Meat hunting load for 30-06 or 308?

8379 Views 27 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Jagermeister, Mar 3, 2013

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · Feb 14, 2013

So after nearly blowing another deer in half the other day my brother finally agreed it is time to change up the load in the 06. Need something that will take them quick and clean without blowing bowling ball sized chunks out of the shoulder/backstrap. Love that SGK load but it needs to be shelved while we are hunting the brush it has made a mess of them every single time. I cannot get my brother off the 30 cals he is a 30-06/308/300 Win Mag junkie to the core. I need to work up something either slower or something tougher built then the SGK to keep damage to a reasonable level. I have a nice selection of bullets to choose from in 30 cal: SGKs, TTSXs, BTs, Interlocks, Hot Cores, Partitions, Core-Lokts, Deep Curls, SSTs, Speer BTSPs and Accubonds ranging from 125gr to 200gr and just about any suitable 30-06/308 powder.
Would it be better to go heavier/slower or to step down in weight to dump more of the energy in the vitals and not through the offside shoulder?
Deer around here are on the smallish side, 80-150lbs being the norm, so I don't need mega penetration.
BTW this is what it did to the last two deer.
The larger one was as large as my size 9 1/2 boot.

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1 - 20 of 28 Posts

Sniper03

· #2 · Feb 14, 2013 (Edited)

I use 150 Gr. Hornady SSTs! But I am also not a neck shooter. I always place my shots 2 inches behind the from shoulder using the 308. Picks up the heart and the lungs and the exit is not that bad. If I loose much at all it is in the rib area on the exit side. With my 7MM Rem. Mag for longer ranges in Texas I use the Hornady 150 Gr. Viral Shok. I hold back about 4 inches behind the shoulder and let the effects of the bullet take the heart and lungs out! Therefore not damaging much meat.

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Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 14, 2013

I am a behind the shoulder shooter too, my point of aim is 1" behind 1/2 way up. My 120gr Ballistic Tips in my 6.5x55 perform very well with that shot placement and does not destroy hardly any usable meat. Exits range from 1.5 to 2" and vitals are always mush or completely liquified, never had to track one with that setup, but blood is usually really good if I ever had to. I call that about perfect for white tail but my brother thinks you gatta have a .30 or .338 cal for deer, my 6.5x55, 270 and 7mm-08 are just sissy guns LOL
He normally shoots through the shoulder but as you can see that load causes excessive damage and it has forced him to take the neck at close range, use that load for a high shoulder shot and you might as well bury that deer.

awaysaway

· #4 · Feb 15, 2013

30-06 Barnes TSX 180gr. Plus, don't shoot where the meat is at

try heart/lung shots.

bamashooter68

· #5 · Feb 15, 2013

All Ive ever used in my 30-06 was either remington cor-lokt 150gr or handloads with sierra gameking 150gr. I have yet to tear a deer up like that 1st pic. Like other have said I go for the heart lung shot most of the time.

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 15, 2013

Those heavy/slow 180gr TSX put them down pretty quick? I have some of the lighter TTSXs thinking I would have to push copper pretty quick for maximum cavitation in hopes of bang flop kills since I won't get any secondary wounding via fragmentation. They do make a beautiful spiral wound tract in ballistic gel though. 42" of gel penetration seems a bit much for these sized deer (as does any 30 caliber larger the a 30-30 IMHO). I could shoot through one lengthwise and still expend most of the energy out the far side LOL

awaysaway

· #7 · Feb 15, 2013

In my experience with this load (about a dozen deer) 30 yards of travel after shot
was about the normal result. The heavier bullet just blows thru. Exit wounds about silver dollar size. For my .308 however I have a 110 gr Barnes TTSX load thats great under 150 yds.

locutus

· #8 · Feb 15, 2013

I use Speer 150 BTSP bullets. I shoot heart/lung, and I've had no problems.

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 15, 2013

My 308 loves those 150gr Speer BTSPs at the range, like almost 1/2 MOA loves them with a mild dose of Varget at 2720fps, but I have never used one on a deer before, heck never used a 150gr 30cal on them before I am a 6.5mm fanatic myself. That 150gr in the 2700fps range might be the ticket for this close up brush hunting, somewhere in between my max load 30-06 and a 30-30. If that is too messy for these tiny deer I'll try to work up a TTSX load.

Nickwashere

· #10 · Feb 16, 2013

Apex-Predator said:
My 308 loves those 150gr Speer BTSPs at the range, like almost 1/2 MOA loves them with a mild dose of Varget at 2720fps, but I have never used one on a deer before, heck never used a 150gr 30cal on them before I am a 6.5mm fanatic myself. That 150gr in the 2700fps range might be the ticket for this close up brush hunting, somewhere in between my max load 30-06 and a 30-30. If that is too messy for these tiny deer I'll try to work up a TTSX load.

