30-06 Deer Ammo

[dmv9]

<newbie>
I have Federal 165gr bonded soft point Deer Thugs. Will that work? I've read that 150gr would be better (read: flatter trajectory).

Thoughts?
</newbie>

[b.roberts]

It will work fine.  I doubt 150gr would flatten trajectory much, if at all.

[bobcat]

165 grain is perfect. The only thing a 150 grain has over the 165 is a little less recoil.

So if recoil is a concern, you might try 150's. But the deer won't know the difference. And trajectory is almost the same. You won't see much difference until you get out to 400 yards or so. And even then, it's not much.

[dmv9]

Awesome, thanks all!

[724wd]

fyi, i had an '06 that would NOT shoot 165's, but LOVED 150's!  shoot whichever your gun likes best...

[Hamhock]

I even went to 180 grain Nosler Partitions.  I figured 30 more grains than the 150's with similar trajectory, why not?  My rifle seemed to handle the 180's the same. 

[southern transplant]

They will all drop a deer its whichever one your the most confident and comfortable with

[lokidog]

fyi, i had an '06 that would NOT shoot 165's, but LOVED 150's!  shoot whichever your gun likes best...

Interesting.  All I shoot are 165s in every 30-06 I have owned, and everyone LOVED them.  What kind of gun was it?

[Maligator]

Since deer are light skinned game I think you will be just fine. Plenty of people take deer with a 243 and those bad boys aren't pushing 165 grainers!

Also agree that the trajectory is pretty negligible between the 150 & 165 for practical deer ranges. Shoot away 

[724wd]

fyi, i had an '06 that would NOT shoot 165's, but LOVED 150's!  shoot whichever your gun likes best...

Interesting.  All I shoot are 165s in every 30-06 I have owned, and everyone LOVED them.  What kind of gun was it?

Mauser with Adams & Bennett barrel. 

[lokidog]

fyi, i had an '06 that would NOT shoot 165's, but LOVED 150's!  shoot whichever your gun likes best...

Interesting.  All I shoot are 165s in every 30-06 I have owned, and everyone LOVED them.  What kind of gun was it?

Mauser with Adams & Bennett barrel. 

There you go, mixing all those weirdly named parts....   

[Screaminreelz]

I've got a Rem 760 in .06 and hunt deer with the 165s and elk with the 180s, tried the bigger ones but they fall pretty flat. i'm not a fan of long range shooting so i keep to the low grain. Besides it's hunting not shooting. 

[zackmioli]

also use 165's in my .06 for deer. 180 grain for bear.

[jason stevens]

Either grain will work my daughter shoots 100 grain in her 243 and does great like I tell her its all about placement one shot one kill

[Elliott]

DMV9 I have the same rifle you have, the ruger american 30.06, i have shot both the 165s and 150s and like other posters have stated the recoil on the 150s is significantly lighter than the 165s with that light rifle. I found myself flinching heavily with the 165s and when i shot 150s it was like shooting a whole different gun. I didnt target shoot with 150s so i dont know if it is more or less accurate than the 165s. But I didnt have a problem getting good groupings at 100 yds with the deer thugs.

Try shooting both with your rifle and let me know what you think shoots better, I will have to wake my sleepy butt early one of these days and make it over to the range to do a comparison. It would be interesting to see if there is any difference in how our rifles shoot.

Good luck this season!

[syoungs]

Ive always shot 180 at everything. taken antelope, deer and elk with em. though the one elk I have gotten is the year I forgot my ammo at home and bought some cheap remington cor-lokt ( i think thats what they were), woulda been happier with a 180g barnes, didnt get the expansion or hold together as well as I had hoped.