Model 70 XTR Featherweight 30-06 - what ammo do they like?

[Vicko]

Hey all. A mate of mine left me his 30-06 featherweight after he lost his battle with cancer.
Lovely little rifle and I've only put a few rounds through as it only has open sights at the moment.
My intention is to use this as a deer and pig rifle and so was wondering if anyone else had any experience with them - in particular what rounds they prefer as it comes with a 1:14 twist I believe. I'm not looking to reload ammo on it just yet so I'd like to find a factory load or two that'll work well. One of them will need to be over 150gr for me to chase Sambar with as per local regulations. The other could be both lighter and softer for smaller deer and goats etc.

Think I'll need to do the following before its ready:
- lighten the trigger, seems quite heavy
- pic rail and scope mounted (thinking around the 3-15 mark that I can swap onto other rifles when not in use. Leaning towards the Vortex HD LHT 3-15x50? Or Nightforce SHV 4-14?)
- muzzle brake fitted and/or look into a more efficient recoil pad on the butt stock (the light overall weight comes at a cost in terms of recoil - based on the few shots with it I've had with factory loads)

 

[Slab74]

I would start with federal blue box. Every model 70 that I have seen seems to like it. I own one in 7x57 and have friends that have them in several calibers and they all shoot blue box. It would be a cheap way to start. But, every barrel is different and to identical guns can like different ammo. Hornady also seem to shoot well across the board. Save you ears and a bit of cash and get a limb saver custom fit recoil pad. I have one on a tikka t3 lite in 7mm mag and it’s very manageable.