Favorite 150 Grain 30 caliber bullets for 30-06?

[Bart Solo]

I recently read an article about 150 grain 308 caliber hunting bullets.  The author suggested that the newer bullets are more than bad medicine on most game up to mule deer.   Do any of you hunt with a 30-06 and if so do you have a favorite 150 grain bullet?

[charles p]

In a factory bullet it would be the CoreLokt.  I load Sierra Pro Hunter. I prefer flat base bullets.  I have used Hornady Spire Points as well.

[LanceR]

I prefer 165-168s for general purpose use in a .308 or 30-06 but do load some 150s.   in the 150-168 grain range I use Sierra GameKings for deer and Barnes TTSXs (tipped triple shock x-bullet) for bear or mixed game hunts.  The GKs are more from habit than anything else since I have used about 2 gazillion MatchKings over the years.  The CoreLokt (or any of a dozen more choices) would do just as well.

I suspect that your author argues that the stouter "premium" bullets expand somewhat slowly and don't kill as well as soft tipped fast expanding bullets do on thin skinned game.

The TSX fully expands after only a few inches of soft tissue but looses very little weight so it penetrates like a laser beam.  I use the 168 grain TTSX in areas where I could get a look at both deer and bear since our seasons are concurrent.

Another bullet with a great reputation as a stone cold killer that expands rapidly yet retains almost all it's weight is the Nosler Partition.  Both it and the TSX make good choices for just about anything that the cartridge is capable of but at 3 or more times the cost of a CoreLokt or Sierra bullet that will kill the deer as dead as they will ever need. 

Lance

[swifty22]

Bart, Some Mule Deer get pretty heavy and if the angle is poor you can need more penetration than the softer 150 gr. cup and core, which could either mean a heavier (165/180) cup and core or a 150 Partition or TSX. I just read an article in an older Handloader about using the tipped TSX 130 gr. 30 cal. in Africa and the on deer. It was pretty impressive with full penetration on all animals but he was using a 300 Win Mag (belted) and a 300 Wby. at 3500 to 3600 fps. I used to use only 150 Speer Spitzer's in my 308 until I discovered the 165 Partition protected point which will full length an average black Bear or Whitetail.  I didn't have any trouble with the smaller Speer but I am a BIG fan of a fairly large leaky hole out the other side which, unless broadside, the 150 Speer didn't do. My 2 cents but I am a bullet freak and probably have 200 different partial boxes from 17 cal to 458 not counting probably 2 dozen bullet molds. Last fall my rifles got 3 deer (2/w 25-06 w/115gr Triple shocks, 1 w/RCBS 200 gr flat nose hollow point in a 9x57) and 2 bear one 18.5" with a 7x57 140 Partition made in the 60's and the other (yearling) a 270 Win. and a 130 gr. Sierra boat tail, All died from one shot from 35 to 250 yds. and all w/a leaky hole out the other side.  Good Luck-Muddy

[scootrd]

Here for Northeast whitetails when I use to hunt using an '06 I always used 150gr Core-Lokt
(now use a Remmy mod seven 7mm-08 140gr Core-Lokt).

Next year, Just for a change up I may try Horandy 7mm-08 139Gr SST's.

I always had great success with Core-Lokt's.

[Larry L]

At 3006 velocities and energy you're hard pressed to beat the Remington Core-Lok. I've pretty much shot every bullet out there and IF you're shooting a magnum, there are better bullets of heavier construction, but that wasn't the question. If I were going to hunt on the African Continent, my bullet choice would be a Woodleigh. By comparison, the others are just Woodleigh wannabes.

[swifty22]

Scootr- I have used the 7x57 (originally used a case full of Mil. 4831 and a 139 Hornady Spire Pt.)  since high school and you are right a 140 CL 7/08 factory speed is a good load that will most often go on through from most angles, the 150 CL 30 cal is just enough bigger dia. and shorter length to mushroom larger and not quite make it from long angles. Larry, I have used the 06' and core lokt's and have the highest regard for the old ones but have seen the late 1970-1990's 150's ones come apart quite suddenly. The larger deer in NE WA St. are fairly heavy in the colder late November time w/a lot of fat and sometimes snow and ice on them. I still like good strong bullets for them and probably only load 10 rounds for each rifle so a box of good hunting bullets lasts a few al years for me as I only use enough to sight in and then maybe use only 2-3-4 for animals and quite often pull the rest and put em' back in the box and load the cases w = weights of Speer/Horn/Sierra to shoot Ground squirrels with. I also subscribe to the 2700-2800 fps range (unless I'm using X bullets then I drive them as fast is safe) which also increases penetration for softer nose spitzer bullets and the faster vel. makes the X's more effective from what I have seen. I will say however that from what I have seen over the past 45 years of hunting is that there is little difference in killing power in anything from a 6mm/Swift to my 375 Wby Mag for deer/ black bear as long as there is an exit wound so shoot what you want and place the bullet through the top of the heart!-Muddy

