What type of .30-06 ammunition to use for deer hunting?

[Dad 6424]

You really need to shot different loads and kinds to see what works best in your gun every one has there fav. But its all whet the gun likes some will hold bullseye but kick some wont kick but not hold true its all how you feel and what you can rely on try to find some one that reloads thats what I do and you can really fine tune a gun with reloads just always rember breath and squeaze not pull and jurk and good luck out there

[sits in trees]

if you were asking about .243 we could have a real debate here, but asking bout what 3006 ammo is like asking what type of train should i use to run over a mouse. almost any 06 will kill any deer any time, and 200 yds might as well be 50 ft. just go with a round thats over 150 grains factory ammo of any type for NY and you will knock em dead every time.

if you wanna have a talk about killing at 800 yds then its time to talk loads and seirra verses nozler, types of primers etc and that could go on and on forever.

[eagle rider]

if you were asking about .243 we could have a real debate here, but asking bout what 3006 ammo is like asking what type of train should i use to run over a mouse. almost any 06 will kill any deer any time, and 200 yds might as well be 50 ft. just go with a round thats over 150 grains factory ammo of any type for NY and you will knock em dead every time.

if you wanna have a talk about killing at 800 yds then its time to talk loads and seirra verses nozler, types of primers etc and that could go on and on forever.

I like this response. I would add, just make sure you have a nice high percentage shot! Good vitals. I do go out west every year for something or another. I mostly use 270's out there, but no matter what stouter bullets for just about anything that is approaching deer size game with moderate velocities and your good to go. Certain rifles will prefer one commercial ammo over another. So try a few different boxes to see what shoots best.

[Larry]

USE 150'S THERE ONLY DEER

[ants]

The only thing I have ever used is Remington 150gr core lokt. I cant imagine any other round doing any better on deer. That includes the premium $tuff

[NYbuck50]

I find the bullet type matters less than the bullet weight.. i've noticed that for my 06 (remington 760) the gun will stack 150gr bullets almost on top of one another, but if i switch to a 165gr or a 180 they group in a 4-5inch area at 100 yds.. Not a huge problem, but it can make a difference.. I did the same test in sighitng in my fathers '06 (browning safari bolt action) and it perferred the 165grains over anything else... Hope it helps

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I find the bullet type matters less than the bullet weight.. i've noticed that for my 06 (remington 760) the gun will stack 150gr bullets almost on top of one another, but if i switch to a 165gr or a 180 they group in a 4-5inch area at 100 yds.. Not a huge problem, but it can make a difference.. I did the same test in sighitng in my fathers '06 (browning safari bolt action) and it perferred the 165grains over anything else... Hope it helps

Agree...but paper doesn't seem to present problems for expansion or penetration..lol. I don't think in a -06 bullet there would be a problem of not enough penetration or too much expansion on deer sized game. There could be a real issur of not enough though. I very sturdy bullet may blow right through and, while fatal, maigh not expend all it's energy in the animal. I saw it done on caribou..punch right through and the animal stands there...then walks away, .30 cal hole in and out. The couple of us that used coreloks and sierra game kings....put them in a pile when similiar shots were made. I think you can over bulet yourself in a ought six

Edited March 14, 2012 by Culvercreek hunt club

[ants]

start with the Remington (green box, 150gr. core-lokt) They're cheap, accurate and well made. If for some reason they don't fly good (which I doubt) try Winchester power points, and move up the price range from there. Don't start right off with the $40+ stuff. The standard stuff works very well. I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking that because ammo costs twice as much it must be twice as good...Not true

Edited March 14, 2012 by ants

[MountainHunter]

I have a bit of a different take than a number of folks here. I prefer to have a premium bullet. I will use core lokt's to practice with and yes they will certainly kill deer. When I am hunting I want a bullet that I can have confidence with at other than perfect shot angles.

A few years ago I shot a buck using core lokt's. I took a high shoulder shot because I wanted to put the buck right down. It was a 130 grain bullet out of a 270 at about 40 yards. The construction of the bullet couldn't handle the speed at that short distance. The bullet pretty much exploded upon impact. It wasn't pretty and the buck was definitely disabled but I had to shoot him again. Any well constructed premium bullet would have dumped that buck.

At the very minimum I would use a Federal Fusion bullet. Practice with the inexpensive stuff,sight your rifle in with the good stuff and hunt with the good stuff.

[wooffer]

Remington core-lokt 150 grain. Light enough to be accurate over longer distances but has enough mass to knock them down.

[mac]

150 or 165 grain is plenty for whitetails out of a 30.06

[NYbuck50]

i find the bullet weight is more improtant than bullet type.. my 06 will stack 150 gr bullets in the bullseye all day, but if i load in 165's or 180's its out to a 6 inch group.. That being said, the hornady SST's have served me well

[pawle76]

Mossy, I also shoot 180 gr out of my Win. 70 and I've found that for some reason my rifle doesn't like some premium bullets like the Federal Vital Shok. It shoots the Power Shoks better which I think are a little cheaper and it shoots the Hornady SST's pretty well. But like most people have already said here The Remington Core Lokt's and the Federal Fussions seem to shoot really well for me in 180 gr. You have to try different ammo and figure out which one your rifle likes. I like shooting 180 gr. because where I hunt it's mostly heavy timber or brush and I rarely shoot over 100 yards. I don't need to reach out that far so I'd rather have a little more knockdown power than accuracy. So I stick with the heavier bullet. Good Luck

[NFA-ADK]

I use federal premium ammo for my savage 110. 2 main reasons

1) The 165 grain groups are amazing, not a tack driver but dam close!

