140 gr for a 30-06

[marketello]

Most people around these parts shoot 150's or 180's out of their 06's, if one re-loads a 140gr or 130 gr will is shoot faster and flatter?

I know a couple guys who re-load, but stick with the 150-180 grain.

If somebody was going after antelope out in the open, I'm wondering how an 30-06 would do with a 130 or 140 grain.

Thank you.

 

[gonehuntingagain]

I haven't tried a 140gr in the '06, but 125gr ballistic tips shoot well, or the 125gr speer TNT's for varmints (very explosive). I usually used a 165gr ballistic tip for deer. You may want to look at the Accubond that is now available in 150gr - that seems like it would work well on deer and antelope. While a lighter bullet will shoot flatter initially, it will run out of gas sooner than a heavier bullet.

 

[marketello]

Would you think the lighter bullet would run out of steam and drop faster within 500 yds or after?

 

[gonehuntingagain]

By running out of steam, I mean that the lighter bullet will not have as many foot-pounds of energy at long range. Initially, a lighter bullet may have more energy due to the higher velocity. Heavier bullets also tend to have a higher ballistic coefficient which helps downrange as well.

Using the JBM ballistics calculations, and Nosler's BC for a 150gr @ 3000fps and a 125gr bullet @3200fps (reasonable for a 30-06) and keeping all things equal, the 150 gr bullet still has more energy at the muzzle, but at 1000 yards, has over even more footlbs of energy, and its drop is about the LESS at that distance. The difference in these numbers will change depending on what bullet is used according to its BC. If you got a 125gr bullet that had a BC equivalent to a heavier bullet, then the lighter bullet would be better due to the higher BC + higher velocity. Heavier bullets also tend to buck the wind better as well. Looking at the chart that I made on the JBM site, the differences between the 125 gr BT and the 150 accubond are pretty good towards the 150gr, especially for wind drift and energy. Not sure why the 1000 yard drop said zero....I also don't know anyone that makes a 140gr 30cal bullet to use as an apples to apples comparison.

125gr Nosler BT
Range Velocity Energy Drop Windage Time
(yards) (ft/sec) (ft-lbs)(inches)(inches)(sec)
0 3200 2842 -1.5 0 0
100 2924.6 2373.9 33.6 0.8 0.098
200 2665.5 1972 64.5 3.2 0.206
300 2421.6 1627.6 90.6 7.5 0.324
400 2191.9 1333.4 110.7 13.9 0.454
500 1973.9 1081.4 123.6 22.8 0.598
600 1770.1 869.6 127.5 34.6 0.759
700 1582.1 694.7 120.2 49.6 0.938
800 1412.9 554 99 68.5 1.139
900 1267.5 445.9 60.4 91.5 1.364
1000 1149.6 366.8 0 118.8 1.613


For the 150 gr bullet
Range Velocity Energy Drop Windage Time
(yards) (ft/sec)(ft-lbs)(inches)(inches)(sec)
0 3000 2997.5 -1.5 0 0
100 2777.2 2568.8 33.2 0.7 0.104
200 2565.5 2192.1 63.3 2.9 0.216
300 2364.2 1861.6 88.2 6.7 0.338
400 2172.7 1572.2 106.8 12.4 0.471
500 1989.4 1318.1 118 20.2 0.615
600 1815.9 1098.3 120.4 30.4 0.773
700 1653.5 910.6 112.2 43.3 0.946
800 1503.2 752.6 91.3 59.2 1.137
900 1367.7 623 55 78.5 1.346
1000 1250.1 520.5 0 101.3 1.576

 

[Dave King]

A couple of things:

I generally figure the turn-around point for switching from a decent light bullet to a decent heavy bullet is about 500 yards. If you figure to shoot past 500 yards then you'd do better to consider the heavier bullets (in heavier we more correctly mean high BC bullet). You simply can't drive a light bullet (low BC) fast enough to overtake the heavier (higher BC) bullet once the range gets significant.

 

[wapiti13]

Greenhorn,
You might look at the 130 gr Barnes XLC if you want to go lighter. Several of the Barnes staff use this bullet on sheep, deer, etc. with good luck. Its tough enough that you won't blow up at high velocity impact.