30 06 bullet weights

Ben rodge

Well-Known Member
hello guys

I was just after some info on what weight of bullet people are using through a 30 06 for fallow red and sika

ben
 
Any bullet from 130 grains up to 200+ that holds together when expanding. All will do a proper job on any UK deer if driven at appropriate speeds. If you worry about recoil stay at the lighter end & get flatter trajectory out to sensible ranges. If you don't mind recoil, heavier bullets buck the wind better.
I currently use Barnes TTSX 150 grains. Have previously used the 130 grain version which also does the job very well. For short range my rifle likes the 180 grain round nose soft points & the terminal effects are very satisfying with loads of knock down power.

Ian
 
I only use 180gn in most of my 30 06's . I use balistic tips for animals up to about 180kg & prefer Barnes X up to about 350kg. I sight in for the balistic tips for little deer like fallow & English reds & the barnes still shoot to "minute of sambar & elk" without any adjustment. Too simple?

I have choices, but the 30 06 is still the best "all round" deer caliber using 180 gn projectiles.

If I wanted to shoot a 150gn pill I'd just use a 270 not a 30 cal.
 
I use 150gn Sierra Game kings for all Deer and Sierra 180 round nose soft point or Winchester 220gn Super X power point for Boar
Neither bullet does too much meat damage if placed in the engine room.
 
Heavier bullets don't 'buck' the wind better. It's all about time of flight - whichever bullet takes less time to get to the target drops and drifts less. Velocity and BC determines the trajectory and wind drift.

180g rn 2700fps , 62'' drift 10mph wind at 500m 0.94 secs tof
180g amax 2700fps 20'' drift 10mph wind at 500m 0.72 secs tof
 
Heavier bullets don't 'buck' the wind better. It's all about time of flight - whichever bullet takes less time to get to the target drops and drifts less. Velocity and BC determines the trajectory and wind drift.

A heavier bullet the same caliber of similar design will have a better balistic coefficient & hence buck the wind better when running at the same velocity.

Ian
 
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I use 165s exclusively, either sierra gamekings, or nosler accubonds. The gameking load is more accurate in my sako , used it on everything from, moose, to elk, caribou, down to a few opportunity coyotes.
 
I've used 180's for years in various 06's , it is a good all around weight , but I also use 165 gr partition's at about 2800 fps for open country Mule Deer and White-Tails . To be honest I wouldn't hesitate to use them on Moose , Elk and Black Bear . A big Mulie will go 350 pounds around here , which would be pretty close to a Red in weight , I think they'd be ideal for Red's . The tougher 165's won't expand to quickly on smaller deer either and would probably work quite well on Sika and Fallow . I have no experience with Roe or similar sized deer , so I couldn't offer an opinion on using an 06 on them , sorry .

AB
 
Not used the 30-06 but as the .308 is just a shortened version and only really gives up velocity with the heavier bullets, 180 grains plus, I would choose a good 165 grain bullet as having found that they work very well in the 308 they will work equally as well in the 30-06.
 
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