30-06 For Long Range?

[mason a]

My vortex has killed everything i aimed it at from 100-600 yds. Accurate as heck. NO problems with it at the range or in the field. You must have had bad ones! Mine is way better than my leupold vx-3. Leaps and bounds better than that scope.

 

Thats why we all bought those scopes , everyone i talked with loved em especially at that price, Just bad luck i guess

[deserthntr]

i have the viper as well and have zero problems with tracking, its been flawless and have hit everything i have shot at out to 1000, minus the squirrel i shot at, at 1010yds, but i was about 2 inches to the side. blew rock chunks in his face

[roninflag]

READY- your groups at a given range will tell you how far you/gun/load are capabale. many of the groups i have seen of other indicate that even 100 or 200 is a stretch. the 30-06 is a great round and the 700 is a great rifle. one of the best ways to practice is to participate the 500 yard matches at either rio salado or phx rod and gun. you learn a lot. i suggest reloading.

[top1eye]

I've shot 308's in the service and out, but I always seems to come back to my 30.06's to the tune of 55 years worth. I have 7 of them, plus a couple 308's and a 7mm mag. I've shot just about all my deer, goats, Elk, Moose, and Bear with the 06!! My favorite is a 165 grain with a spitzer bullet. One Mule deer was dropped at a measured 493 yards, clean up shot for a fool, it was wounded in the reat quarter. One of the Elk's I took at 711 yards. That was because of bad weather coming and frankly, I was tired of trying to get closer. The 7mm mag doesn't have the knock down power of the 06 as far as I'm concerned. The 300's are too punishing, just sold mine, and the 308's don't seem to have as many bullet choice. I use the 06 for 800-1000 yard gopher (prarie dog) shooting, as my friends dogs have gotten wise to shorter shots. As my user name suggests, I was a sniper and prefer to shoot a longer distances. But, I much prefer CLEAN shots. I'm not a trophy hunter, I LIKE MEAT!!! If I have my choice, it's a head shot, neck-spine shot, or at real long distances a heart shot. My own harvests were usually one shot circunstances, except my grizzly...use two to be sure, and I don't like to track. Plus, I think my Dad would rise from his grave to kick my butt if I took a...crummy shot!! Ha, ha!!

 

I've shoot my model 700 in 308 and my 700 in 30.06 in side by side shooting The 06 always seems to hold a tighter pattern. Plus, if you use a 180 to 200 grain bullet it's not effected by crosswinds either. The 308 has always been tough to control in windy conditions. But, all things effect a bullets flight, but side by side, the 06 less than the 308. Even my semi-auto Remington has done well, at least on the first shot anyway. My two 700's both hae over 1000 round through them and their barrles are both in great shape yet as well. For Elk, Moose and Bear 180 to 250 grains bullets a best. For all others, including coyotes, wolves, and puma, the 165 grain is fantastic. So far my longest on the gophers is 1012 yards, a header I think...it was gone!!

[ready2hunt]

That is some fantastic information, thank you for sharing!

[STOMP442]

The 06 will definitely get the job done. For long range work your biggest enemy regardless of caliber will be wind. The 06 will drift about 19 inches at 500 and 92 inches at 1000 with a 168 at 2900fps. A 6.5-06 will drift 13 inches at 500 and 63 inches at 1000 with a 140 at 2950 and also hit with about 200 pounds more energy at 1000 over the 30 cal. If you are going to be serious about long range hunting and be ethical pick a caliber and bullet that will get you there flatter faster and with more energy. Just about any 6.5/260 caliber will out shoot the 30-06 at long range.

[452b264]

You should try a 190 gr. Berger, VLD, and a good scope, such as a Vortex 4x16x50 FFP HSLR then you will have a rock solid 650 yd. elk and big deer rifle. It works well, dont let anyone tell any differrent.

Hey Everyone,

I am curious if anyone has experience with Long Range Shooting using a 30-06 (Long Range being 500+ for me). I am curious if my Remington 700 BDL 30-06 can make effective shots beyond the 500 yard mark and take game (Elk, Deer etc)? Some tell me yes with enough practice, others say no- not ethically unless it is on paper and other people say I need to change the rifle set up altogether if I want to take long distance shooting seriously.

