Most accurate 165 for 30-06

J

JJ45

New member
just trying to get a consensus of opinions.

What 165 grain hunting bullet, for reloading, have you found most accurate in the 30-06? Hunting bullets, not match grade.

Mainly in bolt guns. I have found;

Sierra's BTSP and HPBT capable of 1" 3 shot groups at 100 yards on a good day.
Hornady's SP also accurate but a little less so in my rifles, a Mark 10 Mauser and Ruger tang safety '06

I realize every rifle has it's preferences and other factors besides bullets, but would appreciate any opinions...Thanks, JJ
 
They've always had their own bullet designs like the Hydra-Shok line. They don't sell them all for handloading, and the ones they do sell for this tend to dry up when ammo sales are good, as using them in their own ammo makes more money than the components alone do. Same with their brass and primers, though they are usually better geared up for supplying primers than they are other components.
 
30-06

I have found excellent accuracy and one-shot kills with Barnes TTSX bullets.

They make a 165gr and a 168gr in 30 caliber.
 
My best .30-06 165 gr hunting load uses, of all things, bulk Remington Core-Lokts.

Some lots are good. Some lots are bad. That lot was good (about 350 left).
 
(30-06) 165 gr. Nosler ballistic tips, Winchester large rifle mag primers, 48 gr. H4895 does 2800 fps and very small 5 shot groups out of all of our Remingtons (2 - 700s, 2 - 742s and a 760). Two years ago at the law enforcement range during sight-in, the 700s shot the same hole and the others had either a ragged hole or two holes touching each other (one 742 had iron sights). After my kid got done shooting two bullets through the same hole and was casing his rifle, the range officer said that there was a ladybug on a target and challenged my kid to shoot it. My kid pulled the gun back out, loaded up, got set and shot. All you could hear was the range officer shouting about how my kid had just shot a ladybug. My kid just shrugged, cased the gun and walked off while the guy was still going on about the shot. (This was at the range between Madison and Waunakee and the range officer was either a Madison cop or a Dane County deputy, and yes, he watched through the spotting scope and saw the bullet strike right where the ladybug had been. Had my kid not hit the exact spot, I'm sure his reaction would have been more subdued.)
 
Blackwidow....great post the Nosler BT performs well on ladybugs :) , how does it perform on deer sized game?
 
I have been shooting at CMP Talladega, shooting up old 30-06 ammunition loaded with Core Lokt's. I did not know at the time that gunpowder deteriorates and when it deteriorates it outgasses nitric acid gas. I blame in print Gunwriters who have been suggesting if not claiming that gunpowder/ammunition lasts forever. They are just shills for the industry, not picked for their STEM education, so what can you expect?. Most, from 50% to 75% of these 1980's loads cracked their case necks. Still, groups were not bad all the way to 600 yards.

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Match bullets did give tighter groups.

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Core Lokt’s shot well in this rifle:

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Core Lokts shot poorly in my 6.5 M70 Swede. Did well in my 6.5 M700. Hornady's shot well in my 6.5 Swedes but the best bullet was a 140 SMK.

The bottom line is, you have to try the bullet in the rifle you are going to use. My Core Lokts may not shoot as well in your rifle.
 
The ballistic tips work very well on deer. At first I tried partitions. They just went through the deer like it was a paper target at the ranges we shoot in western Wisconsin. The only time dropped a deer where it stood was when my kid shot one that was slightly above him and looking straight at him. He hit the deer in the chest just below the neck. The bullet hit the spine and blew the hell out of a bunch of backstrap meat. That was when I decided to go to ballistic tips. I'm too old and hobbled to track a deer down. I also didn't want the deer going on another property and either be unrecoverable or shot by another party. Since using ballistic tips, every deer has dropped where it stood. Even at shorter yardage, the bullet expends all of its energy in the body cavity. Wonderful bullet for my needs. As for damage to meat, there is no more loss that when using any other bullet, just not on both sides of the deer.
 
I've never shot a 165gr bullet out of my 30-06. All I shoot are 180's. But the bullet's I shoot for hunting in all my rifle's are Hornady Spire Point/Inter loc's. Seem's in any rifle I can get them to 1" or less, they haven't failed me once in 40 yrs or so of using them. If I were to try a 165gr bullet in the 30-06, It would be the Hornady!
 
Really great info.....difficult to find core lokt 165s though.

Sierra 165 SBT
Sierra 165 HPBT
Sierra 150 S FB (in a 300 Savage 99 also)
Speer 165 spitzer
Speer 150 spitzer
Speer 150 mag tip
Hornady 150 SP
Hornady 165 SP

In the past 40 or so years I have used all of these bullets in reloads successfully on deer in the 30-06, ALL perform well... in PA. most shots are well under 100 yards and a round nosed bullet at moderate velocity would have done just as well. As a matter of fact, I load Speer 170 Flat Points for my son and his Marlin 30-30 and with the same shot placement there is no difference in killing power at the ranges in which these deer are taken.
 
Any 165 will do nicely. The '06 loves 'em with IMR4064.
"...difficult to find Core-Lokt 165s ..." Midway says, "Limited production" by Remington. Only made when they feel like it. Speer(Hot-Cor) makes a bunch. So does Hornady(Interlock). All of which are the same thing.
 
Like T. O'Heir stated, any 165 grain will do. Both my 30-06 rifles love them. I have been shooting Remington Core=lokt for years because I have a big supply of them, heck I am now this year moving to the boxes marked $9.99, also the winchesters. With 150 grainers I shoot about 1.5 inch groups at 200 yards and with the 165 grainers they shoot sub-moa
.813 at 200 yards. Rifles are a Savage 110 and a Tikka T3 lite.
 
The 30-06 is a military round and throats tend to be long. My rifle has a longer throat and it works better with flat base bullets. I cannot touch the rifling with a boat tail bullet and have one diameter bullet shank in the neck. To seat out close to the rifling I used the 165grn Hornady spitzers and got groups between .5 and .75 at 100 yards for 5 shots. The longer Nosler Ballistic Tips have a short boat tail. With their extra length due to the solid base they might work also.
 
For the money, Hornady SST's. But Berger 168 gr Classic Hunter bullets aren't terribly expensive and are more accurate. And a better bullet for hunting.
 
Last few years I've been using Nosler 165gr AB in one of my 30-06 and my other 30-06 using 180gr Partition. The 165gr AB I use in one of my 30-338 mag's.

My 30 cal rifles I stay mostly with 165gr to 180gr. I still have few Rem 165gr/180gr and you could get bulk 1k for $100. I have one rifle I use those in.
Bulk Rem was 500 per box for 30 cal, 7mm,270 and 6mm, 80gr and 100 gr was 1000 per box. I still have some Rem 6mm (80/100gr),270(130gr) and 7mm((140/150gr bullets. I have hunted with 7mm 150gr in one of the 280AI.
 
ireload2, of my two scope sighted 30-06 rifles the Mark 10 and old Ruger 77, the MK 10 has a larger chamber and longer throat. If I neck size brass that has been fired in the MK10, which I do on occasion, they won't chamber in the Ruger but feed fine through the MK10.

The Ruger has a very tight chamber but both rifles are equally accurate with the load each one likes....I think at the time this 77 was made, Ruger outsourced the barrel making to outfits that specialized in barrels...I have shot sub 1/2" groups with this rifle loading the Sierra 168 grain MK bullet (this bullet is not recommended for hunting)

Do you seat the Hornady 165s well short of the cannelure?...I have done this with Hornadys, just looks weird though.
 
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