30-06 balistics question

skneub

skneub

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Was Tween Digby and Yarmouth .....Escaped back hom
I should search ..but im tired and wish to know.
Dad alwase said sight 25yards dead on is also dead on at 200 yards with 180 grain.
now i know this is aprox...and theres a lot more info you need.
but i fired a couple at 445 yards with my rifle and my boys identical rifle
both came in about 2 feet low and 10-12 inches right.
2 diffrent days same result with mine..so it aint windage.
reason for asking is ..we got cow elk draws and sometimes its a long shot...
I guess the question is ..is 24 low sounding right for federal blue box 180s ?
It should be dead on at 200 yards.
Sighted with this ammo as well


Omg my mosin with milsurp was impressive at that range lol
 
25 yards should be about an inch low give or take.

Was a long time ago I shot at 25 yards but I do believe it should be low.

Cannot compare one rifle to another, sight them in for 200 and then go practice your holdovers and range estimation.
 
Far too many variables to make an absolute statement.
The "right on at 25Y, and again at 200Y" is a rough rule of thumb to get you on the paper.
 
Do yourself and the elk a favour and try it at 2 and 4 hundred before you go so you know for sure.

And fed blue box for elk at 400....not the best choice.
 
The 25 yard shooting is only so you will get on the paper at 100 yards.
The 30-06 should be sighted about 3 inches high at 100 yards. I'm just going by memory and experience, but that should put you right on or a bit high, at two hundred and if your bullets are travelling the speed a 30-06 was designed for, 2,700 fps with 180 grain bullets, I'm guessing, they will be between three and four feet low at 445 yards. Check a ballistic chart.
But here is the stickler. Factory loads will likely leave the muzzle closer to 2,500 than 2,700 fps. Big difference.
And the handloading charts are often even worse. There are "maximum" loadings given on reloading charts that will give a 30-06 180 grain bullet less than 2500 fps. I chronographed one "maximum" load that gave me agout 2,450 fps.
And if that isn't bad enough, everytime the subject of working up hunting loads come up on CGN, a whole chorus of followers tell the OP to not worry about top velocity, just get the most accurate load, even if it is well below "maximum" load as shown in the book.
So brother, there is only one way you are going to know where your bullets hit at 445 yards. Sight in so it is about 3 inches high at 100, then go back to 445 and see how much they drop.
(Use a big back stop, and place your aiming mark at the top of it.)
 
H4831 said:
The 25 yard shooting is only so you will get on the paper at 100 yards.
The 30-06 should be sighted about 3 inches high at 100 yards. I'm just going by memory and experience, but that should put you right on or a bit high, at two hundred and if your bullets are travelling the speed a 30-06 was designed for, 2,700 fps with 180 grain bullets, I'm guessing, they will be between three and four feet low at 445 yards. Check a ballistic chart.
But here is the stickler. Factory loads will likely leave the muzzle closer to 2,500 than 2,700 fps. Big difference.
And the handloading charts are often even worse. There are "maximum" loadings given on reloading charts that will give a 30-06 180 grain bullet less than 2500 fps. I chronographed one "maximum" load that gave me agout 2,450 fps.
And if that isn't bad enough, everytime the subject of working up hunting loads come up on CGN, a whole chorus of followers tell the OP to not worry about top velocity, just get the most accurate load, even if it is well below "maximum" load as shown in the book.
So brother, there is only one way you are going to know where your bullets hit at 445 yards. Sight in so it is about 3 inches high at 100, then go back to 445 and see how much they drop.
(Use a big back stop, and place your aiming mark at the top of it.)
Click to expand...
Yep been takeing a few shots, got a cheep rangefinder this year .
thats how i know roughly how far we were shooting.
Picked up a red hardhat and set on the side of a pile of 3/4 crush ...with the light snow on it , impact point was easy to see.
Normaly we hunt moose elk and deer...but due to no moose tags(we have seen bull moose out my a$$) this year ..go figure lol
great distance is usualy not a factor with moose that i see.
I think i checked my boys at 100 to be 6 inches high.
I can see a bunch of shootin going on ..a little here an there and a lot next summer.
I have passed up shots before due to distance on cow elk, and i would like to be able to take these shots with good results...can you say learning curve ?

Thanks for the replys guys
 
Drillbit said:
Do yourself and the elk a favour and try it at 2 and 4 hundred before you go so you know for sure.

And fed blue box for elk at 400....not the best choice.
Click to expand...

I agree to the point that I don't even bring that stuff home any more for any reason. But, just yesterday, my buddy was shooting Hornady ammo in his old 303 Jungle Carbine and it wouldn't group worth a darn, he then tried the blue box crap, and wow, what a change for the better! :confused:
 
Have used Federal blue for years.Its not what you like,its what your gun likes.Good to reload,instead of buying brass.Works for me.
 
I didn't mean the Blue Box ammo is no good, there's nothing wrong with it.

