Which ammo for bolt action rifle

[Vineet]

I have recently bought a 30 06 bolt action rifle,made in USA.What I have seen is there are two types of ammo available in market.One which are full metal jacketed and the other type is which have soft point at the tip.Now my question is which should be used in the bolt rifle.A gun dealer told me that the full metal jacketed are for semi auto rifles.Is it true ? Do they cause any harm to the bolt action rifle?

[Vikram]

Vineet,

Full Metal Jacketed bullets usually,not always, have a soft led core and a hard metal jacket.They are useful in getting past hard surfaces,like armour,helmets etc in case of combat and thick skin and heavy bones in case of game like buffaloes,rhinos etc.

For more on FMJs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket_bullet

Sof point bullets are designed for controlled expansion after penetration this creating a larger wound channel and release of most its energy in the quarry's body. They are used on thin skinned game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_point_bullet

There is no evidence,ASAIK, to suggest that the FMJs cannot be used in a bolt rifle. You can use both in your rifle.You cannot use pointed nose bullets in rifles with tubular magazines like those found on Winchester lever action rfles etc, which can cause a chain detonation in the magazine.

Look forward to the pictures of your rifle.Congratulations.

Best-
Vikram

[timmy]

Vineet: Vikram is right, you can shoot either soft point or FMJ in your rifle. Mostly, FMJ was required by various international agreements, like the Geneva Convention, as the Wiki article Vikram posted notes. Expanding bullets in military use are often referred to as "Dum Dum" bullets, for a British arsenal in Kolkata. This Wiki gives some of that story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet

Of course, not being able to use expanding bullets didn't stop the search for more effective military rounds. The British .303 ammo began to be loaded with an unstable bullet, one which would tumble on impact, increasing the wound channel. This can be done by using different materials in the core of the bullet and by varying the shape of the bullet.

However, military ammo is generally FMJ in the modern era.

How this relates to you: For hunting, soft nose bullets will usually be best. You may want a very hard or FMJ bullet for penetration, say if you were going for elephant or Cape Buffalo, but you wouldn't be using a 30-06 for that. The two uses I can think of for shooting FMJ in your 30-06 would be:

1. You have a source of military surplus FMJ ammo that is cheaper than factory ammo, and you want to use it to practice to keep your costs down. I do a lot of this, myself.

2. You are shooting animals for their pelts/hides, such as coyotes, and you don't want big holes blasted into the skins, which reduces what you will be paid for them. FMJ makes nice, neat little holes. (but of course, you must be accurate with your bullet placement to take them down in the first place!)

[xl_target]

A gun dealer told me that the full metal jacketed are for semi auto rifles

If the dealer actually told you this in so many words, I would view any statement that he makes with a very jaundiced eye. He's either doing this to make sure you buy higher priced ammo or he doesn't have a clue.

[Vikram]

If the dealer actually told you this in so many words, I would view any statement that he makes with a very jaundiced eye. He's either doing this to make sure you buy higher priced ammo or he doesn't have a clue.

Quite possibly both.

[marksman]

Vineet,
Go for soft nose ammo to punch holes in a humane way on the paper target .
Marksman

[eljefe]

He is right
For a long time, a lot of 30-06 ammo floating around with dealers was captured stuff from 65 and 71.Rumor puts it that there were several tonnes of lake City target ammo in that bunch!
since it was from defense sources(read for 30 Browning MMG and M1, M14 and stuff) it was made for auto/semi auto use.
However, no reason it cant be used in bolt action rifles,if chambered correctly -30-06 SPRG labelled rifles-so , as most of these guys are gun dealers purely by chance, some of them seel channa and cell phones and cycles...i would not give his expertise any marks.
Yes most hunting use ammo in India is S&B and Federal etc, costing upto Rs.180 per round, so he stands to make a bigger margin by selling you this ammo.