Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 22 inch barrel in 30-06 for long range?

My barrel on the Ruger Hawkeye is 22 inch's. I am shooting 150 grain TTSX's through it right now.

I planned on taking it out to Montana or Wyoming for cow elk hunting next year, and I was wondering if my rig would suffice for the long ranges Wyoming or Montana might present to me.

Would I lose any accuracy at 600 yards with a shorter barrel versus a 26 inch barrel?

Winnie1300

What type of groups does it shoot at 600 yds?

And how are you scoped?

Dober

(side note, a 22" barrel is more than capable if the gun and shooter are up to it..)

I would be more concerned with practicing alot at many ranges than the velocity loss of the shorter barrel.You have plenty of gun and a good bullet choice so now go practice and kill something!!

The scope on the rifle right is a little underpowered. It is a 1.75-6 by 32. I planned on buying a higher powered scope for my hunt.

6X would be enough power.

What you really need if you don't have it already is a laser rangefinder, and an elevation turret. Then plenty of practice out to distances you think you may hunt.

MontanaMarine

I was also planning on buying a laser range finder as well.

I was just thinking I might be more comfortable with a higher power like a 12 or even a 16.

..........Your 30-06 has no real handicap with a 22" barrel. If it were a 26" barrel, then you might gain 80 up to maybe 120 fps in total. Realistically, that`s no big gain in terms of hardly any downrange advantage.

The things you need to concentrate on, is getting plenty long range shooting practice and chronographing your loads in order to know what your bullet trajectories are. More confidence makes a big difference.

As a tip, go to the Hornady site and use their external ballistics table, fill in the blanks and compare your 150 Barnes to a 180 Barnes for some downrange comparisons.

If it were me, and although slower from the muzzle, I`d be more inclined using a heavier bullet than a 150 gr for longer ranges on elk. It`s not so much the speed out of the muzzle that matters, it`s the downrange #s that matter more.

6x magnification is fine for 600-700 yd kills on elk.

And when you plan and practice for that long shot, that`s always when it seems, the 40 to 150 yard gift shots show themselves.

Cartridge is fine, 22"'barrel is fine as long as it shoots.

Your bullet isn't so good for 600 yards though. Use the 168 TTSX or a 180 Accubond instead.

Scope... I've not shot a 6x at 600 yards... I've shot a Leup 2.5-8 a bunch that far though. It works.

Unless you are rich and can afford a Swaro Z6 or the like, I'd say forget a scope with 12x or 16x on the top end; it'll compromise the lower end, 3x-4x, which is arguably more important.

Here's how I'm running my 22" 30-06 to great effect out to 600 yards. 3-9 Conquest, $369 shipped from Doug, running the little stock turret, which is totally usable, in Talley LW's. Great setup from 6 yards to 600, cheap, works, done.

Cartridge is fine, 22"'barrel is fine as long as it shoots.

Your bullet isn't so good for 600 yards though. Use the 168 TTSX or a 180 Accubond instead. Or, the 200-gn Accubond at 2700 fps with RL17 is best of all if it'll shoot for you, near to far. Remember, drop is easy, wind is hard. If you really want to be able to shoot 600 yards, forget "flatness", that's fool's gold. Look for accuracy and best possible wind drift with a bullet that'll also work close. Hence the 200-gn Accubond if it'll shoot at a decent speed for you. I got to 2700 fps in my 22" '06 FWIW...

Scope... I've not shot a 6x at 600 yards... I've shot a Leup 2.5-8 a bunch that far though. It works.

Unless you are rich and can afford a Swaro Z6 or the like, I'd say forget a scope with 12x or 16x on the top end; it'll compromise (or not even have!) the lower end, 3x-4x, which is arguably more important.

Here's how I'm running my 22" 30-06 to great effect out to 600 yards. 3-9 Conquest, $369 shipped from Doug, running the little stock turret, which is totally usable, in Talley LW's. Great setup from 6 yards to 600, cheap, works, done. Shoot this rig all the time. I run the 165-gn NBT usually, for cost and convenience sake. That about duplicates the 168 TTSX flight ballistics. It's workable if not ideal at 600... at 450, 500 it's great.

600 yds is right about where things get wierd. You truly want to shoot game at 600 yds- get your gear in order and start practicing. There are many hundreds of rounds in your future this summer- at best!

Ive got a 22" barrel on my Model 70, Burris FF 3-9 shooting 168 A-Max & MKs shooting out to 300yds getting about 2700fps @muzzle, it usually shoots under MOA at that range, I too would stick with a bit heavier bullet than a 150 out to 600, but if youre shooting a good bullet like a 150Interbond and alike you should have no issues and if you can hold a 10" group at 600. I plan on trying a 600 yard shoot next month, curious to see how my rifles and I do.

My set up is pushing 3000 at the muzzle.

I plan on taking it out Thursday and shooting a group or at least hit the target with it at 600 yards.

I have used a 22-250 at 700 yards but that was with a high powered scope and set up on a porch. Not with a lower power scope off a pack or bi pod.

I've been pushing the 200 grain Nosler partition for about 50 years now. Your 22 inch barrel, a NP going 25-2600 fps and a 4 0r 6 power scope will work fine if you practice a little and learn the drop tables and how to judge the distance.

It will also work fine on that 30 yard "gift shot" which occurs more than one would think.

Wayne

High power scopes are cool, and can help you see mirage that a lower power one wouldn't, but out to 600 yds I've had very good luck with scopes topping out at 8x, 9x, 10x... since most of my rifles are regular hunting guns that I shoot at LR with, I much prefer to learn to use a regular, rather than specialty, scope.

There's some focus on group size here, and that's important as far as it goes. Just remember that the good group needs to be where you want it to be right? That's where your lower-BC bullet choice will be maybe problematic. Those 150's will be very much affected by wind.

I predict that you'll find your load to be quite usable out to about 450, maybe 500 yds. I predict that extensive shooting will show you that the load kind of "falls apart" in terms of actual hits on target, past 500 yds. That's been my experience anyway. There's a point where shooter error, rifle inaccuracies, and the gorilla in the closet that is wind movement combine to tell you that you've hit your practical limit with a given setup (again, in a hunting context- IE, reliable first-shot hits). I predict you'll see that around 450, 500 with that 150 TTSX. Let me know if I'm right or wrong.

For lots of info on the 30/06 Springfield try riflemansjournal.blogspot.com.

The downside of shooting a light barrel is the long wait time after a few shots and the barrel is hot. Cold weather is almost essential to get any shooting in.

Do not change a thing - put the money into cartridges.

Shoot from fieldpositions. Determine your and your equipments limits.

Most likely yours are much lower than the rifles.

Before you can match that - meaning, a miss is the rifles fault, not a thing need be changed.

Nobody can buy experience. (Stickism)

I will bet you that if you kill a cow elk 95% of the time it will be under 300 yards. If the elk is farther than 300 yards try getting closer, it is called hunting not shooting.

You are good with both. Figure out your trajectory, find an accurate load, practice.

Many have had a successful hunt with lesser of a set up. Practice, practice and practice some more. Then go hunting, enjoy yourself, take pictures and then tell us about it.

You have a very nice rifle. The setup is fine, all you need is more range time. You will become more proficient with it. It you give your gun a chance it will make you most happy.

Hope you are having a nice summer.

Take care.

I'm thinking that to take a cow elk, you're not going to have to shoot anywhere near 500 or 600 yards.

Seems you've got a great general-purpose rifle & scope. Be in decent shape, be prepared to make a good shot at "normal" shooting ranges from field conditions. You'll have a freezer full of elk meat and a great story to tell.

Regards, Guy