Factory 30-06 question

So I just aquired a browning abolt medallion in 30-06 that's about 9 months old with 5 rounds down the pipe on a steal of a deal from a struggling oilfield worker. In you guys experience for whitetail and axis what is the best factory load? 100-350 yards

Pretty much any factory loaded 150 or 165 bullet would work well. No way to tell which one your rifle will "like"; you just have to try several until one is accurate to suit you.

I'd start with inexpensive Remington, Winchester, or Federal loads. They often work well. And there is no real need for premium bullets in a 30/06 for deer. Which is not to say that they would not work well.

You don't need anything special for those species. Standard cartridges will work fine. You can just find what your rifle shoots well and use it. No need for controlled expansion or the like. The beauty with the 30-06 is that the ammo is so common and available you'll never run out of choices. You could just get some Winchester Power Points or Remington Core Lockt in 150 grain from Wal-Mart and see if your rifle likes it.

If you want something a little heavier you could try the Federal Premium 165 gr Sierra Game King. I've had good luck with those. If you want to go lead free, try the 30-06 ammo from DRT Ammo. I just started using it because of a video on YouTube that I saw of them killing Nilgai with a 30-06 and a 223 with the same ammo. It's deadly if your rifle shoots it well.

Mine shoots the hornady American whitetail 150gr the best.

Yep, buy a few boxes and see what it likes. Mine shoots 165 grain Federal Fusion and 165 grain Trophy Copper really well.

I like Remington core locked.

Good advise.

Core lokt and American whitetail were actually 2 at the top of my list. Fusions I have shot before in my 308 and wasn't to big a fan because they were just so fast if it was under 100 yards expansion was very minimal.

Mine really likes the Federal Power Shok and it shoots very well. Its cheaper than the Remington corelokts as well.

I would start (and likely end) with Federal Premium 165 Sierra GameKings. In the unlikely event that this load doesn't shoot well in your gun, just about any other factory load would be worth a shot. And no need to try the expensive stuff- it all works in the good 'ole '06.