Savage 30.06 Model 111 , Cartridge choice

donsimmel

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I'm new to this site so excuse me if I'm posting this in the wrong Forum.
Anyway I'm hopefully going Muley hunting in Wyoming this Nov. any suggestions to what would be the preferred cartridge for the above mentioned weapon.
Thanks, Don:rolleyes:
 
Lots of good ammo choices out there.

Lots of factory loads available. Winchester has some excellent hunting rounds, as does Remington, and Federal. I'm sure there are a dozen manufacturers that make similar hunting rounds suitable for Mule Deer.

Winchester makes one I'm fond of that you can see here. That's a ballistic silvertip in 180 Gr.

If you need more power. Winchester makes an excellent round for larger game. That round is intended for Elk and larger to just this side of Water Buffalo and Elephant. I don't believe I'd try and annoy one of those critters with a 30.06, but you may be a braver man than I am. Supposedly it would be suitable for large brown bear, including Grizzly. Again, I don't know about that, I've never hunted them. Not sure I want to try either.

Remington makes good rounds as well.

Federal also makes some great ones. I'm just partial to Winchester rounds for my rifle. I also have a 30.06 but use the PSP rounds for local game in Georgia. The Winchesters shoot very good groups in my rifle, so I tend to stick with them.

Just look for rounds that are intended for your target, and you can search for hunting stories online, or even call up to the guides in Wyoming, and see what they suggest.

Remember, in Wyoming, you have lots of open shooting. So you should be ready
 
My choice would be any one of the excellent 150 grain loads out there. In open country it will be a little flatter, and 150gr should be plenty to bring down a muley. Not saying that 180 is wrong, just my preference. If you want to split the difference, 168 gr. I handload for my Savage 110, and mine will shoot anything 110 to 200 without being too picky. In fact, I've got a dynamite little 110 grain that shoots about as well as anything I've tried (people will tell you you can't get an accurate 110 gr load--they are wrong). it'll turn a mangy coyote inside out!
 
Don this is where the fun part comes in. Buy 5 different types of deer rounds for your rifle and find out which shoots the most accurately out of your rifle.

The things to look at are bullet weight and bullet type.
I use 150gr bullets and they work fine for me. Heavier bullets seem to be a bit more popular, with 168 and 180 grain probably being the most popular.
When you buy your 5 boxes of ammo, have them all at the same weight.

I use a standard Hornady sp that are pretty old school. You might want to look at Remington Corelocts, Winchester's or Federal's Nosler partition, Federal's Sierra Game King, or Hornady Interbonds.

Any of those will do fine, the fun part is finding which shoots out of your rifle best.
 
Outstanding suggestions from the others.

I've been through the firing of different ammo's, and as I indicated before, just like the grouping I get from the Winchester Ammo.

Mule Deer in Wyoming tend to be a tad larger than Whitetails here in Georgia. So I tend to error on the larger heavier bullet for that reason. 150 is excellent for Georgia's usually smallish Whitetails, I guess it should be fine in Wyoming as well. Again the opinion of someone who has hunted there is paramount here.

Note: I've shot in Wyoming, used to live there for about a year. I've never hunted there. It's a long story why, but suffice to say, I was living with relatives while our finances got straight. That meant I was working every minute I could, I wasn't there for fun.
 
There are two bullets and one powder that I recommend for an elk hunt with the venerable 30/06; a Speer Grand Slam and a Nosler Partition. Both are 180 grain, and the powder of choice would be WW760 in WW brass and a CCI 200 primer. Start with 50.0 grains and work up to no more than 53.0 grains which will be right at 50,000 CUP. Accuracy will be minute of vitals, and your chosen elk will surely die without having to trail him all day afterward.
 
Last mule deer I dropped was using 150 gr Remington Core-Lokts in .280 Remington. Pretty inexpensive, but not quite as accurate as more expensive rounds. They work well, though.

I just picked up some Hornady 165 gr. SST's for my .30-06 that look like they should do decently well in the accuracy dept. Haven't had a chance to test them yet. They're not that expensive either...got 'em for around $23/20.

The Core-Lokts will just fine for mule deer, either in 150gr. or 165gr, though the 165 grain may group better out of a .30-06. I can't really recommend the Hornady rounds just yet, because I haven't tried them, but they look like they would work very well, maybe better than the Core-Lokts.
 
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