30-06 for long range elk moose

[shooter12]

Hello guys!
Was wondering if anyone had experience using 30-06 to bring down big animals like elk and moose at extended ranges.
By extended I mean 600-1000 yards .
What bullets did you use ?
What was your scope ?
I am familiar with 300 mags performance well enough .

But what about 30-06?
Is it up to the task or I should throw it out of my head and go back to 300 mags?

Thanks in advance.
S12

[Smokinyotes]

Do you regularly shoot the 30-06 out to a 1000 yards?

[Kurt505]

I think it's possible, but I think there are better calibers for an 06' case.

If you're going to use a 30 caliber in an 06' case I'd suggest going with a high BC bullet to deliver as much energy down range as possible, something in the 200-220 grain area.

If 600-1000yds is going to be the norm and not the acception, I'd stick to magnums. Jmho.

[dogslayer403]

178g eld-x good balance between BC and velocity and it will get you there probably a better choice in the 06 case over the 200+g save them for the magnums

[abbgdr]

As great as the '06 is, it really isn't in the conversation when it comes to a designated long range elk and moose round. The 340 Weatherby has been king of that hill since the 60's.. of course now days it shares that title with several other 338 "ultra' magnums

[Homesteader]

I doubt anyone has experience with bringing down big animals at 600+ with an 06. Hardly anyone will have experience with far better cartridge choices. I've done a bit of shooting at these distances, and I've learned one thing, I'd never attempt a shot on a game animal at those distances. YMMV, good luck, and choose a better round.

[DiabeticKripple]

Wouldn’t it be a more ethical choice to try and get closer? If you can shoot accurately that far then fine, but lots of guys don’t have that capability.

[Dubious]

What a tuff question hitting the nerves of fair chase and hunting ethics, the thing of it is is this 30-06 up to the task and do you have the equipment and the experience to make a first round kill hit at 1000 yards. 1000 yards is a long ways and if you do have the experience and the equipment to make that shot in varying wind conditions and elevation then you won’t be using a 06 as there’s are many calibers better suited to delivering 1000ftlbs of energy some people say is the minimum for big game at extended ranges. I’ve custom built my 300 wm for long range shots and the truth of it is since I did I haven taken any game more than 150 m but my long range game on paper targets is really good. If your sitting on a 300 I would pick that up and forget about the 06 it’s the better choice of the 2. If your not sitting on a wm I would look at different calibers as there are far better choices for delivering energy at those ranges.

[Ken3134]

Is this something you really expect to try out? The odds of being able to compensate for the bullet drop and wind on a target that far, and accurately hit a vital area is beyond low.

[Andrzej]

688 yards cow Elk 243 winch...Why not 30-06 ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18

[Ken3134]

Originally Posted by Andrzej

688 yards cow Elk 243 winch...Why not 30-06 ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18

There is also a guy on YouTube who killed a grizzly bear with a slingshot. He sells them as well.

[shooter12]

I hear you dogslayer403 about 178 eldx.
And I know that there are better choices Kurt 505.

Homesteder please don't brake my hope
It should be some one here who did it , and I really want to know how it was done with 30-06 and what to expect in the field

[spoiledsaskhunter]

Originally Posted by Andrzej

688 yards cow Elk 243 winch...Why not 30-06 ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18

look at the way the wind is blowing her vest in that elk shot......would anyone here try that shot in the wind and say they really thought they could pull it off?.....guess even a blind pig finds a mushroom once in a while.

[abbgdr]

Ya,, 600-1000 yd shots on game is a bit of a fools game unless you've spent a bunch of money on the tools and the training to be able to read the conditions and can make clean kill shots every time,, otherwise you better plan on getting good at tracking wounded game,, or making excuses

[shooter12]

Sorry , forget to mention that practicing at those distances is not un issue.
Interested in the real field results..

[CMichaud]

FWIW...from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longes...d_sniper_kills

The science of long-range sniping came to fruition in the Vietnam War. Carlos Hathcock held the record from 1967 to 2002 at 2,286 m (2,500 yd). He recorded 93 official kills. After returning to the U.S., Hathcock helped to establish the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School at Quantico, Virginia

While not on the list due to the range being less than the minimum distance used to compile it, Hathcock's second-longest confirmed kill was 1200 yards (1097 m) using a "standard" USMC sniper rifle chambered in .30-06 Springfield. At the time of Hathcock's service, snipers had essentially been eliminated from the USMC, and its sniper rifles were a hodgepodge mix of commercial Remington 700 and Winchester Model 70 rifles chambered for multiple cartridges. The major challenge for Hathcock and other scout-snipers was improving the performance and reliability of their rifles and ammunition.

