# Favorite Bullet for 30-06



## Bandcollector02 (Oct 4, 2005)

Now I know that bullet grain and other features vary for the type of country you're hunting in. So I currious what kind of terrain do you boys hunt in and what is your preferred bullet??

I currently hunt in a wooded part of MN. Gun is nothing special, pump 30-06 remington. Rarely take shots beyond 150 yards. I've been hunting with soft point 180 grain the last few years with good luck. A friend of mine shoots a BAR 30-06. He claims he is stepping up to 220 grain when he finds em. :sniper:


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## Duckslayer100 (Apr 7, 2004)

With a .30-06 you don't have to worry about high grains unless you're after bigger big game. I hunt 150 grains and that's it. In the past six years I've shot 8 deer and haven't had any go more than 40 yards (if at all). When you head out for grizzly bear, elk, or moose, 220 might be a good idea. :sniper:


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## FairwayCAL (Oct 27, 2006)

i agree with duckslayer, i have been hunting a wooded riverbottom for about 12 years. i use 30-06 springfield 150 grain. I can reach out to about 200 yds pretty accurately with that load. B-4 the 30-06 i used a 25-06 with 120 grain in the same wooded area and i had to track about 30 - 50 yards most of the deer i shot. that was why i went to a larger weapon.


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Serra Trophy bonded 165 gr Fed Premium. These rounds produce the best groupings out of my rifle and have performed great on all the deer I have taken with them.

My wife has a 30-06 in a Ruger that likes the Rem Corelok 150 grain which also have performed well.

Bullet construction is more important than grains on whitetail or any animal. Any grain bullet available in an 06 is more than adequate as far as energy to take whitetail out to 300 yards or more. Having the construction to do what it is suppose to do on impact is key!!!!!!


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## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

Just look at some ballistics charts. 180 is just too big for the 06 cartridge. 150 grain in Hornady SST is faster from the muzzle to 500 yards cause its not enough powder to get that big 180 moving. It also has less drop and holds the energy of a 180.

150 is the only grain I'll shoot out of mine.


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## Bonham (May 24, 2004)

I have used many bullets in my Ruger 06. I have not seen any bullet drop a deer in its tracks faster or more violently than a 165 Hornady SST. This bullet has never exited on any deer I have shot. But dead is dead and realistically any hunting bullet in the 150 - 180 range traveling between 2700 - 3000 fps should do the trick.


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## 308 (Jul 10, 2007)

I use 150grain
If your going after elk I would use 180grain


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

The best two bullets I can think of for a 30-06 both require re-barreling to either a 25 or 27 caliber. IMO 30-06 is a waste. Either get a 308, or move up to 300 Magnum anything.


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

> IMO 30-06 is a waste.


  
Over a hundred years of killing big game would tend to differ....

I shoot the Hornady 180 grain BTSP LM. Simply an awesome bullet.


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## gunsmokex (Nov 3, 2007)

I use a .308, they never made a Win model 88 in a 30-06.
But I use Hornady 150gr boat tail soft points, sighted it in last Sun and I can cover my shots on the target with a dime, 200yd range not the 100yd.


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## koppkd23 (Sep 20, 2006)

Looking at ballistic charts, it seems the optimum bullet for flat shooting is a synthetic tip between a 150 - 165 gr. - not really a consideration in the MN woods, but a factor in ND.
I personally have found that a 165gr. Nosler ballistic tip in a Federal cartridge was the most accurate in my .30-'06 rifles (colt light & parker-hale 1200). The 220 gr. bullets are brutal to shoot, and it seems anything 150 gr. or less never stabilized as well in my barrels.
I'll sell you 2 boxes of my 220's is you want em. 
With a well placed shot, anything out of an '06 is going to drop a deer fast, except for maybe the 50 gr. accelerators.


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## 308 (Jul 10, 2007)

150grain balistic silvertips are great but expensive :sniper:


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## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

iwantabuggy said:


> The best two bullets I can think of for a 30-06 both require re-barreling to either a 25 or 27 caliber. IMO 30-06 is a waste. Either get a 308, or move up to 300 Magnum anything.


Wrong way around :eyeroll:. Look at the ballistics of a 300 mag compared to a nice 30/06 round like 150 grain Light Mag Hornady. For the extra price in shells and kick the 300 is a waste plain and simple.


