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Do you need 180gr. for elk and moose?

150 gr is perfectly sufficient for deer. i use 165gr because i think that is the optimum for .30-06

The 150 grain bullet is ideal for deer -- in fact, for years I used a down-loaded round for deer, a 150 grain bullet at around 2600 fps.

The 165 grain bullet is close to perfectly balanced for the .30-06. In terms of efficiency and termimal performance, it will do what either the 150 grain or 180 grain bullets will do -- assuming proper construction.

With modern premium bullets, there is a trend toward lighter weights. In .30-06, I wouldn't hesitate to use a 150-grain Barnes-X bullet or similar premium load on elk.

 

[06lover]

they'll all do the job well enough.
shoot the one that is most accurate in your rifle.