Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What is the best 30-06 bullet weight???

I looked at a energy chart for a 30-06 from Remington.
The 150 grain sp and all the way up to 220 grain bullets are great but the 165 grain sp had more energy at every yardage and quite a bit more! I was BLOWN away!!!!!!
I know if you were shooting through thick cover you want AT LEAST 180 grain.
The FPS second was normal for a 165 so I guess the 165 bullet is the perfect hunting bullet for the 30-06 in the field and mabye in light brush?
What is your thoughts. I’m only 13 so I don’t much but more than most 13 year olds. lol

I've had a long career with the 30-06 and have used every weight from 110 to 220. I've killed big game with the weights ranging from 125 to 220. Most of my time has been spent with 150's and 180's but I've done my research too and am most impressed by what the 165's bring to the table. And that's probably the weight I've used the least. Maybe I need to rectify that this year?

Thanks

You bet. But if you're just a deer hunter the various 150 grains are hard to top.

I use 180 grain Nosler Partition's in my .30/06 and would not hesitate to use it on anything in North America.

As far as energy,I ignore it. Meaningless bunch of numbers.

.460 Weatherby using a 500 grain Hornady DGX. Muzzle velocity is 2000 fps and muzzle energy is 4400 foot pounds. The jackrabbit was @100 yards and it was not flung many feet or inches away. It died where it was.

Cool

I know of over 40 elk that won’t argue of the lethality of 165 grain Hornady Spire point bullet out of a 30-96...

The 165 Hornady is like PB&J with the 30-06. Killed a lot of blacktails and whitetails with that bullet, always seem to exit, very accurate as well.

I've had the best luck with 165/168 grain bullets in 30-06 as far as DRT kills on whitetails. My favorite is the 165 grain Hornady SP Interlock flat base.
As far as "shooting through brush" goes, I remember reading a few years back that there are no bullets that are good for shooting through brush. They all deflect to some degree.
Best of luck to you Chase, for several decades of good times in the woods! It's good to see young kids taking an interest in hunting and the great outdoors.

Another vote for the 165 grain Hornady Spire Point.
It is a very quick killer on deer in my experience.I always used the flat base version in my handloads.

Mine was shooting 180s at 2800 from a 22" barrel. Now its shooting them 2700 out of a 18" barrel. Mine likes 180 accubonds. They do quite well at 06 speeds.

I like the 150 Ballistic tips for deer and pigs.

Best bullet weight in a .30-06? That which is the most accurate in a particular rifle. There aren't many .30 bullets out there that are truly crappy.

Since this is the deer hunting forum, I will offer this: over the years, I have killed far more whitetails and mule deer with 150-grain Partitions than with all the other bullets that I have tried put together. There are a lot of other bullets that kill them just as dead, but the Partitions have worked for me for 64 years, from south Texas to Montana. And I still use them.

I now have 2 30-06's at one time I had 3. I gave one away.
I think the 30-06 is a great round, and a powerful round. It can hold it's own and bring home the meat.
Some others are more or less and the 30-06 is just right.

Hey, have a blessed day

I was a 180 grain snob for the first 20 years.

At the behest of my mentors at shooters.com, I tried 165 grain Hornady IL SP's and have stuck with them since the late 90's.

My sons all shoot 150 grain, and one of these days I plan on making the move there as well.

I’ve shot a 165gr bullet in 30-06 since I was 13 and figured thick cover has NOTHING to do with what bullet you use.

It’s shot better in every 06 I’ve owned, that I can think of, except one. All the deer hit with one have dropped on the spot except one, and it didn’t go far...80. And that was shot in the thickest cover you can think of at a whopping 10 yards.

Ballisticly the Hornady 165gr btsp out performed almost every other off the shelf factory 30-06 load that I have ever found. Never had a failure or been disappointed in their performance on Deer or hogs for over 30 years, not from 30 ft to 350 yards...

One caliber being more of a "brush" shooter is pretty much a myth in my opinion. Sure you may have a .458 or such that may clip a twig or two and find its way home, same could be said for any caliber, but that's not something I would ever go into a hunting situation depending on.
What makes a good brush gun IMO is the maneuverability of the gun itself in what may be considered tight cover, regardless of the caliber.