30-06 whitetail recommendations

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One of my friends and I last year got serious about hunting whitetail in Kansas. For hardware I have a 1917 Gewher 98 that was sporterized along the way to be a 30-06 and i recommended he get a Thompson Center Compass in 30-06 due to the rebates and reviews I have seen. For the ammunition in the previous year we picked up two boxes of Winchester power point 150 gr loads and I shot a 6 point buck in the neck to great effect. However since then I have found they dont shoot for **** in either of our rifles. This year i am leaning towards using hornady american whitetail 150 gr due to them working great in my .270 and other reviews I've seen on them. Along with a general faith in hornady ammunitions and the ballistic coefficient of their cup and core interlock bullets.
Do you guys have any recommendations on 30-06 ammunition for whitetail? The farthest shot that I would have to/am willing to take is around 250 yards.
 
I've had very good luck with the Hornady Interlock bullets their 150 Gr flat base should serve you very well at 300 or less because the BC hasn't really kicked in at that range.

If you're handloading the 30-06 always seemed to like IMR4350.
 
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Just because a round shoots well in my rifle or SubieRoo's doesn't mean it will shoot in yours. For Whitetails you can stay in the 150-168g bullet weight but you're going to have to test some different rounds to find what meets your approval.
 
I have had Winchester soft point rounds work great and some fail. One cost me a really nice doe. After that I started doing some of my own tests. Deer Season XP is an awesome round too. Best for accuracy I have found is Hornady. Haven't lost one yet to Hornady, and they are made in Nebraska. They are the most accurate I have found for my Weatherby's in .243 and 308. I can shoot within an inch at 100 yards. I don't go past that because I usually don't hunt open land. I like to get back in the trees where most shots are under 40 yards. 2 years ago I killed a small spike buck 15 feet away. He didn't see me sitting in a lawn chair on WIHA until I flipped the safety, it twas too late.

I bought a Browning AB3 in 30-06 when they first came on the market a few years ago. That thing had dinner plate accuracy no matter the load. That's when I really got into Weatherby's.

Funny thing is I have more deer under my belt, and never had one get away with my 1943 Mosin Nagant. Go figure.
 
I hate to say it, but at ranges of 250 yards or less for adult deer any 30-06 hunting round that doesn't have accuracy problems with your particular rifle should do fine for one shot kills.
At our vineyard deer depredation used to be a big problem. At ranges up to 200 yards, none required more than one shot for a humane, relatively rapid kill with both 30-30 carbine and 30-06 rifle. The 30-30 had iron sights, and was used at closer ranges. Ammo was generally any common stuff that was on hand, usually Winchester or Remmington.
I would say how accurately your rifle shoots a particular round should be your main concern, as you mentioned. I am surprised the 150 grain Win shoots so poorly in both rifles, but it just means you should experiment with different bullet weights until you (hopefully) find something that shoots well. I would guess if the Win doesn't shoot well in that grain, the Hornady won't either.
Oh, and as to the Compass, I've been thinking about picking one up. Does your friend have the common trigger action problem, and if so, has he looked into fixes?
 
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If your guns are picky you're just going to have to test out some different loads. Try some Remington Core-Lokt along with the America Whitetail.
 
I always liked 165 grain loads for the '06, try them you may find your rifle likes them better than 150s. I have never been a fan of Winchesters power points ever since a buddy nailed a doe perfectly broadside in the lungs, and did not even get an exit wound with a .308. Deer was easily recovered but clearly not optimum bullet performance. He switched to Hornady Interlocks after that and those worked exactly as you would expect.

As mentioned above, the 30/06 is really more gun than necessary for whitetails so just about any decent load will quickly dispatch a deer at any range you can hit it at.
 
Originally Posted by KCJeep
I always liked 165 grain loads for the '06, try them you may find your rifle likes them better than 150s. I have never been a fan of Winchesters power points ever since a buddy nailed a doe perfectly broadside in the lungs, and did not even get an exit wound with a .308. Deer was easily recovered but clearly not optimum bullet performance. He switched to Hornady Interlocks after that and those worked exactly as you would expect.

As mentioned above, the 30/06 is really more gun than necessary for whitetails so just about any decent load will quickly dispatch a deer at any range you can hit it at.

the reason we went 30-06 is to have the ability to upsize loads to elk when we later move to colorado. I also didnt get an exit wound on a neck shot but it just about disintegrated the spinal cord inside. Ill test out some different loads along with bullet weights and see what shoots best. If I had to guess, my rifle will be more picky than my friends but if there is one load that shoots well in both that'd be what I go with. With the variety out there I'm sure there will be something but I have a personal affinity to hornady ammunition.
 
Federal Premium

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Hornady makes good stuff, however my experience is that Federal Blue Box (in my rifles at least) shoots better than Winchester or Remington for the same price. It's one of the cheapest rounds available in the GWN and has laid down sub MOA accuracy in both my .308's. Hornady whitetail was a LITTLE tighter, but costs significantly more here.
 
For off the shelf rounds, I've not found anything better than Hornady for accuracy. I use the 178gr ELD-X for elk, but any .06 load-out would be more than adequate for whitetail as long as your gun shoots it accurately.
 
Federal Premium Sierra Boat Tail Soft Point is the one. Hornaday makes good stuff but, I prefer the Federal Premium.
 
I've got some federal premium in the blue box, core loct, Winchester powerpoint and federal fusion 30-06 180 grain ammo in a cabinet somewhere. There is only a few rounds left of each but I can use it as a benchmark when testing. Will report back after grouping the different rounds.
 
Your rifle is a hundred years old and probably just had to get a 5 inch group at 100 meters to be accepted. Or worse, no accuracy standards at all, since World War 1 was all hands and guns on deck, who cares about accuracy.

Have you accuracy tested this gun, with different weight and types of loads? Try heavy, middle weight, and light loads. If nothing is accurate, time to buy a new hunting rifle.
 
Originally Posted by maintenanceMan
I like the Hornady Copper bullets and I don't have to worry about lead contamination.


Lead contamination from one shot 🤔🤔🤔
Don't really think that's a big concern
A bigger concern is proper handling of the carcass after the kill and processing to meat in a sanitary environment to issuer it's clean and healthy to consume
 
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Originally Posted by bubbatime
Your rifle is a hundred years old and probably just had to get a 5 inch group at 100 meters to be accepted. Or worse, no accuracy standards at all, since World War 1 was all hands and guns on deck, who cares about accuracy.

Have you accuracy tested this gun, with different weight and types of loads? Try heavy, middle weight, and light loads. If nothing is accurate, time to buy a new hunting rifle.

True, however since then it was sporterized. From what I can see at least it has been restocked, rebarreled for 30-06 and bedded so I'm fairly confident that it can keep usable accuracy, or I can shorten my range of shot for ethics sake.
 
Originally Posted by maintenanceMan
Lead contamination is a real concern. Have you seen slow motion terminal ballistics videos? Lead fragments everywhere.


No it's not

How much lead is in one bullet ?????

Don't think your gona consume the entire bullet
 
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