Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Factory .30-06 Loads Federal Blue Box

Only if you think so. You could probably use either the .5" grouper or the 1.75" grouper for a lifetime of deer hunting and never be aware of which was which except when shooting targets off a bench.

I used Federal Blue box 150's on whitetails and mulies for years with no problems . Now I reload Hornady 165 Boattail Spire points. I have found that Winchester Silver Tip 180's gave excellent accuracy in my rifle, a Tikka 695, however years ago I had problems with Silver tips not giving adequate expansion in a 303 Brit so I have stayed away from them in my 30-06. For elk and moose I use Remington Coreloct 180's.

What is really going on here is that you have an accurate rifle. In a great caliber. And a nice design platform. With good hunting bullets.

Men have spent thousands of man hours and dollars to get no further that you have gotten with a factory rifle and ammo. Congrats. :p

For what you are hunting, with that caliber, and those bullets, along with the accuracy you posted... well I don't think it makes the slightest bit of difference. You are set.

I chose to go with Hornady 165s when I dialed my 30-06 in so that the speed was a little lower for close shots. My dad insisted on Winchester 150s for the 'dead right there' effect in his 30-06. In the end it doesn't matter. You hit them right, they die very quickly with a good hunting bullet in this caliber.

Will

30-06 is a LOT of gun for deer... so no worries there.

Any of those loads will work, but what the heck, I say go for the Hornady load if it really is giving repeatable accuracy like that. It'll give you the warm fuzzies about your rifle and that's a good thing.

Stay out of the shoulder with SP 150's from an '06 if you are a meat hunter...

-jeff

I think Federal makes some of the very best ammo on the market.
All that being said i use the cheaper but quite lethal blue box in both the 243 and 308.
In my 243 they can put a three shot group that can be covered with a dime.
I don't know how much more accurate you can get than that.
The two 308's which consist of a Rem 600 and a Rem 700 LVSF average around an inch to .75.
Good enough.
Have killed scores of hogs and deer with nary a problem using this ammo.
150's in the 308 and 100 grain in the 243.
In years past i also used Federal red box(now they are blue) in my 30-06 with the exact results mentioned above.
And i too agree that a 30-06 is plenty potent on deer and see no reason what so ever to use 180 grain bullets in that caliber on thin skinned Whitetail deer.

Confidence

If you have more of it with those Hornady loads in your rifle, then they are worth ever extra penny. Confidence in a mans rifle is something that cannot be overlooked. To have it is something special.

Any one of thoes would work just fine for deer. I just bought a box of Federal blue box for my new 303. At $30 a box they'd better shoot lights out! Next payday I'm getting loading dies.

I have used 180 gr. bullets on many deer with good results. My 30-06 is a general purpose rifle so I keep it sighted in with either 165 or 180 grain bullets. Anyone know what bullet is loaded in the blue box 180 grain 30-06 loading?

What Federal call the "Hi-Shok". It's just a plain old cup and core bullet, but it's never failed to kill what I've shot with it.

Funny how a 30 caliber bullet pushed to around 2700 fps is so effective.

That has always had me perplexed, living out here in the land of regulation, I thought CA would have us hunting in hardhats and goggles in addition to orange, but somehow we have no orange requirements at all; somehow they overlooked another chance to regulate us..

Upon further thought, maybe that's because the liberals are hoping we do shoot each other.

I have used the Federal blue box 150 grain SP bullet on deer. In my opinion its about the equivalent of a Remington Corelokt as far as performance goes. I like them and continue to use them out of my .30-06.

+1

If you don't get the accuracy with these - try Hornady and maybe another brand.

I personally like Hornady 150 grian spire point handloads.

Them old Blue Boxe Feds worked very well for me for many years also. As for the Hornady ammo...if it makes you that much more confident than go for it. Confidence is important but as the others have said..any of those groups would be more than enough for deer.

deerslayer, I don't load 30/06 either, and through the years, I have had very good results with the Remington CoreLokt 165 and 150 grain factory loads. The 165 is more accurate in my Remington 700 CDL.
My Remington 742 is just the opposite, and won't handle the 165s as well as the 150s. I have never used a heavier weight bullet than that though on deer.
I really don't use those two rifles much, and only two deer have fallen to the 742 it over many years of hunting, and none with the bolt rifle.
I only have a 30/06 because you are supposed to have at least one

The bluebox Federals are the one type of ammo my .30-06 just does not shoot well. I will stick with the Hornady BT in Federal premiuim or Remington Cor-lockts for the 06. Now my .30-30, I have a blue box that I am going to see how they group the next time I get to the range.