anyone shoot 30.06 long range?

I shoot a 300 SAUM in 'F' Class Open and a 308 in F-TR using heavy bullets and both are extremely accurate. Recoil for me is not a probelm. Other than the long and thin verses short and fat issues I see no reason that a 30-06 wouldn't be as accurate. In fact, Jerry, German and I have discussed building a match grade heavy barrel 30-06 AI using Lapua brass because I think the Lapua would stand up better than the SAUM brass with heavy loads. I believe that I could get the same velocities as I am running with the SAUM using the AI case. This could be a real winner for "F-Class" Open because it would be a nice balance of recoil, velocity and barrel life. It would also have a very long neck which I believe is a benefit for easy load tuning and long barrel life. Steve
 
30-06 is great. I burnt out a Winchester barrel years ago. I'm just shooting a Win 70 Sporter right now out to 400 meters. I need a better/clearer scope to extend from there.

Don't knock the 168 Sierra's. They do a might fine job as well.

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some good info in this thread, hopefully i can put some of it to use in my future reloads and increase my accuracy. nice to see im not the only one with this out cast of a caliber
 
more trigger time will fix the flinch , please don't hunt with that trigger and if you go to a match they might not let you shoot



I run my timney at 2.5lbs
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

As to the question about the 168, I use them at 300 and 500 yards, but switch to the 190 Sierra or 190 Berger VLD for 600 and 1000 yards. I have a few 200 Sierra and a very few 200 VLD Cauteruccio that I've shot at 1000 and I sure wish I could get more of those 200 VLD's!

I use 4895 or 4064 for the 168, H4350 or H4831sc for the heavier ones.

Just got home from a 500 yard match with the 168's, I managed third place, not too bad as I'm still recovering from rotator cuff surgery. 199-15X, 199-12X, 196-10X. Nothing wrong with that long and not so skinny case!
 
I shoot a 300 SAUM in 'F' Class Open and a 308 in F-TR using heavy bullets and both are extremely accurate. Recoil for me is not a probelm. Other than the long and thin verses short and fat issues I see no reason that a 30-06 wouldn't be as accurate. In fact, Jerry, German and I have discussed building a match grade heavy barrel 30-06 AI using Lapua brass because I think the Lapua would stand up better than the SAUM brass with heavy loads. I believe that I could get the same velocities as I am running with the SAUM using the AI case. This could be a real winner for "F-Class" Open because it would be a nice balance of recoil, velocity and barrel life. It would also have a very long neck which I believe is a benefit for easy load tuning and long barrel life. Steve

Been beating on improved 30-06 cases for a number of years in a couple of formats.

Simple answer is YES, it will work very nicely. The most radical I shot was a 30GIBBS. Didn't have any issues with the shorter neck. This would put case capacity ever so slightly above the RSAUM case.

I built a 7 Mystic which was similar to a 280 improved with the shoulder moved to where it would be on a 7RM case. That was during the time of the "no magnums" in F open. Shot the 180gr Berger VLD's superbly and got lots of speed. Case volume near identical to the RSAUM.

Making it a 30-7 Mystic would give you plenty of case neck. Throat nice and long and you will have no issues with case volume equaling/exceeding the RSAUM case.

H4350 might be a touch on the fast side. Re17 might be ideal. H4831SC would work for sure. Re 25 might be another sleeper for this set up.

With the new Lapua alloy, not sure how much stronger it is going to be vs Win. Win is plenty strong so this project will work either way.

With changes happening with Norma brass, might be the best of the available stuff nowadays.

There are certainly alot of benefits to using a smaller case head brass with no loss in velocity and accuracy.

Sounds like a very interesting project.... maybe time for long skinny to regain in popularity:dancingbanana:

Jerry
 
more trigger time will fix the flinch , please don't hunt with that trigger and if you go to a match they might not let you shoot

I run my timney at 2.5lbs

The brake already ruled out F-Class for that rifle.

I did the same thing last year; put in an 8 oz. Timney Tac because my trigger control was lacking, and that hid it. After some practice I'm debating putting my tuned Rem trigger back in, no safety and no bolt release is a bit of a pain and makes me nervous. That Timney sure is nice though...
 
Not quite understanding your post......:redface:

I think he means that 168s have a reputation of not tolerating dropping trough transonic velocities to subsonic velocity at long range as well as heavier, longer bullets do. For whatever reason, I've shot 168s well beyond 1000 and had round, not elongated holes in the paper. Perhaps higher muzzle velocities and a faster twist barrel results in a more stable bullet as it slows down.
 
Yes, that's what I meant. If you're pushing 168 SMKs faster than 2900 fps then they should stay supersonic past 1000m so you don't need to worry about what might happen when it goes transonic. I had never heard of anyone doing this with a 308.
 
I've never shot 168's past 600, so I can't really comment other than to say that there are definitely better choices for long-range. The 190 Sierra is the best "all-purpose" bullet for target shooting with the .30-06, in my opinion.
 
more trigger time will fix the flinch , please don't hunt with that trigger and if you go to a match they might not let you shoot



I run my timney at 2.5lbs

oh yeah man no plans on hunting with this gun at all or even competing with it. its just a target rifle for my own satisfaction. im buying a rifle just for hunting soon, this thing wont get used for that. ive got close to 1000 rounds down the tube of this rifle, to be honest with you im not sure if i still have any flinch issues with it, i dont notice any with this trigger and ive gotten used to shooting it. it takes a bit of trigger time but once you get used to it its really nice to shoot with
 
I've never shot 168's past 600, so I can't really comment other than to say that there are definitely better choices for long-range. The 190 Sierra is the best "all-purpose" bullet for target shooting with the .30-06, in my opinion.

thanks for providing us with some great info. ive got two boxes of amax 178 gr's coming so ill play with some different powder loads with those as ill have them, but im interested in these sierra bullets, is there a specific 190 gr sierra to get? like the hornady has the amax and vmax for example.
 
Uchi, the Sierra 190 gr. MatchKing and H4350 are the real go-to load for the .30-06. Once you have a good load there in your rifle, you can use it as the basis of comparison for all your other loads in the .30-06.
 
Uchi, the Sierra 190 gr. MatchKing and H4350 are the real go-to load for the .30-06. Once you have a good load there in your rifle, you can use it as the basis of comparison for all your other loads in the .30-06.

excellent thanks for the setup, do you by chance know the minimum and maximum powder loads for that combo? im gonna look for the bullets and powder next time out and grab some and see how they work for me in my gun.
 
Uchi, the Sierra 190 gr. MatchKing and H4350 are the real go-to load for the .30-06. Once you have a good load there in your rifle, you can use it as the basis of comparison for all your other loads in the .30-06.

I have always been curious about this, is there a reason you like to shoot "old school" bullets? I notice you look to shoot matchkings and the D46 rather than shooting vld's and the new hybrids, or atleast that is what you make alot of comparison's on your website (which I check up on for new updates fairly often).
 
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