Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 3000 FPS with 180 g. 30-06

3k with a 180 out of an '06......sounds like a death wish.

Tony

will the 06 case hold that much powder?

Easiest way to get 180-gr at 3,000 FPS out of a .30-06 is to trade it on a .300 Win Mag.

Yeah, just fill it up with Blue Dot . . . . . . <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

(Note that was tongue-in-cheek, blue dot would likely make that rifle into a grenade)

BMT

Sure, it will hold 58grs. of Bullseye. Could make for some very interesting range sessions you you and innocent bystanders.

[color:"red"] PLEASE DO NOT USE BLUE DOT IN THE .30-06! REPEAT: NO BLUE DOT! [/color]

Mine is not an -06 (30-378 Accumark) and I was pushing 180's at just shy of 3500. Please note the "was" part. That was with 120 grains of H870 powder settled on with a over winter cold weather work up. Eventually went out to check things for an elk hunt in unseasonably warm 90 degree weather, and surpise, there was some difficulty opening the bolt. With no time for load reworking, I simply pulled bullets, dropped to 118 grains, and pressure signs went away. Velocity also dropped to just under 3,100 and I'm still burning quite a bit of powder. When time allows, I will try working back up to maybe a 119 grain load. I'd be willing bet at least 1 paycheck that one is leaning over the the edge a bit to habitually exceed 3000 with 180's in an 06. I would stay well behind and slightly left of "another shooter" if you're at the range together.

I seem to recall that Flinch recorded something like 3043 fps. with 180 gr. Nosler out of his 27 inch barreled custom '06. He was shooting Federal High Energy ammo which uses special loading techniques to get enough slow burning powder into the case. Handloaders who have pulled the bullets from such loads have reported that they can't get the powder back into the case even with long drop tubes.
I'm tempted to build a 26 inch '06. Maybe some fancy, slow burning powder like one of the Ramshot line might do something like 2900 fps., then again, maybe not.
What I've learned over the years is 150 fps. or even more, will make very little difference. The very best it might do is give your choice of bullets a little more expansion range way out there. Since we have some excellent bullet that expand at pretty low impact velocities, I don't think even that small advantage is worth much. I'd much rather have very accurate, very consistant ammo for that "way out there" shooting. E

I have a 30-inch barrel pre-64 Winchester .30-06 target rifle which gets respectable relocities out of 155-gr Palma, 168-gr SMK, and the 180s and 190s. I don't see the need to try to push any of them to an extra 100 or 200 fps, because it makes no real difference in the ability to hit a target at long range, and the cost is reduced accuracy, more recoil and more wear and tear on the rifle.

[Quote] by Eremicus
I seem to recall that Flinch recorded something like 3043 fps. with 180 gr. Nosler out of his 27 inch barreled custom '06 [Quote]

I have also gotten 3000 fps with the Federal High Energy 180 grain Load in my 26 3/4" krieger barreled 30-06 as I posted ealier, but not with the Hornady Light magnum load.....

Edited to add: thier is NO HANDLOAD that can produce 3000 fps in the 30-06 SAFELY...........

I think all too often when speaking of cartridges and handloads, rifle loonies fail to ask the question why? Exactly what will a .30-06 do for you at 3000fps that it won�t do for you at 2800? If all you�re doing is target shooting, it may give you a slight edge on the range, but if this is for hunting, there is no edge.

.30-06/3000fps, won�t let you shoot farther, nor will it suddenly put you into another class of cartridge that allows you to kill something better or bigger. Personally, in the hunting fields, I don�t see enough difference between the .30-06 and the .300 Win Mag to justify the extra blast and recoil. Again, it won�t let me kill bigger game, and I�m still not going to take a shot much beyond 300 yards (but others might).

200 fps is like being 80 yards closer. The farther away your are, the easier it is to stalk another 80 yards closer - and a lot easier for most people than making a shot over 250 yards long.

I can barely do that with a 150 gr.....

Kevin-
The appeal of 3000 fps is what JB dubbed "pursuit of all those zeroes" in an article published about a year ago, and discussed in a couple of threads on this forum.

"I've got more zeroes than you do" is the loonies' version of "mine is/are bigger than yours". I suspect the European loonies strain brass and steel in an attempt to get 1000 meters/second.
--Bob

I read the same article, when i saw that it only proved one thing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" /> In the same issue another pretty well known writer expounded on how a shock wave in front of the bullet will blow a two inch exit hole- with the bullet trapped beneath the hide???? Thats the last time i buy rifle shooter <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Since the shock wave sits only about 1/100 of an inch ahead of the nose of the bullet, is disrupted on impact, and a bullet coming to rest has no shock wave even in still air, that article does fall into the category of "Wild Ass Theories".

What it looks like

http://home.snafu.de/l.moeller/Waffen/Steyr-Luxus-Schrott.htm

I can just get the job done with a 26 338-06 AI... And that is mainly due to a larger area to push and more powder.
Go for 3100fps, send me the film, it should be interesting...

I sense the Darwin Award meter rising...

and here I am still shooting factory Core-lokts at whitetails. I don't even know how fast they go. Still, they kill deer year in and year out.

2600 fps impact velocity is a good place to be on any big game.