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

TANATA said:


> iwantabuggy said:
> 
> 
> > The best two bullets I can think of for a 30-06 both require re-barreling to either a 25 or 27 caliber. IMO 30-06 is a waste. Either get a 308, or move up to 300 Magnum anything.
> ...


If you want to compare something, compare the 308 to the 30-06 using Hornady Light Magnum ammo. Almost no difference in performance, but lots of extra recoil and additional powder used. At least with a 300 magnum, I get something for the extra powder burned and the increase in recoil. My reason for stating that the 30-06 is waste is that the 308 will do everything the 30-06 will, with less powder and less recoil. Now compare you 30-06 HLM (Hornady Light Magnum) 150 gr to a 300 WM 180 gr.

150 gr HLM= 3100 fps and 3200ft/lbs at the muzzle with -42 inches of drop at 500 yards. 180 gr 300 Magnum= 3100 fps and 3800+ ft/lbs at the muzzle and -37 inches at 500 yards. With a good BC bullet and proper sight in it becomes -27 inches at 500 yards.

The numbers don't lie. 30-06 is only marginally better than a 308 ballistically, but not as accurate. 300 WM does things an 06 could only dream about. If you disagree, it must because you either haven't really thought it through, or because you don't understand.


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## wallager (Nov 13, 2007)

I've always liked the 150, I just load bulk win or remingtons in the 06, and if you're looking at a max of 150 yds I would load the roundnose or spirepoint just whatever shot best out of my rifle. with proper shot placement the 06 can and will do a good clean job on any animal on the continent. the 220s I feel, open too slow and kick like a mad mule, I personally love the 06, I disagree with the gentleman who said 180 gr is too much bullet for it, but that's why they make more than one. In the early 1900's nearly every game animal on earth got dropped with 150 gr 06's at appox 2700 fps. I have seen that this has been upped to 3ooo fps in some factory loadings, and if that won't do the job, with a well placed shot, I would personally apologize to the critter and run like hell, cause what you shot is just too tough to be messing with Mon Amis


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

The HLM is just one example. I can find one that says the exact opposite.

.308 Win
Federal 165 Sierra Gameking BTSP

--------0-----100----200---300---400
fps--2700--2520--2330--2160--1990
ft.lb-2670--2310--1990--1700--1450
arc----------+2-----0-----.-8.4--.-24.3

.30-06 Springfield
Federal 165 Sierra Gameking BTSP

--------0-----100----200---300---400
fps--2800--2610--2420--2240--2070
ft.lb-2870--2495--2150--1840--1580
arc----------+1.8-----0----.-7.8---.-22.4

It would seem that the 06 here is more powerfull, faster, and has a flatter trajectory. I want it explained to me how the .308 will now always be more accurate than the 06.


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

huntingdude16 it will not always be more accurate in every gun. The 30-06 is no slouch it is just the 308 has more accuracy potential. I know some will disagree with me but in rifle competition the 3006 has all but gone away. With a lot of the newer rounds being developed the 308 may not be seen on the line too much either.

Only a few years ago the 300 win mag and a few other big 30 mags were the only thing on the 1,000 yd line now excluding Palma(308) the 6.5-284 and a few of the other 6.5's and 6mm's are now top dogs. You will see very few 300mags on the line.

With all that being said as you step up case volume you can obtain higher velocities with heavier bullets as long as you have the tube to take advantage of the powder.

I can not say what is my favorite bulet for the 30 cal as I normally use the big stuff to shoot critters. I do like the Nosler Ballistic tip and the X bullet. I do like the way the 150 gr BT shoots accuracy wise


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

huntingdude16 said:


> The HLM is just one example. I can find one that says the exact opposite.
> 
> .308 Win
> Federal 165 Sierra Gameking BTSP
> ...


Your data here exactly proves my point. Hodgdon, Nosler, Sierra, Speer, all agree. You will get about 2-5% gain in velocity for about 10-25% increase in powder used and recoil felt. Hence my comments as to it being a waste. As for accuracy, short fat cases with a steep shoulder are inherently more accurate. It has been proven time and time again at long distance shooting competitions in calibrations such as 308, 260, 22PPC, 6mmPPC, and others. Why do you think Winchester started the big "to do" with the WSM and WSSM. Short fat cases are more efficient and inherently more accurate.

But don't take my word for it. Try picking up up some literature from the experts and you will find they agree.


