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Thread: Opinions on Heavy 30/06 Boolits (190gr+)

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy davidheart's Avatar
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    Opinions on Heavy 30/06 Boolits (190gr+)

    So I was curious about one thing.... but that's with an understanding of the following premise:0

    • Best hunting velocity seems to be ~1600-1800 according to several forum posts I've found here. I don't know this personally.
    • The 30/06 is capable of shooting a 190-210gr boolit to 2400fps (Lyman 3rd ed.)
    • The best deer/elk hunting boolits have Flat Points to break bone.

    I know about the Lyman 311299 and 311284.... but those are both round nose. I feel shooting a 150-170gr FN boolit for hunting deer at 1700fps performs a disservice to the case capacity of the 30/06 and I would like to find a go-to FN boolit, greater than 190gr for general deer hunting under 200 yards.

    • Does such an animal exist?
    • What has y'all's shooting experience been with it?
    • Would a FN ~200ish grain 30 caliber boolit have stability problems at 200?
    • Have any of you hunted with the #311299, #311284, or similar and found great success?

    Thank you so much for your time and opinions!
    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    I like the Lee 170 grain, flat point, gas check bullet (C309-170-F) at 2150 fps. It's easy on the gun and shooter, extremely accurate, and kills like lightening.

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    ShooterAZ's Avatar
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    The Noe version of the 311041 is listed at 180 grains cast in wheelweights. It's a flat nose, and the 311041 has been used extensively for hunting big game in the 30-06 for many, many years. I have this mold in brass and it casts like a dream. Accurate can cut you a FP mold in 200+ grains as well, but truthfully you don't need to go that heavy IMHO.

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    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Boolit Master Jack Stanley's Avatar
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    I've found great accuracy with the heavies and stability doesn't seem to be any problem . good groups between 1150 and 2300 feet per second . I'm sure you can find a good alloy and powder charge to make any of those Accurate designs work . I would ask if anyone has had feeding problems with the 190H though .

    Jack
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    I just finished load work up with the noe 311 195, which ended up at 198 grains. I was attracted to the big meplat and high ballistic coefficient. It took a couple of ladders to find a good load, but I eventually did, 28 grains of 4198 which should be around 1900 fps. We will see how.it does on deer this fall, but that size slug with a big meplat should do the trick nicely.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    311284 is very effective in the 30-40 out to 300 yards and is an ideal bullet for elk, so there is no reason at all that it wouldn't be as effective in the 30-06 case. Match alloy to desired terminal velocity and work backwards to design load. In my experience, BHN 16-18 and a MV of 1600 - 1800 will give you solid terminal performance with correct shot placement to 250 - 300 yards.

  8. #8
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    W.R.Buchanan's Avatar
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    That Lee boolit is available in weights from 150 to 205 gr. My mold is the C309-190 GC. It is an accurate flat point boolit that works well in any .30 cal cartridge.

    Sweet spot for accuracy is around 1800 fps.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    I've used .30 caliber cast bullets for deer hunting and am not a big fan, preferring something of larger diameter. However, several years ago, Erik Ohlen hollowpointed a #314299 mould for me. It's now more of a flatnose design and the hollowpoint is fairly large in diameter. I have not used it on game. Cast of ww alloy and sized at .311", weight is about 200 grains and has been quite accurate in everything I've fired it in, including.30-40, .308, and .30-06. Muzzle velocities run between about 1600-1700 fps, maybe a little more.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    I have an excellent Accurate mould that drops them 200 grains tried them in my 30-30 not so good results they are fantastic out of my 300 BO and my 308 scout rifles at moderate velocities.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Lotech, did you have poor results with 30 cal hunting? Care to elaborate?
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy davidheart's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brewer12345 View Post
    Lotech, did you have poor results with 30 cal hunting? Care to elaborate?
    Yeah that's actually the first time I've heard that. Usually what I hear are success stories regarding a soft 30 caliber bullet hunting?

    As a note I had 10 Lyman 311299 I found in a little baggie on my reloading bench yesterday. My guess is I pulled them from a Duke's box once upon a time. Sized .310 and of unknown alloy. I was curious to try them out so I loaded them over 27 grains and 28 grains of IMR 4227. The results for both loads were same hole at 25 yards with one 1 inch flyer. I wonder if I where to flatten the nose slighty with a top punch when Lube & sizing if it would be a perfectly suitable hunting boolit? Or if it would even matter.....

