My son wants to try hunting long range.he has a remington 700 in 30.06 it has a 26 inch barrel. Any suggestions on a load. He has some 150 gr nosler bits and some 165 nosler bits. Imr 7828 and 4350 power.we have access to a 1000 meter range. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks bill

first question is what is long range for you.

I have shot a lot of 06.

I use a 180grBT for my longer shots in my 06.

Even a 200gr might be better they retain velocity and are more wind resistant.

If you are planning on under 500yards the 150s and 165s will do.

long range 600 yds to 1000 yds is what he says. for me under 400yds.

Its good enough as long as your shooting targets at known range IMO..for live game 300 best and 400 iffy IMO..

If have a scope whose turrets are etched for the load you are using the caliber is somewhat irrelevant. An '06 with a high BC bullet should work fine with matching turrets.

Mark

Im not a long range shooter persae, but my hunting load is a 200 gr Accubond at a tested 2667 fps and its deadly on a standing bull elk at 400 yards with a rest, and under perfect conditions I think I could make a 500 or 600 yard shot, but have never tried that except on a elk target out there on a calm day..

I'm satisfied that 400 is the extreme range for me, and hunters that are good shots, and 300 is a much better limit!! Wounding a fine game animal like an elk is unacceptable IMO..Ive wounded animals and they have escaped me to die a terribly death, its a sickening feeling..

If he wants to really Learn long range shooting then the 30-06 is as good for learning the basics as anything. And it's credentials for killing game are well established.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:

I'm satisfied that 400 is the extreme range for me, and hunters that are good shots, and 300 is a much better limit!! Wounding a fine game animal like an elk is unacceptable IMO..Ive wounded animals and they have escaped me to die a terribly death, its a sickening feeling..

I would like to add a thought to this. At 400 yards the flight time of a bullet (in most hunting calibers) exceeds half a second.

Plenty can go wrong with such a long shot that has nothing to do with the skill of the shooter.

Just my opinion.

I will add that wind is the nemesis of long range shooting to most folks, hold over is a snap..wind where your at and wind at the target is tricky for us hunters, leave that to the well trained and responsible.

Folks are wetting their pants over the the 6.5 Creedmore as a long range wonder caliber. Look at the trajectory of a 500 BC 30-06 180 gr. bullet at 2750 fps compared to the Creedmore with a 140 at about the same velocity. Which do you think will kill better. I'll take the 30-06.

Mark

At long range wind and drop become significant. Drop is predictable, but I would suggest a good rangefinder and a load that is accurate and has a consistent velocity. For wind, high BC bullets and a lot of practice is what I would suggest.

The first thing you should is take your 06 and those Nosler bullets to your 1000 yd range and see what happens. Personally I like to be able to hit a paper plate at the very least at whatever range I intend to shoot animals from.

This thread makes me realize that I have not been keeping up with the .30-06 and its capabilities with the best, most efficient new bullets and best, most efficient new powders.
It's a grand old cartridge.

quote:

Look at the trajectory of a 500 BC 30-06 180 gr. bullet at 2750 fps

I did look and I didn’t find anything that tells me it’s okay to shoot at any game animal at 1000 yards. Misjudge the wind by 5 mph and you miss by four feet. Misjudge the range by 25 yards and you’re about a foot and a half high or low. And that’s assuming a perfect hold, a perfect shot release and a perfect rifle.

First of all, I'm a long range shooter (at least once per week) but I have serious limits on range limits for game!!!!

Second, The "platform" has WAY more to do with "long Range" than the cartridge. Yes, bullet selection and load development helps a ton but it's the rifle itself and scope that makes it a long ranger!!!!!

Case in point, I have 2 rifles with identical chamber (same reamer). One is a light weight sporter with a fancy custom English walnut custom stock and it's a pleasure to carry on a HUNT. I also have a 26" varmint taper in a heavy synthetic stock with a top magnification of 20 power scope with turrets.

Same cartridge. TOTALLY different rifles! Totally different applications!

We should be talking about the long range RIFLE, not the long range CARTRIDGE. Of course, some cartridges are better suited for long range but really it's 87.3% the gun.

There's my 2 cents, for free,
Zeke