deer bullet for 30.06
 

Whats bullet and weight do you use out of your 30.06 for deer?

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

Just use a 150 or 180gr Core Lokt all u will ever need for deer!

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I always recommend and use the Nosler Partition. Followed closely by the Nosler Ballistic tip and The Sierra pro hunter. All in 150 grain. Factory 150 corlokts and winchester PP work well for factory loads. I still use the 150 grain for deer. 180 grain for elk, moose and the bigger bears. Maybe the 200 grain Partition if I thought old man Grizzly was around.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I use Nosler Ballistic Tips, Partitions, and Sierra Game Kings. I prefer 150 grain bullets for deer. Although I refuse to use CoreLokts any smaller than 30 caliber, they seem to work fine from a 30-06 and shoot accurately enough. I am sad to say I don't have a rifle that will shoot Winchester Power Points. When I hunted exclusively with a 30-06 close to 20 years back I used nothing but Federal ammo.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

For the short time that i used an '06 i used 180 gr Core lokts

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

get the highest grain bullet...that will retain the max veloc. and go with a sierra boat tail softpoint.that will give you outstanding results. trust me i used to be a sniper.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

The is a new bullet out by Nosler. It is called the Acu-Bond. It is a bonded, boat-tailed, ballistic tip. It has awsome preformance stats. I have shot Partition and Ballistic Tip and this one is a bit better than the Partition and a bunch better than the Ballistic Tip. I think Winchester has started factory loading the Acu-Bond in several different loads. Check it out.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I use 165 grain Core Lokts.
Many have said that for deer, the 150's tend to expand too much at normal shooting distances, while the 180 tends not to expand as much as it should.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

165gr,. Nosler Ballistics. My father and myself have had great results.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

When I owned a 06 all I used was Partitions 165 gr for deer and 180 for the bigger stuff. However I know 4 guys who use the 06 for deer hunting 2 use 150 gr Hornady SPBT's and the other 2 use 165gr Nosler Ballistic Tips. Anywhere between 150-165gr should be perfect (180's I think are a bit stiff for the likes of deer but will work), just pick the right bullet for your situation and the one the guns likes to fling!

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I have a semi auto and hornadys dont work in it but I shoot winchester premium silver ballistic tips in 165gr. it does the job very well

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

165 grain core lokts seem to work best for me,

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

180 gr PSP Express Core-Lokts

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

Always In almost 20 years of hunting its been one shot, one kill every season and every deer. Luck or what I'm not sure. I do know I spend alot of range time off season. I consider it a blessing......however this bullet works for me and has never failed. They are what my rifle likes to shoot and that can vary from rifle to rifle. Although my first season the deer were taken with 30-30 170 gr. hollow pts. Still one shot, one kill. :)

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

Most of the bullets listed above are great deer poison. I personally would go with the 165 - 168 gr. Core Lokt, Ballistic Tip or Partition. The 165 gr. combines the best of balance and total bearing surface in quick twist rifling to better stabilize the bullet for more accuracy.

Remeber: Shot placement is 99% of the game.

just my 2 pennies worth;)

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

All the bullets mentioned above will work fine for deer. In my humble opinion, you just need to fine the one that is most accurate in "Your" gun.

I got a new BAR 30-06 this spring and have been working up loads for it this summer. I've tried 180Grn Sierra Game Kings, 165Grn Nosler Partitions, 180Grn Sierra ProHunters, and 180Grn Nosler Ballistic Tips.

So far, the 180Grn Sierra Game Kings have produced the best accuracy, with the 165Grn Nosler Partitions a close second. The Game Kings are consistently shooting sub MOA, with the Partitions shooting about MOA.

Here is a couple of "typical" 100Yd groups with the Game Kings. (Dark squares are 1/2")



Like Cloudwalker said: "Shot placement is 99% of the game". Just find what shoots best in your gun and call it good.

Good Luck & Good Hunting!!

firstshot

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

my dad shoots a 150 grain winchester soft point and it knocs the heck out of them and will work anywhere you want to shoot a critter. even elk
rob k

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I'll agree that 150 corelokts and some other 150s are constructed on the light side for close range (50 - 75 yds or so). I would go with 150 partition style bullets or 165s.