[Lloyd Smale]

well i know over the years ive shot AT LEAST 50 deer with the 06 using 150 grain bullets. Mostly with sierras, nos bts,  ww power points and corelocks and have yet to meat a deer that was killed cleanly by them. If you want to practice your tracking skills switch to a barnes bullet. I used them alot last year in various calibers and was real disapointed in them. Sure they will probably kill the deer but dont expect any bang flop shots. Deer will almost allways run off and need to be tracked. the ONLY premium bullet id consider on deer is a partition. They kill well and pentrate well but in all reality arent needed on deer. Anyone that tells you you need more then a 150 cup and core bullet out of an o6 to kill deer reliably is more of keyboard commando then someone thats actually killed alot of deer
If you like 165s and they make you feel better or shoot bettter in your gun go for it. A 165 cup and core bullet does fine too. Ive shot alot of deer with them too. I dont think ive ever noticed much of a diffence in penetration, killing power or meat damage between the two if your talking the same bullet, say a nos bt in 150 or 165. Stepping up to 180s in the o6 ive seen problems. Most companys make there 180 grain bullet tough enough to hold together at mag velocitys and ive seen them on a number of occasions give very little expansion and just pensil through deer and again needed to do some tracking. Premium bullets have there place. Premiums and bonded bullets will allow you to take a gun light for the game your hunting and get away with it. Like if a guy only has a 2506 and wants to hunt elk or moose and cant afford another gun. But for whitetail, mule deer and antelope about all your accomplishing is helping the stock holders of the bullet company. I kind of chuckle at it. A new bullet comes out and they pay someone writing for guns and ammo or some other magazine thats about good for emergency toliet paper to say that you just have to have it and every expert on the internet will claim that your not an ethical hunter unless you buck up and pay 50 bucks a box for them. Now i spend ALOT of money on guns and loading gear and supplys and if i really thought one of those magic  bullets really helped id  be the first to buy them. Bottom line is for thin skinned lighter game there probably inferior to the cheaper bullets.

[Bart Solo]

I take it you don't like 150 grain barnes 308 bullets.   
 
I have to admit that last season I shot a deer with a 150 grain magical Winchester Power Point. I say magical because my shot was the stuff of  magic. The 150 grain bullet entered the rib cage on one side created a giant exit wound on the far side, but magically missed every vital organ in the deer.  The deer staggered further than any deer I have ever chased before it finally bled out.  No tracking skills needed.  The thing bled everywhere.   My problem wasn't the bullet,  my problem was bullet placement.  If I had hit the deer one inch to the front I would have blown out the heart/lungs and it would have flopped over.   
 
Aren't most people using lighter bullets when hunting deer?  The flop dead stories I know personally mostly involve 100 grain 6 MM hornaday bullets.   
 
In my family three of us use 30-06s. My son Brad always buys 165 grain Remington coreloks, his father in law Bill uses 180s of some sort and I use 150s.  I think 180s are overkill for deer, but Bill is a very experienced hunter.   I think Brad uses 165s to keep peace in the family.   

[jlchucker]

Winchester Powerpoint, and if I can't get them after I use up the ones that I have, the Remington Coreloct.  I don't feel a need for exotic bullets, designed and sold to provide magazine writers with something to expound about, and for users to think that some sort of exotic is needed to make up for a poorly placed shot on game.  I use these same two brands for not only 30-06, but for 7mm-08, and 308 Winchester when I owned one.  These days though, my hunting is done mostly with leverguns and cast bullets.  Those work pretty well, too. 

[Swampman]

Core-Lokts

[Siskiyou]

Season after season I have witness my hunting partner take bucks using a 150-grain Winchester Power Point from his 30-06.  Many a time there was been a spray of gore on the vegetation on the off side of the deer.
 
