Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30-06 with 130gr. bullets

Availability really is what it comes down to in this situation. If I didn't have them, I would use the pile of 150 or 165gr. bullets in stock. If a little less recoil is a side benefit, then nothing wrong with that. I also realize that I gain little over the .308, but I'm not trying to. Also, I'm not hunting anything bigger than deer and pigs anymore. There's no reason to be slinging 180gr. + bullets at them.

I'm at a point where I can't see having a longer shot than 250 yards. For the sake of discussion, I've compared the data for 130/150 from the Barnes website using Big Game powder and calculated it on the Federal ballistics calculator. Data calculated with a 200 yard zero.

130gr. TTSX 150gr. TTSX
100yds. +1.3 2951 fps 100yds. +1.5 2805 fps
300yds. -6.0 2438 fps 300yds. -6.6 2387 fps
500yds. -37.2 1981 fps 500yds. -39.3 2007 fps

Marty, beautiful deer. Thanks for the pictures and load info so far. Look forward to seeing more.

Here's a Ralph Council 130 gr. three shot group with BG powder. BG works well in this application.

These are hand made benchrest bullets. Ralph says they work great on game. The 130 Horn SP shoots almost as good. Haven't bloodied Ralph's bullet yet; great performance with the Horn's on WT's and hogs.

The rifle is an HVA that I worked over. Those guns can be surprisingly accurate. The bore on this one is pristine thru the Hawkeye borescope. Gun has a Timney, is full length glassed.

DF

Sure, 30 grains of IMR 4198 or RL 7. Last reload I set up someone with, that had a 30/06 that beat them up, was a disabled female Army Vet, just this past year. We were using a 150 grain bullet, but showing her how on the Scope she had, which had some range dots on it... She took a good sized blacktail at 300 yds, bank flop.

a 130 grain TTSX or TSX would be just more of a good thing...at any reasonable range most folks can hit a deer at.

I wish that they would do the gel tests at farther distances, to show more realisitic bullet performance. 10 feet does not show much, other than the fact that it will take a lot of punishment.

That appears to be a very viable bullet for 99 percent of hunting situations, though.

Over the years, I have often looked for applications where I could use RL 15. With the appropriate mix of case capacity, bore, and bullet weight, it has always provided accuracy and velocity (with an emphasis on accuracy). The 30/06 with 125 or 130gr bullets would be one of those applications.

I have been using the 130 TTSX in my 308 for the last couple of years and would think they would be great in a 30-06 as well.


In the last 3 years that load has taken a black bear, a pronghorn buck, 4 wild hogs, 7 whitetails and a big bobcat. All of those fell to a one bullet each except for one doe whitetail that was dead on her feet from a lung shot but didn't fall until I hit her again. I doubt I will ever use anything else after seeing how it works on game.

And before anyone gets their panties in a twist I know I spelled Barnes wrong.

Dropped plenty of whitetails back in the Midwest and Blacktails here in Oregon, with the Hornady 150 gr 30 cal bullets, leaving the Muzzle at 2250 fps.. and they worked just fine, even at 300 yds...Pretty much dropped on the spot. especially the further away they were... they were less concerned with my presence... Loaded up a bunch for kids also, and they never failed to work, when they put the bullet in the right place...

TTSX and TSXs are just MORE of a good thing.

Guy I use to work with that hunted all over the country was using 130 grain Barnes in his 300 WSM and 300 Win Mag. He liked them and sait they worked well.

If you compare a properly loaded 30-06/130 TTSX and the 264WM/140, they run extremely close together out to 400yds! I used to shoot alot of the Nosler 125 BT over IMR 4831, it is surprisingly flat and deadly!