Stan Maden
New member
I'm new to this and can't really afford a new rifle. Remington still produces a 55 grain accelerator in 30.06. Have any of you used these? How are they for accuracy and fur damage? Looking for options I can afford.
30.06 accelerator bullets
- Thread starter Stan Maden
- Start date
scattergunner
New member
First off Stan, welcome to Predator Masters!
I have seen the Remington 30.06 Xcellerators used by a hunting partner (CoyoteSmak as he's known on PM)with good success on one particular hunt. The results I saw are limited to this one isolated experience, so understand that your results may vary. But, at any rate, the kill I saw was from about 150 yards. The coyote was hit right in the boiler room, he spun in place about 4 times then dropped right where he was. The entrance wound was small and almost inperceptable at first and there was no exit wound. Worked pretty dang good, I'd say. Unfortunately this would be the last coyote we'd see that day.
Now, here's the bad news... These things are not cheap. Which, for a long term predator hunting sollution makes them unfeasable in my mind. Personally, I bought a cheap, but accurate .223 and rarely spend over $10 for a box of ammo that it shoots wells. So, depending how much of this you plan on doing, you won't be saving much money in the long run. Not to mention (although I haven't seen in personally) I have heard several reputable sources tell me the Xcellerator isn't very accurate on long range shots.
BTW, I don't know of your budget constraints, but you can get a very accurate predator rifle for about $200.
I have seen the Remington 30.06 Xcellerators used by a hunting partner (CoyoteSmak as he's known on PM)with good success on one particular hunt. The results I saw are limited to this one isolated experience, so understand that your results may vary. But, at any rate, the kill I saw was from about 150 yards. The coyote was hit right in the boiler room, he spun in place about 4 times then dropped right where he was. The entrance wound was small and almost inperceptable at first and there was no exit wound. Worked pretty dang good, I'd say. Unfortunately this would be the last coyote we'd see that day.
Now, here's the bad news... These things are not cheap. Which, for a long term predator hunting sollution makes them unfeasable in my mind. Personally, I bought a cheap, but accurate .223 and rarely spend over $10 for a box of ammo that it shoots wells. So, depending how much of this you plan on doing, you won't be saving much money in the long run. Not to mention (although I haven't seen in personally) I have heard several reputable sources tell me the Xcellerator isn't very accurate on long range shots.
BTW, I don't know of your budget constraints, but you can get a very accurate predator rifle for about $200.
Stan Maden
New member
Thanks, its good to be here. I am new to this and just getting started. I've been ill and on sick leave for the past 6 weeks. That has drained the bank account, so a new rifle is out for now. Thought I'd start with what I own and some over the counter ammo. I don't know how much time I can devote to this, but I trap parttime and definately want to save the pelts for resale. Would like to hear if anyone else has tried this ammo. Stan
coon HOUND
New member
a frind of mind also use a 30.06 and he said
a fmj bullit is the ticket with a small hole
in and a small hole out hope that helps
a fmj bullit is the ticket with a small hole
in and a small hole out hope that helps
A quick search on this site will get you plenty to consider, my experience with accelorators has been mixed.
I have played with factory, and hand loads. Generally terminal preformance is as to be expected with any fast 22 caliber center fire, accuracy on the other hand is very touchy! I have had some that would shoot less a 2" group at 100 yards, and many others that would not even hit a 12" target at 25 yards!
The problem is the rate of twist, the right spin for a 30 caliber bullet is not fast enough to stabilize the 22 caliber bullets.
I would recommend using heavy/hard soft points {180gr. premium bullets}, then plan on sewing up some exit wounds, FMJ bullets would sometimes {only sometimes} give you a smaller exit wounds but would always give you dangerous ricochets!
I have played with factory, and hand loads. Generally terminal preformance is as to be expected with any fast 22 caliber center fire, accuracy on the other hand is very touchy! I have had some that would shoot less a 2" group at 100 yards, and many others that would not even hit a 12" target at 25 yards!
The problem is the rate of twist, the right spin for a 30 caliber bullet is not fast enough to stabilize the 22 caliber bullets.
I would recommend using heavy/hard soft points {180gr. premium bullets}, then plan on sewing up some exit wounds, FMJ bullets would sometimes {only sometimes} give you a smaller exit wounds but would always give you dangerous ricochets!
dogcatcher223
New member
Back in highschool I used to use those accelerators out of my 30/06 with great results. BANG...Flop, dead. Problem is the exit wounds were usually very large. There is no faster varmint round out there than the accelerators. My gun shot them great. But it was pricey compared to say a 223 so I upgraded to a 223 instead and never looked back.
