Loading for Hunting, Any tips?

[SoCalShooter]

My buds and I are planning our first boar hunting trip soon. I wonder if anyone could suggest some hunting loads for a .30/06. I do a lot of target shooting and tailor my loads accordingly, but I've never loaded for hunting. Any tips would be appreciated!

[john kilgore]

Depends;
What kind of '06; Semi-auto, bolt, single-shot, ect.
What size Hog's;, <250lb pigs, or 350lb+ boar ?

You can't go wrong with 56.0gr of Imr4350 or up to 58.5 H4350 and a 165 Nosler Part.
Though for smaller pigs, most any 150gr Soft Pt with 52gr IMR4064 will do. For higher velocity try H414 up to 60gr in Bolt action. Reduce these loads by 5% for Semi Auto.
If shooting a Bolt gun, with 180gr. my favorite is 180 Rem Cor-lok on top of 60.0 Rl-22 for 2,800 fps. This isn't recommended for Semi-Auto's. I substitute Speer or Sierra Pt Sft Pt for most accurate load in my MkX Mauser w/24" bbl., but Remingtons are much less expensive and penetrate better. Seating is 3.34", and I use Winchseter LR primers.

[RevNate]

Check your manual before using this load....

My pet .30-06 hunting load for bolt guns is 58.3 grains IMR 4350 and Speer 165 gr. boattail spitzer with CCI 200 primers.

My brother has hog hunted for years with an SKS or a .22 mag. They're not as hard to kill as most people think, but shot placement is the key.

Nate

[Steve Smith]

Don't stress out over one-hole accuracy.


That's about the best "loading for hunting" advice I can think of.

[SoCalShooter]

Sorry, I should have said: .30/06 Bolt, big pigs, heavy brush. But thanks for the advice. I'll give the 4350 a try.

Also, I've got some IMR4320 left over from years ago. Is there much difference from the 4320 to the 4350?

[JohnKirk]

Boar hunting ? Full length resize once fired brass or new brass only. Load whatever. Run EVERY cartridge through your rifle to be sure they feed, and the bolt closes easily, and the cartridge ejects easily. Then fire a bunch to be sure the load doesn't lock up the gun.

Have made the mistake of fooling around with target/ best group stuff, and then found out that the durn thing wouldn't work when THE CHARGE BEGAN. Sheeeettttt !!!!! Been there, done that.

If it'll bite, kick, or kill me, I use factory. And test that.

Few of us are much more intelligent than others, we have just made more significant mistakes, and hopefully learned from them.

[Dan Morris]

Check brass length and trim as necessary.........100% agree about running em through the gun before you take em to the field.
Dan

[Smokey Joe]

Shot placement is ALWAYS the key, from elephants to squirrels. That's what practice is for. For hogs, 165 gr. bullets are good. I use the Sierras but have nothing against the Speers. 4350 works great in my '06. 4320 isn't quite the same, and as always, FOLLOW A REPUTABLE LOAD MANUAL for a recipe. Don't just go substituting on your own, it's a good way to become a horrible example for use by the antis.

Re. Nate's comment: A friend of mine uses a .22 magnum on hogs. So far it has worked for him. .22's will kill deer, too. And a .30-'06 can be used on an elephant, under ideal circumstances, by a crack shot with excellent knowledge of anatomy. But I sure as h*** wouldn't do any of these. Your '06 is an excellent choice for hogs, and it is what the African guides would call "enough gun" for the situation.

[Krautguns]

One word. Nosler. Balistic tips or partitions. Thats all I use to hunt. .308 or .30-06 cal. Humane kills are whats really important. The noslers drop in one shot. Prey does not suffer. I hit whitetail in the neck with .308 Nosler Balistic tips, they drop and dont run.

[john kilgore]

Smokey Joe's advice is generally correct !
However, there are circumstances where you use what is legal, or don't hunt.

In Ga., on most of the State WMA's hogs can only be hunted in "small game" seasons with small game weapons. The favored round is the .22mag.. My own experience is that it performs poorly even with well placed shots. I shot three this past season in head and all three ran off (150-250lb). Also killed two with one shot - But-, they weighed 10 and 8lbs respectively. Size of game animal dictates gun. I now use a .50cal muzzle loader w/370gr Maxi-ball for hog hunting.
It's legal for squirrels !!! At this time, a .17 HRM isn't.
Go figure !!!!

.22cf w/55gr bullets or heavier do well on deer even with marginal hits. I've had better results w/.22cf's (.223, 22-250)than any .30cal- .30/30 equivalent or less. I've never lost a deer with a .22cf, though one I shot w/50gr Rem PHP took several hits to stop. Even a .22 Hornet gives better performance than a .30/30 with 170gr or heavier bullets, (at least in my personal experience). Most of deer I've shot in past 12yrs are with Hornet, 30 plus at this point. Last deer I lost was last year with .35 Rem. w/200gr cor-lokt @ 2,250fps-mv, at 125yds with a chest shot. Trailed blood for 250yds before blood played out. Deer carcass was never found, even by the buzzards.

However that all said, you can't go wrong with the .30/06 and 165gr bullets on any thing less than 1,000lbs.- As long as the bullets are well constructed.

For What its worth......................
Today in Africa, most elephant are killed with 7.62x51 Nato, or 7.62x54R Russian from automatic battle rifles (FN-FAL, or Russian "RPK"?) in "cropping" operations. A 147gr. FMJ well placed, does the job; if not, then the rest of the 20rd magazine in 2-3 seconds.
"Sho-nuff gun!"