30-06 question

[Steve H]

In my 50 years of shooting/hunting I have shot and reloaded MANY different calibers but never got around the 30-06. Now I'm helping my buddy get into shooting/hunting and he bought a 30-06. I want to think that a 150 grain bullet is more than enough for Utah Mulleys but I'm reading that there are alot of folks that want to push the 168 & 180 grain pills. What do you find is a reasonable load?

I shoot a 280 and find that a 140 grain load works well in it and my 25-06 likes 117 -120 grains.

 

[rcmodel]

The 165's are just about optimum for range, trajectory, and power in 30-06.

No need for 180's.

rc

 

[Steve H]

thanks RC.............now just need to find some components

 

[stoky]

I agree that 150gr are plenty for deer.
My favorite (bolt gun) load for .30-06 is 180gr Sierra Game Kings with IMR4350.
ymmv
There's probably a wider variety of loads for .30-06 than any other cartridge.

 

[judgedelta]

Sierra 165 Gameking, either spire point or hollow point (I prefer the HP) with RL-15.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

I have had good luck with Sierra Gameking softpoints, both 150 and 165 gr. If you are using a single stage press, 4064 has given me the best accuracy so far. TAC is great if you are using a progressive press with a powder measure mounted on it.

Most of my .30-06 shooting is with an M1 rifle, so I keep the loads fairly conservative and use powders within a narrow burn rate to duplicate the pressure curve of military ammo. If your friend's rifle is a bolt action, you could probably get more velocity with slower powders.

 

[Nature Boy]

do you guys have an opinion on the Hornady SST for deer?

 

[jmr40]

For deer a 150 is just fine. But if you want to develop only one load that would work for deer, elk, bear, or other game the heavier bullets would be a better option. You could pick one of the 165/168 gr options and have one load that could do it all.

There isn't much downside to going all the way up to 180's either even though they aren't needed for deer. They carry a lot more energy at distance and only drop about 2" more at 500 yards than 150's. You do get some more recoil and they cost a little more.

If I were picking one load for everything in my 30-06 it would be a 165gr Nosler Accubond loaded close to 2900 fps.

do you guys have an opinion on the Hornady SST for deer?

Bullets range from soft to hard. Soft bullets such as the SST expand quickly and put game down fast. They sometimes destroy a lot of meat and are not a good choice for larger game or if shooting at bad angles. If you put one in the lungs of any big game animal it will likely die fast.

Accubonds are on the harder end of the spectrum. They penetrate better on bigger game and from bad angles and will most likely completely penetrate. An animal may well run a short distance before falling, but it will fall if you hit the vitals.

Neither is a bad choice if you understand how they work and don't ask one to do a job it wasn't designed to do.

 

[denton]

The higher ballistic coefficient of longer 30 caliber bullets nearly offsets the difference in muzzle velocity. The trajectory of a 165 grain bullet will be very close to that of a 180 grain bullet. So why not have the extra mass?

 

[DRYHUMOR]

I'm shooting some heavier bullets...

185 Berger VLD hunting over 52gr of IMR4831, 10 twist barrel. BR2 primers and Lapua cases.

It's a good load.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Sierra 165 Gameking, either spire point or hollow point (I prefer the HP) with RL-15.

This is my go to as well.

165 grain SGK BTHP with 50 grains of RL15.
Some say that RL15 is too fast for this load and recommend RL17 instead. I am aware that the RL17 may be a little more efficient, but the 15 is commonly available in my area whereas the 17 is spotty. Also, I'm getting MOA groups with it and I've never had a deer shrug and walk one off.

 

[readyeddy]

180 gr gameking over 55.3 grains of IMR4350. Trajectory is similar to 150 gr. and recoil is okay from field positions. So I'm with denton on this one.

 

[Art Eatman]

I'd stay with 150s for deer; 180s for elk. I've used 4064 for the 150s; begin at, say, 50.0 grains. Sierra flat-base SPs.

I loaded some 180s with H414; book max was 54.0 grains. Very tight groups with Sierra SPBTs. Easy MOA on my 500-yard range. Much more "ding" in the steel than the 150s.

FWIW, I also had sub-MOA at 500 with the Sierra 165 HPBT; don't remember how much 4064 I used.

