I am not sure that the FMJ logic, in the context of a .30-06 Sprg, is
valid. I might be mistaken, but I think FMJ bullets are illegal,
for hunting, in most states.
I do have first hand experience with a northern whitetail, shot
at 15 yards, with a 180 gr. Partition, shot out of a 300 WM,
by a friend. He was a western elk hunter, that ended up
here in Wisconsin, due to a career move. So we head north
to the Ladysmith area, for some management deer hunting.
In a snow storm, he has a average sized whitetail doe come
in behind him, and in the heavy cover, it got broadside, at
the range of 15 yards. He "barrel" aimed, since his scope
was fogged from snow, and he wasn't sure it even focused
that close! After the shot, the deer took off, like it wasn't
hit, but he was sure it was a good chest hit. I caught up to him
a hundred yards from where the shot was taken, and he
was standing on a light blood trail. Unfortunately, another
hunter, had wounded another deer, which had come through
just a bit before this friend took his shot, which confused
my friend. He took the track that he thought was "his" deer,
and I returned to the shot site to analyze the "hit". I
found hair that looked like chest hair, and from the signs,
looked like a good hit. So I carefully trailed the deer, and
found where my friend had become confuse, and found the
real track of his wounded deer. I found it about another 200
yards from that site, dead. We analyzed the hit, and he
had hit just between 2 ribs, getting no expansion on the
initial entry, and no expansion, through the body. Basically
he had a perfect .30 caliber pencil hole though the vitals,
and it just took the deer a good long while to run out of blood.
So it is not just a good ol' .30-06, that can have trouble with
tough bullets.
Look at the opportunities that New Chamberings Fashion creates.
There are many good .30-06 rifles on the market :lol: Actually,
if one isn't in to fashionable chamberings, now is a great time
to be alive. I see tons of really nice rifles, in .30-06 Sprg, .270 Win,
and .308 Win, in the classifieds, and at gun shows. I am particularly
fond of .308 Win, and no I have never had an animal fail to go
down, that was hit well with that .30 cal. Actually I had my
80 something year old uncle, that has spent many days hunting,
look over my shoulder, when I was processing a whitetail,
shot with a 130 gr. Barnes XBT bullet, out of a .308 Win, and
tell me that what ever did that, was WAY TOO MUCH GUN
for whitetail. The hit, just caught the back edge of the shoulder
blade, and opened a 4" hole up, just under the hide. EWWW!
There is nothing that the new chamberings do, that the good
ol' Turdy Ought Six, can't do, and in some cases the .30-06 Sprg
is a better choice. Just forget your ammo, and find that out at
the last gas station before you hit the big country. I am pretty
sure you will find a dusty old box of 180 gr. Remington Core-Loks,
at that last gas station, or the old hardware store across the street.
Squeeze
