Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Factory load advice?

I have a friend with anew Benelli R1 30-06, 1 in 12 twist. Looking for suggestions on best factory loads for an upcoming May hog hunt.

Any of them. The cheap Win 150 PP or the Rem 150 Core-Lokt will work just fine.

Any color box of Federal he can find. Their TSX loads are hard to beat in most guns.

Just about any will do. If you can find the PRVI Partizan loads for 30-06 it's usually cheaper and it works great, (at least it does in my 300winmag on elk)

Remington Core-Lokt 150 grain would be my first choice if I was using a 30-06 for my first hog hunt in TX.
Actually was the first load I killed a hog & Whitetail with a 30-06 in TX...... Over 40 years ago here in TX when I was a kid.

They are not all that hard to kill. I shoot em everyday here at the ranch in N. TX
My shots are usually anywhere from 100 to 300 yards with my Winchester FeatherWeight in 7x57 or my heavy barrel AR-15 in .223 using the Federal 62 grain green tip Penatrator Military Load. I've also killed truck loads of them with my .308 using Remington 150gr Core-Lokt Factory ammo & my .243 or 6mm using 85 grain Sierra Soft Points. Like I said, not hard to kill with just about any rifle.

I recommend the Remington Factory 150gr Core-Lokt because it's usually the most accurate Factory load I buy with the exception of the Hornady Factory SuperPerformance stuff or the Nosler Custom Premium Factory ammo.
And you really can't beat the Remington Core-Lokt for the price.

You Might want buy some ammo before you come to Texas, though. That's probably the second most common Factory ammo & caliber used by most deer hunters in Texas. So it may be pretty hard to find at Cabelas, Bass Pro, or Academy which is probably the most common sporting good store here in Texas.
No .308, .223, .243, 30-30, 30-06, 7mag or 300 mag of any kind at any of the local gun stores here & none at Cabelas or Bass Pro when I was in Dallas a week ago.

Who knows when this damn ammo shortage will ever end

Hope you have good luck & a good time hunting your first time here in Texas.
Watch out for the Rattlesnakes & Prickly Pear or Cactus. Might want to buy some snake boots or snake chaps. EVERYTHING here in Texas has thorns pretty much like Africa.

Hornady Custom ammo (the regular Hornady ammo) and Federal cheap blue or red box ammo (the type Walmart carries for less than $15/box) have become my go-to ammo over the past several years for more than one cartridge (including .30-06).

Truth be told, out of various Remington, Winchester, Hornady, and Federal .30-06 150 grain ammo I've used over the past couple decades the only ammo that was not accurate was a box of Hornady Interbond ammo (that may have been the Light Magnum version - the box with the remainder of the ammo is around here somewhere but isn't readily available). All the rest of the ammo I've tried would consistently give 3-shot groups of 1.5" or better at 100 yards, and a lot of them were right around 1" or better.

The Hornady l50 grain SST standard velocity .30-06 ammo has been the best accuracy-wise that I've used (non-premium category), but the cheap Federal ammo hasn't been far behind accuracy-wise. I haven't seen any reason to pay more for premium ammo for whitetail deer since the standard ammo does well for both accuracy and on-game performance.

In today's world of ammo shortages, your friend may have to buy whatever is available, but the good news is if the gun is capable of good accuracy, it probably will shoot with at least halfway decent accuracy with any of the available factory ammo.

Every gun is different, so the best strategy is to buy a box of a few different loads and try them at the range.

I've experimented with many brands of factory ammo in a number of guns, and have to say that overall, Federal ammo - in plain blue box or Premium garb - is the most accurate more times than it's not. Federal blue box would be a good place to start trying, but remember that that's no guarantee.

I agree. I'd also throw-in that I've seen really good accuracy from Federal Fusion in most rifles I've tried it it, & I've found it reasonably priced at most places.

One of the reasons the '06 gets 'er done is that it doesn't push most C&C bullets to a speed where they'll often fail. A 150 will put down any hog you'd like to. I'd suggest head shots, if you're comfortable with them at the range presented: they leave more meat for the smoker!

Good luck, & post pics when you're done!

FC

That's the advice I would have given a year ago, but his hunt is next month, and he may be lucky to find one type of suitable ammo.

I agree, though, that it's best to try a few different brands to see what shoots best, but the friend is going to need to realize that now isn't the time to obsess over the last quarter, or even half, MOA of accuracy for factory ammo given the current shortages.

I'd tell him to just get the cheap blue box Federals in 150 or 180 gr. They've been more accurate than Remington Core-Lokt's or Winchester Power Points in every one of my rifles I've tried them in so far. That includes my .243, both of my .30-30's and my .308.

I like the bonded core stuff from Winchester or Federal. Both are inexpensive and have been accurate in the rifles I've tried them in.

Thanks for all the input. We are putting in some serious range time on the weekends to get the best accuracy we can with the short time horizon. Last Saturday showed consistent "minute of hog" results with Hornaday ammo at 100 yards, so his confidence level is fine right now. That would be absolute max range for the set-up he will hunt. There is no substitute for experience however, so thought I would check with the fire to save time if possible, especially if anyone owned the same rifle and had found a particular factory load with excellent results. 30-06 ammo supply here in Wisconsin is ok right now, but with the shortages we are seeing across the board anyone that doesn't prepare early for the fall deer season will be hosed.