Hi everyone, I have a 700 ADL, the cheap one with plastic stock. I do not reload yet but I would like to try a few different factory loads to see what the rifle likes best. It has been a few years since I have shot the rifle so I am sure there are some new choices I may not know about. In the past, I have had decent success with Rem Core-L in 150gr and also the 125gr. I will be getting the rifle to the range in the next week or so and would love to go out with a few different boxes to see what works best. I am a better shooter now and also have a little better glass and trigger. Hopefully I can find something to get me to MOA at 100 yards. In the past I was closer to 1.5".
Factory 30-06 ammo
- Thread starter Cfshooter
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Welcome,from central Fl also.My 30-06 remy like the 165gr. accutip bt
Thank you Joseph.
Where do you shoot?
hunter67wa
Well-Known Member
welcome. Hornady 165 SST and Federal 180 Accubond
cohunt
Well-Known Member
mine likes the core-lokt and the 125sst reduced recoil ammo from hornady (kids)
As for accuracy some of the most accurate factory ammo I have ever shot in any caliber is the cheapest Federal Blue Boxed that you usually find at places like Wal-Mart. It has just plain old cup and core soft point bullets but they also kill deer pretty effectively. A friend of mine that owned a gun shop, now retired, in east NC in the heart of some real deer hunting country used to offer rifle sighting in services for people. I would spend 3 weeks there hunting with a buddy that lived there and did all the rifle sighting in for this shop. While on my hunting trip there during the middle of the day some days or on Sunday afternoon when we could not hunt we would go to the range and shoot and do any of the rifle sighting in that needed done. When people brought in their rifle and did not bring or specify the ammo they wanted to use the shop owner always sent the Federal Blue Boxed ammo. Did not matter the caliber it was very accurate. If everything was working properly with the scope and rifle set up it usually did not take over 5 shots to have the rifle zeroed. That left the rest of the box for the customer to hunt with. Customers would come back to the shop to show off their deer lots of times and had no complaints about bullets performance.
i just got a new tikka t3x in 300wsm and bought ~10 different boxes of ammo to try out. expensive but they'll all get used sooner or later. look for a site that has fixed or reasonable shipping (i used grabagun and wholesalehunter this time).
benchracer
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Rather than simply buying boxes of randomly chosen ammo, I suggest that you start by choosing something as a baseline against which you can measure whatever you choose to test. I would start with either Federal Gold Medal Match or Black Hills Gold Match ammo. The match ammo should give you a good idea of the level of accuracy your rifle is capable of producing, as is.
From there, try whatever suits your fancy and measure it against the match ammo, so you have a clear idea of the tradeoffs you are choosing with any given ammo.
Aside from the match ammo, at the top of my list would be HSM Trophy Gold loaded with Berger Hunting VLD's in 210 and 185 grain weights. It is not cheap ammo, but it is likely to offer the top level of performance to be had from factory ammo in a 30-06.
From there, try whatever suits your fancy and measure it against the match ammo, so you have a clear idea of the tradeoffs you are choosing with any given ammo.
Aside from the match ammo, at the top of my list would be HSM Trophy Gold loaded with Berger Hunting VLD's in 210 and 185 grain weights. It is not cheap ammo, but it is likely to offer the top level of performance to be had from factory ammo in a 30-06.
Welcome to LRH, great to have you on board.
Back when i used a 30/06, winchester power point 150 grain for deer. Usually shot under an inch at 100 yds.
Back when i used a 30/06, winchester power point 150 grain for deer. Usually shot under an inch at 100 yds.
My brother has the same rifle and found the Nosler factory loaded 165 gr Accubond to be the best in his fun. I agree with the statements above to get a box of fgmm to get a baseline. The Remington accutip mentioned above is just a Hornady sst I believe.
FWIW, I recently purchased some cheap Remington 180gr. Core-Lokts in 300RUM to break down and use the brass for my 338 Edge. Never having any luck with them in my 280 for years, I decided to weigh the powder charges of each one. My brother feeds his 06 with them and they always work fine for vital shots. But after witnessing the waste that comes from a flyer into the shoulder, I decided to try and sway him away from factory ammo and let me work up some taylored loads for him. Anywho, after weighing a mere 22 charges, I found a 1.5gr. variation. I broke down 5 boxes total from same lot. Core-Lokts are popular, no doubt, and work, but if I didn't roll my own I would spend $15-20 more for ammo made with higher quality components and under lower volume manufacturing conditions, some brands even hand loaded. When you get the chance of a lifetime, and being ethically minded, I like to be prepared to aim small. New member and happy to be here!
SilverbulletMAG
Well-Known Member
Not the same rifle but for additional reference material, I had a 30-06 Winchester XPR that I tried a ton of factory ammo in (expensive Berger, Nosler, Hornady Elite Hunter, Federal Premium type rounds) and in weights from 150-200. Of the many boxes I tried, that rifle liked the cheap Federal Non-Typical 180 bullets the best (half MOA at 100 yards). In general, that rifle also liked 180s better than any other weight. For the price of that ammo, it's definitely worth grabbing a box and seeing if your rifle likes them.
