The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading .30-06 reloading question from a newbGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| .30-06 reloading question from a newb | Login/Join |
One of Us |
OK, I've been trying to find some online ballistics info on this issue, but thought I'd ask here as well. I'm preparing for my first African plains game hunt. Got my new Tikka Whitetail Hunter .30-06 rifle. Took it to the range today with a Zeiss 3-9x40 scope and some Greek surplus 150 grain FMJ ammo. I sighted in at 25 yards and was touching all the holes. Dead center. At 50 yards, I was about 1.5 inches high, but clustered with a perfectly centered group of about .4" At 100 yards I was 3 inches high, but again very nicely centered. I will be using 180gr. handloads (Nosler Partition and Barnes XXX) for the animals. I have yet to load them. Given the above info, should I expect to be back dead center at 200 yards with the 150 grain ammo? If I sighted in with the 180 grain at 25 yards, would I be dead center again at 200 yards? What SHOULD I be hitting (high high) at 50 and 100 yards with either the 150 or the 180 grain? Thanks! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt | ||
|
one of us |
The very best way to tell is work up your load of preference, then shoot THAT load at 50, 100, 150, and 200 yards. Otherwise, we are just guessing. What "SHOULD" happen is irrelevant. What DOES happen is up to you with a little range time. It's always nice to check where you exact bullet impact is at different ranges. Good Luck in Africa! Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns | |||
|
one of us |
John, The Hornady load manuals have complete ballistics section that can give you all the information you need. The thing is you have to know the speed that your load will produce with the 180gr bullet and the load you work up. The following is for 180gr spire point flat base bullets. If your loads produce a muzzle velocity of 2600fps, trajectories should work out as follows; 50yds -1.5", 100yds +2.3", 200yds +0.0, 300yds. -9.5", 400yds. -27.5", 500yds. -55.9". You are going to want to be able to run the loads over a chrony to get as exact a velocity as possible. The alternative is to find a range where you can shoot at a number of different distances like Doc suggested. This is really the best method as it lets you see exactly what your rifle and ammo combination will do. ******************************************************* For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction. | |||
|
One of Us |
....better than that, it allows one to visualize the range and the picture in the scope (sights) and that visual information will follow you into the hunting environment.....it'll make you far more sure of the point of aim when the time comes. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
|
| One of Us |
Thanks - I kinda figured that I would have to actually use the loads I'll be hunting with. Right now though all I have are the 150 grain rounds. I'll try and find a ballistic chart for that somewhere. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt | |||
|
One of Us |
Go to www.huntingnut.com/pointblank.html and download their free ballistics software. With just a little playing and practice you can tweak the charts to find estimated drop at different distances and estimate your trajectories. The database has different bullets and weights to make working up estimates easy as well. "Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult." | |||
|
One of Us |
John, Most standard bottled neck cartridges such as 6.55x55, 270 Win, 7x57, 7mm-08, 280 remington, 308 win, 30-06, 8x57, etc all have about the same trajectory from 25-250 yds when zeroed for 2" high at 100 yds. Range Drop Wind Lead (yds) (+/-in) 50 0.8 75 1.5 100 1.9 150 1.7 200 0 250 -3.2 Everyone of the above cartridges is going to be within 1/2 an inch of the trajectory above. Under field shooting conditions you cannot hold with in a 1/2 inch of error. Additionally, 225 yds is a long shot in the african bush. My very stong suggestion would be to forget the ballitic charts. Zero the greek ammo at 2" high at 100 yds. and... 1) practice shooting off of sticks and hitting a six inch pie play at 100 yds. When your 10 for 10. Move it to 150 yds. when you are 10/10 move it to 200 yds. When you get your reloading done and pick your load...re zero for that load at 2" high at 100 and keep practicing. Benchrest groups, ballistic charts, and chonrographs impress friends...practicing under field conditions bags animals... Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Excellent advice and suggestions, Mike. Thank you. I honestly am beginning to think that after sighting in at the bench, I should stop using regular targets and just use pie plates. I think people (me especially) get so bent out of shape tyring to be an "uber-Tom Berringer-Sniper" and feel that all our rounds must touch at 500 yards that we start questioning our skill, spending too much time before taking shots, get frustrated, etc. As long as I can hit anywhere on a 6" pie plate at 100-200 yards, I should be happy.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt | |||
|
| one of us |
Every barrel is a world unto itself. Some barrels give you same POI with different loads some put the group here there or somewhere else just because. Work up your loads and zero for them. Then do as told above with pie plates above good advice. "D" Although cartridge selection is important there is nothing that will substitute for proper first shot placement. Good hunting, "D" | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading .30-06 reloading question from a newb
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia