New Mossberg 4x4 30-06 Bolt

[DrAsus]

Hey guys. A friend of mine bought this rifle last week. He came by last night to show it to me. He had bought the last one as the retailer was clearancing them out. I was so impressed with the quality, I called another city's store and they had ONE left as well. I had them hold it and drove up and got it! It has some crappy scope on it which I plan on replacing.

My question is what is the MOST COMMON grain bullet for the 30-06? Is it 180 gr??

I was planning on getting 3 boxes of ammo---all from different manufactuers. Probably Remington Core lock, Winchester super X, and some Federals.

I was planning on shooting 3 shot groups with each brand and choose the brand that had the closest grouping. I would then sight my scope in with that brand.

I was also planning on doing a 200 yard zero. Would this be the best zeroing for the scope with this caliber?? This is my first bolt, and first 30-06. Any info and input greatly appreciated. Will be hunting whitetail deer mainly--DrAsus

[tbonecpa]

I have shot 150 and 180 gr. I dont think there is too much difference in popularity as they both get the job done. Some guns may favor one over the other so some range time is in order. With that low end scope anything under 2" groups at 100yds would be acceptable. I would buy one box of ammo and if is under 2" groups wait to buy more until you have a better scope on it.

If you sight in 2" high at 100 yds you will achieve a 200yd zero. A deer shows up from 0-250 yds, put it on them and pull the trigger. Good luck.

[UncleNorby]

A 200 yd zero is fine for 30/06. Most folks don't shoot that far anyway. Let the barrel cool between groups. Might even be a good idea to clean between groups with a new gun.

I would go with 150 or 165 grain bullets for deer.

Optimum zero may be 225 or 250 for 150 grain bullets. This means between 2 and 2.5" high at 100.

Basically with a 30/06 it's aim dead on and shoot out to 300, assuming you can make the shot.