I'm in florida, we have those small dear and what some of these folks don't understand is they are harder to hunt then their trophies as they are do pressured that they are nocturnal until rut and even then they are skittish as heck, I use a 150 gr .270 core lokt.. Moves slow (for a .270) so it hits hard, usually exits about the size of a silver dollar.. I never get shots greater then 250 yards so I don't no about distance but (inspite of popular belief) it does ok in brush (150 gr)

Pasquanel

· #11 · Feb 16, 2013

bamashooter68 said:
All Ive ever used in my 30-06 was either remington cor-lokt 150gr or handloads with sierra gameking 150gr. I have yet to tear a deer up like that 1st pic. Like other have said I go for the heart lung shot most of the time.

150gr Sierra has been my choice since 1962 they are accurate and most effective, I can not see any reason to look elsewhere.

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 16, 2013

1962? Are you using Pro Hunters or Game Kings, or did they even have a name back then LOL. Have had a few guys tell me they get core/jacket seperation out of the 150gr Game Kings, couple of them even told me that is what they liked about them, put's more energy on target. Apparently Serria's lead alloy is a little tougher then most, it will supposedly get adequate penetration even after shedding it's shell, often supposedly leaving two exit wounds. Never recovered a jacket or had that distinct second exit wound from a 165gr so they might be talking REALLY high impact speeds, or they may very well be full of it. On these brush shots I am figuring aprox 2700fps at the point of impact out of the 06 clearly that is too much for that bullet and maybe any 165gr on these deer.
What load you using with your 150s Pasquanel?

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awaysaway

· #13 · Feb 16, 2013

Maybe 12ga slugs?

MisterMcCool

· #14 · Feb 16, 2013

If it's not a trophy, aim for the head

dteed4094

· #15 · Feb 16, 2013

The shot in the picture is poorly placed. you need to drop down abouy 3 inches and back 4. When you hit bone going in it can't help teraing up meat.

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #16 · Feb 16, 2013

Not bad shooting, just poor choice of angle, it was a neck shot and he most certainly hit the neck as intended, it was where it went afterwards that cause a mess. Only good thing about hitting them that hard is you never have to track one.

Apex-Predator

Discussion Starter · #17 · Mar 1, 2013

Update: I did work up a very tight shooting load in the 308 using a 180gr SGK with W748 powder, shoots half an inch at 100 which is more accuracy then I ever need in a hunting rifle, according to Hodgdon that is supposed to be moving 2610fps with 46.5gr which I would think would reduce the meat damage vs 165s at 2900+/- but for some reason I doubt that speed, that thing kicked like it never has before and the group was over an inch higher then my factory 150gr zero. As soon as I saw the POI I checked the brass/primer after the first shot thinking I might have accidentally hot loaded it, primer was fine and no extractor marks on the brass but it is a new (FN) Model 70 CRF so I am not sure if that is telling me anything. Rifle season is over with so only way to test it out is to go try and find a big ol hog and see if he can catch one for me.

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kaido

· #18 · Mar 1, 2013

Apex-Predator said:
Update: I did work up a very tight shooting load in the 308 using a 180gr SGK with W748 powder, shoots half an inch at 100 which is more accuracy then I ever need in a hunting rifle, according to Hodgdon that is supposed to be moving 2610fps with 46.5gr which I would think would reduce the meat damage vs 165s at 2900+/- but for some reason I doubt that speed, that thing kicked like it never has before and the group was over an inch higher then my factory 150gr zero. As soon as I saw the POI I checked the brass/primer after the first shot thinking I might have accidentally hot loaded it, primer was fine and no extractor marks on the brass but it is a new (FN) Model 70 CRF so I am not sure if that is telling me anything. Rifle season is over with so only way to test it out is to go try and find a big ol hog and see if he can catch one for me.

I'm by no means an expert in this area, but you said your use to 150gr and 165gr pills being flung out of your gun. So you might have all the charges right as well as Hodgon being dead on about the speed the 180s are leaving the barrel, but because of the added weight, it could be increasing the recoil more as well as a different burn rate for the powder. But that's just my thoughts.

hairbear1

· #19 · Mar 1, 2013

I have used at least 3 different pills in my 30/06AI and those being the 150gn Hornady which performed well on pigs and goats but then I went to 165gn Ballistic tips tp try on Fallow Deer which are a thin skinned deer and found that with a shoulder/chest shot it went in and virtually "grenaded" in the chest cavity pulping the heart/lungs without exiting.
For a Fallow Deer this isn't too bad but for a tougher skinned deer like Sambar it's way too lightly constructed.
I then went to what I use now and that's a 165gn Game King with 61.5gns of powder behind it and it goes in and dos a good job on busting up vitals.

The picture is of the rib cage of the Fallow hit with the 165gn Ballistic tip and what was recovered after the gutting.

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John_Deer

· #20 · Mar 1, 2013

Just a plain old soft point will kill any deer. I don't shoot small deer unless I get a good head or neck shot. But I am not perfect. I blew up the shoulders on a small deer with a shotgun this season. The deer was walking away and turned at the moment I pulled the trigger.

To be frank, I would rather blow up the deer's shoulder than shoot it in the heart/lungs to have it run into thick cover where one has to be charmed to find the deer. After a few weeks of hunting deer in this area travel along the edges of impenetrable cover during the day. If you find the deer after it has run into heavy cover a brush ax is required to get the deer out of the tangles. You will be bleeding enough to create a false blood trail.

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