30-06 and groundhogs

[sigma40cal]

Need a good 30-06 round for groundhogs something lighter then 150s

[sleeper78]

I used to use 110 Sierra HPs over a charge of IMR4350 for roughly 3000fps and change. They shot really well in my A-bolt. I really never noticed a change in impact from my Hornady 165 Interlocks but I never really checked at the range. I know that I hit plenty of groundhogs with the load so it was close enough.

[justashooter]

at 100 yards and under try hard cast 150 grain bullets at around 8-10 grains unique for 1000-1500 fps over a chronograph. play with the powder charges to affect accuracy (group size) and point of impact. dacron pillow stuffing over the powder keeps it close to the primer for uniform pressures and better accuracy. pistol primers may be used. real quiet.

similarly, load your 150 grain bullet backwards with similar powder charge, and be surprised at the accuracy and terminal effect on hog meat. same comments apply.

most lighter weight bullets (110-135) in 30-06 will not stabilise well, and can upset (cant) jumping to the leade thru the freebore. hence they are not terribly accurate at any velocity.

[Neko456]

Though the 06 is very versitle and could do the job but isn't the 06 too much rifle for ground hogs? Wouldn't a varmint round be better something like .224, 223, .17 or .22 magnum or even another 6mm or 257 Roberts.

Definitely the 30-06 lighter rounds could do it, if they shoot accurate in your rifle, but what a mess I'm assuming.

[sleeper78]

If your 30-06 is the only rifle you have, by all means use it for groundhogs. I've never had a problem with the lighter bullets in my A-Bolt. I thought I was going to have the problems listed above when I loaded them but they never surfaced.
I don't use my '06 anymore because I have a .223 but I always had a blast taking care of those critters with it when I did.

[sigma40cal]

Thanks for the info i had a 204 and sold it now i wish i had it back.My 204 was the best groundhog rifle i ever had,you just had to watch the wind on them 400 to 500 yard shots but i didnt get many of them.

[animalmother85]

Saying a 30-06 is over kill for ground hogs is like saying a .223 is overkill for prairie dogs. These guys can get up to 30lbs and they are pretty thick too. I've seen them shot with rounds as small as .22 short (cornered in a tree and up close of course) and have shot them with .17hmr, .22lr to .30-30, .308win, and 12 gauge sabot rounds. My high school science teacher used to shoot them with his M1 garand. I usually use 168 grain barnes TSXs with 45.5 grains of varget for a .308win. Sorry, that doesn't help for load data, but here is my tidbit of advise from experience; the 168 grain TSX has been the best I've used to date. I would post pictures but I'm pretty sure there is a clause on this website about violence/gore. They are very devastating to ground hogs but still keeps them in tact for ease of throwing back down the groundhog hole.

Neko, I have not used a .223 for groundhogs yet, but being that I have a pretty decent little one that I bought when I was in Afghanistan, I will try it out with 69 and 77 grain SMKs.

[DucatiRon]

I dont know if they are for sale anymore but I always used Remington 06 Accelerators for ground hogs. They are a 55 grain SP .223 round in a sabot for 30 cal. I've had good luck with them out of my 700 BDL and they have just over 4k fps at the muzzle. They reach out to 400yrds real nice. I bought just over 1k of them about 4 years ago. I havent needed to resupply yet but I do see people selling the sabots now so im just going to reload them myself. Check GB or look around. Someone might still have some in old stock. I have seen the topic discussed here before on sabots and some not having any accuracy at all. Might be worth a try if you find a box cheap.

[indianjack]

My Dad hand loaded 110 grain to use in is Remington O3/A3 in the 60s. That's what we shot ground hogs with. I think I still have a few of those hand loads.

[Tomcat088]

I'm actually surprised by quite a few responses in this thread. Some of it because it's just not what I expected to hear from certain people on this forum, and others because there's just much better options than loading bullets the way the "old timers" did (making your own S/WC's, etc). Anyway, I'll mention my take on it and some things I'd try.

Saying a 30-06 is over kill for ground hogs is like saying a .223 is overkill for prairie dogs. These guys can get up to 30lbs and they are pretty thick too. I've seen them shot with rounds as small as .22 short (cornered in a tree and up close of course) and have shot them with .17hmr, .22lr to .30-30, .308win, and 12 gauge sabot rounds. My high school science teacher used to shoot them with his M1 garand. I usually use 168 grain barnes TSXs with 45.5 grains of varget for a .308win. Sorry, that doesn't help for load data, but here is my tidbit of advise from experience; the 168 grain TSX has been the best I've used to date. I would post pictures but I'm pretty sure there is a clause on this website about violence/gore. They are very devastating to ground hogs but still keeps them in tact for ease of throwing back down the groundhog hole.

Neko, I have not used a .223 for groundhogs yet, but being that I have a pretty decent little one that I bought when I was in Afghanistan, I will try it out with 69 and 77 grain SMKs.

