Location: Newfoundland - Living in Red Deer Alberta
Posts: 118
New rifle!
My buddy just bought his first rifle and planning to start deer hunting this season. He purchased the Savage 111FCXP# Long Action 30-06 and I'm wondering if anyone can help me out for the ammuntion we should used to sight in this rifle. He doeasn't have a huge firearm budget, so something cheaper would be the way he wants to go.
Thanks in advance!
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Stalk 'em, Track 'em and knock 'em down!
Start with garden variety Federals, 150, or 180gr,I have yet to see a rifle that won't shoot them reasonably well, and they are usually inexpensive (at least in the US ) If you are hunting deer they should be all you need. If you want to go a bit more expensive, buy a box each of several different brands/loads and see what works best. have fun, and good huntin'
For deer hunting I'd recommend just about anything in the 150 - 180 gr depending on the deer size in your area. And regardless of what a lot of the so called experts say, you don't need a premium bullet for deer. Go to Walmart and pick up a couple boxes of good old Remington Corelokts. They will do just fine and are resonably priced. Believe me - any deer he shoots will not know he wasn't shot with a premium bullet and he will be just as dead.
__________________ PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RISING COST IN AMMO PRICES I WILL NO LONGER BE FIRING A WARNING SHOT.
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It would be neat to take advice about ammo/bullets, but each rifle is like a child: they all have different appetites. My rifle LOVES Hornady & hates Winchester. Many other folks on here have guns that are just the opposite. Any deer would hate to be shot by either one!
Pick up a box of 2 or 3 different kinds of cheapo ammo, & see which the gun likes best. If you use the same bullet weight in each brand, you'll get a more valid test. 150 grain is plenty, & you'll have less recoil. Then again, if that rifle shoots 180's better, then go for it!
Federal by far are the most consistent facory load for the $$$. I usually site in with Federal NP and then move to a Remington Core Lok to send a few boxes down range - you will see the Core Loks have more variation round to round, but once sighted with Federal you have a good base to work from.
I would advise for long term and $$$ savings, look into re-loading if you really want to manage consistencey.
We normally use 165 grain in our 30-06 and they seem to shoot good. Pick up two or three boxes of different brands and see which one the rifle likes best. We reload though we shoot a lot of factory loads as well and depending on the rifle we may shoot Remington, Federal, Winchester, Hornady, etc.... Every rifle seems to perfer different brands.
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Location: Newfoundland - Living in Red Deer Alberta
Posts: 118
RE: New rifle!
Thanks guys, great advice. Rifles are sometimes picky about the rounds you put through them.
We'll buy several different types at porbably 150 grain and go to the range and have some fun. Thanks again!
Jeffs - I like the quote about the engineers!
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Stalk 'em, Track 'em and knock 'em down!
If this is a new rifle, you will need to go through the proper procedures to break the barrel in. I used the cheapest ammo that Wally World sold for this. After this you can start picking and choosing. For break in, you may want to choose a grain that you may want to hunt with. Turns out, my file liked the cheap stuff. I think it was the Winchester Super X. My hunting cartridge is Federal Premium TSX.
New rifle!
