Barrel length, accuracy, velocity, and the 30-06

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Dogger

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What is the best choice for a practical hunting rifle? Most factory guns seem to be offered in the 22 inch length. You see a few at 24, and a few at 26 inches. Factory ballistics tables are calculated at 24 inches.

Seems to me that the 30-06 would be at its best with the longer lengths. I can't imagine that hunting accuracy suffers enough to notice, but the increase in velocity, and corresponding flatter shooting, could sure make a difference in the field.

Drives me nuts that I can't find a Remington 700 with a 24 inch or 26 inch tube...
 
Dogger,

I have a 760 22" barrel, I reload and shoot with Joe, who has an 03a3 26" barrel. Both .30-06.

I reload using Joes equipment, and as a baseline, his recipe.

One day at the range, (and I don't have my notes in front of me) a VERY nice guy let me crank off a few rounds thru his crono.
IIRC I was about 2470-2480 (17fps max spread btw 3 rounds. is that good? ;) )

The book from which the load emerged said about 2600 for the load.

Art will correct us, but about 70 fps per inch of barrel lost is the accepted decrease in velocity.

However, my groups from the bench at 100 yds are rather small. Once I fired at 200 yards and the same load was in a 5" circle (or so) for 10 rounds. plenty good enough for deer (or elk) hunting.


What is the point? well the 3 shots I took in the woods last year resulted in three dead deer. THEY couldn't tell the difference btw 2470 and 2600 fps. But the two heart and one double lung hits were what mattered.

Would I search endlessly for a 26" barrel? No. If you are right handed (I'm not)then a good 03a3 might be enough.
Will I check into a 24" barrel for the next rifle. yes, but when/what will that be?

Will I pass on 18 1/2 and 20 inch barreled rifles, for me? probably.

Do we believe that the search for a 24" .30-06 is what drove you nuts,

hardly. :rolleyes:

YMMV

Gfrey
 
Gentlemen. If you really want a 26 inch barrel, get a Ruger #1B. They work equally well, regardless if you are right or left handed and they are no longer than a bolt gun with 22 inch barrel.
I have a .300 Win. Mag. Winchester model 70 with a 26 inch barrel, and it has been no handicap at all. I used a Mauser custom job with a 24 inch barrel last hunting season. No problem. You just have to be a bit more careful when in a brushy area, that's all.
Paul B.
 
I looked in my Remington catalog and they do (or did) offer the 700-06 in a 24" tube on their 700 ADL synthetic.I think the BDL too but now that I'm at work and don't have it with me can't say for sure. Finding one of course may be another matter. Clint
 
Other things to consider: If hunting from a box stand where you can lay the forearm across a rest, the longer barrel is nice. If stalking in the brush the short barrel is better. If shooting off hand, the additional weight of the long barrel can make a difference in the length of time you can hold the rifle steady. Just my thoughts. Good luck.
 
The velocity gain from the 26" barrel compared to, say, a 20" barrel only pays off when you know that some of your shots on game will be at the limit of the '06's effectiveness, which to me is around 400 to 500 yards.

For 300 yards and under, a deer can't tell if it was anything from a .257 or 7mm to a Big Mag, if a 140-ish to 180-ish grain bullet hits him at something over 2,000 ft/sec. :) (Howzzat for a wondrous generality?)

By and large, barrel thickness and barrel length have little to do with where the first shot hits. A skinny barrel can shoot very tight groups if sufficient time is allowed between them, for cooling. Rarely are more than two shots needed in hunting...

I chose my 26" barrel length in an effort to get as near .300 Win Mag performance as I could with my handloads, without paying the cost of a Win Mag gun or the ammo. Used '06 brass is cheap, and 50-someodd-grain loads take less powder. I had a specific purpose in mind, and I hunt in country where a 500-yard shot is not at all unlikely. Also, shots on running deer are very probable--and if I'm not as accurate as I like to think I am, I hope the extra "oomph" will put the deer down where I can put in a coup de grace.

I guess that the expected distance I'm likely to shoot has affected my choices of cartridge and barrel length more than any other factor. One of my CenTex pets is a Sako .243 with a 19" barrel--shorter shots, smaller deer.

FWIW, Art
 
Well, you guys have been a big help. You have brought me back to reality -- match the rifle to the game.

Most of my hunting with a rifle is still hunting the eastern side of the Shenandoah mountains -- the places where I find deer tend to be undulating fingers of forest with plenty of browse and wait-a-minute vines. In the last three years I have stumbled into deer at 30 paces without seeing them, and had one chance for a head shot at a browsing deer about 200 yards away. I passed on it.

So, typical ranges for me will be at or under 200 yards, and may involve taking a quick shot at close range on a running deer.

I think the 22 inch barreled 30-06 would be more than plenty, and I should probably go for a good 3-9x40, 4x, or 2x7 scope?

This should still be an adequate set-up if I ever get that opportunity for Colorado elk?

Thanks!