BroncoGlenn
New member
As others have said, reviews on them are mixed, with the biggest complaint being poor group sizes when compared to standard -06 loads.
If you are looking for just making critters dead, then most any .30-06 game bullet will work. The 150 grain Winchester PSPs or Remington Core-Lokt soft points are cheap and shoot good in my experience with them. There are some lighter .30 cal bullets like the 125gr. Speer TNT. Handloading them is simple but I don't know who sells commercially loaded ammo of these. They shoot good in my 700 ADL.
Originally, when I got interrested in calling a couple years ago, my funding was tight having just bought a new house and in the midst of getting married. I carried the .30-06 with factory 150grain soft points. I soon started reloading and carried 125 grain TNTs in it. Then as I had more money I got the AR-15 and recently a Ithaca 10 guage magnum for the close in wet work. Unfortuanately I never really had the time to get out and call until this upcomming season so hopefully I'll be able to put my tools to work.
If you are looking for just making critters dead, then most any .30-06 game bullet will work. The 150 grain Winchester PSPs or Remington Core-Lokt soft points are cheap and shoot good in my experience with them. There are some lighter .30 cal bullets like the 125gr. Speer TNT. Handloading them is simple but I don't know who sells commercially loaded ammo of these. They shoot good in my 700 ADL.
Originally, when I got interrested in calling a couple years ago, my funding was tight having just bought a new house and in the midst of getting married. I carried the .30-06 with factory 150grain soft points. I soon started reloading and carried 125 grain TNTs in it. Then as I had more money I got the AR-15 and recently a Ithaca 10 guage magnum for the close in wet work. Unfortuanately I never really had the time to get out and call until this upcomming season so hopefully I'll be able to put my tools to work.
I would just shoot a standard 30-06 bullet. I often get less pelt damage with my 308 or my 30-06 than I do with my 223 or 243. If hit a major bone and drive it through them then all bets are off, you will be picking up pieces. But hit them in the boiler room .30 in and .30 out.
Scott
Scott
The sabots come in bags of 1000 [more than any sane person would ever use], but I don't know where I bought mine over 10 years ago.
Seating the bullets into the sabots straight is critical, and will require a bit of ingenuity.
Best luck will come with heavier bullets [this ussually helps with accuracy too].
A deep chamfer in the neck will be necessary to avoid twisting the sabot when seating.
The hardest part will be getting perfectly concentric loading.
After buying half a dozen different powders to try, and 8 to 10 different boxes of bullets, and spending hours attempting to get everything perfect on your loading, then you get to go to the range.
You get excited when you hear your gun go POP, but very discouraged, not see anything hitting the target [or extremely large groups].
Gee, looking back over this it reminds me of perfecting a load for any other new rifle, just multiply time and materials by a factor of 10, and you might be ready to shoot something!
I believe sabots are better suited to larger bores where there is more margin for error, and less pinpoint accuracy is expected!
If you want to shoot a 22 caliber bullet----use a 22 caliber barrel, you won't be disappointed.
If you want to shoot a 30 caliber barrel----use a 30 caliber bullet, you won't be disappointed.
If accelorators lived up to how they look on paper, they would be on the shelves of every sporting goods store around!
I don't regret what I did, I just would not do it again. What I spent trying would have half paid for a new rifle!
Seating the bullets into the sabots straight is critical, and will require a bit of ingenuity.
Best luck will come with heavier bullets [this ussually helps with accuracy too].
A deep chamfer in the neck will be necessary to avoid twisting the sabot when seating.
The hardest part will be getting perfectly concentric loading.
After buying half a dozen different powders to try, and 8 to 10 different boxes of bullets, and spending hours attempting to get everything perfect on your loading, then you get to go to the range.
You get excited when you hear your gun go POP, but very discouraged, not see anything hitting the target [or extremely large groups].
Gee, looking back over this it reminds me of perfecting a load for any other new rifle, just multiply time and materials by a factor of 10, and you might be ready to shoot something!
I believe sabots are better suited to larger bores where there is more margin for error, and less pinpoint accuracy is expected!
If you want to shoot a 22 caliber bullet----use a 22 caliber barrel, you won't be disappointed.
If you want to shoot a 30 caliber barrel----use a 30 caliber bullet, you won't be disappointed.
If accelorators lived up to how they look on paper, they would be on the shelves of every sporting goods store around!
I don't regret what I did, I just would not do it again. What I spent trying would have half paid for a new rifle!