Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles There is nothing greater than the 30-06 so quit trying

I did an experiment a few years back comparing the .308 Win. with the 30-06. The ammo used for both cartridges was what I had on hand, Winchester brand and both cartridges load with the factory 180 gr. Power Point round nose.

With rifle with 22" barrel there was little difference in velocity, both running 2600 FPS and change. The change being about 40 FPS in favor of the 06. I don't have .308 rifle with longer barrels but did have rifles in 30-06 with 24 and 26" barrels. The only rifle that came even close to advertised 2700 FPS was the Ruger #1B with 6" barrel. I can beat that with h4350 in just about any 06 I own with a 22" barrel.

This made me a bit curious and I've tried to locate some 30-06 factory ammo with the 220 gr. bullet. Did that load actually do the advertised 2400 FPS or was it 100 FPS slower like with the 180 gr. like I found in the test.

Winchester at one point did show a velocity of 2295 FPS in an earlier load pamphlet using W760 for a pressure of 46,900 C.U.P. I easily worked up to 2320 FPS with absolutely no pressure signs and extremely fine accuracy. The best group was .375" and the worst .75" using the 220 gr. Sierra round nose bullet. I don't doubt that I could probably pick up another 200 FPS with that bullet in the 30-06 with careful reloading and some of the newer powders.

This leads to the question, "Has the 30-06 been downloaded somewhat to favor the .308 or has it always been loaded to that lever and velocity measured with 26" barrels?"
Paul B.