    I'm thinking a 30/06 boolit in excess of 190 of soft alloy will provide wonderful expansion and excellent penetration when compared to a 30/30 150-170 gr.
    Last edited by davidheart; 04-07-2018 at 10:49 AM.
    He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    I use hard bullets for load development and practice. But then I cast a few relatively soft bullets for hunting. As a test I'll shoot a group with the hard bullets, and then fire one soft bullet. If it goes into the group, I'm satisfied.

    At the speeds I use, the soft bullets will lead the barrel. But if I only fire one to kill a deer, who cares?

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by brewer12345 View Post
    Lotech, did you have poor results with 30 cal hunting? Care to elaborate?
    I no longer hunt deer and only shot two, maybe three, with cast bullets, years ago using a .30-40 Krag and a .30-06. Fortunately, didn't lose one nor did I have to do any tracking. Kills just didn't happen as quickly as when using jacketed bullets at higher velocity. Only shot one more deer with a cast bullet and used a .38-55, which I prefer for hunting.

    I think if the alloy allows adequate expansion and the range is reasonable for the velocity, a .30 caliber bullet will work fine, but I believe a larger diameter bullet will work at least a little better.

    My results on a few deer certainly prove nothing conclusively.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Coincidentally I just posted info on another thread for heavy .30-30 load using the Lyman 311284 (210 grs.).

    Written up in my old Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd ed. Frank Marshall used that boolit over 30 gr. 4350 for his hunting load and he used his sizer to bump the boolit a bit and put a flat nose on it. So, you are thinking along the same lines.

    Longbow

  16. #16
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    nagantguy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tatume View Post
    I like the Lee 170 grain, flat point, gas check bullet (C309-170-F) at 2150 fps. It's easy on the gun and shooter, extremely accurate, and kills like lightening.
    Also exactly where I stopped, works well in every 30 tried and kills well.

  17. #17
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    Consider the RCBS 30-180-FN. Despite the 180 moniker it comes in at about 193.5 grains with my WW+2% tin, before GC and lube.

    I've just started playing with it, so no hunting results yet, but it has a huge meplat, the weight you're looking for, and all my initial trials have been quite accurate. (And unlike my new Lyman molds, is happy to drop around .310" diameter or more, depending on the alloy and temp).
    I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
    My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
    The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
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    A few musings.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    The RCBS 30-180 FN is the bullet I used for deer hunting. Very good accuracy in most .30 caliber rifles. If I was to try hunting with this bullet again, I would experiment and make up the absolute softest alloy that would shoot accurately and provide good consistent expansion, even if it leaded the bore slightly.

    I haven't cast any of these recently, but I think they come out of the mould around .311", maybe a little more, with ww alloy, and right at 190 grs.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lotech View Post
    The RCBS 30-180 FN is the bullet I used for deer hunting. Very good accuracy in most .30 caliber rifles. If I was to try hunting with this bullet again, I would experiment and make up the absolute softest alloy that would shoot accurately and provide good consistent expansion, even if it leaded the bore slightly.

    I haven't cast any of these recently, but I think they come out of the mould around .311", maybe a little more, with ww alloy, and right at 190 grs.

    This is what I have been playing with, albeit the noe copy. I picked it because the meplat is so large, .19" which is close to the .22" meplat on my well regarded rcbs 35 200 mold I use for the fatter 35 rem. Seems to me I should get good performance with good energy transfer. My alloy is 11 bhn or so and is relatively tin heavy at about 3% so I imagine the boolits will flatten somewhat when it hits. I found usable hunting accuracy with a load that is around 1900 fps based on lyman data for similar boolits (no chronograph).
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by lotech View Post
    The RCBS 30-180 FN is the bullet I used for deer hunting. Very good accuracy in most .30 caliber rifles. If I was to try hunting with this bullet again, I would experiment and make up the absolute softest alloy that would shoot accurately and provide good consistent expansion, even if it leaded the bore slightly.

    I haven't cast any of these recently, but I think they come out of the mould around .311", maybe a little more, with ww alloy, and right at 190 grs.
    This is the best boolit I have ever used. For hunting or all around shooting it is the most accurate boolit that I have, and I have four other molds in 30 cal. My best accuracy is at about 1800 FPS in my 30-30 and my 30-06. My mold drops consistent 190 gr. from both cavities.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check