30-06 125grn

[00 aught buck]

has anyone shot 125 grn for a 30-06? If so you have any likes or dislikes?

[rasbo]

thats all I ever used on mulies and yotes in se Idaho,never had a problem

[Skycruiser]

I load the Nosler 125 BT's to 2650 fps for my daughters. So far just one deer was taken with this load, a heart shot with a good exit hole. It's a good accurate round with low recoil.

[bobcat]

I can see using a 125 at low velocity for kids, but other than that, why would you want to use less than a 150 grain?  The 125 isn't going to shoot any flatter and isn't going to kill better, and will be much worse in the wind than a heavier bullet with a better B.C.

In a 30-06, 150 to 180 grain is your best bet.

[jackelope]

I might be concerned with bullet stability but I guess the other posts might prove it wrong...I do agree with Bob though, why not load the 150's or 165's and not worry about it?

[jackelope]

here's a thread I started 3 years ago way back when.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,330.0.html

[00 aught buck]

Well is all i have for a rifle is a 30-06. i dont hunt deer or elk with it, just yotes. I'am shooting 150 grains right now and they leave a big hole. I dont think it will be worth buyin 125 grn then. I just need to invest in a varmit gun, just dont have that kind of money.

[Gutpile]

The best load I ever worked up in my 06 was 130 Barnes TTSX. Super accurate but it still splatters yotes badly. There is no 30-06 round that wont splatter them except for maybe the full metal jackets but you'll get occasional runners with them and a frontal shot will plobably still gut them like every other 30 cal bullet will. I agree that it's time to buy a 22 centerfire. 

[bobcat]

If you really wanted to use a 30-06 and not ruin coyote hides, you could load it down to around 2200 fps, if you're a handloader. If not, I would bet those "managed recoil" loads Remington has (I think that's what they're called) would work good. I think they use a 115 grain bullet at relatively low velocity. I'm sure they'd still be good out to at least 200 yards.

It's not the weight of a bullet that causes the big hole, it's the speed.

[Skycruiser]

I failed to mention that my daughter also shot a coyote with the load I mentioned, at about 40 yards. It was a frontal shot that exited at the left hip. Almost no pelt damage.

[jackelope]

she got lucky. I once shot a yote at about 50 yards with a 130 grain 270 round and blew his off-side front leg and shoulder clean off...it landed in a sage bush behind him.
true story.

[bobcat]

Well it helps that the velocity was only 2650.

The standard Remington load with the 125 grain bullet is listed as over 3100 fps.

[fremont]

I load the Speer 125 TNT for my '06 over Varget and it's a tackdriver.  (Deadly on varmints, too.)

[cwuwildcat]

I got some 110 vmax for my .06.  Curious to see what will happen.  If they don't work out, I'll keep the left overs for reduced loads for my kids to practice with.

[Special T]

Just use cheep ball ammo. I havn't had any get away for me yet... '06 is way overkill so ball ammoworks for me.    My ball ammo is 150 grain military surplus from the CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program)

[BULLBLASTER]

My dad has been playing with accellerator ( I think) rounds in his 308 and 30-06. It uses a plastic jacket around a .224 flat base bullet and shoots it out of a .308 diameter bore. He is getting surprisingly good accuracy with them. If.you handload it may be a way to get less damage on varmints.

[bobcat]

Those Accelerators are up around 4,000 feet per second. My guess is you'd blow a coyote in half. Want less damage? Use 180 grain, or a 100% copper bullet in any weight. But heavier/slower would still be better.

[jackelope]

Wow...resurrection of a 3 year old thread.

Nice.

[BULLBLASTER]

Lol... it was at the too of this area when I checked and I don't look at dates... must gave been a glitch or something..

[Skillet]

Wow...resurrection of a 3 year old thread.

Nice.

Better yet is the 3 year old thread contains a link to a 6 year old thread...

So, the "reduced load 30-06" issue is on a three year cycle.  Noted.

[pd]

Better yet is the 3 year old thread contains a link to a 6 year old thread...


That, sir, is very funny.  You have made my day!

[andersonjk4]

Wow...resurrection of a 3 year old thread.

Nice.

Better yet is the 3 year old thread contains a link to a 6 year old thread...

So, the "reduced load 30-06" issue is on a three year cycle.  Noted.

Haha.  And I just read the whole thing without noticing the dates.  But I am thinking of doing this exact same thing (loading some 125s) in my '06 for my GF to shoot for deer this year. Funny how things like this keep coming back and are still useful. 

[Jonathan_S]

I guess the reduced recoil from a small bullet would be nice but pelt damage (as bobcat mentioned) is from speed.  A lightly loaded 150-165 grain bullet I imagine would be more accurate than a tiny short bullet. 

To prevent pelt damage, I'd rather shoot a yote with my .45-70 going 2,000 fps than my .22-250 going 3,800 fps