30-06 to 1000yds

[Nomad]

Wanting to be able to shoot my 06 out to a 1000 yards and hunt with it to 5 or 600 yards.
Will be using a Sierra game king 180gr because of its high BC and also a good hunting bullet
for the 180's.....
Looking for some ideas on what powders to use RL22 is all over the paper.
The rifle will shoot a sub at 100 and 200yds but using a bullet now
that is past the 150gr that I was shooting.....

 

[Kevin]

Not sure if you had a question? but I have always had good experiences killing things with the game kings.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Nomad,

I think you can answer your own question. The way I go about determing what killing a range that a certain cartridge/bullet combination is first to determine the minimum expanding velocity of your bullet. At that point you can plug the numbers into a ballistics calc and determine how far down range that is for your cartrdge/load velocity. Of course a bullet that does not expand will kill an animal if put into a vital area, but the chances of loosing it become a lot higher.

After determing the feasible ballistc range of your load, rifle and shot accuracy come next. For accurate 1K shots, you need and accurate rifle and load not to mention the shooter. An accurate rifle should be able to easily shoot sub 1/2 MOA @100 yds to hope for MOA accuracy @ 100yds. For an accurate load, you need consistant bullet performance and muzzle velocities. An ES of 50 fps wont cut it at 1K. You want to get it down into the lower teens or single digits or else you're firing and hoping.

Long answer short.... I do not believe the 30.06 is a 1K hunting cartridge. I have a 300 WSM which will get 100-300 FPS more than a 30.06 and I consider it an 800-1000 yd deer/elk rifle depending on load and elevation, if the rifle and I do our parts.

Good shooting and welcome to LRH,

-MR

 

[dariuszczyszczon]

I agree as well a 30-06 would be tough to shoot out to 1000 yds . I own a 30-06 and a 270 . I am going on a goat hunt so i needed a gun that would shoot and can go 1000yds so i bought a new 7 rem mag. The main reason is the bergers 168 vld bullets. Their ballistic coeffient by far beats everyones and has the capacity of taking out game at those large distance.

 

[Nomad]

Plans for shooting local matches and hunting with the 180SGK....
The techical information from the matches would aid in say a 500 or 600 yard shot.
Hoping to find some load data from some of the people here who shoot long
range with the 06...
Tried RL-22 all over the paper with the 180gr SGK, yet with a 150gr shoots great....

 

[Frogman77]

how much RL 22 are you using with the 180gr?? I know some folks using 208 amaxes with RL 22 in the .30-06 with excellent results out to 1000 yards.

 

[Tyler Kemp]

I would look into a higher BC bullet, the 208 Amax is great and can be used for hunting.

 

[Boss Hoss]

Not a chance--sorry..

 

[crout]

Wanting to be able to shoot my 06 out to a 1000 yards and hunt with it to 5 or 600 yards.
Will be using a Sierra game king 180gr because of its high BC and also a good hunting bullet
for the 180's.....
Looking for some ideas on what powders to use RL22 is all over the paper.
The rifle will shoot a sub at 100 and 200yds but using a bullet now
that is past the 150gr that I was shooting.....

stick with the 150gr bullet in the 30-06 and you should have enough steam to get to 1000yards. if you want to use the 180gr bullet you had better be able to get the velocity up pretty high or the bullet will loose too much energy, even at 500 yards to is 200 ft-lbs LESS than the 150gr bullet.

 

[theodore]

A 30-06 will most definitely work on elk up to 600 yards with the right bullet and personally I go with the 168 ballistic tips for that gun for hunting.

For 1000 yard target shooting, I really like the hornady A-max. Again a 168gr, heavier bullets will tend to become unstabled due to twist rate. (A-max penetration on game isn't so consistentent which results in wounded animals so mixed reviews on them for hunting is common)

2000fps is a good rule of thumb for minimum impact velocity.

Check out a public ballistic calculator from best of the west or jbm. Its easy to use, just enter bullet type, velocity and altitude as a start for load comparison.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

stick with the 150gr bullet in the 30-06 and you should have enough steam to get to 1000yards. if you want to use the 180gr bullet you had better be able to get the velocity up pretty high or the bullet will loose too much energy, even at 500 yards to is 200 ft-lbs LESS than the 150gr bullet.

Crout, I think you will finfd the opposite is actually true. The lighter weight, lower BC bullets will run out of steam quicker than the heavier, high BC bullets. Run some numbers on a ballistic calc.

A 30-06 will most definitely work on elk up to 600 yards with the right bullet and personally I go with the 168 ballistic tips for that gun for hunting.

For 1000 yard target shooting, I really like the hornady A-max. Again a 168gr, heavier bullets will tend to become unstabled due to twist rate. (A-max penetration on game isn't so consistentent which results in wounded animals so mixed reviews on them for hunting is common)

2000fps is a good rule of thumb for minimum impact velocity.

Check out a public ballistic calculator from best of the west or jbm. Its easy to use, just enter bullet type, velocity and altitude as a start for load comparison.

Theodore, The 208 A-Max does have a very good BC *and* it has a lower end opening/expanding velocity which make it good for LR shots. I have also read mixed reviews on short range shots because it is so frangible. The 208 A-Max, if pushed to 2600 fps out of an .06 (a little optimistic), could come very close to 1000 yds if it's minimum opening velocity was down around 1500 fps.

As far as twist goes, almost any comercially made bullet will work in a standard factory twist of 10" or most even in an 11" twist. 210 Bergers work just fine in my 300 WSM 11" twist.

On minimum impact velocity, most bullets are designed to open down to 1800 fps, and with a 180 gr bullet that will usually provide enough momentum to penetrate and elk. As mentioned above, the 208 A-Max, if it opened @ 1500 fps, would likely have enough momentum to peetrate an elk @ 1000 yds.

-MR

 

[JPRITT]

A hundred dollar rechamber job to 300 Win mag would make all this a non issue.

 

[3006savage]

I am loading 200 Grain Accubonds at 2700 FPS with RL 17. It has am impact velocity of around 2044 fps at 600 yards at my hunting altitude this fall of 9,000 feet. I plan to use it out to 500 yards max.

I also have been loading the 168 grain ballistic tip to 3000 fps with RL17 and it is very accurate. AT 2000 feet elevation this load is crusing at 2000 fps at 600 yards and should be a great deer round. I wish they made a 168 grain accubond with the .49 BC.

For 1000 yard target shooting I would give the 208 grain amax a try with RL17. You should get around 2650 fps with a 22 or 24" barrel.

 

[theodore]

Hmmm....

208 a-max(.648)@2600fps vs 168 a-max(.475)@2900fps

The 208 is a little bit faster but does have more energy which will work better on animal. Its like 950 yards for 168 and 1050 yards for 208 max range hunting range due to 1500fps minimum impact velocity.

The 168 A-max is our most accurate load and have just decided to use it on elk this year instead of the 180 accubond.