2) I have had remington, winchester and a few other brands with bad primers that did not fire in my gun. Never with the federal ammo.

That said I feel the gun is excessive for any deer under 200 lbs with any grain under 100 yards. JMO... It's a lot of fire power! Another reason I switch to a 44 mag model 94 AE. I wish I had more area were the 30-06 was usefull!

[Pygmy]

I use federal premium ammo for my savage 110. 2 main reasons

1) The 165 grain groups are amazing, not a tack driver but dam close!

2) I have had remington, winchester and a few other brands with bad primers that did not fire in my gun. Never with the federal ammo.

That said I feel the gun is excessive for any deer under 200 lbs with any grain under 100 yards. JMO... It's a lot of fire power! Another reason I switch to a 44 mag model 94 AE. I wish I had more area were the 30-06 was usefull!

I am surprised to hear you have had so many primer failures... Since 1962 and with many thousands of rounds fired ( I shot skeet and trap for years and for many years I shot several hundred rounds per year just at crows) I have had perhaps 3 or 4 at MOST , all shotgun primers with one exception. Years ago I got an OLD box of Super X 7x57 loads at a gunshow..They were loaded perhaps in the 30s or 40s. Most of the rounds in that box were hangfires..There would be a click, then a pause of 2-3 seconds, and then the round would detonate. Since I did not know how those rounds were stored or what conditions they had been kept in, I could only guess why they hung fire..

If you had all of the primer failures in the same gun, I would suspect that there might be problem with the firearm, rather than the primers. You may have a weak firing pin spring...

Some primers are harder to detonate than others...Maybe the federal primers are a little softer..

[NFA-ADK]

Not sure why they did not fire, a nice center punch was noted on all ammo. This did not happen that often but it was enough to make me switch. Even the reloads I have done never gave my firing pin any problems so I just figured it was cheap primers... All this ammo was 30-06 as that was my first and only gun for many years... I use a variety in the 44 mag and never have issues... Could be the primers are sealed better, our humid climate can mosten the powder or possibly soft primers like you said. Having limited chances at even seeing a deer... When I finally get a chance at a shootable deer, I want no possibility of a misfire, I have enough other things to worry about...

[Pygmy]

Yeah, I don't blame you...Do whatever you can to improve your odds.

I did have a problem with a weak firing pin spring once.. It was a Ruger M77 in 25-06 and I had fired several hundred rounds through it when it began misfiring every few rounds with my reloads...The primer would dent, but sometimes not ignite. I tried some factory rounds and it did the same thing, so I decided it was not an ammo issue. I took the rifle to my gunsmith and he put a heavy duty firing pin spring in it, and it never misfired again.

[shawnhu]

Wondering what everyone thought in regards to .30-06 ammunition for deer hunting? This is the first year my area is allowed to use rifle, so I was curious.

I've been looking into Winchester Super-X ammo (180 grain).

Thoughts/opinions?

Just looking for a lot of stopping power up to 150-200 yards.

Thanks.

what area? I'm curious.

[HuntOrBeHunted]

Any 30-06 bullet will do the trick, along with a good shot, and 99% of the time they don't move another step.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I use federal premium ammo for my savage 110. 2 main reasons

1) The 165 grain groups are amazing, not a tack driver but dam close!

2) I have had remington, winchester and a few other brands with bad primers that did not fire in my gun. Never with the federal ammo.

That said I feel the gun is excessive for any deer under 200 lbs with any grain under 100 yards. JMO... It's a lot of fire power! Another reason I switch to a 44 mag model 94 AE. I wish I had more area were the 30-06 was usefull!

I would be willing to bet it is a spring issue with the gun. I saw it once before with an old Remington pump.

Now on the 06 comment. I have never heard it called too much gun for deer...lol. Just out of curiosity, what amount of energy would you consider just the right amount for deer?

[Top ramen]

I just switched to Hornady Custom 150gr SST.

[chiefbkt]

I have shot the 168 grain Winchester ballistic silvertip in my gun for about 9 years now. I love how they perform and how well they shoot in my guns (Remington 7600 and Savage 110). I only shoot 2-5 times a year so I don't mind spending the money on them. Although I have thought recently about switching to the 165 Hornady customs. Not sure how well they will group, but may buy a box to see.

[A6A6]

I started using the accutip 150 remington. They were not good for the reason that they would pass thru the deer so I switched to core lokt 150 . Simple cheap works. The ballistic tips were cool thought but just didn't work great.

[dirt_a_KISS]

i just bought a 30-06 and seem some of the posts on here. How is the recoil with some of these rounds especially the 180grs? i have only shot hornady lite with the SST seemed to do a pretty good job with shooting accurately.

[ants]

I never thought the recoil was too bad out of ant 30-06 load. About the same or even a little less than a 12 ga. slug.