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.
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.
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.
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.
The Remington 740 is a competent rifle and will do the job, but first make sure it's in top notch condition with a competent gunsmith, then do a little practice at the range, Use a good quality new manufacture 180 grain ammo to get comfortable with the rifle and see if you need to do any custom fitting to yourself, and work out your sighting method.
Now decide what game you wish to hunt, and that will dictate the projectile type, weight and propellant load. Then sight the rifle in using the exact ammo you will hunt with.
Good hunting!
Most do not, but enough do that many hunters WILL NOT USE ONE...mine's fine
Next thing, every rife performs differently with different ammo; you'll have to experiment to find out which one is best.
Accuracy is paramount...if your best results are with a 180 grain Hornady boat tail (not likely with that rifle) at your likely kill range, that's what you use.
ONE SHOT ONE KILL.
Hit a whitetail in the right spot with 150 grain, it's going down.
Accuracy.
All that being said, I normally use a .270 Win on whitetal, but will sometimes take a .308 out for grins.
I hope yours performs better than mine did.
30-06 is an old cartridge and originally used powders which do not have the power that modern powders do. Loaded with the powders it originated with, 30-06 ammo will not harm an M1, which is the main thing which uses 30-06 ammo these days. Loaded with modern powders, the 06 is halfway between a 308 (or an 06 loaded with the older powder), and a 300 WinMag. That will destroy an M1 and it might damage the old Remington semiauto, it would depend on when the 740 was made and what it was designed for.
As to ammo loaded for a 308 or an 06 with the older powders, the 150 grain bullets will go subsonic and become inaccurate after about 600 yards; the 165 and 180 grain bullets won't. Very little actual killing of game animals in the US is at ranges over 200 yards so for most people the range limit of the 150 grain ammo is not a problem and for the older rifle you'd definitely be better off with the lighter bullets since there'd be less chance of damaging the rifle.
My own preference would be to use the 740 for plinking and get something more modern for hunting, which normally would be something in one of the WSM calibers.
Reloaders who shoot a lot have an expression "Every rifle is a mystery unto it's self". Using factory loads the brand, bullet weight and type of bullet that works best in my 740 may not shoot well in yours.
A general guideline as to bullet weights and type:
125 gr Remington pointed soft point for coyotes.
150 gr Remington pointed soft point Core-Lokt for deer and antelope
165 gr if you are hunting 200 lbs deer and 800 lbs elk at the same time.
180 gr Federal or Remington Brand ammo with Nosler Partition bullets for elk.
220 gr for moose.
Study the sight in charts after you decide what brand and bullet you are going to use. With the exception of the 220 gr loads, sighted in with a scope for 200 yards is good way to go.
Some trips to the range and a clean chamber will tell you a lot about your semi-auto rifle.