Savage 30.06 Model 111 , Cartridge choice
- Thread starter donsimmel
- Start date
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Lotsa options, of course. Anything from the .25-'06 on up will work, but I don't see any point in getting more than a .300 WinMag.
Personally, I'd go with the old .30-'06, just because it has always worked. If you don't reload--which I do--the .308 is probably just as good. And, nothing at all wrong with several others in that general range of performance.
If you come to any conclusion, start again with a thread about "Which bullet?"
Art
Personally, I'd go with the old .30-'06, just because it has always worked. If you don't reload--which I do--the .308 is probably just as good. And, nothing at all wrong with several others in that general range of performance.
If you come to any conclusion, start again with a thread about "Which bullet?"
Art
Re; bullets for Wy Muley
Like where I've hunted in Utah, Wyoming Muleys can be found in a variety of terrain. There is a better than even chance that you could be shooting at ranges greater than 100 yrs. For that reason I would select a bullet that's not too heavy yet heavy enough for a large muley. I'd recommend either the 150 or 165 grain. I personally prefer the Nosler. I used to use the Ballistic Tip in both 150 and 165 but in the last couple of years switched to the Accubond. It has the accuracy of the Ballistic Tip (which for me was the most accurate bullet I've ever shot in my '06) and weight retention/penetration of a Partition. The 165 gr works quite well out to 200 - 300 yrs (more from sandbags/bench) and is downright deadly on muleys.
Like where I've hunted in Utah, Wyoming Muleys can be found in a variety of terrain. There is a better than even chance that you could be shooting at ranges greater than 100 yrs. For that reason I would select a bullet that's not too heavy yet heavy enough for a large muley. I'd recommend either the 150 or 165 grain. I personally prefer the Nosler. I used to use the Ballistic Tip in both 150 and 165 but in the last couple of years switched to the Accubond. It has the accuracy of the Ballistic Tip (which for me was the most accurate bullet I've ever shot in my '06) and weight retention/penetration of a Partition. The 165 gr works quite well out to 200 - 300 yrs (more from sandbags/bench) and is downright deadly on muleys.
A gazzilian muleys in wyoming are killed with the 243. I personally use a 257 Roberts. They really arnt that big and tuff.
Nothing wrong with the '06 for deer. But you certainly dont need anything more then a 150 grn. and any of the comerical HUNTING 30 cal 150s will be more then capable of taking muleys. I mean if the 90-100 grn 243s & 25 cal work, you dont need heavy bullets going 5000 miles per hour to take them out.
Most of Wyoming deer hunting areas will be open country, the 150 gr 30 cal will be just fine, with any standard hunting bullet, dont need multi dollar trick bullets.
Spend your money on practicing with normal hunting ammo that you develope or purchace for your gun. You also dont need sub min hand tailered fancy target loads. Any 2 min Gun - Ammo combination will work.
If you reload, get normal bullets (sierra, hornady, speer) if you dont reload, then just pick up what ever ammo your local suppliers sell.
Main thing Wyoming is wonderful, great hunting, HAVE FUN AND BRING A FISHING POLE.
Nothing wrong with the '06 for deer. But you certainly dont need anything more then a 150 grn. and any of the comerical HUNTING 30 cal 150s will be more then capable of taking muleys. I mean if the 90-100 grn 243s & 25 cal work, you dont need heavy bullets going 5000 miles per hour to take them out.
Most of Wyoming deer hunting areas will be open country, the 150 gr 30 cal will be just fine, with any standard hunting bullet, dont need multi dollar trick bullets.
Spend your money on practicing with normal hunting ammo that you develope or purchace for your gun. You also dont need sub min hand tailered fancy target loads. Any 2 min Gun - Ammo combination will work.
If you reload, get normal bullets (sierra, hornady, speer) if you dont reload, then just pick up what ever ammo your local suppliers sell.
Main thing Wyoming is wonderful, great hunting, HAVE FUN AND BRING A FISHING POLE.
Smokey Joe
New member
Feeding a rifle...
Don Simmel--I THINK what you're asking is, "what brand of .30-'06 ammo should I buy."
The answer is, you have to buy several brands of '06 ammo, take them to a range, and find out what works best in your rifle.
My experience is that plain-Jane Federal blue box ammo (NOT their pricey stuff!) works quite well as a go-to factory round, in many rifles. So that'd be my starting point. As said above, whitetails are not tough; you don't need a super-premium bullet to down them.
