andyyy Report post Posted March 10, 2022 Looking for experiences of anyone who has a 30 06 and a 30 magnum (I'm looking at 300PRC in particular), and if the difference is worth the cost of setting up a new caliber. Got a suppressor coming in (4 months waiting so far). I have a Weatherby Vanguard that I love in 30-06. I handload, shoots .75 easily. But it's not threaded, and that's a $140 expense at minimum that I've seen. So, I have been thinking of selling the vanguard (or maybe keeping it) and getting a new rifle. While I'm at it, I'm thinking of upgrading to a magnum caliber (300PRC is what I'm looking at; Bergara or Xbolt), instead of another 30.06 threaded. I shoot steel out to about 800 yards currently (learning windage, dialing my scope out as well) but am interested in stretching up to 1200 for practice, and getting comfortable hunting up to 1000 eventually. That's the goal, at least. I figured a magnum might be worthwhile for this endeavor. Any thoughts? Worth it, or am I just chasing marginal gains for more recoil, expensive brass + scarce magnum powder, and the expense of new dies? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couzer Report post Posted March 10, 2022 I would say if you are wanting to shoot and kill pass 400-500 yards then a yes a PRC would be a good choice. But if you are keeping it under that then the 30-06 will do just fine. Just my 2 cents. Or just buy a 7mm and be done with it. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thegunsmith2506 Report post Posted March 10, 2022 Unless you are really stuck on the PRC I would look at other more available options. The 7mm mag, 300 mag, 300WSM are all very capable of what you want and much more available. The xbolt is a great gun in my opinion. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andyyy Report post Posted March 10, 2022 Thanks for the input folks. The only thing I'm concerned with is powder availability, pretty tough to find rl16/retumbo/h1000. However I think those same powders are used in the other mags as well. Brass seems available, if a bit tough to find. Haven't looked into projectiles; I kind of assumed 200gr+ bullets would be available. The PRC seemed like it was a better choice than 300WM since it isn't belted. More brass life. This may be an overstated issue. Haven't looked seriously into any of the 7mm cartridges besides 28 nosler, but if they're better than 300prc I'll have to take a look. 28 nosler brass (nosler, Hornady) is like 3$ each. Double the cost of Lapua 300 PRC. shorter barrel life, not much ballistic difference at sub 1K. Didn't seem worth it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swivelhead Report post Posted March 10, 2022 If you have not done so already, consider spending your money on long range accessories prior to acquiring a new rifle. High end scope, chronograph, rangefinder, ballistic programs, etc. Learn to use these accessories with your existing rifle, get proficient, upgrade the rifle/cartridge down the road. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest akaspecials Report post Posted March 10, 2022 First, I'm a semi-proficient, but not great, rifle shooter. I keep all rounds on a pie plate at 300 yards and typically don't shoot farther than that. The only sub MOA groups shot with my rifles have been by other people. I moved from a 30-06 to a 300 Weatherby, and added a $1000 scope hoping to extend my reach to 400 or 500 yards, without spending much time or money at the range. Before it was all said and done, I developed a flinch, my groups got worse, and I spent over 1k on ammo to make sure that I reinforced my bad shooting habits. What little love I had for rifles, is all gone. I haven't picked up a rifle in 4 or 5 years. I would have been better off practicing with the 30-06... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted March 10, 2022 30-06 does drop a lot. Many more, flatter shooting options out there 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andyyy Report post Posted March 10, 2022 On 3/10/2022 at 6:33 AM, Swivelhead said: If you have not done so already, consider spending your money on long range accessories prior to acquiring a new rifle. High end scope, chronograph, rangefinder, ballistic programs, etc. Learn to use these accessories with your existing rifle, get proficient, upgrade the rifle/cartridge down the road. Totally with you there. I've got a Zeiss V6 which tracks perfectly. Thought about getting a NF or tactical style scope but the reticle would be more of a pain than a boon for me. I have a nice rangefinder (sig) but no chronograph. I use a calculator and BC+ drop values to estimate velocities. I have the Strelok app and a few others. Im a little worried that shooting my 06 too much won't be helpful if I move up later; I imagine a lot of the wind intuition will remain, and the numbers can be adjusted for drop for the new load, but the time might have been better spent using the final cartridge and learning how it behaves in wind specifically. On 3/10/2022 at 7:21 AM, akaspecials said: First, I'm a semi-proficient, but not great, rifle shooter. I keep all rounds