Man, I just want an excuse for a 30-06! But don't tell my wife!! :) :) :) :) ;)
 
AAARRRGGGHHH!!
OOOGGGHHH!
EEEK! :(

???? WHY buy a 30-06 that has been intentionally detuned to .308 type performance unless you ALREADY have another longer barreled 30-06 and want ammo commonality? What a waste!

The whole point of the 30-06 is that it increases the range available, the horsepower delivered, and the amount of powder burned and heavier bullets delivered over the .308, making accuracy and killing big game at longer ranges a greater possibility.

If you want a runty bush rifle because you are somehow overly challenged with the concept of carrying an extra two to four inches of barrel in the brush, by all means, get a .308 with a 20" barrel.
Save yourself the action length, weight, and gunpowder.
If you want a weapon that is capable of shooting sub MOA groups at 500 yards with 15-20% more horsepower than the .308 can deliver at the same ranges, then get a 26" barreled 30-06 and an extra 75-100 yards of point blank range.

I regularly carry a 26" barreled 30-06 in DENSE brush, and it bothers me not at all. However, I know that if a longer shot presents itself, I will not have to hold over as much, and have a better chance of dropping the critter in it's tracks, as opposed to foregoing the shot or wounding it and needing to track it for hours with the carbine type performance parameters.
 
Amen Brother!!! Amen to that!

But I can't afford a custom rifle! And the major manufacturers don't appear to offer a well-balanced 30-06 with a 26 inch barrel. Winchester offers the M70 Classic Sporter with a 24 inch barrel, all Ruger bolt actions appear to be 22 inch, Remington appears to be 22 inch. Hence my dilemma!
Savage offers a 26 inch barreled FVSS but, at over 10 pounds, it appears to be a heavy barreled rifle, and probably not well balanced for the sort of hunting I want to do. Appreciate your recommendations!

:)

[This message has been edited by Dogger (edited July 28, 2000).]
 
Dogger. You can always get a Ruger #1B or #1S They both have 26 inch barrels, and a single shot is not that big a handicap. I use mine most of the time, weayher permitting. (It's kind of hard to reload when your fingers are frozen, but other than that, no problem.)
A winchester Model 70 with a 24 inch barrel is a good compromise. If you reload, you can do things with a 30-06 that will surprise you.
Let's look at a couple of facts. The 30-06 is loaded to a max pressure of 50,000 C.U.P. (Copper Units of Pressure) but only a mean C.U.P. of 48,000. The .270 Win. is loaded to a max C.U.P. of 55,000 and a mean of 52,000 C.U.P. This is because the 30-06 was chambered in some rifle that do not have the strength to contain modern pressures. But! The current Model 70 is chambered for both rounds. The .270 is nothing more than a 30-06 necked down to .270. So why can't .270 type pressures be utilized in a modern rifle, such as the current Model 70 chambered for 30-06. You can, if you reload.
You can come fairly close to .300 H&H Mag. velocities. Come to think of it, that's what Hornady's Light magnums do now, isn't it. Or Federal's High powered special high velocity ammo. (Sorry, I forgot what they called the stuff.)
I could pass on what I use, but every rifle in an entity unto itself. My load could be too hot for you, or then again, maybe not. I'm not willing to gamble on that though.
Paul B.
 
My '06 is a Weatherby Mark V with their "#2 Profile" barrel of 26". With five rounds of ammo, a Leupold 3X9 and a sling, it weighs a bit over nine pounds. I bought it in 1970 or 1971, thereabouts.

Dunno about today's W'bys, but I put a Canjar trigger on mine. Vast Improvement. I also re-bedded the fore-end and got tighter groups than new-from-the-box.

Paul B's comments about relative pressures are well-taken, which is why I handload for my '06...

Regards, Art
 
Dogger,
Consider this:
You say that you can not afford a "custom" rifle, but that may not be true.
You can start with an easily available Czech/Yugo Mauser VZ24 action, currently available for about $60.00
Then pick up a ~$100.00 barrel from GUNPARTS/Numrich or Century that is chambered and threaded to fit. An extractor cut will have to be made while fitting barrel to action.
Add a drop in stock, go cheap with a plastic one from about $69.95 or really blow out with a Bell and Carlson composite at about $200.00

Add about $25.00 for a Timney trigger.

Pay a gunsmith $100.00 to fit up the barrel and hot tank blue it.

Now do the math
Action $60.00
barrel $100.00
Stock $200.00
trigger $ 25.00
labor $100.00
----------------
Looks like $485.00 worst case with expensive stock... deduct $140.00 if you go with the plastic stock.

Not bad for a "custom" rifle!

You can also buy a used but excellent military rifle like a P17 Eddystone with the suitable barrel length, and then "sporterize" it for under $400.00

There are a lot of variations on this theme, but you get the idea.
 
26 in barrel Rem 700

Purchased Rem 700 Long Range with Bell and Carlson stock, 26 in heavy contour barrel. Purchase March 2014. Rem catalog item.
 
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