Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Is there a better weight bullet for the 30-06 than the 180gr?

dsanders

As I previously mentioned, I use the Speer 165gn SP HotCors for all my general hunting. This is the bullet I use 95% of the time. No, it�s not a premium bullet, but shoots well in my Ruger and kills Fallow Bucks, Chital (Axis) Stags and Large Boars very efficiently. I have never had a stag or boar get up and run off after being hit.

Speer 165gn SP HotCor
WLR primer
57gns AR2209 (=H4350)

0.9� at 100m (=109.4yds)



From experience the Speer 165gn SP HotCor also retains 70-80% of its original mass. This example weighs 131.9gns.



I hope you enjoy experimenting with various loads and projectiles to achieve your optimum 30-06 hunting load.

I found that in my 06 the 180's shoot better.With the 165 I couldn't get any consistancy.I don't handload but I tried 3-4 brands.Every 180 I've put through my Ruger has been dead on,so now it's straight 180's for me.Deer, moose and hopefully some elk is what I hunt.

Over the years, I've accumulated a whole bunch of rifles in 30-06, and have never sold them off. What can I say? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Anyway, for more years than I care to count, I've used the Sierra 150 gr. spizter flat base. (They didn't call them Pro-hunters back then. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) I got awfully tired of losing so much eating meat due to the destruction of those flyweight bullet, so I went to the 180 gr. Sierra in the Pro-hunter style. Works just fine for deer, usually gives me thorough penetration, should I need a blood trail, and the bullet seems to be more accurate in my rifles that the 150 gr. every was.
When I started using the .308 Win., I went to the 165 gr. Speer Hor-core which my .308s seem to have a love affair with. So, what the heck, let's see how they do in my 30-06s. Well, to make a long story short, not a one of my 30-06s will shoot that bullet worth a damn! They'll stay witht he .308s.
The really neat part with my 180 gr. Sierra load for the 30-06 is I can substitute the 180 gr. Nosler Partition for game heavier than deer and not even worry about my sight settings. I can shoot three rounds with each bullet into the same group which won't ever be larger than 1.25" as long as I do my part.
FWIW, My .300 win. Mag. does the same thing with those two bullets. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Maybe that is proof I can have my cake and eat it too. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Paul B.

I had long been a user of the 180 gr. weights but then would change weights and bullet types depending on the game being hunted. As I have accumulated more rifles over the years, I have tended to change rifles more than changing the loads. As such, I have settled on the 165 grain loading for the '06. I figure that if I need more horsepower than that, I will go to a bigger rifle. I usually used either Nosler Partitions or Hornady BTSP but the new Federal load with 165 gr. Nosler Solid Bases will consistently go inside of one inch. I have not really tried any of the new super-premiums for the '06 although I have had good luck with the TBBC in my .35 Whelen. I think the 165 gr. slugs in the '06 are the best "all-around" choice, although if I hunted more heavy game with the '06 like in Alaska, I might stick with 180s only.

While I don't use my 30-06 much anymore, as my gun collection grew, my favorite elk cartridge was the 180gr Nosler partition. Always got the job done cleanly.

Yes I would vote for a 165.

180s if you're gooing bigger than deer almost always; 150s if it's deer and smaller as the usual fare; and 165s to split the difference if you are as well.

'06s shoot. Find one load of each of the three that your gun likes, pick your favorite for the species on the target list, and go hunting. If you gun likes Xs or Partitions, load any of the three that shoot the best, and get in the woods.

It depends on what year it is.

When I was a youngster you had a choice with your .30 cal Gov't of 1906, you could buy ammunition with 180 grain bullets or 220 grain bullets. We used the 180s for the smaller animals, deer, and the 220s for the big boys, elk, bears and moose.

After some while the 150s appeared in factory ammunition with some serious brags about the velocities that could be reached. This was along about the time magnum was in and magnum velocities were definitely in.

Still later the 165s showed up in the factory ammunition choices.

Today you can find cartridges from 125 to 220 grains in .30-'06. I would say that the 165s in a premium persuasion probably equal what you could do with a plain 220 from 100 years ago.

jim

I killed 3 elk with 165 partitions, they did ok. Each elk was down for the count but each received an additional plug at the base of the neck to finish them off. I went to 180 partitions and the elk just seem to die a little quicker. Might be all in my mind. This year I'm using carbon arrows and 100 grain thunderheads, so I know it's all about placement.

My two 30-06 shoot the following on Big Game:

Deer / Antelope = 180-gr. Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips at 2,750 fps MV or 180-gr. Federal Solid Base at 2,710 fps MV.

Elk and Bear = 180-gr. Federal High Energy Nosler Partitions at 2,890 fps MV or 180-gr. Winchester Supreme Nosler AccuBonds at 2,750 fps MV.