on a pie plate at 300 yards and typically don't shoot farther than that. The only sub MOA groups shot with my rifles have been by other people. I moved from a 30-06 to a 300 Weatherby, and added a $1000 scope hoping to extend my reach to 400 or 500 yards, without spending much time or money at the range. Before it was all said and done, I developed a flinch, my groups got worse, and I spent over 1k on ammo to make sure that I reinforced my bad shooting habits. What little love I had for rifles, is all gone. I haven't picked up a rifle in 4 or 5 years. I would have been better off practicing with the 30-06... I agree recoil can be an issue. However, I'm specifically going for threaded, and won't shoot without either a brake or silencer, which significantly reduce the recoil. A magnum will kick less than my current 06 with the muzzle devices, so I am not concerned with that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted March 10, 2022 The 28 nosler is my vote. I love mine, and although I love the fact I'll be chasing rutting bulls, kinda sad the 28 is staying home. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZAV8ER Report post Posted March 10, 2022 I had this dilemma when I won a new Winchester Model 70 Classic in 300 WinMag at an Elk Foundation dinner. After almost 200 rounds looking for accurate factory ammo I found the rifle was not as accurate as I would like and I had no interest in doing load development for a 300Magnum. I looked at ballistic tables and realized that a 30-06 gave me enough velocity and energy with a 180 gr bullet to take elk out to 500 yards. I sold the magnum and bought a nice shiny SS Win Classic in 30-06. I shot many a round getting loads using 165 and 180 grain bullets that shot sub MOA and pushed a 180 Sierra BT GK bullet at 2825 fps MV using less than max load out of a Speer Manual. In the years that followed I took Elk with the 165 gr and 180 gr bullets from 50 yards out to 350 yards. 3 hours ago, Swivelhead said: If you have not done so already, consider spending your money on long range accessories prior to acquiring a new rifle. High end scope, chronograph, rangefinder, ballistic programs, etc. Learn to use these accessories with your existing rifle, get proficient, upgrade the rifle/cartridge down the road. I agree with this advise. The learning with the 30-06 will be much nicer than with a Magnum. Besides with the Magnum by the time you get good and have loads developed you will have shot out a barrel and will need to re barrel and start load development all over again. Get 30-06 Lapua brass, a top line single stage press and quality bullets and have at it. When you get ammo that has max velocity deviation less than 28fps and SD under 12 and runout less than .004 and you can keep shots at 500 yards on a 6 inch steel then maybe think a bigger cartridge. Good shooting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SHOOTER Report post Posted March 10, 2022 If your going to run only factory ammo. A PRC is not a bad idea. If you reload go 300win. I have owned and run both a lot and I will not buy another PRC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saguaro Report post Posted March 10, 2022 I would stay with the 30-06. Some of the reasons are that it is more available than the newer sexy cartridges out there in everything like brass and even quality brass like Lapua. I have lots of 30-06 brass and I don’t even have one. That tells me I would never run out or have the need to find some if I did. I get leftovers from people that don’t reload and there’s more that shoot the 06 than the newer ones. I’m sure I won’t get any leftovers of PRC or Nosler cartridges. It also keeps getting better and better with some of the new powders coming out, at least I notice more of a gain than what it was capable of 20 years ago. 30 caliber bullets keep getting better. You can reload for it and get about 125 cartridges out of a pound of powder and that’s better than the magnums where you will get about 80-100. The argument that it’s not a 1000 yard rifle is crazy. It’s still supersonic at 1000 yards. Also, I think it’s just cool. I plan on a 30-06 AI soon and it will be a long range/target rifle that will never go on a hunt. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andyyy Report post Posted March 10, 2022 49 minutes ago, SHOOTER said: If your going to run only factory ammo. A PRC is not a bad idea. If you reload go 300win. I have owned and run both a lot and I will not buy another PRC. Why is that? I would have figured the other way around, given the belted brass of the 300wm and the difficulty finding 300prc off the shelf. I handload almost all my rifle ammo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
creed Report post Posted March 10, 2022 06 is a good all around cartridge. If I had to have one rifle for western hunting i would choose a 7mm Magnum. If I can't do it with a 7 I probably shouldn't be doing it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted March 10, 2022 I think youre looking into the belt on the 300 WM waaaayyyyyy to much..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