 

[d2wing]

My best load was Hornady 165 gr SPBT over 48.5 gr. 4064.5. 150 gr is plenty for deer or deer size game. 180 gr is fine.

 

[Donnicles]

Anyone have groups on paper odd these loads? ?? I'm in the same boat

 

[Dr T]

My Number 1 RSI 30-06 happens to like the Hornady 180 gr SPFB Interlocks more than any of the 165's that I have tried in. My handload chronographs at 2650 from the 20" barrel.

 

[Lennyjoe]

165 gr Sierra Gameking and IMR4350 is my best deer load out of my Savage 110. I move up to Nosler Partitions in the 180 gr weight along with IMR 4350 for elk out of the same rifle.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Anyone have groups on paper odd these loads? ?? I'm in the same boat

160 yds. Wiggled one out a bit.

 

[Namibhunter]

Hi Gents

I have found that 180gr Sierra Gamekings work perfectly in my 30-06. I tried going down to 165/8gr to get a better trajectory, however my groups opened up from a constent -1/2' group to a 1'' group.
My advise would be this.
1. confirm your barrel twist rate- the higher the rate the lighter the bullet
2. test both 180 and 165/8 bullets( i would not go lower or higher)
3. do alot of shooting at various distances with the rifle so you can get to know your rifle. many bad shots onn animal are not due to the rifle not being good enough or the load being bad, but due to the shooter not knowing where the rifle shoots at various distance.

thats my 2 cents worth.

rgds
Namibhunter

 

[Donnicles]

Wow dryhumor let's see that rifle

 

[Gtscotty]

Anyone have groups on paper odd these loads? ?? I'm in the same boat

Lazily copied from another similar thread in the reloading section:

OK, so these aren't necessarily my best groups with this load, but this is my best 180 gr load for my 30-06 X-bolt. I shot these just to confirm POI at 100, 200, and 300 yds before elk season, 30-ish seconds between shots, and 15 minutes between groups. Also the 100yd target has some shots from Prograde factory 130ttsx out of my .270 mixed in (not a bad factory load really).

100 yds


200 yds


300 yds


I usually measure targets with my calipers after I get home, since only 3 rds were on the 300 yd target I had to do some conversion based on my picture and the grid lines. The measurement CTC for 5 shots came in between 2.3" and 2.5".

This is one of my better groups with my 180gr SBT load (found while rifling through a stack of targets). I have a few others saved that range between this and 1".



I have a 165gr SGK deer load (59 gr H4350) that shoots ever so slightly better, but I developed that a while ago and no longer have my targets

 

[Sunray]

Any 165 will kill any game in North America. Said bullet does not have to be a premium bullet either. A Speer Spitzer SP will work just as well as a Nosler. Partial to IMR4064 myself.

 

[justin22885]

i wouldnt hesitate to go shoot a deer with some buffalo bore .45acp ammo out of a hi point carbine.. so anything out of a 30-06 will be sufficient..

bullets i like most are hornady interlock SSTs, and speer spitzer boat tails.. the 165 game king has a ballistic coefficient of .405 which is lower than any of these, speer spitzer soft points have a BC of .520 and will retain a lot more energy and velocity downrange

 

[ThomasT]

I am rereading the Selected Works Of Finn Aagaard for probably the 15th time. He liked the 30-06 for a best all around rifle. The 375 H&H was the one gun he stated he would never sell.

He favorite all around load was a 180gr nosler partition or a swift a-frame bullet. I have a lot of respect for this writer and all his experience in african hunting. When sighted in 2" high at 100 yards there is only about a 2" difference in drop at 300 yards between the 150 and 180 grain bullets.

That being said I just loaded 40 rounds of sierra 150gr pro hunter bullets for my two 30-06 rifles and sighted both in with these loads. I am sure they will lay out the whitetails.

I used sierra 170gr pro hunter bullets on a bull elk about 14 years ago and it was found under the skin on the far side still in one piece. The 150s should work fine for you use.

 

[Gtscotty]

Found some targets from my deer load tonight. Part of the reason I like SGK's is they have always shot so well in all of the rifles I've tried them in. I've used SST's before, and while they shot pretty well, I've had problems with penetration (read no pass through on a broadside shot on a doe). SGK's give me two holes and devastation in between pretty much every time.