group sizes for 30-06

Howa3006

Howa3006

New member
When are you guys satisfied with your group size?
1, For target shooting.
2, For hunting smal game.
3, For hunting big game.

Let us all know!
 
For what I use a 30-06 for(elk, deer, bear), consistent 1.5" groups are plenty good. If you are target shooting, you will want as much accuracy as you can afford if you are competing. Play target shooting, 1.5 is great. I wouldn't use an 06 on small game but if needed to, I would use this formula that I saw a long time ago. Take your kill zone of the animal you are hunting, divide that by 1/2. Your gun needs to group the result at the range you expect to shoot your game. This allows the other 1/2 to be shooter error. Say you plan on using an 06 on yotes and they have a 6" kill zone. You hunt open areas so your range will usually be 175 yards but can extend to 250 yards. I would want my gun to shoot 3" groups at 250 yards. Smaller is better, but this is what I would call minimum standards.
 
I have a Stevens 200 in 30.06. I get 1.5" with factory ammo at 100 yards. That's good enough for me as my longest shots will be +/- 300 yards max.
 
My old 03 had at least 30,000 rounds through since I bought in a New York City pawn shop for $30 about 53 years ago. Recently put an Adams and Bennet 26" 5/8 at the muzzle on the Springfield action and made a benchrest stock. Most of the shots go into about 1 ½” some 2 ½ and with tuned up reloads ¾ " groups.

It’s not for hunting deer as I would not want to tote this gun through the woods, it weighs in about 12 ½ lbs.
with a BSA Platinum 12-32X scope.

For target shooting it’s absolutely fantastic.. Next project is to rebarrel my Savage 10 243
 
1.5 inch groups at 100 yd in my Tikka T3 Lite .30-06 are fine for my purposes, i.e. moose, caribou or black bear. And, thankfully, not hard to achieve.

I wouldn't use it for small game (even if it were legal here to do so) and I don't shoot it much at the bench (recoil is a bit of a punisher in such a lightweight rifle).
 
After nearly 50 years of shooting all the rifles in the safe, except the rim fires groups smaller than an inch for five shot groups off the bench rest. If it won't do that it's "trading stock" and doesn't stay long.

Lots of years went into finding rifles that do that. During all those years I've only had one 30-06, a new Ruger tang safety box stock rifle that killed a Dahl sheep in Alaska at just over 650 yards. I've been a magnum fan for lots of years.

Shooting good groups is more than just the rifle though. A good bench rest, good rifle holding equipment and good shooting techniques are really important to getting those good groups.
 
my father built me a custom 30-06...used it for years even for groundhogs back in the day when the old timers said thats what groundhog hunting was for...it was a beautiful gun...walnut..rosewood..ends...etc...we loaded imr 4064 in it with a 150 grain ball...i think it was a remington with a bronze tip...it would shoot under a inch with those...and just at a inch with winchester silver points.. 1.5 with factory...the remington balls were just to hard for the hogs...blew right threw them...but as i recall..most flipped right over and said there prayers...i use varmint rifles nowdays..and even with good hits you still get the occasional runoff....upsets me..im thinking of going to a 243..270...or 308 for hogs next year...if i hit it i want it dead on the spot..gave that custom 06 to my nephew...who doesnt hardly shoot it..he was like a brother..he is keeping it for his son...like a 3030 its one good caliber...
 
Quote:
Looks like most of you guys is satisfied somewere round 1.5 inch at 100yards.



For a $300 rifle shooting factory ammo and a 3-9X40 scope, I can live with it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Quote:
When are you guys satisfied with your group size?
1, For target shooting.
2, For hunting smal game.
3, For hunting big game.

Let us all know!



Satisfied and using it for a hunt are different categories. Like IdBob, I'm not satisfied with rifles that shoot over an inch, though I killed two big game animals the last few days of August with one that shoots 1 3/8 with my hunting loads. It is fairly new and I'm working on it, not quite ready to trade it.

My all time best shooting 06 was an ugly sporterized 03-A3 that I foolishly traded for a shiny new rifle, and have never had an 06 since that would shoot as well. When I overlapped targets, it had put 30 rounds into a 5/8 inch hole and did it for 20 years.

I prefer predator calling rifles that get down around a half inch and like bob, have traded and accurized a number of rifles over many years to get consistent MOA out of big game rifles with hunting loads. For the past 8 or ten years I've mainly used 180 grain Swift A-frames for big game. Gonna work up some 165 TTX before next season.

AZnative (?) anyway, the guy from Arizona, has a good rule of thumb formua for miniumn group size.
 
I agree with Idbob mousedipper. If It cant shoot an inch or under I dont want it. The reason is when I get in a hunting situation with a big buck or bull, my adrenaline is pumping and I have a hard time holding a steady shot. It just helps me make a confident shot. Just my .02
 
I don't get too hung up on whether the group size is 1 inch or 1.5 inches. The vitals on a moose (which is what my .30-06 hunts these days) are something like 20 inches across, and it is rare to have to take a shot beyond 200 yards around here. If I'm not confident enough to put a bullet in the vitals in the field, I should stay home.
 
I would like to be an inch or less, but with big game im happy with an inch and a half. All of my smaller calibers which I use for dogs or other smaller game I would like to be a inch or less for sure.

Just my 2 cents.
 
The 30-06 is not really a varment catridge, not to say it cannot be used for that (I did for years) It also is not really a small game round,( although I have shot tons of jack rabbits with one)IMHO the 30-06 is a big game round parexcelance and will take anything in the western hemisphere even the large bears. So considering the kill zone of 8" to 16" If you can keep a 4" group at any reasonable range your good to go. My 30-06 hunting rifles will do consistant 1-1.5" groups at 200 yards from a bench. But since I do not hunt from a bench, if i can keep five shots in an area the size if a soft ball from hunting positions at 150 to 200 yards I am doing good.
 
Well said blindog. Others have hinted towards it also. Although it is fun to say my 06 will shoot an inch or better. A deer kill zone is 8 inches. If your gun shoots 1 inch groups on the bench at 100 yards that may build confidence in your rifles which in the field is a great thing. But if you really want to find any useful relevant info sit and shoot in regualr hunting positions at 200 yards and shoot some groups if they are softball sized or a little bigger groups you are good to go.

1" groups at 100 yards tell you nothing more than what the gun is capable of. If you have poor shooting techniques that 1" is next to useless in the real hunting situations. If you can control your breathing and squeeze the trigger and have a great steady shooting posture 3-4 inch groups at 200 yards is far better than 1" bench groups at 100 yards. JMO. But as I mentioned previously, confidence in a rifle is also a very important factor and if you get that from bench shooting 1" groups all day then why not?
 


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