My experience is that in a .30 caliber, the 165 grain bullet is the right weight and size for the caliber, so I'd start testing with that were I you. If 165's don't give acceptable accuracy, in YOUR rifle, then I'd experiment with 150's. I would not go larger than 165's--and when I was much younger, I used 180 grainers in the '06 "for brush busting." Now I know that the pointy bullets are actually better for brush (The NRA experimented with this, years ago), and a .30-cal 180 is an awful lot of bullet to throw at a whitetail, anyhow.
Practice, practice, practice, with your rifle! Can't say this enough. Yes it costs $$$ to do--would you wish to lose a deer through poor marksmanship? This, BTW, is the very thing that got many of us into reloading.
Anyhow, good luck with the muleys, and of course we will need a post-action report, with pictures!
Don Simmel--I THINK what you're asking is, "what brand of .30-'06 ammo should I buy."
The answer is, you have to buy several brands of '06 ammo, take them to a range, and find out what works best in your rifle.
My experience is that plain-Jane Federal blue box ammo (NOT their pricey stuff!) works quite well as a go-to factory round, in many rifles. So that'd be my starting point. As said above, whitetails are not tough; you don't need a super-premium bullet to down them.
My experience is that in a .30 caliber, the 165 grain bullet is the right weight and size for the caliber, so I'd start testing with that were I you. If 165's don't give acceptable accuracy, in YOUR rifle, then I'd experiment with 150's. I would not go larger than 165's--and when I was much younger, I used 180 grainers in the '06 "for brush busting." Now I know that the pointy bullets are actually better for brush (The NRA experimented with this, years ago), and a .30-cal 180 is an awful lot of bullet to throw at a whitetail, anyhow.
Practice, practice, practice, with your rifle! Can't say this enough. Yes it costs $$$ to do--would you wish to lose a deer through poor marksmanship? This, BTW, is the very thing that got many of us into reloading.
Anyhow, good luck with the muleys, and of course we will need a post-action report, with pictures!
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banditt007
New member
first, make sure its accurate to the range you plan on shooting....and then remember shooting at the range is totally different than shooting in the field. so if it 'just gets by' in accuracy at the range, hunting its going to be way off.
anyway, 150-165 grain bullet, winchester power points and remington corelockts will work fine. (cheaper end of hunting bullets) if they dont shoot good enough you could try other plain jane soft points, then go for the more expensive stuff.
main thing is to take a shot you KNOW you can make not THINK you can make. and remember that shot placement varies depending on the angle that the deer is, so you have to visualize the bullet path.
anyway, 150-165 grain bullet, winchester power points and remington corelockts will work fine. (cheaper end of hunting bullets) if they dont shoot good enough you could try other plain jane soft points, then go for the more expensive stuff.
main thing is to take a shot you KNOW you can make not THINK you can make. and remember that shot placement varies depending on the angle that the deer is, so you have to visualize the bullet path.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I misread the OP. IMO, use any 150-grain to 180-grain bullet that provides good groups. Generally, anything under two minutes of angle will hit a deer's kill zone out to some 300 yards. Tighter is better, obviously, if you have good reason to believe that you'll have to look further than 300.
In my '06, I tweaked and meddled until it was sub-MOA. I got such groups with all Sierras, the 150-grain Hornady and the 150-grain Remington Bronze Points. Many people laud the Remington CoreLokts. And, generally, most folks are happy with most of the premium bullets.
I guess it all comes down to your own particular rifle...
I've often thought that it would be a good thing if the ammo folks sold five-packs for testing.
In my '06, I tweaked and meddled until it was sub-MOA. I got such groups with all Sierras, the 150-grain Hornady and the 150-grain Remington Bronze Points. Many people laud the Remington CoreLokts. And, generally, most folks are happy with most of the premium bullets.
I guess it all comes down to your own particular rifle...
I've often thought that it would be a good thing if the ammo folks sold five-packs for testing.
fisherman66
New member
That would be nice. Kinda like the individually wrapped chips in a box or even they multi-variety cereal packs from days of yore.
I prefer the 06 on our Wyo mulies myself. I load and use 150gr soft points and have shot deer, elk, and moose w/ said loads. I would say nearly any of the 150, 165, or 180gr loads from the major manufacturers would work well for you. The only round I would stay away from is a silvertip. I have had them blow up on the surface only wounding the animal. Now that may have been due to a number of factors but still convinced me to avoid them for killing anything other than prairie dogs.
elkman06
elkman06
James R. Burke
New member
The 30-06 is great. I agree Nosler partition either bought or hand loaded.