Hi guys,
I'm just about to order a custom rifle, and i'm debating calibers. Perhaps some of you could help. My mind is pretty much made up, but someone with more experience might have something to contribute before I send the order.
If you've ever actually used and reloaded .30-06 AI, I'd love to hear about your experiences. I am particularly interested in info on brass forming, brass life, and actual velocities. Also interested in how smoothly the round chambers from a bolt gun.
I've got a safe full of rifles. Its been fun, but keeping them straight starts to get... interesting. Is this one sighted with the 165 grain loads or the 180s? Did I rezero that one after I switched those Accubonds for the Partitions? Switching up rifle to rifle to rifle isn't helping my shooting. I think I'll be better with one good rifle i shoot a whole to more, for nearly all medium and large game purposes. It will be used on deer, eastern moose, black bear, and caribou. Maybe elk. I'll likely use it on woodchucks, foxes and coyote too, just for the practice. No realistic chance of Alaskan Moose or Brown Bears, so that is sort of irrelevant.
Range is irrelevant. Maybe the cartridge can shoot 600 yards. On game I'm realistic enough to know that 300 yards is a long way. I took my last moose with a 292 yard shot to the head. Worked great, but I don't wanna repeat that if possible. I won't shoot game beyond that 300 yard limit. And the differences between .308, .3006, 300 mags, 280 Ackley and the rest don't amount to much at muzzle-to-300 yards.
The easiest thing is 'Buy .300 Mag." That would be too easy, and I'm not particularly interested. This will be a HS Precision SPL, and chambered for Magnum, the recoil will be more than I particularly want to have in a semi-lightwieght rifle.
The .30-06 will readily do everything I want to do. Deer, elk, moose and bears. 180 grains Nosler partition or Barnes TTSX will kill it all. But you gotta admit, the .30-06 is little 'vanilla' for a custom rifle.
Enter the .30-06 Ackley. Yah, I know its not one of the "better" AI cartridges, with only a 100 fps or so increase in velocity. Supposedly greatly reduced bolt trust, and longer case life. When I compile data on the ackley improved, compensate for barrel length, and crunch the numbers for a realistic bunch of loads, I'm showing a 120-125 fps increase in velocities... I'm looking at
30-06 2732 ave
30-06AI 2860 ave
300 H&H 2894 ave
300WSM 2975 ave
I know individual loads are higher and lower. These are overall composite averages for comparison sake. Individual loads are all over the map, so I aggregated data and speed for each caliber, using a half dozen or so common powders. All are for 24" barrel.
That 120 fps boost isn't huge. But its an improvement. That 120 feet is somewhat greater than the difference between most 180 grain .308 and a .30-06 loads... 120 fps sort of brings the .30-06 honestly damned close to .300 H&H speeds, and just about evenly splits the difference between .30-06 and .300 WSM. And does so with less recoil.
Yah. You gotta form brass. 120 fps isn't huge, but it seems to certainly but a little boost on the already pretty damned good .30-06. And it does have a certain panache....
Any comments, good bad or ugly?
Thanks
Fro