Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 220 Grain .30-06 Loads

200 gr.Nosler partitians are plenty,and expect dead critters

Several of my favorite big game cartridges and loads work in the 2400-2600 fps range. They are plenty flat enough for a 200 yard zero and work perfectly on big game out to 300+ yards. I don't really need or want more velocity than that. Standard-grade bullets (bullets I am willing to pay for) stay together, dig deep, and leave big holes in game. More ain't better, not for me anyway.

Big_Redhead,

The 175 gr in the 7X57 is another one that exhibits the same performance, and can be handled easily by anyone.

Ted

Back in my Core-Lokt days I was unhappy with the performance I got on a moose I killed with a .30-06 150 grain so I gave the 220's a try on another moose and was very happy with the results. I shoot Noslers now though.

I've been playing with 220 grain cast bullets in '06's for a long time. Performance equal to the old .30/40 Krag government load is a piece of cake, and the Krag had (has) a reputation for being good medicine for anything walking/crawling. Cost: a fraction of what y'all are paying for Noslers, Hornadys, and the like.

Agreed. The 7x57 with 175gr bullets is my #1 favorite deer load of all time (so far).

The 220 grain Round Noses are my favorite 06 bullet....

Load them using 4064, at a hair over 2400 fps...

I zero it 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, and it is an easy 250 yd load, which is where 99% of all game is taken within anyway...

a bullet that heavy, doesn't have to be going real fast to still do an awful lot of penetration...and a Round Nose, will do a lot of damage on its way thru...

and yeah, I also like the 175 grain RN out of my 7 x 57 and 7 Mag... and the 220s out of my 300 Win Mag, which I run hot at 2950 using H 1000...

Fraser;
Top of the morning to you sir, I trust this cool spring morning finds you well.

It seems that I might be the lone voice of dissension here in that I've had poor experiences - two in my case - with a single box of 220gr Hornady bullets.

To be fair this was about 10 years back or so, I'd have to check my hunting/reloading log, but for sure they weren't recent production.

I fired two of them into an Okanagan legal spike fork bull moose and had them come completely unglued. They were fired from a very mild load in a .308 Norma which could be achieved with a warm '06 load according to the manuals I've got.


Obviously the moose died as I have the bullet fragments to examine - so I am cognizant of the argument that any kill result meant the bullet did it's job.

I'll reject that argument to the degree that if I was having a serious social discussion with a non-ungulate in the shin tangle or Devil's Club, I do believe I might want the bullets in my rifle to penetrate a bit better than these did.

After the moose, I also shot a first rack whitetail with a front on shot and again the bullet fragmented into bits.

The tissue damage/wound channel on both animals was extensive I thought - much more than whitetail that I shot with 200gr. Partion bullets after this.

Based upon shooting subsequent whitetail with 200gr Partitions and 168gr TSX though, if I was venturing into the above mentioned shin tangle - say south of Revelstoke to bring home a grizzly rug, it wouldn't be 220gr Round Nose bullets in my rife.

As always other folks' mileage may vary and that's cool too. Good luck with your '06 loads whichever way you decide sir.

Dwayne

Good morning to you Dwayne.
I think your results with the 220 gr Hornady were more due to, as you said, a .308 Norma as a warm .06 load. A 2450-2500 fps velocity using Sierra 220 gr Rn, I have never seen that fragmentation in elk . Double lung shots are usually complete pass thru. I did shoot an elk years ago with a neck shot and it severed the vertebrae, but I never found the bullet.
I don't think it is a very tough bullet meant to be driven fast.

saddlesore;
Top of the morning to you as well sir.

You could well be correct in that even though it was a relatively mild load for the Norma - 67gr of RL 19 made for 2607fps so my notes indicate - it might have just been a case of "a wee bit too much" or something?

As I mentioned too, it could have been that box or batch of bullets as our family has taken multiple dozens of deer sized animals with Hornady bullets in various diameters and been very satisfied.

Like I say too saddlesore, the tissue damage was pretty extensive in diameter, but not length. Much different wound channel than say a Partition or a Mono-Copper sort of wound makes.

To be sure my post wasn't meant to be a diatribe against either Hornady or 220gr RN bullets and I apologize if it came off that way.

A friend of mine, upon hearing my report on the two animals chuckled and said to me, "Well ya know Dwayne, that's why we test bullets on grass eaters first and not stuff with teeth and claws!"

Thanks again for the reply saddlesore and all the best to you this weekend.

Dwayne

I have read, and also heard from one experienced user, that the Sierra is a tougher bullet than the Hornady in the 220 gr 30 cal.

This seems to be contrary to the usual performance of the two brands.

Ted

Ted;
Good day to you sir, I hope this finds you and yours well.

I've heard the exact thing and yes that's been my experience as well that it's contrary to the usual performance of the two brands.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello to you sir and wish the best of our Lord's blessings to you and yours.

Dwayne

Wow, guys being nice to each other on here is freakin' me out!

It's a Canada thing.

Ted

Yep, Rob Ford is a prime example, just having fun and loving life.

He really is a fine example, eh?
Ted

Dwayne,

Granted the bullet on the right is a mess but the one on the left looks like it held together ok to me. Am I interpreting the picture correctly?

BTW, top of the morning you you on this cool autumn day!

- Bob

bobnob17;
Well then sir I stand corrected - and good morning now to you on this Australian autumn day.

The reason I'm suggesting the bullets didn't do a top notch job is that they both lost about 50% of their weight and didn't penetrate all that far after breaking only ribs on the bull moose.

Now to be sure moose ribs, even a young Okanagan bull are larger than deer ribs and I do get that fact.

That said, I'd come to expect Hornady Spires - both the flat base and BT by the way - to loose perhaps 30% of their initial weight and penetrate a bit better.

Again all animals are different and tissue damage results can vary considerably. When the second animal - a comparatively small first rack whitetail - made another bullet come apart in the same manner as the right bullet, I decided to quit using them in that rifle and at that speed.

Hopefully that makes better sense now sir or at very least somewhat so. All the best to you this weekend as well.

Dwayne

I've also had erratic results from Hornady round-noses, both the 160 6.5mm and 180 .30, as opposed to very reliable results from the Spire Points. Have seen the 160 6.5 at only 2200-2300 fps go through both shoulders of a deer and exit, and not reach the far ribs on a behind-the-shoulder shot on the same size of deer.

If somebody wants to use a 220 in a .30-06, obviously they want penetration. So why not use the 220 Nosler Partition? It expands easily even on light game (due to the softer front core), yet penetrates VERY deeply. In fact it's one of the deepest-penetrating .30 caliber bullets available.

I don't shoot 220's in the .30-06 much, but when I do have had excellent luck with 55 grains of H4831 (either "long" or short-cut) for about 2500 fps.

Why not go with a monometal in the 180gr weight range should one require deep penetration?