I meant the Bullet loaded in that ammo is not the best for elk and I would use a tougher bonded or copper bullet. Especially shooting elk at long ranges.

Those od style bullets worked for years, and there's nothing wrong with them, but there are better options out there now.
 
I was taken to task a while back for slagging Federal Blue Box ammo, so I shot some across the chronograph just to see how consistent it was. I was impressed, 20 rounds with single digit deviation averaging somewhere around 2650 (.30/06 180). That compares favorably with Lapua .308 167 gr match! The powder charges of the rounds I pulled and the individual components I weighed were very consistent, but I don't recall what, if any, measurable differences there were, and I can't find my notes. Accuracy proved pretty good from my hunting rifle. Where Federal does fall down IMHO, is in the hardness of their case heads; Federal primer pockets expand far too readily for my tastes.
 
Blue box 150s are very popular for culling donkeys and horses in Australia. I shot some over the chronograph at home when I was still thinking that I'd need a factory load at that end. 2950 fps, regular as clockwork. For fun some of the 7mm Rem fan boys would get a rude awakening if they clocked their factory and handloads.
 
Dogleg said:
Blue box 150s are very popular for culling donkeys and horses in Australia. I shot some over the chronograph at home when I was still thinking that I'd need a factory load at that end. 2950 fps, regular as clockwork. For fun some of the 7mm Rem fan boys would get a rude awakening if they clocked their factory and handloads.
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention it. I'm not a fan of Fed blue box or the 7MM Rem Mag, but I did Chrono some for a buddy of mine through his new rifle and the were 2840 fps for 175 gr. Just 20 FPS under the numbers posted on the box. The gun was new to him and was being shot for the first time and didn't group woth a SH*t, but I can't say it was the ammo's fault. At any rate I personally would not shoot cup and core bullets at elk and moose even if it's out of a larger calibre. It kind of defeats the purpose of gunning up. I shoot 210gr Partitions out of my 338 Win for the big critters.

George
 
Drillbit said:
I didn't mean the Blue Box ammo is no good, there's nothing wrong with it.

I meant the Bullet loaded in that ammo is not the best for elk and I would use a tougher bonded or copper bullet. Especially shooting elk at long ranges.

Those od style bullets worked for years, and there's nothing wrong with them, but there are better options out there now.
Click to expand...
Some of the windchester had info on it ...but hollowpoint ?? Thinking thats a poor choice lol
Please feel free to elaberate .
I was thinking about getting another mag ...if i can find one.
and loading it with a lighter bullet weight for longer range, of corse i cant find one so another thought is the lighter being the last 2 in the mag
looked at some remington 165 and 150s last night .
But no balistic charts on the boxes :-(
Figured diffrent brand so i could tell them apart...but they also make black jiffy markers every day ;-)
 
Use whatever ammo you wish too. Some will perform differently than others. The bottom line is to sight in with the same ammo.

Now for the sighting in. I use the 25 yard target to get me onto paper at 100. Once happy, I will move to the 200...etc. For the 400 yard shot, you should go to the several of the ballistics calculators online to get an estimate of your bullet drop. I bought some Blue Box ammo for my 30-30 and it actually has the ballistics printed on the back. Maybe the same is true for the 30-06.

I see you are in Alberta. So if your range does not have 400 yards, here is another trick. The distance between a quarter section (fence to fence) is about 875 yards. The distance between will be about 425 yards. Close enough. If you know some rural folks - google earth will be your friend - find their location and check out the area for the distictive square markings and then test your rifle against the ballistics of the cartridge and target.
 
Yes there is a chart..starts at 0 being 100 yards though lol

Im the clown out in the bush makeing all that noise.. theres an abandoned pit at one end of a place we hunt ;-)
With my new cheepo rangefinder i been checking out distance all over where i hunt.
sighted with the same ammo im useing...Im also the same clown that went and bought all the fed bluebox 180s Canuk tire had here in gp lol
so we will not run out while we learn our holdovers

But im open to new ideas as well ;-)
 
Federal has a ballistics calculator on their website that might be helpful for you. Hornady has one as well. It gives you roughly what the point of impact should be at different ranges. I am not talking about the trajectory charts but the calculators where you control the input information. You can even factor in the wind and scope height. I find these to be helpful as a rough guide for sighting in rifles if you are unsure where point of impact should be. See here:

http://www.federalpremium.com/resources/ballistics_application.aspx

http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator
 
I reload mine, so I am totally biased when it comes to the store bought stuff. My rifle really preforms well with the Nosler 165 gr partitions - again - handloaded.

Did some checking - all 165 gr

Fusion - $24.00
Fed Red - $37.00
Fed Red Vital Shok - Sierra Game King - $30.00, Hornady - $37.00, Nosler Partitions - $37.00, Nosler Ballistic Tips - $34.00
Hornady - Interbond - $37.00, SST - $32.00
Remington Core Lokt PSP - $20.00
Winchester Silver tipps - 168 gr - $40.00
 
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