Factory loads for hunting, what is your favorite?

[Galpster]

I have an odd 6 Remington Model 700. I have it at the gunsmith for trigger work, glasbed, lug and other stuff. I want to shoot the most accurate factory round available and have only shot the Remington 150 grain Corelokt out of this rifle. It is a nail driver at 25 yards, floats a little at 100. Like 2 inch MOA. That is why it is at the gunsmith.

So what do other 0dd 6 shooters use and why?

[chrisb]

I shoot remington Core Lokt 180gr from my 06. I get good groupings and have had excellent results in the field with it.

[Bofire]

I like that cheap blue box Federal ammo. As long as I am commenting I think for North America the "premium" ammo is a big hype that sucks in many shooters every year, and does nothing but cost money.
Carl

[Huntbear]

I have been a federal ammo fan for years.  Very accurate, and you can get a plethora of premium bullets in the expensive stuff.  It also seems to be very consistent, shot to shot.  

[C-Money]

Federal Classic, use to be a silver and blue box, now I think its all blue. Good stuff.

[Galpster]

Bofire, I agree with you that the expensive stuff is all hype. Just thought because I have no real experience to back it up.

[jackelope]

i always used federal vital shocks loaded with 165 barnes triple shocks in my browning a-bolt 30-06 and it shot pretty well.
I also don't think bullet quality is hype but thats just me. the triple shocks don't grenade when they hit and don't do near as much meat damage.
corelokts shoot well for enough people that they can't be bad...i just never tried them. i'd be more concerned about what they do when they hit something rather than how well they shoot in hunting situations. most bullets will shoot well enough for most hunters in hunting situations. contrary to my sig line, you don't need a 1/2" rifle to kill a deer or elk.

[Buckmark]

I handload for my model 70 30-06, 165 grain X pills have worked the best for me, but in store bought ammo i found the federal vital shock  running the 165 sierra game kings worked the best for me. close to my loads.
I have not tried the factory loads with the Barnes bullets yet but i should.
Get a few different boxes of different brands and weights and see what your gun likes and then buy a gross of it..

[Galpster]

Jackelop, Wanna go out some time and do some comparing, shooting? We seem to know some of the same people and live relatively close. The Corelokt bullets are great for mushrooming and they stay together. My father has shot them as long as I can remember and that is why I have always shot them. He also used the smaller grain, 150, for elk, deer, and everything else. I have seen him drop elk at 400 yds with 150 grain corelokt. Why do people use real heavy grain bullets?

[jackelope]

we can go shoot anytime but i don't have the a-bolt anymore.
Drew shoots core lokts in his RUM with great results too. I am now shooting hand loaded 180 accubonds in my 300 win mag.
i'll see if i have any  -06 ammo left...if i do it's all yours.

[GoldTip]

When the only gun I hunted with was a 700bdl in 30-06 the only ammo that went through it was 180gr core lokts.  Shot well and made animals dead.  I haven't killed a critter with that gun for 15 years probably.

I will disagree that premium bullets are a waste on NA animals.  For the broadside shot at 300 yards or less on a deer/elk/bear/antelope, then yes I will concede they are probably not needed.  It's when the shot is not so perfectly angled, or is a bit further out there, or maybe even very very close.  Thats where the premium bullets pay off.

[Galpster]

Has anyone tried shooting 150,165,200 grain to see if there is a difference in accuracy? Or is it all about impact?

[WDFW-SUX]

There are so many variables with bullets..One of the major things with heavier bullets is the bullet length relative to the twist rate of you rifle.  The other is the ballistic coefficient of the particular bullet you are using.  

If the twist rate is too quick or too slow accuracy will suffer thats why some rifles shoot heavier bullets and other shoot lighter bullets best.  

The ballistic coefficient is how efficiently the bullets travels down range IE a round nose bullet is not going to fly as well as a polymer tip bullet...

This is the reason custom rifles exist..people want to have specialized performance so they have a rifle built for exactly what they are up too. 

There are truly a million and one factors in accuracy and its really best to just see what your particular rifle like to eat.

[Buckmark]

Like WDFW-SUX said, a million and one factors, and every rifle is different in one way or another, even the same manufacture.
I have used the 125, 150 and 165 grain and found my gun hated the 125, was good to go with the 150's and equal to the 150 with 165's so i personaly opted for the 165's. The 125's i hoped to use for yotes but that did not work out.
Every shooter can be alittle different also.
I gave a box of my handloads to a person i know with a remmy.
We both went shooting together using my loads, my groups with the model 70 were smaller than his with the remmy, bullet or gun or shooter? We never swapped guns to see if the groups changed.