[abbgdr]

If your sold on using the '06 take the time to dial it in and report back on how it goes,, I'm sure it can be done even though it begs the question why when there are so many better options. Probably best not to expect to get spine shoots every time like the gal with the 243

[petew]

if you can't get closer than 1000 yards fishing might be a better hobby.

[260 Rem]

The long range question is just math...so any 30 caliber bullet with sufficient energy and composition will be adequate regardless of whether it leaves the muzzle of a 30-06 or 300 WM...assuming proper placement.
I suspect those answering the question posed in the OP with personal experience will be limited to bang-flop kills, and may come up a bit short on the “gut shot mine at 800 yards, good blood trail, found him a day later about 2Kms from where I hit him....”

[shooter12]

The long range question is just math...so any 30 caliber bullet with sufficient energy and composition will be adequate regardless of whether it leaves the muzzle of a 30-06 or 300 WM...assuming proper placement.

I think exactly the same way.

[addictedfisherman]

I've done lots of long range shooting and the 30-06 will shoot out to 1000 yds without an issue. Here's where it gets tricky, lets say you have a reliably accurate rifle that will shoot 1 Minute of angle every time you hit the range. That's 1.047" at 100yds. If we extrapolate that to 1000 yards the best your rifle can do is 10.47" group. Now that wont account for wind changes, humidity or elevation changes or any one of the dozen factors that affect the shooter, ammunition, rifle and bullet.

It is 100% possible to luck into a clean kill shot at that distance. The odds however are stacked against you. Do some shooting see if you can hit consistently at the distances you want to hunt and make up your own mind.

As for bullet choice you will want something that has a high B.C. and still comes out at a decent speed. play around with trajectory calculators to see which combination of weight and BC will give you the most usable cartridge.

Good luck.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I think it's possible, but I think there are better calibers for an 06' case.

If you're going to use a 30 caliber in an 06' case I'd suggest going with a high BC bullet to deliver as much energy down range as possible, something in the 200-220 grain area.

If 600-1000yds is going to be the norm and not the acception, I'd stick to magnums. Jmho.

I'd take that 06 for a walk and get closer, close the gap to 300yards and send a 165gr pill...to the Op I would seriously look into this type of hunting and understand that they never show the misses, wounded animals etc, carry a magnum yabadaba dooo rifle cartridge but close the gap...I have sat too many a time to here shots in the distance just to see a animal and a leg flopping running.
Chatted with a group once and man the shooter had a set up, bipod, huge scope with knobs all over the place, long barrel and during the conversation he mentions ranged 670, shot in front, adjusted, leg shot...my response was with this type of terrain and the wind direction you could have closed the gap to 100 yards...hunting or shooting?

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by CMichaud

FWIW...from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longes...d_sniper_kills

The science of long-range sniping came to fruition in the Vietnam War. Carlos Hathcock held the record from 1967 to 2002 at 2,286 m (2,500 yd). He recorded 93 official kills. After returning to the U.S., Hathcock helped to establish the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School at Quantico, Virginia

While not on the list due to the range being less than the minimum distance used to compile it, Hathcock's second-longest confirmed kill was 1200 yards (1097 m) using a "standard" USMC sniper rifle chambered in .30-06 Springfield. At the time of Hathcock's service, snipers had essentially been eliminated from the USMC, and its sniper rifles were a hodgepodge mix of commercial Remington 700 and Winchester Model 70 rifles chambered for multiple cartridges. The major challenge for Hathcock and other scout-snipers was improving the performance and reliability of their rifles and ammunition.

And if you hit the enemy in the shin who cared, takes a minimum of one other soldier to drag the wounded around and others to take care of him. For all the kill shots as the distance opened the misses and wounded enemy soldiers spiked but like I said who cares...game animals deserve a clean humane one shot kill.

[cody j]

That 2500 yd shot was actually done with a 50 cal machine gun with a scope mounted on it.

