Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 30 caliber deer bullet

What's your favorite grain and bullet for deer in 30 caliber? Mine is 180 grain Partition I use it in 308,30-06 and 300 RUM shoots excellent groups and excellent results in all of my rifles glad so I don't have to buy different grain and bullets for each gun.

I've killed a number of deer with 180 Partitions but never could get them to shoot very tight groups out of any of several 06. My deer bullet for many years was 165 Sierra soft point boattails, and for the past 8 years or so I've shot 165 Hornady Interbonds. They shoot a half inch lower than 180 Swift A-frames at 100 yards so I switch to the 180's for moose etc. without resighting rifle. Otherwise would go with 180 for all big game.

I suspect that pert near any .30 bullet would do for deer, with a nod to the 165 or 150's for longer range or the 130 Barnes X.

Go forth and kill stuff. I've used it in a bunch of boring 06s over 4831/4350 and nothing walks away. Meat damage ??? Simple. Don't shoot the meat.

https://www.tropgun.com/hornady/hornady-bullet-30cal-interlock-3040-38637

180 nbt in my 300wm
165 nbt in 06

the only 30 caliber I've killed a deer with was a 30-30, so I'd go with the corelokt 150 grain. deer are easy to kill, so no need for a whole lot of power and weight behind it.
saw my old man kill two mature bucks in 3 days with a .223 using 60 grain partitions. one dropped on the spot, the other went 10 yards.

180 gr. speer hot or core lokt.

For deer I like a 150 grain bullet in 30 caliber, and while I like Nosler Ballistic tips, I like Hornady Interlocks even more.

!65 Hornady spire point in the .308 and 30-06 has worked for me. Nosler 170 grain Partition in the 30-30.

150 barnes TTSX

For .30 caliber and dee my favorite is a 165-grain Nosler ballistic tip out of a .30-06, I have only had one deer take a step using that load. I tried some 180-grain Federal Power Shoks on deer this year in a .300 Winchester, I wasn't impressed with the performance (even though it killed 3 deer very dead for me), so I think I will load some 165-grain ballistic tips for it next year and see what they do with a little more speed.

150 Core-Lokt.

150 NBT. A shot behind the shoulder usually seals the deal. Out to 400 they work pretty well.

It used to be the 165 Hornady BTSP but I finally gave up on them. They seemed to result in more bloodshot meat than other loads.

Thes days I use 180's in my '06's. C/L, I/L or Partitions for most things any more.

In .308 Normas I use 180 I/L loaded to match velocity with Norma factory loads per my cheap Chrony.

In my M-88 I use 150's-C/L or I/L.

I use 150 gr Hornady Interlocks in the '06 and 300 Savage. If I owned a 30 magnum, I'd probably find something else for that but for deer and bear in Pa. the above works just fine.

Dale

Have shot deer with 125 gr. Sierra's though the 220 gr. Silvertip.. In my old 06, I shot 165 Sierra HPBT, and the last reload was 150 Horn. BTSP. In my .300's, I used lots of 165 Sierra HPBT, 150 BTBT, and some 150 g.Sierra FB..

150 grain ballistic tip has been like lightning for me in Southern Trophy Whitetails. Ranges short to far. Typically exits and typically dead right there.

165 Hornady spire point, flat base, same bullet I use for all of my handloading, depending on caliber. I try to mimic the BC of the 270win/130 gr bullet combo, which seems about ideal.

In 308 ive used
165 accubond
150 accubond
130 ttsx
150 sst
150 interbond
165 ballistic tip

They all worked well

The copper ones work much less bloodshot, even if you are not shooting the meat.. vs the cup and core ones.

I tend to run barnes of some flavor. They are not that expensive and when the chips are down you can rely on them.

That said the only cup and core I"ve used in a long time has been 185 bergers in 308 win. I may trade up to the 200 grain range with them or go back to the target version as the hunting ones have done a bit more damage than I care for, but they are even more accurate than the barnes bullets are.

Though at some point I suspect I"ll have 168 ttsx for 300 and less and heavier bergers for the shots from 300 out to whatever I feel is max that day...

+1 on the Hornady 165 grain SP

Another+1 for that one and I also like the Hornady Flat Base Interlock 180 grainer a lot....

180 Accubond, though I might look elsewhere for the .308.

I think it would be pretty difficult to pick a bad .30 caliber deer bullet in weights from 150-180 grains. With cup and cores, I'd keep the impact velocity below 2800 or so if hunting for meat. Otherwise, load up and go hunting. Out of a .30-06, I've used 150 BTs, 150 Sierra Pro Hunters, 165 Sierra GameKings, and 180 Sierra round noses. From ranges of 35-230 yards they've all worked to perfection.

FWIW, for an all-around deer rig, I'm not sure there is anything better than a .30-06 with a 165 grainer at around 2800 fps.

180 BT in 300 WBY

any 150gr. bullet that shoots well.

Ed

I grew up shooting Dad's .30-06 Handloads w/ great results with Hornady IL 165-180gror the NPT 165-180gr.Last year I also bought 500ct NBT 168gr.and 500ct 180gr NBT Hunting bullets at a garage sale for $50.00.Both shoot superbly on paper but have not taken any game yet...ScottyO.

165gr Seirra GameKing. They have shot well out of many 30-06 and 308's for me and always performed great in deer.

165 partition

Thats one I'll NEVER shoot again as it had serious issues at times in an 06.. same thing... either overexpanding or not expanding at all. But 95% of the time it was perfect... after a couple of boxes of them never again.

