Better or Worse Bullet Weight for Semi? .30-06

H

hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
In Remington semi auto loaders, do they tend to prefer the lighter bullet weights or heavier as a rule of thumb? For accuracy? Any reduced felt recoil from the lighter bullets? I expect there to still be plenty of knock down from any of these weights on hogs and deer...

Brent
 
B

Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
Generally speaking, lighter bullets produce less recoil than heavy bullets in the same caliber. The difference is fairly minimal though.

If I wanted to reduce the recoil of a .30-06 and I was going to use it on hogs and deer, I'd sell it and get a .243.:D;)
 
A

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
A flat-base 150-grain bullet ahead of maybe 50 grains of 4064 oughta work. It's about 5% under my max load. Or any similar load with an equivalent burn-rate powder.

I dunno. Odds are, a book's starting load with any suitable bullet would likely work for hunting anything in Florida. What counts, generally, is groups inside 1.5 MOA. That rifle would do that with Hansen (Czech-made) GI-type ammo.

Flat-based bullets hold together a bit better than boat-tails. That has to do with how they're made.

New brass or full-length resize in a semi-auto. Just don't set the shoulder back, to keep proper head-spacing.
 
H

hogdogs

Staff In Memoriam
Got junior to fire the 742 today... Four rounds. Looks like I will be able to get it padded enuff for me to be safe...

Brent
 
M

Mobuck

Moderator
It's been a long while since I had a 742 around but the several that I had between 1971 and 1988(all 30/06 BTW) shot 125 and 150 grain bullets slightly better than other weights of factory loads. I did shoot 180 grainers on deer for several years because they didn't waste as much meat but shots were close so a slight reduction in accuracy was inconsequential. I shot a lot of 125 grain Hornady Spire points through a couple and killed quite a few coyotes using this bullet.
The thing I remember most was that point of impact of 125/150 was nearly the same while 110 & 180 POI was about 4-5" higher.
 
J

JD0x0

New member
I'd sell it and get a .243.
Click to expand...

But .30-06 is just such a cool round
Click to expand...

How about a compromise? .25-06 or .270 win Which in case you didn't know, are the .30-06's younger siblings, which more or less, use the .30-06 case necked down to .25 cal and .277 cal, respectively.
Generally, they have less recoil and are flatter shooting than the .30-06 and they still have plenty of punch. The .270 can take the same game as the .30-06 with the right load, and they are pretty much equal on power. The .30-06 has heavier bullets, but you said yourself you wont be reloading, not that you'd need heavy bullets for the game you intend on hunting.
130 grain bullets in the .270 is more than enough for deer and hogs. You will likely get nice exit wounds, depending on bullet construction, you choose. If you don't think 130's are enough (trust me they're more than enough)
You've got 140's and 150's in factory ammo. The 150 grain bullets in .277 cal have comparable sectional densities to 185 grain bullets in .308 cal. Not that you'd need anything that heavy. I've seen ethical, DRT shots on Elk with 130's from a .270 win.
 
M

Mobuck

Moderator
Don't see many Remington semiauto in 25/06. Of the failures of the Remington SA platform I've seen, all were 270. The 30/06 is the best functional wise but the 6mm Remington is a very good alternative.
 
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