Deer Hunting 30-06 vs 30/30 vs .243
04-08-2013, 01:45 PM
#11
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 16
Thank you all for taking the time to respond.
I hunt in Northern Ontario.
If they weren't 120 gr. then they were 110. Definitely bigger than the factory100. You can buy 120 gr .243 bullets out of British Columbia for those that load their own.
I love my .243. I bought when I was 17. I am just trying to get more info on the less than perfect shot and how much the larger cal might improve the odds for a wound and blood flow, or clipping through the bush. Sounds like you guys tend to suggest that it won't make a whole lot of difference.
Bullet placement continues to be the key regardless of cal.
I have still hunted and shot them off dogs, but these days a bunch of us line a run and we dog with people only.
Depending upon the year we have 9-12 hunters in the camp.
I hunt in Northern Ontario.
If they weren't 120 gr. then they were 110. Definitely bigger than the factory100. You can buy 120 gr .243 bullets out of British Columbia for those that load their own.
I love my .243. I bought when I was 17. I am just trying to get more info on the less than perfect shot and how much the larger cal might improve the odds for a wound and blood flow, or clipping through the bush. Sounds like you guys tend to suggest that it won't make a whole lot of difference.
Bullet placement continues to be the key regardless of cal.
I have still hunted and shot them off dogs, but these days a bunch of us line a run and we dog with people only.
Depending upon the year we have 9-12 hunters in the camp.
Last edited by Forbushman; 04-08-2013 at 01:52 PM.
04-08-2013, 02:57 PM
#12
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
I killed a lot of deer with a .243 using the old Hornady 100 gr SP Interlock bullets. A few with the .30-06 and many many more with the .270 win.
As for the 30-30 vs the 30-06 vs .243 - either will quickly kill a deer with proper bullet placement. Neither will 'buck brush' or have 'plowing power' as on poster put it. Any bullet will deflect when it glances off a twig. I say if your shots are no more than 75 or 100 yds the 30-30 will serve you well. Anything farther the .243 or '06 would be a better choice. But in my opinion the '06 would get the call even for close shots just because you never know when you're going to need it for a longer shot at that buck of a lifetime. From what I understand those northern whitetails can get pretty big!
As for the 30-30 vs the 30-06 vs .243 - either will quickly kill a deer with proper bullet placement. Neither will 'buck brush' or have 'plowing power' as on poster put it. Any bullet will deflect when it glances off a twig. I say if your shots are no more than 75 or 100 yds the 30-30 will serve you well. Anything farther the .243 or '06 would be a better choice. But in my opinion the '06 would get the call even for close shots just because you never know when you're going to need it for a longer shot at that buck of a lifetime. From what I understand those northern whitetails can get pretty big!
Last edited by bronko22000; 04-08-2013 at 03:01 PM.
04-09-2013, 10:59 AM
#13
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Bridgeport, Tx
Posts: 16
a soft point behind the shoulder almost always leaves a consistent blood trail if not a dead deer in its tracks for a .243. I'm looking forward to how well my ballistic silver tips work (95 grain) this coming year.
04-09-2013, 11:44 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
***Try the 100 grain SP or BTSPs that Hornady makes. I reload using the 100s in my .243 Sako, the 117s in my Ruger 25-06 and the 150s in my 3 30-06s and they do the job every time with great penetration and expansion. I don't leave home without them, as that one commercial used to say!
04-09-2013, 06:16 PM
#15
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 16
04-09-2013, 09:35 PM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: PA
Posts: 1,778
04-10-2013, 10:47 AM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
Answer: A lot of times the 165s and even the 180s are considered the more accurate rounds in the 30-06 caliber. I've had great accuracy with the 150s over the last 20 years or so and never felt any need to go up higher for deer. However, before I started reloading and was just hunting in upper Michigan, I was shooting the 180 grain round nose Remington Core Lokt factory loads and very few deer moved even 10 yards when hit in the chest with them.
04-10-2013, 02:51 PM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
Years ago my good buddy and I did a very unscientific test of shooting through brush. We shot at a standard 100 yard target from about 75 yards away. The target was set on the opposite side of a thicket of wild plum saplings ranging from about 2" in diameter to small twigs. We'd move the target as we cut a pathway through the bruch testing. Among the cartridges that we fired were 30/30 Win. (160 gr), 243 Win. (100 gr.) and 30.06 Spr. (165 gr.).
