Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tell me again about 30-06

Interesting about the Hornady, which they list as a varmint bullet? Have you tried the 125 Sierra?

Never got around to trying the 125 Sierra. I think it would be similar.

To me, the secret is 3K fps., expansive performance and very light recoil.

Set up like that, the '06 acts like a completely different round.

DF

Personally, for deer at woods ranges, I'll take a sedate 150 or 165 load over lighter fare.

My brother agrees with you. My handloads.








P

I like the 180 NP's in my .30/06,they work well on small....




And large...

Damn Ken. That one was small enough you could put him on a stick like a marshmallow and roast him over a campfire..

Yup.

Yeah, but you kill jackwabbits with a .460 Wby...

DF

Nice!

I'd go with that load for elk.

My light bullet scenario is limited to WT's and hogs.

Bigger stuff, bigger bullets.

One thing nice about light bullets, they kill deer and they don't kick. If one has a youngster starting out and only has an "06, this combo will serve that purpose well.

I built a very light '06 HVA rifle and went with light bullets, thinking it may kick a bit with heavier ones. I was surprised how well they perform and how pleasant they are to shoot.

Mathman pointed out the 130 Horn is listed as a varmint bullet. A .30 cal. varmint bullet will perform a bit different than a .224 cal./.243 cal. varmint bullets. The extra mass aids in whacking bigger critters without blowing up too bad. They are expansive, but do exit. I keep them out of bone; that could get messy.

DF

Yup,I do.

I haven't shot any lately, but back when I was a poor grad student collecting deer, and the '06 was the only center-fire rifle I owned, I shot a bunch of them. I always took neck shots and never lost a deer. However, I never had one shoot completely through the neck of big south Texas whitetails and it was not unusual to find shrapnel from the bullet jackets stuck in ears, chest, etc. They were definitely dumping all of their energy into the neck.

I like the 165 Hornady Interlock with 56.5 grs. IMR 4350
It is accurate in my rifle and even with the 22 inch barrel it is 2886 fps.

The 130 Horn must be a tad tougher bullet than the 125 Sierra. My 130's exit, don't blow up like that, even at 3K fps.

DF

Its an 06, you would have to screw up pretty bad to not end up with a decent deer load.

Shaman, I'm not nearly as old as you, I'm 57. I also see no reason to change. I reload some, for 6.5x55 and .223. Some people have mentioned 150 grain bullets being better for deer than 180's. I don't see it that way. We have two 30-06's in the family. In one of them we shoot 150 grain Corelokts and the other 165 grain Corelokts. The reason has nothing to do with bullet weight but accuracy. Those weights were what shot best out of those rifles. If 180's shot best then that's what we would shoot.

Of course where I live 30-06 bullet weight is a moot point anyway. Most Texas deer are pretty small comparatively.

H4350. Your 165 of choice.

Not much to know. Complete no brainer.

If it doesn't shoot, fix or sell the rifle.

That will sure kill deer deader.

^This^
My interest has moved from experimenting with rifle loads (which I once loved to do) and my reloading is utilitarian: boring old loads that have killed a pile of game and keep killing it for me. I'd rather hunt, fish or play with grandkids than reload or shoot targets. My '06 ready-to-hunt locker is filled with 165 Hornady Interbonds and 180 Swift A-frames, both over H 4350. The A-Frames shoot one inch higher than the 165s at 100 yards. Critters bigger than deer and caribou get the 180's on intentional hunts but get the 165s without any care from me if they show up when 165's are in the rifle.

A few years ago I started to work up a 165 GMX load to replace both, hit pressure problems early and have never finished the project.

I grew up on Jack O'Connor so loaded 165 Sierras over 56 grains of IMR 4350 (an incredibly accurate load in my first '06) and slew deer, bear and elk. Examining bullet wounds finally nudged me to add 180 NP's for elk and moose, which eventually gave way to Swift A-frames at the suggestion of Ron Kesselring at his store in NW Washington. Then reading JJ Hack in my early years here got me interested in Interbonds and though he has moved on, the 165 Interbonds became my staple.

I respect the 06, but never was a fan, perhaps as I found lesser recoiling rounds to shoot as flat and kill as fast.

I would recommend the Barnes 130 TTSX, and better yet in a 308. It and the 150 in the 308 (4895 will do well in it) will give you the 30 cal if you want that for confidence, but less recoil. I think you will be pleased how they compare to the 165, if you are open to making a change.

Nothing wrong with a 130 270, in plain jane corelokts, mild on the shooters shoulder, deadly on deer. Again, if you set on the 06, well you are in good shape if you don't mind the recoil and hit vitals well.

Hornady's are great, used many myself, but now my go to bullet is the Accubond in everything but the 6mm/243, where I use the 95 ballistic tip. That last one has killed as good as any larger caliber on deer for me and many others.

Personally I just cannot warm up to shooting rifles with more recoil than necessary, but not knocking those who don't mind it and shoot well. I always thought the 270/130 was a gold standard for deer hunting, for less recoil and better trajectory.

Now, a 243, 6.5 Creedmoor, 260, and 7mm-08 have my nod, and recently the 6.5x47 as I handload. If/When I do add a 30 cal, it will more than likely be a 308 in a 20-22" spouting 130-150s, emulating some of the above rounds to common hunting distances.