.30-06 -- 180gr down to 165gr?

When I first traded for the Rem. 700 that I gave my oldest son 180 Corelokts is what I fed it,,, but I was hunting deer in "clear cut" thickets and small hollers, that were somewhat brushy, and I used open sights.
My brother got into handloading and loaded me some test rnds, and later we discovered that this particular rifle just dug the heck out of 150 grn B-tips and IMR 4350.... the rest is deer killing history (well known in my family).;) And I later scoped that rifle to hunt open hollers and pasture land up in northern Missouri, so the 150 Grain B-tips fit the bill nicely.
 
If I go up to a 200 yard zero, will I have issues with <100yd shots?
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That depends. I missed a deer last year under that scenario. I was set for a 200 yard shot and she came out just 10 yards from the stand. I was considerably surprised as I had never seen a deer that close to that particular stand, I was out of position, and I rushed the shot. By the time I squeezed the trigger, she was 40 yards away and she took off like a scalded ape. After searching for several hours, I went back to recreate the shot and found my bullet lodged in a sweet gum tree. I had shot over her back.

Will YOU have a problem with <100 yard shots? I don't know. Practice shooting at all the ranges you'll expect to see game and learn the ballistics of your rifle/ammo combination.
 
No offense PawPaw but missing a deer at 40 yards has nothing to do with your zero.

The 40 yard difference between a 100, 200, 300, even 400 yard zero is small. Much smaller than a deers vital zone.

For instance, a 180gr Hornady SP from a 30-06 with 2700fps MV and a 300 yard zero would be 1.7 inches high at 40 yards. With a 400 yard zero, it would be 3.1 high at 40. 200 yard zero, 1/2 inch high.

Any of those would kill a deer and CERTAINLY not miss it.

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The difference between any of the various zeros shouldn't cause any problems. We might make rush shots and misjudge in the field, it's easy to do and I've done it many times myself but we should also KNOW, as in know by putting bullets in paper, where our bullet will be at any range we are willing to fire one at an animal. If you KNOW where your bullet will be, the "problem" is the nut behind the butt, and we've all been there.
 
The 150 gr is the best choice for most hunting unless you are using it for elk or something like that. It's pretty flat shooting and is heavier then alot of other calibers used on deer.
 
I'm chuckling to myself. I've missed at 40 yards, and I missed 3 times in what must have been less than 5 or 6 seconds. I was working that lever action Marlin for all it was worth, but every TIME I pulled the trigger the deer was 8 feet in the air. It was over so fast. No meat. I remember thinking "did that really happen?". Yup! The whole thing played out in what felt like slow motion. Somedays you're the bug and somedays you're the windshield. Keeps me humble.
 
seconding other who have said:

a) first, shoot whichever is more accurate, since shot placement matters most. This will often be influenced by the twist rate/barrel length of your particular rifle.

b) However, assuming that 165gr bullets can be shot accurately for your rifle; I then HIGHLY recommend these mid-weight bullets over the 180gr for almost all NorthAmerican game. A few quick reasons. Modern "premium" bullet design is most-often built around controlled expansion -> which is best aided by higher velocity -> with higher velocities possible in 165gr than 180gr. Simple algebra.

That said, my handloads are typically non-premium Sierra Bullets (MK, GK & Pro-Hunter), though I still load 165-168gr almost exclusively for .308 diameter. If I need more than 165gr to knock it down, I recommend adding the weight width-wise rather than length-wise (meaning: moving up a caliber, like to .338 diameter).
 
Ive probably killed 50 deer using a handload with ww 150 powerpoints. I got a 1000 of them bulk once and my rifle shoots them under an inch at a 100 yards and theyve taken deer from 50 yards to 350. Never had one walk away from one.
 
Pure accuracy wise. 180's will shoot better in the traditional 1:10 twist in .30-06 barrels. 190's would be better. And 200's still better yet.

Note the original twist for that round was designed for slow moving 200-gr. round nose bullets used in the .30-40 Krags; even famout barrel maker Harry Pope (at the time) said it was the right choice. The US Army should have spec'd a 1:12 twist for the 150-gr. bullets in that case in 1906, but they didn't. In its heyday as a match cartridge for bolt action rifles, 1:12 twist barrels shot bullets from 150 through 200 grains more accurate than 1:10 twist ones did from the .30-06 case. They still will do that today. The Army got smart with the 7.62 NATO and its 147-gr. bullets; 1:12 twist was best and that's what they used.
 