[pat brennan]

Can it be done, answer is yes. Should it be done, ethical answer is no (stunt shooters aside). A person might be capable if they are an accomplished F class shooter (or equivalent) and have the specialized equipment to do it, but the animal deserves much better than quite possibly/probably a marginal hit at extended range.

[Don_Parsons]

Anything is possible with most legal to harvest cartrages.

I agree that we never get to see the wounded critter shots that elude the capture of the harvester as they either suffer a disabilitating injury for as long as they are alive or parish some time after that. Of course this is only a thought of what could play out. The other end of the spectrum is that the harvest is successful.

Can a 30/06 reach out to harvest at distance, yes.
Is the rifle, intended cartrage up for the task, along with the shooter.

What's at play, and all the variables that "could" play out in this.

One might get good groups down range off the shooting bench, pron, or free hand at X distance,,, would this play out the same in field.

Lots to consider I'm thinking, but each to their own.

Many of us know our limits, and each of us benefit with how we "choose" to go after our pray.

Sorry I couldn't give you a strait up call on if it can be done or could be.

The "if and could" are 2 different categories, we would know at that moment once the trigger is pulled in what order we might want to place them.

I'm Harvesting game this year with a 30/06.
The rifle and cartrage have their limits along with me the shooter.
I say this in the heat of the moment. Will the critter allow its self for the taking,,, and I'm I able to reep the rewards with a clean and ethical harvest.

Placing a cap on distance, terrain, weather conditions and mental state of mind and frame.

This is ever changing from day to day as each of us balance it out in the limited count of seconds or longer if a shot presents its self.

Don as I hope the closer I get the better the odds are stacked in my favour.

[dogslayer403]

No where in the op did he ask who thought it was ethical to shoot that far only if the 30-06 is capable, which it is now for those who enjoy long range practice its not so you can plan to shoot tht far every time its so if you have no other option you have put in the foot work to take your animal instead of passing it up because of your lack of confidence in yourself and rifle.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by shooter12

Hello guys!
Was wondering if anyone had experience using 30-06 to bring down big animals like elk and moose at extended ranges.
By extended I mean 600-1000 yards .
What bullets did you use ?
What was your scope ?
I am familiar with 300 mags performance well enough .

But what about 30-06?
Is it up to the task or I should throw it out of my head and go back to 300 mags?

Thanks in advance.
S12

Seriously .. if you have to ask that question you should consider throwing both out of your head and watch a little more TV. Sooner or later the lights will come on.
Try putting 5 consecutive shots on a 5" gong at 500 yds with your hunting rifle ..away from the bench. Once accomplished, then put one shot in a 12 " gong @ 1000 yds. and count the empty cases. You will know when you're ready to try it on Game.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by cody j

That 2500 yd shot was actually done with a 50 cal machine gun with a scope mounted on it.

IIRC it was also transit mounted , not hand held.

The 243 kill that was over 600 yards earlier in the thread dropped that elk like it was hit with the hammer of Thor- hardly a
" right behind the shoulder " as was the suggested aiming point given by the spotter.
It looked far more like a spine shot which is dangerously close to a miss or worse, a wounding shot.
A person would have to be an extremely accomplished marksman to be confident AND capable enough to put a round into the kill zone every time at distances greater than 600 yards especially in an area where the wind is a big factor due to constant changes.

It can be done of course, I don't know of a lot of people capable of doing it that would try it, especially with a sporter weight '06- and I know more than a few people capable of doing it
Cat

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Salavee

Seriously .. if you have to ask that question you should consider throwing both out of your head and watch a little more TV. Sooner or later the lights will come on.
Try putting 5 consecutive shots on a 5" gong at 500 yds with your hunting rifle ..away from the bench. Once accomplished, then put one shot in a 12 " gong @ 1000 yds. and count the empty cases. You will know when you're ready to try it on Game.

Unfortunately, many people that attempt those long shots on game, don't even bother practicing at 1000 yards , and they have no idea what their capabilities even are. I watched one character at the range sight in his 270 with a Huskemaw scope at 25 yards, and then declare to his friend that he was ready to hunt out to 800 yards. His friend asked if he was going to shoot farther, and his reply was that it would on;y be a waste of time and money, because he could calculate the point of impact out to 800 yards using the velocity listed on the ammunition box. He was shooting factory loads, and didn't even have a chronograph .