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Which 30-06 cartridge?

hivoltghivoltg Member Posts: 928 ✭✭✭✭
edited November 2007 in Ask the Experts
Which 30-06 cartridge would be best for deer out to 400 yards? Which brand? Ballistic tip or not and why? How heavy of a bullet?

Thanks for the help

Comments

  • eastbankeastbank Member Posts: 4,052 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    i use the nosler ballistic tip 165gr. 30 cal. in the 30-06 and in a 300 weatherby.the 30-06 is a rem. pump carbine with a 2x7 leupold. 57 grs.IMR-4350 gives 2700fps in the pump. the 300 weatherby is a mark V stainless 26 inch barrel with a 3.5x10 leupold. 83grs H-4831 gives 3200fps. both loads shoot well in my rifles and have accounted for a lot of deer. eastbank.
  • Tailgunner1954Tailgunner1954 Member Posts: 7,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Not to be a smart alic, but it's going to depend on which one your rifle prefers IOW the ones that group the best from your gun.
    With any of them, your maximum "point blank range" will be 300 yards or less, so your also going to need to learn your trajectory *from actual testing", not from a computer drop chart.

    Deer are a easy kill, IF you put a bullet in the right place.
    That said, the 150gr NBT has worked well out of my 30-06 out to 440yd, but that's with a hand load that's tuned to my rifle.
  • tsr1965tsr1965 Member Posts: 8,682 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Most likely I would go with the Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silver Tips in the 150 or 165 grain loads for factory loads. That is unless you can find a factory load with the Barnes TSX in the 130 grain.
  • oldgunmanoldgunman Member Posts: 1,779 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have shot 30-06 most of my life. For the past 12 years or so I use 165gr in the remingtons factory loads. Now thats all I buy.
  • nononsensenononsense Member Posts: 10,928 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    hivoltg,

    I'm not a fan Ballistic Tips but there are several members here that are ardent supporters. There is a large selection of bullets suited to taking deer at 400 yards and closer with perfect results. The older, established spitzer bullets such as the Speer continue to harvest deer year ofter year without blinking an eye. Nosler Partitions are in that same category, older design great function.

    Newer designs like the Swift Scirocco, Hornady Interbonds and the Barnes TSX are making inroads onto the average shooter's reloading bench.

    I happen to prefer the older Partitions, the newer North Fork bullets and most of the Match bullets manufactured today for much of my hunting but there are too many bullets to name that will work within your parameters. You do need to test any bullet/load combination in your rifle in order to ascertain whether it is accurate.

    This is the link to the Federal Cartridge Ballistics menu where you can look at each load they have and look at the related ballistics charts. It will give you some basic information about bullet selection and ballistics:

    http://www.federalcartridge.com/ballistics/default.aspx

    This is a list of ballistic tables available from Rifle Shooter magazine:

    http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ballistics/ballistic-tables/


    Best.
  • MobuckMobuck Member Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Under 400 yards about any 150-165 grain bullet will handle a deer as long as you hit the front end. You'll have to put in some bench time to find out which is the most accurate with your particular rifle. I shoot the NOsler Ballistic Tip 165 grain in my buck buster. It has run up a very respectable score of one shot stops. I'm talking down right there not shoot them and run them down later. I quit using it to fill the freezer due to it's violent expansion but I have other rifles for that. This is the rifle I carry when I want to reach out and put them on the ground.
  • carbine100carbine100 Member Posts: 3,071 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Federal premium 165 gr Sierra boattails shoot well in my -06. Sierra makes a fine bullet.
  • Mk 19Mk 19 Member Posts: 8,170
    edited November -1
    Every gun has a different prefrance for the load it prefers to shoot. Try a few different loads and see the one your gun shoots the best.
  • 204targetman204targetman Member Posts: 3,493
    edited November -1
    I love my old 06' gamemaster. But in my neck of the woods most deer are shot at 50 yards or less. I have a tough time finding an open 300 hundred yards to shoot my 204.
  • sandwarriorsandwarrior Member Posts: 5,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    hivoltg,

    Something to consider here. Several loads will work. What you need to understand that with the 30.06 the drift in a 10 mph wind will be more than the drop. Both of which you will need to account for. During our shooting clubs deer rifle sight- we had several people want to shoot on our 300 yd. range. In the 4-12mph gusting winds most people couldn't hit paper. For both windage and elevation. They usually sighted in at 1"-2" high at 100 yds. At three hundred they were usually lucky to hit the paper.

    Typically a heavier bullet will buck wind better. But, they are fired a little slower and therefore have a greater initial drop than lighter higher velocity bullets. You can range in hunting bullets from as low as 130 grs. (un-common) clear on up to 180 grs.

    My 30-06 likes it's 180 Accubonds pushed around 2710-2716. That from a 22" barrel using 4350.
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