I am no ballistics genius however the math sounds sane enough (and I do not have the funds to build a rifle). Can I get some constructive opinions? Currently I would not pull the trigger on an animal beyond 350-400 yards as

I do not feel confident to make that shot yet. I am using 180 grain bullets right now (factory loaded- Remington and/or Winchester). I am looking to reload my own shortly. Any opinons would be welcome.

[elpepe25]

I've had no issues with mine to 1000, as STOMP said it's slow and gets beaten up by wind. I have a gun that shoots an honest 3/4 moa or slightly better, good but not great. I run a 20 MOA base to get it there. I havn't shot game with it that far by any means. But it is doable.

[murfys69law]

This is GREAT advice everyone. Clearly the common theme (and I whole heartedly agree) is practice.

 

The scope I have right now is a Bushnell DOA 600. I would like to get a Nikon Monarch (opinons?).

 

Agian, this rifle is more for hunting than anything. I feel more comfortable with MOA vs Mil Dot etc. I am still so new to this that I am still trying comprehend the math.

 

I will be going out in a few weeks to set out some trail cams in 6A to get ready for Oct. hunt and will be sighting my rifle in then. Also bought a Hornady Lock N Load Reloader and hope to reload a few to shoot off that at that time.

Get rid of the bushnell. GET A GOOD SCOPE and consider 150 or even 165 grn bullets. It will shoot flatter. My 06 load was 57 grains of 4350 IMR with standard primer and 165 grn BT / It was a tack driver.

[IA Born]

I agree with the consensus that the '06 will get the job done. I have a strong bias towards that round, but I've also done quite a bit of research on it and its original development. It was developed for longer-range use in combat (keeping up with the German 8mm Mausers), specifically in the Springfield 1903s. The development of the round eventually lead to the 176 gr match load sitting on top of 4064 (max or close to max charge). Battle sights on a Springfield 1903 (open sights) are set at 540 yards and soldiers in WWI were picking off Germans across the battlefield at 500-800 yards. Their ladder sights actually allow for much longer shots, but form and accuracy goes out the window quickly with the angle you need to hold the rifle to make a 2000 yard shot! Along with that, the .30-06 was the original open-sight 1000 yard round being fired from both 1903s and M1 Garands with open sights. I've got one of each and I'm fascinated by their capability. I consider myself a good shooter, but those rifles can definitely shoot better than I can shoot them (for now). A good friend of mine (like a 2nd father) was on the Army's National Match team when he got out of Vietnam and used to clean house at competition with a Garand at 1000 yards. There are many more rounds out there today that shoot faster and flatter than the .30-06, but that doesn't mean the .30-06 isn't capable. Admittedly, a human is not an elk, but my point is that, with the right load and practice, the 30-06 is more than capable of killing an elk or deer at 500+ yards.

[Tsiuboy]

I shot a bull at 550 yards with a 30-06 last year we spotted the elk about a mile away we tried to get closer but the only spot we could see get a shot was 550 yards away across a canyon I waited maybe 10 minutes for the shot I had a Nikon bdc scope all I could afford (on a beer budget) but I practiced a lot the bullets were 180 grain rem cor loc it did the job the bull went or slid 20 yards down the mountain the bonus was when we crossed the canyon there was a road in the bottom of the canyon more like a jeep trail so we were able to drag the bull within 75 yards to the road due to the snow break it down and load it in the truck the hardest part was trying to find the road it took us an hour and a half and maybe 5 road combos to find the right road

[ready2hunt]

NICE BULL!!! Thank you for sharing.

 

What did he score?

[Tsiuboy]

i don't remember either 330 or 340 and would have been 340 or 350 if it did not break it fourth tine off i was just meat hunting for the most part but i did shoot the bigger one the other was a 4 or 5 pt so this bull is a 6x7

[roninflag]

If you go to " riflemansjournal " ; German Salazar has done a lot of recent work with the 30-06 in long range shooting. several articles. No question the 30-06 is capable in a good rifle . his rifle started out a remington 700 left hand. even when i was shooting my 6.5-284 he beat me easily.