I agree with AnimalMother, no reason besides cost to not use the .30-06 on groundhogs. They aren't as little as prairie dogs, and I've shot my fair share of prairie dogs (much smaller animals) with .300 wingmag and .300 WSM. Part of the fun for some of us, is in the "mess" and explosive effects. Yeah, some people would consider that a bit "sick", but it's still the truth. I'm actually a bit surprised that you've had as much success as you have with the TSX's. Barnes bullets are always known for being serious hunting bullets, but in my experience they are a pretty deep penetrating bullet. They will either expand moderately after some penetration, or not really expand at all. Which is fine in my opinion for a big bore hunting rifle where you need penetration on larger animals. I'm not disputing what you've presented, it's just a bit surprising to me and has not been my experience with Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets. I have more experience with the TTSX than the TSX, so maybe that's why I haven't seen the effects you describe.

Now for your .223, I would actually suggest some different bullets for varminting. The SMK's are good bullets, but I've always found them to be a bit on the "meh" side, in terms of a varmint bullet. I have some friends that swear by them for hunting bullets, but I still prefer other bullets over them for hunting. Most of the time on varmints, you'll get the best effects by pushing the lighter bullets on the "faster" side. That is IF the twist rate on your rifle will allow you to shoot those bullets accurately. For the .223, things like the Nosler Ballistic tip, Hornady V-max, Sierra Blitzking, etc. usually work better. When you push them fast, the jackets go all to hell when they hit light skinned varmints and they are DEVASTATING. Something of the heavier flavor for .223, going slower, and with a bullet that isn't necessarily designed to expand; lots of times they just pass through and while lethal, aren't as explosive or in some people's opinon (not necessarily mine) not as ethical.

I dont know if they are for sale anymore but I always used Remington 06 Accelerators for ground hogs. They are a 55 grain SP .223 round in a sabot for 30 cal. I've had good luck with them out of my 700 BDL and they have just over 4k fps at the muzzle. They reach out to 400yrds real nice. I bought just over 1k of them about 4 years ago. I havent needed to resupply yet but I do see people selling the sabots now so im just going to reload them myself. Check GB or look around. Someone might still have some in old stock. I have seen the topic discussed here before on sabots and some not having any accuracy at all. Might be worth a try if you find a box cheap.

I've never known anyone that had much luck with sabot 55 grain bullets out of a .30 caliber rifle. I've seen lots of people try to do it too. The accuracy just doesn't usually hold a candle to some of the other bullets that you can load up. They may not be going as fast, but they can be just as devastating, especially seeing as how they usually result in more hits. I can ese how the sabot rounds could be pushed to 400 yards, but I just don't see how they can be made to do it with enough accuracy to hit groundhogs consistently at those ranges. I agree though, if he can find them cheap enough, might be worth a try. I just have my doubts as to their accuracy, especially at 400 yards.


To the OP, I'll throw in my .02 and it may or may not help you. I would try to stick with something in the 110-125 grain (not lighter), IF your rifle will shoot them accurately. With most of the varmint bullets, speed is your friend in terms of their "explosive effects", although not always accuracy. Just remember that even if you can shoot the bullet fast, if it's not accurate, the explosive effects won't matter because you won't make hits. I don't normally shoot the lighter .308 caliber rounds, pretty much nothing under 155 grains. When I want to push something very fast, I'll usually step down to the .22-250. Either way, I do know bullet designs, and I've had very good experiences with the Nosler Ballstic Tips, Hornady V-max, and Sierra Blitzking & Spire Point bullets. Sierra doesn't offer the "Blitzking" in .30 cal, so you may have to try their "Varminter" or "Spire point" bullets if you wanted to go with an offering from Sierra. If you order bullets from Nosler, which I really like their bullets, for varminting you should stay AWAY from the "Accubond" bullet. It's one of my favorite hunting bullets because of how reliably it expands and how deeply it penetrates. That is NOT what you want for a varmint round, and the Nosler Ballistic Tips are usually quite "explosive", and almost the opposite of the Accubond. The Hornady V-max bullets have always been explosive for me in any caliber I've ever shot them in.

I did want to mention something else for you to consider, and kind of as a "fail safe". There is the chance that your rifle and its barrel's twist rate may not liek the 110-125 grain bullets. If this is the case, I do have experience with on particular bullet that is heavier and may or may not work for you. I shoot a lot of .300 WSM, so it's moving at a bit of a faster clip than your .30-06. My "varmint load" for my .300 WSM is using a 155 grain Hornady A-max (NOT V-max, they don't come that heavy). The A-max is known for it's accuracy and being fairly easy to get them to shoot accurately. The A-max is designed to be a target bullet, and has a fairly thin jacket relative to a hunting bullet. This lends itself to the bullet having more of the "explosive" effect when it hits something more sturdy than paper. My "varmint load" from my .300 WSM is doing somewhere around 3,200 fps, I haven't chronographed it. At that velocity the A-max bullet performs almost identical to a V-max in the smaller calibers (like .223, .243, etc). I have hit prairie dogs (very small and thin skinned) at over 200 yards and had kibble fly up over 10ft, and back another 6ft+. Now you probably won't be able to achieve those velocities with your .30-06, and please don't try; BUT even at slower velocities, they may still perform for you, especially on a heavier animal (relative to a prairie dog), like a woodchuck. If you'd like pictures to prove the mayhem, send me a PM and I'll be happy to show you. I would first try something in the 110-125 grain flavor, but if you rifle won't accurately shoot them, you may have luck with the Hornady A-max.

Hope this all helps, and let us know how it turns out and what works for you.