mauser06

i been looking for a lighter bullet to fire from my 30-06 for groundhog hunting..im not ALL that serious about it but like to get out as much as i can...fun...stress relief...cheap...good way to burn an evening if you ask me....and farmers love seeing my truck roll down the road in the summer...but i want a lighter bullet that wont drop AS much as a 150gr and will do more damage and not rip right through...i know most any bullet will still pass through a groundhog from a 3006 but the more it slows down the better i will feel....around here theres alot of scattered houses and roads....what if i hit a rock on the pass through and the bullet goes flying? i think a lighter faster bullet will break up and slow down and minimize any ricochet chances...and also work alot better...no lie ive had more then one hit get up and crawl away...i had one i had 2 other guys witness the "red mist" and he trucked along till my buddy finished him..i dont reload so that wasnt much of an option...and would still been costly when i bought powder and bullets...but i found a custom ammo maker online that said they will load 110gr bullets for me and they are safe and fine to fire and will work better for my needs...and only 16 bucks a box of 20 for hornady Vmax...sierra varmiter HPs etc....

my questions...what will break up and do the most damage? a HP or a Vmax or what do you guys think?? anyone use 110gr bullets in a 30cal for anything?? results?? will the accuracy still be there?? my gun shoots all bullets good enough to hunt with..im not looking for a tack driver...just making sure the rifling will still stabalize a lighter bullet....any info on expected velocity or a trajectory table or anything? i cant find anything online....i read something saying about 3500fps...seems id be kinda crazy to buy a new gun for groundhog hunting...3500fps and a 110gr bullet...thatll pack a nice punch...and the varmit bullets should open faster then 150gr bullets...any info or anything?? thanx guys....i think thats a pretty good price too...the 150gr powerpoints and corelokts are still 11-13 bucks a box...i was surprised when they quoted me that price..i figured it would be much higher...around 30-40 a box and i would never pay that..but 16 a box aint bad...should i order a box of each HPs and Vmax and see what shoots better or waht do you think?? thanx guys...im kinda excited....i cant wait to put one through a water jug at 50yds or so!! thats always a favorite test of mine lol

mauser06

wow..i just got a reply from a second company i asked for a quote...and they quoted me 41$ and some change for a box!! wow....i better stick with the FIRST company lol....41 a box..i could buy me a new rifle after a few boxes of that! but thats kinda what i expected for custom ammo..and even if i loaded my own id be paying about a buck a round maybe more...

bigcountry

The one rifle for everything approach doesn't work out too well as you are finding. But I uderstand you gotta do whatcha gotta do. A 243 is a good gun for cross purposes but doesn't help you now.

Thats a good price for the first. I myself, it takes 2 hours to prep brass and load 20 shots, so thats a good price. Good luck.

mauser06

i know one gun for everything isnt IDEAL....but hey.....im a poor college kid.....ok so i lied......im trying to save for a bow right now...the 3006 kills most the groundhogs ok...i just rather have a better bullet for them...ill test em out and see what they do...if they shoot accurately im sure ull have good results

Pawildman

I gues if I were in your situation, I'd get a box of each kind of the cheaper stuff first, and try them to see how they shoot, If one or the other does well, that's what I'd probably settle on for the time being.
You may want to do a little experimenting with different loads to find what shoots best in your particular rifle. Not being a reloader is going to limit what's available to you, but nevertheless, go at it.

mauser06

thanx wildman....i havent shot a bullet that my gun did not like....i mean some i can tell a diffrence in...but then again shooting a mauser that seen war time you cant expect a tack driver...if i can get one of the 110gr bullets to shoot as good as anything else does ill be happy...im sure they will do their job better then 150gr bullets...

James B

It would not take buying very much ammo to equal what it would cost you to get a reloading outfit of your own. For less than 100.00 you could be all set up to reload. Just a thought.

mauser06

james B...i want to reload sometime down the line...i got my heart set on a new bow right now.....for as much as i get to shoot these days reloading would be a waste right now.....before i went to college i was going through ALOT of ammo just shooting at the range..but being in college my range time has been limited...if im not sighting in a rifle then im hunting...not much time to drive to a range and shoot targets...if i order 2 boxes...say it comes to 40$ with shipping...thatll get me through this summer and probably next...reloading will be yet another hobby/addiction for me...im crazy...started out pretty basic..hunting and fishing....then fly fishing....then flintlocking..then tying flys and making my own spinners..then making my own turkey calls...now bowhunting...and im sure ill be rigging my own arrows etc...so you can see i love doing stuff like that...just right now i rather buy a bow...if i was shooting more and hunting more id definently start reloading my own....ill only hunt a handful of days this summer because of work and timing of the hay cuts etc...so i dont think ill go through 2 boxes of ammo..though i could...

chr103yod

Remington makes a round in 30-06 called an Accelerator. It's a 30-06 round that I think has some kind of sabot to use a 243 bullet. They are only 55gr bullets and they are very high velocity. The only thing is they are about 30-35$ a box. I've never used them so I have no idea how well they shoot.