Common demoninators from above: Nosler bullets in 180-gr.

There is a lot of great advice in these posts.

Personally (although I don't use factory ammo much) I know a lot of friends who prefer to use 150 grainers on deer - I think they might open up a little faster, which might flatten the deer a little quicker - and of course, they will shoot a little flatter. I don't use .30 calibers for deer much, myself.

The bullet weight I've used the least is the 165 grain - although I'm prepared to admit, that with some of the premium bullets available today - it mught just be the best al around choice. With some guns, some of the longer bullets (like Barnes "X's" and Hornady Interbonds) sometimes shoot better using 165's than with 180 grainers.

To me, the 180 grain thirty caliber bullet - is the real "jack of all trades". I prefer premium bullets, but concede that they aren't usually called for. But, being that the whole hunt can hinge on the bullet hitting the game - I don't mind paying a few pennies more per shot. In a lot of of BC - while hunting deer, you can encounter grizzly bears, elk or moose - all of which might be open. The 180 grain bullet prepeares you very well for such an eventuality.

Barnes heaviest "X" bullet - gives great penetration on big game - and it would be my personal favorite bullet for elk or moose or grizzlies in a .30 caliber round. If my gun didn't like that bullet, for the same circumstances I'd use the Nosler Parition in 200 grain - another great bullet.

Finally, if I knew I was in the thick stuff, and l likely to have an "encounter of the close kind" with a bear determined to defend his own stretch of salmon stream - I'm sure that the Nosler 220 grain semi-spitzer would give a great account of itself - as would the 200 grain Barnes "X".

Personally, for game bigger than deer, when I want to use a .30 caliber - I want penetration, and thus, prefer premium bullets and bullets that are heavy-for-caliber.

Because of that, I'm a bit hesitant to recommend the 150 grain bullet for anything bigger than a deer - but I've enjoyed reading JJHack's post about the great results he's had using his 165 grain Interbond's - so much so, I may just try them out on my next moose hunt. We'll see.

This is all well and good, but, my family has a love affair with 2 rounds 44mag and 30-06. The '06 has probably killed a 100 or so whitetails roughly 90 of them were killed with a 180gr Rem Cor-loct factory bullet. Rifle goes bang, deer goes flop. Of course my uncle can pop nickles with his and I can hit quarters with mine at 100yds so bullet placement might have some "small" part to do with it. I'm the odd ball using Nosler Partition. I'd use the Remingtons in a heart beat. I'd not be too concerned if I went to 165, but the 180's aren't broken so I won't be fixing it anytime soon.

a 180gr bullet and the .30-06 go together like Beer and Chili.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Aagaard's .30-06 bullet tests were published in the April 1983 issue of American Rifleman. A quote: "...when the utmost in bone-smashing penetration is imperative, the 200-gr. Nosler Partition bullet is the only way to go. In each test it out-performed every other bullet by a wide and significant margin - except of the 180-gr. Nosler, which came very close." Aagaard's choice for hunting with the .30-06 was the 180-gr Nosler Partition.

Aagaard didn't test premium bullets other than the Nosler because they weren't available in 1983. The bullets in his 1983 penetration test included the Barnes 250-gr RNSP, Sierra 200-gr BT and 220-gr RNSP, Hornady 165-gr SP, 180-gr SP, and 220-gr RNSP, and Speer 150-gr BT.

In a later 1996 article, he noted, "In my experience, the 180-gr Barnes X-Bullet willl give deeper penetration than most 200- and 220-grain bullets."

--Bob

You remember this stuff in detail for 20 years? Or research it? I'm impressed! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As a follow up on my son's caribou hunt - I sort of accidently kicked over the .260 (stuffed with 120 gr ballistic tips) on the way up, - so we opted for Old Stub- the 17 inch barreled '06. 150 grain handloads (Speers) which had nominally better groups than either the 165 super-duper factory loads or some 180 partitions I still have around. A handful of at least 10 year old 200 or 220 (I have no idea - but they print a half inch lower at 100 yds) WW roundnose factory loads went along for bear medtcine.

The 150 did just fine at 182 yards on a dandy bull, the heavier loads were never needed.

I cut my teeth on Barren Ground Caribou with a 30-06 and 180 gr Partitions. Sure, 165's do the job, but the 180 gives you a bit more confidence in that country where a BG Grizzly could jump out of the dwarf williws. The 180's don't recoil too badly and they are just the perfect mix of flat trajectory and sectional density that they're perfect.

Probably why I don't have an '06 at this point. Too perfect. Whichever future-ex-MrsBUM I have at any given time might find out that I've got the do everything rifle and I'd have to resort to sneaking them in!