[WDFW-SUX]

Even two rifles of the same manufacture can be totally different..If the bolt face or the lugs are not square or just different than the other rifle you can have completely different results between the two guns.

Land groove geometry and rate of twist...straightness of the action,stock contact with barrel, smoothness of the bore, barrel manufacture process, Ogive shape can all change things alot also...

Then there is the skill of the shooter.

It never ends...

[Buckmark]

Even two rifles of the same manufacture can be totally different..If the bolt face or the lugs are not square or just different than the other rifle you can have completely different results between the two guns.

Land groove geometry and rate of twist...straightness of the action,stock contact with barrel, Ogive shape can all change things alot also...

Then there is the skill of the shooter.

It never ends...

Dont forget the Moon phase..

[WDFW-SUX]

Defects in the crown..barometric pressure, temperature....I can go all day

I may be maniacal about my rifles...

[Curly]

My father has shot them as long as I can remember and that is why I have always shot them. He also used the smaller grain, 150, for elk, deer, and everything else. I have seen him drop elk at 400 yds with 150 grain corelokt. Why do people use real heavy grain bullets?

What is an "odd 6".??  Never heard it called that before.

I think Corelokt bullets suck.  I know I'll offend a lot of people with that statement, but it is just my opinion.  Lots of people love them.  I killed my first buck with a 150 gr corelokt out of an ought 6 at about 150 yds.  The bullet hit one rib going in and then exploded.  Sure the deer was DRT but there were lead fragment all over the chest cavity and it turned the heart and lungs into goo.

Maybe it is wrong of me to judge the Corelokt by one bad experience, but I have no need to give them anohter try.

People use heavy bullets to aid in penetration.  Especially with bullets like the Corelokt, you need the extra weight so that when it loses some weight after impact, it will still have enough weight left to penetrate.

If you go to an all copper bullet like the Barnes, you will get close to 100% weight retention; so then you can get away with dropping down in weight of bullet.  A 150 gr Barnes in the ought 6 would be pretty good for elk.

[Buckmark]

Defects in the crown..barometric pressure, temperature....I can go all day

I may be maniacal about my rifles...

O.R.D.

[WDFW-SUX]

I have a man crush on the Barnes MRX...

We haven't even touched on cartridges and Optics...

Even regular vs decaf is an issue for me on days I shoot...

[Bofire]

 :)There is no way to prove it but: I bet rem corelokts have killed more game cleanly by themselves than all the Premium bullets combined in the last 50 years. And rem. corelokts aren't even very good standard bullets. My 30/30 marlin would and did punch 170 grain corelokts thru several elk until I could afford a bigger rifle, a 7mm Mag. then I shot corelokts in it.
The bullet would not make me hesitate for 1 second to drive a 30/06 180 grain corelokt thru a big bull elk from butt to brisket and it will do it just fine. An argument might be made for Brown bear, but not for anything else on North America.
Carl

[jackelope]

Defects in the crown..barometric pressure, temperature....I can go all day

I may be maniacal about my rifles...

O.R.D.

O.C.D.

[WDFW-SUX]

Oh and just because the box of bullets says they weigh 165 grains doesn't mean they do...most bullets are 3-5 grains or more different.

[WDFW-SUX]

Another thing if your buying factory stuff is try to get it all from the same case lot. That way they are more consistent.  Ammunition varies from the same manufacturer depending on what machine put it together.

[Buckmark]

Defects in the crown..barometric pressure, temperature....I can go all day

I may be maniacal about my rifles...

O.R.D.

O.C.D.

Nope, O.R.D. - Obsessive Rifle Disorder...

[bobcat]

A core-lokt might be ok at slower speeds, which is why the 180 may perform acceptably from a 30-06, especially at longer distances. When the non-premium bullets have trouble is when they are pushed faster than what they were designed for. Spending a little more on a good bullet is money well spent and is good insurance. You never know what type of shot you'll be presented with and it's nice to not have to worry about whether the bullet is up to the task. With a Barnes you can take a Texas heart shot on a bull elk if that's all you're gonna get and not have to worry about not getting enough penetration. You also don't have to worry about fragments of lead scattered throughout your meat. Bullets, even the premiums, are a relatively cheap part of hunting and I can't think of anything that's more important than having a bullet that WORKS when you need it to. There's nothing wrong with a core-lokt bullet for deer but I sure wouldn't use them on elk when there are much better options available.

