The 30-06 is funny: you start off thinking you'll use it here and there, but you end up using it for everything. Because it's so good, it's one of the most widely used cartridges in the world. You can find ammo nearly anywhere, but that ammo might have 220-gr. bullets. Also, if you decide to shoot something really big, you'll want to do it with 220's. 1:12 might work, but 1:10 is the gold standard.


Okie John

577-On my 30 cal pre '64 project I went with a Krieger Chrome-Moly, 4 groove, .300"-.308", 12 twist, standard sporter contour. I had mine finished at 26", but I would go with 24" for an '06. Here is a cut & past from my old thread on 30 cal twists:

First, I was commited to 180 grain bullets because I feel that weight provides a good balance of trajectory, wind drift, terminal performance, consistant accuracy, barrel time, and bullet selection. Second, I had prior experiance shooting long range (out to 1K) with a 12 twist 308 Win. target rifle, and the bulk of that shooting done with 190 grain match bullets. I even shot 200 grain SMK's in that rifle with good results.

In researching the best twist, I had come to the conclusion that the 12 twist is not only adequate for 180's, but is ideal. I think that for shooting 180's, the 12 twist is a little more forgiving than the 10, in that any bullet imbalances or wobbles are not as magnified. It is my personal belief that this is why the 308 out shot the 30-06 in Gov't testing; It was the 308's 12 twist that largely contributed to better overall accuracy when using high volumes of sub-match grade ammo.

here's what midway has in stock almost only 1:10

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse

well that did not work... go to midawyusa.com, then gunparts, by type, rifle blanks, then .30