30-06 Question

Okie Hunter

Okie Hunter

New member
I have a 30+ year old Savage 110E in 30-06 I am planning on working up a reload for. My grown son will be using the rifle for everything from coyotes to whitetails in Texas.

Will a 150 Grain Nosler Partition bullet shoot effectively in a 30-06 and if so at what velocities should I target? Or should I step up to a 165 grain?
 
I think a 150 grain bullet of decent construction by Nosler, Hornady, Sierra, or Speer would work just fine for your purposes. A dose of H4350 that pushes that weight to 2,800 fps or so from your 22" barrel and shoots accurately should be poison on Texas deer and coyotes.
 
150's should be a fine bullet weight for what you are after.

My experience, of which many here have much more, is that the nosler ballistic tips are somewhat more finicky to find a loading that works (groups) good than what I have found with Sierra's and Hornadys, that does not mean they are a bad bullet, just may need a little more patience to find a load that works good.
 
It will, but a Partition is not needed for deer. They work just fine, I use them sometimes. But they're expensive & unnecessary for the application.

I've used a lot of 180 gr Ballistic Tips on deer with great results, but my old bullet was the 150 gr Hornady Interloct Spire Point flat base, and I haven't used anything else in my 30-06 that worked any better. I've been using BT's for some years bc I wanted to see how they did for myself. They do fine, but the Hornady's worked so well there isn't any reason to spend more money on bullets for deer hunting.

150 gr bullets are about ideal for deer in an 06. If your rifle likes them, 165's can be better for long range hunting, but mine doesn't like them. It does like 125, 150 and 180 gr bullets quite well.
 
In MY OPINION, if you are going to use the partition bullet you might as well bump up to the 165 grain as this bullet will generate approximately 3 times the energy at longer ranges than the 150 grainer, and you would be working up a load for a wide range of hunting situations including larger game. I have taken mule deer here in Nevada in open range (one shot kill @ 464 yards) using Hornady 165 grain boat-tails in 30 mph winds). I believe in the 165 grainer. If your son were to load the 150 gr, then decide to hunt something bigger or in open terrain (long shots), he would probably have to re-develope a heavier load. I personally load a Barnes Bullet in 168 TSX for a friend who hunts Elk, and I use the same bullet in my custom Mauser in .308. They work great at close range and far...Hope this helps!
 
Okie I've never hunted in Texas. But I feel what Stu says here make a lot of sense. Any quality bulllet should work well here as opposed to the partition. That is unless your favorite is the Texas heart shot. I wouldn't worry to much about BC's here unless you plan on shooting over 400 yards because for the most part that is where the high BC's start to come into play. I would concentrate on a bullet between 150 and 180 Gr. and see what shoots best in you rifle rather than worry to much about MV. IMR 4350 has always worked well for me in 30-06 over the years. In my opinion it's a lot more about shot placement than foot pounds.
 
I have been loading the '06 for my son's Rem BDL with 150gr Nosler Bt's and he has dropped 4 deer, each with one shot. But... come this next season I will be switching to the 150 "x" bullets.
These should work just find for any deer & elk. I was getting 2885 fps from the 22" barrel of the Rem. using 54 gr of RL 15, with the Bal. Tip's.
 
I use a 30-06 almost exclusivelly, for everything from cayotes, to Caribou. I use the 165 gr Sierria Boattail moving at 2770 fps, all the time. It works for up close and personal for Black Bears, to Wolves and Caribou, out to 600 yards. Caribou are twice the size of a Texas Whitetail. Both the guns I use, (an NEF Handi rifle and a T/C Encore)are sighted in for 300 yards. At 400 yards I'm down 12 inches, at 500 32 inches, and at 600 around 65 inches. At 700 yards (I miss a lot of these but it's fun trying, and I only shoot at wolves at this range)it's about an 8 foot drop. Like I said I miss a lot of these, but everyonce in a while I score a hit. Most hits put them down on the spot, the others don't go far, and on snow they are easy to track.
 
Swithced to a 150g Seirra gameking this year. Its cheaper than a partition and because of the quicker expanson it should bang plop them a little faster. Shoootng groups at a 100 yards that I can cover with a nickel out of a 7600 Remington.
 


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