bamaranger
New member
My great Uncle, quite a character in his own right, always claimed that the '06 with a 180 gr RN, was the "best deer killer in the woods". This after shooting a Rem Model 14 pump in .35Rem/200 for many years.
I followed the family mantra as a kid, but eventually moved away from the big RN to shoot 150 spitzers (PSP) in most of my .30 cal rifles for deer. They seemed to kick less, as a loose rule were more accurate, especially in a 1:12 twisted .308 M88 Win, and had a flatter trajectory for longer shots on ROW and cutover, and killed whitetails just as dead. In recent years, I've shot rather modest cartridges at whitetails, .243, 7.62x39mm and I think interestingly .44 mag from a carbine.
When I acquired a very handsome Mark X Mannlicher stocked '06, (bought largely for its looks) I found that that it preferred heavy bullets. I set the Mark X up with 180gr RN running at 2500 fps, hotter loads were loud from the 20" carbine, and seemed to kick miserably for some reason. I viewed the Mark X as a woods rifle and the lower velocity did not bother me.
The last weekend of the AL season, I took a 2-1//2 yr old 5 pt at about 100 yds, quartering away with the Mark X. It'd been awhile since I'd taken a deer with a .30, even if it wasn't all-up velocity wise. Wounding effect was, shall we say, more than impressive!
Harry, ........you weren't wrong.
I followed the family mantra as a kid, but eventually moved away from the big RN to shoot 150 spitzers (PSP) in most of my .30 cal rifles for deer. They seemed to kick less, as a loose rule were more accurate, especially in a 1:12 twisted .308 M88 Win, and had a flatter trajectory for longer shots on ROW and cutover, and killed whitetails just as dead. In recent years, I've shot rather modest cartridges at whitetails, .243, 7.62x39mm and I think interestingly .44 mag from a carbine.
When I acquired a very handsome Mark X Mannlicher stocked '06, (bought largely for its looks) I found that that it preferred heavy bullets. I set the Mark X up with 180gr RN running at 2500 fps, hotter loads were loud from the 20" carbine, and seemed to kick miserably for some reason. I viewed the Mark X as a woods rifle and the lower velocity did not bother me.
The last weekend of the AL season, I took a 2-1//2 yr old 5 pt at about 100 yds, quartering away with the Mark X. It'd been awhile since I'd taken a deer with a .30, even if it wasn't all-up velocity wise. Wounding effect was, shall we say, more than impressive!
Harry, ........you weren't wrong.