Most impressive was the 150-grain Power Point recovered from a black bear he shot.  The bullet entered the ribcage at a sharp angle and lodge next to the breast bone after penetrate approximately 28 inches.  The bullet was a perfact mushroom.
 
Admittedly when I hunted with a 30-06 it was filled with 165-grain Hornady handloads.
 
After years of using Remington bullets in the 270 Win., I was very impressed with the 150-grain Power Point in that caliber.  This bullet was recovered from a Mule deer shoot at approximately 252 yards in the front, penetrated 25 inches cutting 4 ribs into, and stopping 3/4 of the way into a fifth rib.
 
The recovered bullet weight 76.0 grains, and expanded to 0.7845 inches.
 

[kynardsj]

When I had my 06' I only used it on whitetail, a 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip did it all. If I hunted thicker shinned game I would probably go to a Sierra Pro Hunter.

[charles p]

As said earlier, a 150 cup bullet will kill deer very well.  If you want DRT bang flop kills, the recipe is bullet placement and expansion.  Most of my bang flops come from high-forward shoulder shots or neck shots.  Rib cage shot may or may not result in a bang flop unless the spine is disrupted.
I always get complete penetration but I don't take facing or going away shots.  Hardest shot in the book is a bedded deer.  No telling where the bullet will travel.

[BBF]

Due to the very close range I encounter in local hunting I use 150 gr RN bullets from any of the three main makers and download to just above 30-30 Win velocities and still get full penetration. I don't expect bang flops but no long tracking either.

[Savage_99]

The 30-06 I got a few years ago has become a favorite because it looks good to me and it turns out it shoots well.  I have been using it for pests in the off season and it has done very well with the 150 Ballistic Tip.

Then I read how the Berger VLD bullets are supposed to be the fastest stoppers of deer so I got some 155 gr ones of the 'hunting' variety.  They are accurate like the other brands.

Now that 155 VLD is my all around pest and deer bullet.  I got a nice shot at a buck and one shot did it.  The exit wound and quick kill were impressive.

I have used the 30-06 for hunting since 1955 and other cartridges as well. 

One shot at 280 yards!

[swifty22]

S99- That is one nice rifle stock! -Muddy

[Savage_99]

Muddy,

Thanks for the compliment.   I got the rifle a few years ago at would you believe it Cabelas!  I have had many rifles for a long time and still have my M70 that I bought new in 1957.  I have a battery of them along with some 99's, single shots etc.

Finally after a lifetime of searching  I came upon this upscale 'custom'.  I am varmint hunting with it as well just to use it.   It's on a 1909 Mauser with a M70 type safety and an octagon barrel.  What stands out the most is the superb work on its stock.

Here is another picture of it.  How about that exit wound in that buck!

[JRW209]

Barnes TTSX. Never had a problem.

[Rock Home Isle]

I recently read an article about 150 grain 308 caliber hunting bullets.  The author suggested that the newer bullets are more than bad medicine on most game up to mule deer.   Do any of you hunt with a 30-06 and if so do you have a favorite 150 grain bullet?

For general shooting and hunting deer sized game I use a Sierra Boat-Tail in either 150 gr or 165 gr. Its a great general purpose projectile. For anything bigger than Deer, I use a Barnes TSX Bullet.

[John R.]

The last couple of years I have been shooting the 150 gr. Accubond in my 30-06. I haven't recovered one yet, and I shoot the 140 gr. Accubond out of my 7mm/08. Both shoot sub MOA, the last group I shot with the 30-06 was right before deer season to check zero. 3 shots into 7/16's of an inch @ 100 yds. (150 gr. Accubonds)

[KAYR1]

+1 on the Nosler Accu-Bond.

[krod47nw]

Another vote for the tried and true Rem Corlokt
 
Kevin

[336SC]

Either the 150gr RPPCL or the 150gr WWPP.  This year I went exotic and shot mine with the 150gr Speer Magtip @ 2938fps.  DRT after penetrating right front shoulder and stopping in right ham after shattering the large leg bone.  I hate that front on shot and takes a
good bullet for the penetration needed.
336SC

[shot1]

I don't use anything but hand loads. Either the 150 Sierra Game King or the Nosler Ballistic Tip over 51.2 grs IMR 4064 has worked for me.