tooo funny...
Posted on 09/23/2011 2:49:42 PM PDT by onona
Hey Freepers:
So I decided to get back into hunting after 30 years and bought an oldie but a goodie Remington 740 30-06 autoloader.
First question: Is there really a difference between ammo between manufacturers ?
Second question: What is the difference between 150 grain, 180 grain, 200 grain etc. ?
I love gun talk on FR and totally appreciate your feedback. Your knowledge packs a wallop.
Y'all are the best !
Have a great weekend !
What’s the difference? The weight of of the bullet.
Google “30.06 bullet weight reviews”
Click on second link.
What are you hunting and where (what kind of terrain)?
If you’re just punchin’ holes in paper at 100 meters(plinking), ammo manufacturer, weights, ect probably don’t matter much.
If you are going for serious accuracy, EVERYTHING is important, from your gun to your ammo.
For a deer, 150 grain is plenty.
It shoots flatter with a lighter bullet and doesn’t kick as hard.
Be sure to use the same bullets for hunting as you used to sight the gun in at the range.
What do you intend to hunt, squirrels or elk? At what range do you intend to hunt?
To answer your first question, yes, there is a difference between ammunition manufacturers. There aren’t many “cheap” options for the .30-06, so most of them will be of reasonable quality. In general, the higher the quality of the ammunition, the more reliable and accurate it is. Remington has been very reliable for me.
As far as the grains go, that is the weight of the bullet. I shoot 180 grain Remington Core-Lokt PSP (pointed soft point) out of mine as it is by far the most accurate from mine. What ammunition performs best in your rifle isn’t something I or anybody else can predict. What you really need to do is get a few boxes, take them to the range, and see what does what. Let the rifle cool down in between boxes, and don’t mix and match ammunition. Whatever performs best, stick with it. For example, mine does not like the Core-Lokt SP (the *exact* same round without the ballistic shape). It’s just how guns are.
use the lighter weight bullets for open fields and the heavier {180} grain for brush.
The sabot will leave the bullet without rifling marks and if the Fish and Game finds the remains, they won't be able to know what rifle it came from.
a grain of bullet weight = 1/7,000th of a pound. The more “grains”, the heavier the bullet. If you’re going to use factory loaded ammunition, get a bunch of different varieties and try them out. Some rifles just seem to really prefer some loads, and hate others.
I have a .270 and my friends recommended that I shoot with 130 grain ammo for my deer. He also recommended the more expensive ammo for hunting (Combined Technologies/Ballistic Silvertip) because it will put the animal down, as opposed to the Remington ammo (Core-Lokt) which is good for target practice and doesn’t expand as well as silvertip. I will give it a try this season.
As already said, it really depends on what you’re shooting. Obviously, larger game means more grains are preferred in the projectile.
30.06 and .270 are very versatile for various bullet weights, from little nylon-sleeved accelerators up to big hole punchers. Both calibers are widely available, shoot flat and fast, and are made by many good companies.
If you don’t want your game to suffer and you want that Oh-yeaahhh sense of dominance over a furry critter, you’re looking at .300 Win Mag with all the bullet weight your shoulder can take.
now that we got that out of the way.
look at the ballistics charts, lighter bullet has higher muzzle velocity so it will drop less over distance. the trade off is it retains much less energy. so, it gets there faster, and with less need to correct for distance but it does less damage when it arrives.
for elk you need at least 180 grains IMHO, deer, hogs etc lighter is fine. when you get to ground squirrels, go 180 again. you will see what i mean.
maybe more important is the type of bullet. its worth getting a high end bullet when you think what goes into a hunt. trophy bonded, nosler partition, nosler accumark.
last point, each rifle shoots, or “likes” different ammo. get a few kinds and shoot it and see how it performs on the range. the reasons for that are complex but it has to do with the energy wave that propagates down the barrel in front of the bullet and makes the barrel vibrate. each gun is different even the same kind, and actually each lot of ammo is a little different but it wont matter for hunting.
anyway, try a bunch.
good shooting !!
Regardless of the ammo you use, don’t use a different ammo for sighting in your rifle before the hunt.
I volunteer at local ranges and see hunters “sight in” with cheap ammo because they don’t want to spend the extra money by using the ammo they will hunt with. As a result, it’s unlikely they will hit anything when they go hunting.
150 grain is 75% alcohol.
180 grain is 90% alcohol.
200 grain would be 100% alcohol.
lalalalalalalal.
I don't own a rifle. But I don't think we can never have too many threads about ammunition or firearms.
Just my 2 cents.
tooo funny...
Game animals up to 250 pounds will go down with the 150 grain bullet. If you wanted to tackle dangerous big game, go with the heaviest bullet.
But if you go with different bullet weights, you'll need to sight in the rifle for each one.
I too am glad for the gun post. As va non-hunter, I’d like to learn more. thanks
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