165 grain Hornady boat tail in non magnums rounds. The 180 grain Nosler A-Bond in the magnums.

Call me old fashion. But my fav all around .30 caliber projectile is a the old Hornady 220 Grain round nose. A stomper outta a .30 Army or a .30 Govt 1906! Love it in the .30 Army!

Only other bullet I like is the Sierra 180 Grain round nose. Since Hornady don't make one anymore.

Something good 150-165 gr from a 30/06.

I like 165 NPT's cause they work on everything else besides deer but plenty of good bullets out there.

For deer, the 150 NPT has been my go-to for many, many years, but I have some 150 ABs loaded up to try...

Every bullet 165-168 grain bullet I've used in the 30-06 has worked well.
So far I've used:
168 Nosler Ballistic Silvertip, 3 for 3 bang-flops.
165 Hornady SST, killed the heck out of them but too explosive so I switched to the 165 Hornady SP flat base.

Y'all must have deer the size of Santa Gertrudis bulls.

I find the good old WW-150gr. Power Point does a good job if MV starts at 2800 fps or less. The 165 gr. interlock does a good job too no need to get fancy.

Right now my favorite .30 cal is My old Ruger M77R in 30.06.

Load with 150 grn Nosler Balistic Tips and Big Game powder.

Accurate and fast too !

Hornady 165 BTSP

150 grain Partitions. More than enough for deer and black bears. Have used 165 Interlock and 165 Sierra. Both work, just feel confident about hitting bone with the Partition. More about feeling confident than what's "best".

Just posted this on another thread, seems to fit here as well..

150g Hornady BTSP, 150g & 165g NBT's out of .308 and .30-06.
170g Hornady FP and 160g FTX out of .30-30

150gr NBT or 150gr Accubond for .308W and .30-06.

Killed my biggest buck with a 180gr. Hornady RN in .308 back in 1974, have since switched to 165gr. bullets in .308 & .30-06.

30 cal for deer?

For a number of years now I've been off the magnum train, mostly using or loading for others using 300 Savage bolt gun handloads, 308 Winchester and 30-06. A lot of bullets have worked quite well.

165 Ballistic Tips (old "soft" ones, kind of miss these)
150 Ballistic Tips (newer ones)
150 Interlocks, boat tail and flat based
165 SST and Interlock
150 Core Lokt
150 Speer Hot Cor and Boat Tail
168 Berger VLD

I'm probably forgetting others too.

I'm partial to 165 Ballistic tips in both 308 and 06.
Killed a bunch of deer with them over the years.
165 Hornady Interlocks work pretty well too.

I am a big fan of 165 grain Sierra a Game Kings, and so is my .30-06.

Add Sierra 165 GK hollow point.

125 gr Nos Bal Tip 300WinMag running away at 250 yards.

Where's you find the bullet? I'd have never thought it would get past the rump, but it sure did a job there!

That buck's reaction to the bullet was to stand up on the hind legs like the Lone Ranger's horse. Then he fell over backwards. I could see through the scope that he was stopped.

I did not find the bullet. In 20 some animals, I have never found the Nosler Ballistic tip, but I am usually aiming for lungs.

In 2007 with a 270 130 gr Nos Bal Tip 2875 fps wimpy load short barrel, I hit a mule buck going away an inch above the anus. The entire animal was gut shot from back bone fragments. It blew the whole nose off the animal. At 400 yards, I thought I hit him in the nose. I could see the nose shot off through the scope. That is terminal ballistics ~ 2000 fps and went the length of the buck.

I don't know how guys find bullets. But this year we had some animals turned into snack sticks at the butcher's. My friend bit into a bullet in his snack sticks. That was not his kind of bullet. It was solid Copper.

We found a bullet. But it was not ours.


Here is a buck I shot in the back when he was running away in 2014.
I try to keep the bullet above the backbone after that 2007 gut shot mess.

This has been my go-to round out of an '06 Mauser for over 20 years. Never had a bit of trouble. Our member MILES58 put me onto the Barnes 130 gr. TTSX out of my 300 Savage Model 99. I haven't stuck one in a deer yet, but they are scary accurate out of my old lever gun.

I had my last deer cut at a butcher shop in 2011. Our rifle season begins Thanksgiving week, and I was always too busy trying to hunt for a couple of days, get back home, get unpacked and help with the houswork and cooking for the holiday to do my own. Now, with a different domestic situation, I've got the time to cut up my deer myself. I get it cut the way I want it, and the taste of the meat is much better. I don't even want to think about what the "professional" cutter might have been doing to my food.

A couple of years ago, my son had a deer processed, and what he ended up with was the equivalent processed weight of his deer, not his deer. Basically, they threw it all together and handed out the end result willy-nilly. They also sold venison sausage. Hmmm.....

On the other hand, the big deer I shot down in Raleigh County in 1996 was processed by a guy working out of his garage with his daughter and another guy helping, and they did a great job, for $40.

As to bullets, I've generally just picked one in the 150-165gr range, worked up a load, and gone hunting. Never had a serious issue, and seldom recovered one. These days, I usually buy Nosler over-runs and blems from SPS, although I keep an eye out for sales at Midway and Graf's.

I thought I was the only one. Try PRVI bullets from Graf's too. Inexpensive, reliable old fashioned cup and core. They're not as accurate as Matchkings or Bergers mind you but, they behave like Corelokts or Interlocks on game. Good for imitating Partitions for practice.

308 150 grain flat base interlock at about 2600.