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

From a reloaders standpoint, I can see an arguement. You may waste less powder. However, I don't reload, so I really don't care. 

You also still need to explain how the .308 is more accurate than the .30-06. :wink:


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

huntingdude16 said:


> From a reloaders standpoint, I can see an arguement. You may waste less powder. However, I don't reload, so I really don't care.
> 
> You also still need to explain how the .308 is more accurate than the .30-06. :wink:


It would appear that your data is from factory ammo and it still shows the same thing. The only difference will be that you don't know how much powder is there, therefore you cannot calculate recoil. So the difference is there whether you reload or shoot factory ammo. As for accuracy, I already explained it as simply as it can be explained. If you don't want to take my word for it then read it somewhere else. With a little effort on your part, lots of knowledge could be gained. :bop: :beer:


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

iwantabuggy the 308 is not more accurate at the same bullet weight than an 06! Physics works the same on a 308 or a 30-06 bullet Drop on the bullet is determined by the speed.

For example a bullet of 140 grains traveling 2850 fps shot out of a 270,260Rem, 25-06 or 7mm 08 is going to have the same drop! If you doubt me think about this. A bullet dropped straight down with no forward momentum and a bullet of equal weight and shape shot out of a gun will hit the ground at the same time given a flat area and including the arc of the earth.

Now windage is a different issue to some degree because of rifling issues and the rate of twist, but that is about it. This gets debated over and over and physics do not change. To have a bullet of equal weight travel with less drop, farther than out of a 06 it has to be traveling at a higher rate of speed!

Like I said before my gun likes the 165 gr bullets as far as tightness of the group. Barrel twist and bullet construction make it fly straighter toward the target. But the drop on the bullet remains more than a 150 grain at the same speed.

Sometimes people loose sight of these things when looking at ballistic charts. I use to reload, and do not anymore! So when talking accuracy one should focus on the windage issue, because that is the only relative thing that matters. Bullet drop is bullet drop because of gravity!


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

Bullet drop is bullet drop but it can be cheated by shooting a faster bullet. This will cut down the time in flight. This is where the 06 has an edge on the 308.

Now the 308 on average has more accuracy potential than the 30-06 as stated before.

With that being said none of it is actually answering the original question posted.


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

> It would appear that your data is from factory ammo and it still shows the same thing. The only difference will be that you don't know how much powder is there, therefore you cannot calculate recoil. So the difference is there whether you reload or shoot factory ammo.


I'm not sure really what that had to do with what I said.

Yes, the .30-06 is a bit faster, hits a bit harder and has a flatter trajectory than the .308 at parred bullet grains. You said this is because it uses something like 20-25% more powder(too lazy to go back and look exactly). Well, me, buying the factory ammo, why do I care it uses that much more powder? I don't. Results are results. What I meant to say in my previous post was, if I was a person that reloaded ammunition, a .308 may be a better idea, because you use less powder but don't lose a whole lot at the same time.


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## 308 (Jul 10, 2007)

More SNIPER rifles are chamebered in 308 than anything else.

I still love the 30/06.

I use both the 308 and 30/06 :sniper:


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## gunner30-06 (Nov 22, 2007)

308 said:


> 150grain balistic silvertips are great but expensive :sniper:


ya they r but i need 2 know 270 or 30-06


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## 308 (Jul 10, 2007)

30/06 150grain remington core lokts are great too :beer:


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## dd6 (Dec 2, 2007)

Wow! Seems this argument about the grand 'o6 is still going strong!
Last time I checked its chambered more than anything in any manufacturer, #1 in reloading sales. Even Roy Weatherby put the 06 in among his mag's, 1st non-Weath. crtrdg.
I believe the 308 (7.62 nato) came about to lighten the ammo weight and be close to the performance of the 06. Then they figured a .223 will kill a man no problem, even lighter,cheaper.
The 308 is not suggested for ALL North American game, the 06 is!
Funny how the 06 spawned all these other great crtdgs. 25-06,270,280,35 whelan, and the list goes on. The 308 really came to be from the 06.
Even the 50 bmg is a giant 06. 
Looking at ballistics, the 06 duplicates 300 win. mag. with some loads. Did he say re-barreled! Why? It really is the one gun. 
Do we really need all these new cartridges? I can't keep track of them. Its like everything else, just too much un-needed variety!!


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