We came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a "brush gun" if it is meant that the bullet can be counted on to hit where aimed while passing though 15'-30' of typical brush. Among the cartridges tested were these 3 plus ... 300 Win. Mag. , 308 Win. and 444 Marlin. Frankly we expected the 444 Marlin to drop rouind after round on target. Not so. Each of these did about as well as the other as far as hitting within 3" - 4" where we aimed, with several shots not hitting "paper" at all. I do not recall the exact numbers but I do recall that we were stunned at how few would have resulted in a kill shot. The degree of deflection was a real eye opener.
I have hunted white tail deer with each of the cartridges that you mentioned. My usual 243 round incorporates a 100 gr. Partition. The 30/30 I used was a factory load 160 gr. flat nose . In the 30.06 Spr., I used 165 gr either a Game King or Partition.
I killed deer cleanly with each of these. Where I hunt shots are seldom farther than 150 yards, so the super high velocity stuff such a 7 mm Rem. Mag. are not necessary. Personally of the 3 you mentioned I prefer the 30.06 Spr. hands down. The reasons are rather obvious .... the powder capacity of this cartridge and its flexibility as far as bullet choice sets it well above either the 243 Win. or 30/30 WIn. as far as I am concerned.
Blood trails? Pass throughs? Etc. All depends .... angle of the shot, distance of the shot, where the shot hit the deer, type of buillet being used, etc. I have expereinced easy to follow blood trails with each of these ... as well as almost no blood trails. I have had a few deer drop in their tracks, as well as a few a "dead deer running" travel more than 100 yards shot through both lungs.
In my book, between these 3 ... it is a matter of personal preference.
We came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a "brush gun" if it is meant that the bullet can be counted on to hit where aimed while passing though 15'-30' of typical brush. Among the cartridges tested were these 3 plus ... 300 Win. Mag. , 308 Win. and 444 Marlin. Frankly we expected the 444 Marlin to drop rouind after round on target. Not so. Each of these did about as well as the other as far as hitting within 3" - 4" where we aimed, with several shots not hitting "paper" at all. I do not recall the exact numbers but I do recall that we were stunned at how few would have resulted in a kill shot. The degree of deflection was a real eye opener.
I have hunted white tail deer with each of the cartridges that you mentioned. My usual 243 round incorporates a 100 gr. Partition. The 30/30 I used was a factory load 160 gr. flat nose . In the 30.06 Spr., I used 165 gr either a Game King or Partition.
I killed deer cleanly with each of these. Where I hunt shots are seldom farther than 150 yards, so the super high velocity stuff such a 7 mm Rem. Mag. are not necessary. Personally of the 3 you mentioned I prefer the 30.06 Spr. hands down. The reasons are rather obvious .... the powder capacity of this cartridge and its flexibility as far as bullet choice sets it well above either the 243 Win. or 30/30 WIn. as far as I am concerned.
Blood trails? Pass throughs? Etc. All depends .... angle of the shot, distance of the shot, where the shot hit the deer, type of buillet being used, etc. I have expereinced easy to follow blood trails with each of these ... as well as almost no blood trails. I have had a few deer drop in their tracks, as well as a few a "dead deer running" travel more than 100 yards shot through both lungs.
In my book, between these 3 ... it is a matter of personal preference.
04-10-2013, 03:17 PM
#20
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 76
None of them will "cut through brush", none...
Any caliber can have a sparse blood trail with any bullet used, fat and entrails do a pretty good job of plugging...
If you want to drop them in their tracks, a bullet through the neck or a high
shoulder shot will do the trick...If you want a good blood trail, use a low lung or heart shot and a bullet that will leave an exit...Pay attention to the exit angle so the bullet exits before it hits the guts...
My qualifications???
I've killed over 300 deer with a .243...
I've also cleaned and tracked a few more hundred on our farms where for the past 35 years or so we have killed 40-50 a year with a variety of weapons...
Once you get to a 100 grain bullet in .243, it isn't about the caliber, it's about where you put that bullet...A deer shot in the guts with a 30-06 or 30-30 is just as tough to track and recover as one hit there with the .243...
Any caliber can have a sparse blood trail with any bullet used, fat and entrails do a pretty good job of plugging...
If you want to drop them in their tracks, a bullet through the neck or a high
shoulder shot will do the trick...If you want a good blood trail, use a low lung or heart shot and a bullet that will leave an exit...Pay attention to the exit angle so the bullet exits before it hits the guts...
My qualifications???
I've killed over 300 deer with a .243...
I've also cleaned and tracked a few more hundred on our farms where for the past 35 years or so we have killed 40-50 a year with a variety of weapons...
Once you get to a 100 grain bullet in .243, it isn't about the caliber, it's about where you put that bullet...A deer shot in the guts with a 30-06 or 30-30 is just as tough to track and recover as one hit there with the .243...