[rasbo]

out of my 30-06 all I ever used was 125 grain for mulies and yotes,the remington core lokt has been an awesome round.I use the 150 .308 for bears..never had a problem..awesome groups

[rasbo]

A core-lokt might be ok at slower speeds, which is why the 180 may perform acceptably from a 30-06, especially at longer distances. When the non-premium bullets have trouble is when they are pushed faster than what they were designed for. Spending a little more on a good bullet is money well spent and is good insurance. You never know what type of shot you'll be presented with and it's nice to not have to worry about whether the bullet is up to the task. With a Barnes you can take a Texas heart shot on a bull elk if that's all you're gonna get and not have to worry about not getting enough penetration. You also don't have to worry about fragments of lead scattered throughout your meat. Bullets, even the premiums, are a relatively cheap part of hunting and I can't think of anything that's more important than having a bullet that WORKS when you need it to. There's nothing wrong with a core-lokt bullet for deer but I sure wouldn't use them on elk when there are much better options available.

the 165 grain dumps a lot of elk in the 06.. my dad dropped a moose in its tracks with a 150 in a .308 put them where they belong,meat on the table

[WDFW-SUX]

Ive seen cokts work awesome and Ive seen them completely fail...just depending on how fast they were going and what they were running into.

[bobcat]

the 165 grain dumps a lot of elk in the 06.. my dad dropped a moose in its tracks with a 150 in a .308 put them where they belong,meat on the table

I realize the core-lokts will work great most of the time but I just like a little extra insurance and don't mind spending a few more bucks on a bullet that I know is 100% reliable.

[Red Dawg]

you've got another corelokt fan here but if I were buying today I would get something with an accubond in the 150 gr variety in the 30 caliber of 1906. I have also heard a ton of good things said about the scirroco. But I will say with all of the trouble that you are going through to make your gun accurate I would spend the money to hand load then you can shoot anything you want.

[firecrotch]

in the 06 ruger m77 i use to have, i put in a timney trigger on it, and stickly used 150 grain remington cor-loks. the thing was a tack driver

[huntnphool]

If I didn't have a friend load me custom rounds I would still be using the Federal Premiums.

[chrisb]

Has anyone tried shooting 150,165,200 grain to see if there is a difference in accuracy? Or is it all about impact?

In my particular rifle there was a noticeable difference in 180gr vs. 150gr..... that is to say that when i had my scope zeroed with the 180's and tried a 150 point of impact was off. However it did remain consistently off and grouped well.

[timberghost72]

I have to agree with Curly that Core-lokt suck but that is out of my rifles.  Seen them shoot ok from by buddys rifle.   I like the barnes bullets for hand loads but for factory I use the Winchester XP3's 180 gr. for my 300 WSM. Those shoot extremely well out of that rifle  When I get the dies for the 300 WSM I'm going to drop down to 168 gr. and use the barnes bullets. Just havn't decided on the type of bullet.  Leaning towards the all copper Triple Shock X. 

[ebusa]

My favorite is Winchester Supreme Accubonds 180gr.  Use them in my 760 Gamemaster .30-06

[Phantom Gobbler]

I sighted in my Tikka T-3 Lite in 06 with 150 grain Remington Core Lokts and had my best groupings ever.  Shot a spike white-tail this year at 90 yards and the bullet "exploded once inside" and ruined the "behind" front quarter.  I had a real mess to deal with.

My question is what factory load should I switch to that will give me more stability in my 06?  I would like an accurate load with a bullet type and weight that will work for Deer, Bear and Elk.  Is this asking too much?  My max shooting range is approx. 300 yards.

[bobcat]

I'd try any bonded bullet. Nosler Accubond, Hornady Interbond, etc.  As far as weight, for all around use I'd go with either 165 or 180, whichever shoots best in your rifle.

Barnes is another good one to try. Since it is 100% copper and won't lose much, if any weight, you can use a lighter bullet than you would normally. I'd try either 150 or 168 in the Barnes.

[Curly]

+1

And for the Core-lokt fans, Remington does have a bonded Core-lokt bullet they call the :  "Premier Core-lokt"

[Galpster]

I have never had any core lokt explode. I would be interested to see that ultra bonded in action though. I wonder what the price difference is. I pick up a box of 30.06 150 grain core lokt for $20 a box.

[Dansk]

Federal Premium

165gr Barnes TSX

The cool thing is this load for an '06 will work for anything up to bull elk- meaning I dont swap between 150 for deer and 180 for elk - no need to buy different ammo, I don't worry about memorizing two sets of balistic tables, and don't need to re-sight.

I like to keep things as simple as possible.   

I've heard the 168 is an excellent TSX bullet for deer/elk, but haven't seen it in a factory load.

[MooseStock]

I have shot a 7mm Rem Mag for years and have been pretty successful for both deer and elk. I have always used Federal Premium 150 gr Boattails and they have always done a great job even at long range on both species.............Les