Where does the .30-06 fit into the LRH Pantheon of cartridges?

.......I was using a 190 grain Sierra Match king bullet, upon recovery of the bullet that lodged in his hip it was determined to have never opened up, you could see the lands marks the length of the bullet and the very tip was slightly bent ! I do not know at what speed that bullet will open up, but I would say that it was traveling less than 1000 feet per second when it hit the deer !...............

Given fairly conservative numbers; more like 1700+ fps.
 
Not even 30 yet and all my big game and yotes have all been shot with a 30-06 other then maybe 4 yotes. Deer and elk have all been shot with a 30-06. I bought my first 30-06 one when I was 14.

Its a very good all around cartridge. For me and my 28" barrel throated long I can get 2800 fps out of the 215 Berger with IMR4350 And 2850 with RL26 and the 215 Berger. So I feel safe in saying my 06 can hang well past 500 yards on game even elk. Infact that puts me in the neighbor hood of 900 yards if I am looking to keep it above 1800fps on impact @30 degrees. Still going above 1600 @ 1100 Yards and above 1000FTLB @1250 yards. Some say thats the lowest you should go on deer sized game. BUT That is FPS and bullet depending. Its still right @ 1474 fps @ 1250. Plenty good for yotes though.

I understand not all 30-06 can or will do this. Mine was built for this purpose. But cant help but think with the long throat what would it do chambered in 300 win mag.
 
For me it's not #1 but if I had one purpose built, no doubt it can reach out there. 150gr Core Lokts don't fly that far but now we have tons of other great choices that give it a lot more leg.
 
I have a 760 my dad handed down to me maybe 25 years ago. (See through scope mount, got his eyebrough) He bought it in the late 50's I think. He got a 760, 243 win to replace it. Both will shoot 1 1/2 groups on hand loads.

around here, 760's with the see through mounts are known as "Amish machine guns" lol. But they are surprisingly accurate, considering the set up. A buddy of mine had a few and they were sub MOA on a good day with a good, careful shooter.
 
......A hollow point bullet would have opened up if it was going that fast !.....

1) Ran the numbers through Applied Ballistics MV 2650 fps.
2) Perhaps! All hollow points aren't created equal. No assurances to this point this one was still a hollow point. Doesn't take much to close one off, if it had a patent one to begin with.
3) Using SMK's for game isn't some thing Sierra recommends. Performance varies from pencilling as described, to complete disintegration.
4) If one is going to use this type of bullet, I think the people with the most consistent performance are those squaring meplats, and making sure the hollow point is really hollow.
 
I have a hard time believing a hollow point will open @1000 FPS UNLESS it purpose built for a 300 black out or any gun that shoots subsonic. Depending on teh match bullet from sierra they are pointed and that makes it almost the same as a full metal jacket. Not all SMK are that way. BUT they still have way to small of a hollow point to make it a consistent open and I dought very much they would expand @1000 FPS.

A good hunting bullet in order to get proper expansion they say do not go below 1600. Now the only modern LR hunting bullet I have seen that they claim will open to I think it 1350 is Federals new bullet. And even then it barely opened. Infact it did not even open to the given calibers size.....

Stranger things have happened though.
 
1) Ran the numbers through Applied Ballistics MV 2650 fps.
2) Perhaps! All hollow points aren't created equal. No assurances to this point this one was still a hollow point. Doesn't take much to close one off, if it had a patent one to begin with.
3) Using SMK's for game isn't some thing Sierra recommends. Performance varies from pencilling as described, to complete disintegration.
4) If one is going to use this type of bullet, I think the people with the most consistent performance are those squaring meplats, and making sure the hollow point is really hollow.
I have used them, and had them sometimes mushroom and at other times when I shot through saplings, had them go to pieces and actually hit a deer at multiple places ! The 30-06 is not enough gun to make these bullets preform well at long distances, they work well in my 300 WM and my 308 Norma magnum well over 1000 yards ! I could see the hole at the tip of the bullet yet and the little cuts around it, the tip was bent but the hole was never blocked, the bullet was bent only slightly back from the tip about 1/4 inch, it had a small dent or groove where it was bent, it must have hit bone there !
 
........the tip was bent but the hole was never blocked, the bullet was bent only slightly back from the tip about 1/4 inch, it had a small dent or groove where it was bent, it must have hit bone there

Possible, also possible the bullet was not completely stable, and did not square up the target well, and hit as point first as desirable.
 
A few good bullets I've run over the years were Speer 190GS,,, Hornady 178 ELD-X and M ,,, and 150gr triple shock x,,, all show signs perform well.
I like the Hornady 178Gr. Amax better because they are a little more accurate out of my two magnums and I also use them now in my 30-06 ! They work better at longer ranges as far as the terminal aspects of them ! At close range ( 30-06 ) they need to be used in a reduced load to avoid damaging too much meat if you hit them wrong ! Never have lost an animal with them yet, most drop in their tracks ! I think they quite making them, but I found a box of 250ct 168 gr. Amax at an unbelievable price a year or so ago, so I bought them and I use them in the 06 now and am saving the 178's for the magnums ! I tried the 190's in Sierra and the 178 ELD-X's in my Magnums, but the Amax were clearly holding the tighter groups ! I have to put the accuracy ahead of perhaps a better bullet terminally ! I know the Amax are killers also, they at times under the right conditions can damage more meat, but I can live with that ! As I said my first priority is accuracy, then I question if they will kill ? Both are a big yes to me ! Some guns no doubt shoot the ELD-X's better as all guns can shoot different !
 
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