Ive owned at least a dozen 06s through the years and never noticed a prefernce for 180s. Its allways been more of a matter of what each individual gun liked. Ive had them that liked 150s ive had them that liked 165s and yes even 180s but nothing across the board that said a certain bullet weight was the most accurate.
 
"If I go up to a 200 yard zero, will I have issues with <100yd shots?"

Not really. First off, my bullet choice in the 30-06 has been the 180 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter for deer and the 180 gr. Nosler Partition for elk. My normal sight in fo the 30-06 is 3" high at 100 yards. When I first started using a 30-06, a very long time ago (1956) I used a 150 gr. bullet, the Sierra to be exact. I forget the load but it was with milsurp 4895 from Hodgden. I sighted in 3" high as recommended by Warren Page and Jack O'Connor and hunted with great success. Along about 1972, I got tired of the 150 gr. bullets mangling so much good eating meat and switched to the 180 gr. Sierra. I liked the end results much better. In 1973, I went to a fairly lightweight Remington 660 in .308 as the 9.5 pound 1903 bubba'd sporter I iused for years was jusy way too heavy at 9,500 feet MSL for this old chain smoker. (FWIW, I quit in 1975)
Even in the .308 the 150 gr. bullets messed up too much meat and I later went to the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core.
When I think of the many deer I took with the 150 gr. bullet though, at ranges from 6 feet witnessed to 427 paces most with the 06 but the two exrtremes were with the .308 sighted in 3" high at 100 yards with 150 gr. bullets. Once I went to the .308, the 30-06 more or less has been on an extended vacation. :( I did try some load work up with the 165 gr. Speer and Sierra Game Kings but the two rifles didn't like either bullet.
With my rifle (30-06) sighted in 3" high at 100 yards, I can hold to the center of a deer's chest and make a killing shot to 250 yards. If the deer is farther out, I can hold to the upper third of the chest and be good at 300. Hold even with the the top of the deer's back and a 400 yard shot is not all that hard. It did tale a bit of range practice to determine where to hold at the various ranges but that's what's worked for me for a very long time.
Paul B.
 
I actually use my target loads to hunt deer. I hand load Sierra 150 gr HPBT match bullets and use IMR 3031 powder in my .30-06 rounds. I have taken decent size (180 lb) bucks at 350m no sweat with that round. The accuracy I have with that load (.4 MOA or less at 100 yd) in my Rem 700 gives me the confidence I can get a one round kill with that load at that distance.
 
Any and all will work. Last I checked, which was a long time ago, the 165's were typically boat tailed and dropped roughly the same as the 150's with a flat base at longer ranges. The trajectory difference is probably not worth mentioning, and the terminal performance with a good projectile is likely to similar.

In the 'olden days' guys would shoot 150's for deer and antelope and 180's for elk and bear. I don't think you can go wrong doing that, but it is not really needed with modern bullets. I will admit that the 165's strike a sweet spot, but I believe that is mostly a gut feeling on my part and is not based on any rational analysis. Whatever the reason, I do like the 165's. In any event, I would shoot what your rifle likes.
 
"If I go up to a 200 yard zero, will I have issues with <100yd shots?"

Nope... MPBR 3" sighting for, say, 180gr in .30-06 is going to be something like 270yds (going by memory). That means that if you shoot horizontal, the bullet will never go above 3" above line of sight and will drop to 3" below line of sight at 270yds with zero out at something like 225yds...which is sufficient for whitetails. So... out to about 270yds, aim for center of boiler room, pull trigger, fetch deer carcass... don't have to worry about hold over or anything.
 
Larry68

I load my own for my Remington 750 Woodmaster in 30-06 and had a happy accident in loading 165 grain SpeerBTSP with Hodgdon 4831 powder! I am now the proud owner of a 100 yard tack driver! I had been searching for the perfect load and in loading a fresh batch, mis-remembered the load numbers I had last used. It shoots a three round group with the second and third shots touching the first hole.:)
 
I reload, so my weight options are better than buying at Wally World, but I love the 168 grain bullet for .30-06. I believe that Hornady is now offering a 168 grain load over the counter.
 
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