Question about 30-06 bullet weight and accuracy.

What bullet weigh gives best accuracy with 30-06?

  • 150 grain

    Votes: 2 7.1%

  • 165 grain

    Votes: 19 67.9%

  • 180 grain

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • Other (state in post)

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .
T

texgunner

New member
Which bullet weights give you all the best accuracy out of your 30-06 rifles.

I just bought a Remington 700 SPS in this caliber along with a boxes of 150, 165 and 180 grain bullets. I want to see what shoots best in my new rifle and I'm curious what others are getting. Right now the rifle is topped with a Nikon Prostaff 3x9 that was taking up space in my gun safe but will eventually get a Nikon Monarch or a Leupold.
 
You should be able to get very good accuracy with any bullet weight from 150 gr to 210 gr. Accuracy has more to do with the quality of the bullet and rifle than the weight of the bullet. I tend to use more bullets in the 165 gr weight class as a hunter, because I get acceptable accuracy and performance for the game hunted with those weights. Most long range target bullets will be in the 185-210 gr weight range. There are some 155 gr target bullets made by Berger, Scenar, and others that do very well at more moderate ranges.
 
I've mostly used Sierra GameKings, these last several decades. Whether 150, 165 or 180, they've all been sub-MOA in my '06. Boat-tail or flat-base, it hasn't mattered. What has been amusing to me is that with the 150s, I've used the same charge of 4064 as I began with in 1950. :)
 
Thanks for the replies, they're very helpful. I forgot to mention in my OP that I will be reloading for this rifle. I don't yet have 30-06 dies which is why I bought factory ammo for testing.
 
what is your twist rate and how long is the free bore.
here are some grain weights and proper twist rate.

150gr 1 in 14"

165/168/175/180gr round nose or semi spitzer 1 in 12"

180gr VLD boatail spizter/200 grain semi spitzer/220gr round nose 1 in 10"

230gr/250gr 1 in 7.5" or 1 in 8" twist

soft bullets do best with a short jump from free bore to rifling,tougher bullet and copper bullets like a longer jump
 
With 24" and 26" target barrels, here's the twist rates popular for the .30-06 in its heyday of competition:

220 gr., 1:10
200 & 190 gr., 1:11
180 - 165 gr., 1:12
150 - 140 gr., 1:13

An ideal twist for all bullets from 150 too 200 grain bullets would be a 1:12 which would do well accuracy wise for all.

Factory sporters typically have a 1:10 twist because that's what the round first had over a century ago as a leftover from its parent cartridge, the .30-03, and it's heavy 220 grain round nose bullet. It does decent for all bullet weights up through 220 grains. So most folks think a 1:10 twist is best. For best accuracy in good rifles using good bullets, it ain't quite so.
 
Ditto on the 165 grain bullets. In every .30-'06 I ever had 165 and 168 grain bullet weights shot the most accurately.

Side note - I never owned a .30-'06 that shot any bullet weight of 125 grains or less with any accuracy.

Regards,

Rob
 
Mine ended up liking the 178 AMAX the best. I tried several brands from 155 through 165, 168 175 and 180 and some 110 VMAX
 
The bullet that surprised me the most was the 165 gr Remington CoreLokt SP. Nearly as accurate as the 168 SMK out to 200 yds anyway. Easy sub MOA out of my Sako and EVEN my service grade M1 (with scout scope for testing loads).
 
technicaly it is determined by the lenth of the bullet,there is a mathmatical formula that determinds the mathmatic correct twist rate.

i have it written down somewhere i likely would not find it.but the twist rates for 30 cal posted by me and the guy who posted after me are very close to the correct formula.close enough for all but 1500 meter match competitions or military snipers shooting out past a mile

also it takes 300 to 400 yards for over stabilization to take affect so inside that error on the side of two fast
 
What matches are shot at 1500 meters?

I doubt any military person would take a shot at anything 1760 yards or more away with anything 30 caliber.
 
technicaly it is determined by the lenth of the bullet,there is a mathmatical formula that determinds the mathmatic correct twist rate.

i have it written down somewhere i likely would not find it.but the twist rates for 30 cal posted by me and the guy who posted after me are very close to the correct formula.
Click to expand...
For at least 95% of shooters, it doesn't matter. We're shooting factory rifles with the industry-standard 1:10" twist.

And, texgunner just bought his 700 SPS. I highly doubt he'll want to run right out and rebarrel it, just because the twist rate is theoretically too fast (and only trivially).


The question wasn't "What's the best twist rate?"
It was "Which bullet weights give you all the best accuracy out of your 30-06 rifles?"

Since twist rate is a characteristic of that barrel that is easily quantified, I shared the information as a point of reference.
 
The best overall hisotraly was the 172 gr if I have that right.

I had some of those and they were good.

I am using the 175 gr Sierra Match. I have talked to a number of peopel who have move dup form the 168 gr Match to the 175s as they seem to do a bit better.

That 1-10 standard twist. I agree with the following that if you could tune it by selection (which if I ever get my Heavy Barrel 30-06 I will) that the 1-12 is better, but probably take a far better shooter than I am to see it as well. Also that was not only a 220 grain bullet but it was a slow one as well. The 1-12 would split the difference between all of the standard weights and be close for the really small pills some shoot and I defer to Bart B. on the calcs with no reservations.

Anyway as 180 was the closes to 175 thats what I picked.

With 24" and 26" target barrels, here's the twist rates popular for the .30-06 in its heyday of competition:

220 gr., 1:10
200 & 190 gr., 1:11
180 - 165 gr., 1:12
150 - 140 gr., 1:13

An ideal twist for all bullets from 150 too 200 grain bullets would be a 1:12 which would do well accuracy wise for all.

Factory sporters typically have a 1:10 twist because that's what the round first had over a century ago as a leftover from its parent cartridge, the .30-03, and it's heavy 220 grain round nose bullet. It does decent for all bullet weights up through 220 grains. So most folks think a 1:10 twist is best. For best accuracy in good rifles using good bullets, it ain't quite so.
Click to expand...
 
RC20 said the best overall historically was the 172 gr if he has that right.

Note the same 172-grain bullet shot more accurate in 1:12 twist barrels from M14 barrels 2 inches shorter leaving about 90 fps slower.

In conversations with match winners and record setters from the 1950's shooting 1:10 twist factory and custom .30-06 barrels, they mentioned 200-gr. bullets shot most accurate from them. Sierra's 200-gr. boattail hunting spritzer and FMJBT match bullets were popular.
 
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I didn't think to include twist rate in my OP but according to Remington's website it's the industry standard 1:10. I plan on keeping the factory barrel for now.
 
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