Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Lightweight bullets for the '06?

I have a buddy who has been shooting the 125 Grain Nosler Ballistic Tip out of his .30-06 on whitetails for the last 10 years or so. You won't convince him that anything else is needed. I wouldn't hazard a guess as to how many he has put in the freezer with those evil green tipped pills, but it'd be a score, give or take a couple.

I shoot a lot of 125 grain and 130 grain Hornday and Sierra flat base bullets. They are very decisive on deer and antelope. I have pushed them to 3,200 fps. with no problems. Load them down to 2,600-2,700ish fps and the kid will love them. Flinch

130 ttsx

I don't have any experience on deer with the 125 gr. bullets in the '06, but I do know something about reducing recoil in that round.
Recoil increases with the bullet weight and the weight of the powder charge. So reducing both will reduce recoil. But, for deer hunting, I see no reason to go with the lighter bullets unless you need to shoot at the longer ranges.
It's quite possible to get a noticable reduction in recoil my simply using a faster powder and reducing it's charge weight and some of the '06's velocity. For instance, 38 grs. of IMR 4198 (maximum load) will push a 150 gr. bullet 2600 fps. and kick a good bit less than the usual 50 gr. plus load. Anybody familar with the .300 Savage will tell you they kill just fine to at least 300 yds.
If that, or something like it is still too much, then a 125 gr. bullet at 2700 fps with, say 41 grs. of IMR 3031 should be even nicer to the shooter.
I've noticed that sometimes these loads don't shoot very accurately. You might try adjusting the load up or down a bit or especially using a magnum primer. I've never had much trouble finding reduced loads that shot well using these techniques.
Have fun and keep that young shooter interested. E

No, I�m saying if 14.44 is 100%, 20.71 is 143%. Do the math�

Using the numbers originally provided:
220 grain @ 2450 20.71 ft/lbs recoil
125 grain @ 3300 14.44 ft/lbs recoil

Recoil Increase = (20.71 / 14.44 * 100%) � 100% = 43.4%

Or, using my calculated numbers:
220 grain @ 2450 21.61 ft/lbs recoil
125 grain @ 3300 15.37 ft/lbs recoil
Recoil Increase = (21.61 / 15.37 * 100%) � 100% = 40.5%

If that is the case, my apologies to Maverick940.

Apology accepted, though not necessary. It's all good. Carry on.

No offense, but that's nonsense. Not my experience.

Then you obviously the experience level is lacking. As mentioned previously, as a pre-teen I began shooting a .30-'06 loaded with 180 grain bullets. Since then and during the past 40+ years, I've shot tens of thousands or rounds through various '06 rifles. There is absolutely no noticeable difference in felt recoil between 150-220 grain bullets when fired from an '06 and especially so, when under the heightened anxiety of field conditions.

I killed my first coues deer with a 125 NBT out of a 30-06 and was NOT please. Explosive results, multiple shots etc. In the end, the deer died of lead poisoning! None of the shots were close either, the closest, and first being 340 yards the rest being at 400-420. The only thing I use NBT's for now is predators.

Really ? I've been shooting '06's and alot of other the stuff since before my teens too. That's about 56 yrs. There is a significant difference betwwen the two loads. Even if all one does is cut the powder charge by 10-12 grs., that alone will make a real difference. E

Yeah, I guess if you sprinkle a couple grains of powder into the bottom of a casing, as opposed to filling it to the point where you can't quite seat the bullet, then there'd be a significant difference in what you'd feel at the back end of the rifle.

Wrong.