The "sniper" was right and wrong. Heavier bullets retain energy better than lighter ones. Heavier bullets are not necessarily better choices for game.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

Just gotta go on record seconding the opinion: Use what shoots best in your rifle.

If you go with factory loads, like me, pick among the brands that are readily available - even on Friday night when you realize you need a box for Saturday morning. Therefore, I experimented a little with the absolutely most common brands around here and tried 150, 165 and 180 grain. All will be very effective with deer. I settled on Remington 180 grain corelokt PSP - because (1) they shot as good or better than any other common options (in MY gun - maybe not YOURS!) ... and (2) available in almost every store that sells ammo around here, from my favorite gun shop to the "open til 10" big box stores. If the Federal or Winchester factory loads, or another Remington weight, worked as well, I would have chosen it. I'd prefer to try a blunt nosed Remington corelokt, or similar, but it seems the PSP are the only ones commonly sold around here. I really feel the differnce (to the deer) is non existent and accuracy and confidence is everything. Even if I travel out of state and need to buy a box of shells locally, I know the 180 gr. Corelokt PSP's will give me within 1 - 1.5 inches at 100 yds, from box to box.

I go a different route - different slug - for large game such as moose.

I'm not a real "bullet head" meaning I like to shoot and experiment, but I'm not the most dedicated guy. But it was really amazing to me how much difference in accuracy there could be between same weight bullets by different manufactureres, and different weight bullets of the same manufacturer. For instance 150 remington corelokts were around 3 inch groups out of my gun while the 180s were over an inch, but consistently less than 1.5. There were a few that were in what I consider hunting acceptable for me - 2 inches at 100 yds., but the Remington 180s just seemed a little more accurate, consistently. It's also surprising how two different, say 180s, both firing within 2 inches would give significantly different impact points - side to side or vertically. Just fun looking at this stuff.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I sure hope the 180Grn Sierra Game Kings are NOT too heavy for deer since they shoot so well in my BAR. I've heard that the Game Kings are kind of "soft", so I'm hoping I'll still get adequate expansion. Another reason I picked the 180Grn is Black Bear which season overlaps our muzzleloader and modern gun seasons. Just had a bear tear up a tri-pod feeder last week. Hope to get him in my sights before season is over! I figure with the 180grn GK's I've got both bases covered.

firstshot

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

I like 150gr. Hornady SST's for deer...;)

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

For factory loads I like a corelokt cartridge. However, I hand load all of my ammunition now and have become addicted to the nosler accubond. They are a bullet with controlled expansion so they retain almost of their mass on impact. I have personally removed .308 200gr Accubond bullets from a clay bank that are about the diameter of a dime and have retained almost 98% of their original mass. They are an impressive bullet.

Keep in mind that each gun shoots bullets differently. For instance, my .270 loves a 140gr accubond, 1/2 inch group at 100yds. My 30-06 hates the accubond and the sierra game king, but loves the hornady interbond bullet in 165gr. If you reload, buy different bullets and powder and experiment with different loads. If you don't reload, just buy different brands of factory loads at different grains and see how they group. For the 30-06 I like a 150 or 165 gr bullet. I reloaded the 200gr bullets just to see how they would pattern.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

165 nosler ballistic tips are my favorite bullet in the 30-06.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

thanks for the replies. My gun seems to like the 150 and 165 grain win. powerpoints and core lokts.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

A nice 180 grain bullet is a little more of a brush buster.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

You think? I think the idea of brush buster might seem to make sense, but doesn't really work. Hitting a little branch will most likely be a problem regardless if it's 150 or 180 gr. and therefore shouldn't be a consideration. JMHO, and I'm interested if someone actually has data or experience

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

My .06 just prefers 180 grainers. In addition as far as a good brush bullet.....they perhaps are as at close range they may not deflect as much, although that depends on the brush. I will not even take a shot if a shooting lane is not clear.....that has caused at times some second guessing, but would rather not take the shot than take one that is bad with a wounded animal as a result.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

180gr remington corelokt express.Works real good on deer

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

165 hornady custom interbond. tried a bunch, my tikka seems to shoot best with them. really depends on the gun i think

read a ballistics study saying the idea of "brush buster" bullets was a myth. smaller caliber actually held up better, but none retained enough accuracy or velocity to be effective.

RE: deer bullet for 30.06
 

150 gr. Core-Lokts