30-06 Springfield History:
The very popular 30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge was created by the U.S. military and commissioned into use in 1906. The 30-06 Springfield’s official military name is “Caliber.30, Model 1906, Mark 1.”
The 30-06 was used in the bolt-action M1903 Springfield rifle, the bolt-action M1917 Enfield rifle, the semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle and machine guns. Instantly the 30-06 cartridge was adopted into civilian use for sporting purposes and rapidly expanded into the world wide shooting community in which it was accepted with open arms.
The 30-06 is one of the most widely accepted cartridges in the world. The reason for such popularity is the availability of bullets which range in weight from 100 grains to 220 grains. The 30-06 cartridge case lends itself well to be altered into other calibers and cartridges, most of the cartridges that were developed are some of the best we have today.
The most popular are:
- 280 Remington
- 270 Winchester
- 25-06 Remington.
The 30-06 with the power it offers down range will recoil somewhat to the shooter’s shoulder with heavier bullets in the 180 grain range (like the 180 Federal Power SHOK pictured above), the recoil is at the peak of what most shooters will tolerate.
However with achievements of the ammunition manufacturers in the past ten years, recoil has been reduced dramatically and this has moved the 30-06 cartridge into a stand alone position of the most versatile rifle cartridge in all of North American hunting.
With lighter weight bullets suited for varmints and heavy bullets suited for large bears, elk, and moose, the 30-06 Springfield is capable of handling all of the game animals in North America.
While those who handload their own ammunition for the 30-06 have been nearly duplicating 300 H&H; Magnum ballistics for years with their 30-06 handloads. The ammunition manufacturers have picked up the pace with high performance loads for the 30-06 as well. Remington’s 55-grain Accelerator load with its 55-grain saboted bullet at 4080 fps for the 30-06 is quite an achievement.
Hornady’s Superformance loadings offer standard loadings with an average of 200 feet per second velocity gains over standard 30-06 loads of equal bullet weights with the use of specialized gun powders. This ammunition all translates into very good hunting ballistics for 30-06 users.
30-06 Ammunition:
| 30-06 Springfield Factory Ammunition: Recoil Energy Based On Rifle Weight Of 8.5 Pounds. Bullet Velocity Based On Rifle Barrel Length Of 24 Inches: |
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| 30-06 Springfield Cartridge Manufacturer |
Bullet Weight Grains |
Bullet Ballistic Coefficient |
Muzzle Velocity Fps. |
Muzzle Energy Ft. lbs. |
Recoil Energy Ft. lbs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remington | 55 | .197 | 4,080 | 2,033 | 8.76 |
| Remington | 125 | .268 | 3,140 | 2,736 | 16.38 |
| Winchester | 147 | .421 | 3,020 | 2,977 | 19.15 |
| Hornady | 150 | .415 | 3,080 | 3,159 | 20.13 |
| Black Hills | 155 | .435 | 2,900 | 2,894 | 19.45 |
| Hornady | 165 | .447 | 2,960 | 3,210 | 21.60 |
| Winchester | 168 | .475 | 2,790 | 2,904 | 20.64 |
| Federal | 170 | .284 | 2,000 | 1,510 | 13.88 |
| Winchester | 180 | .527 | 2,750 | 3,022 | 22.12 |
| Federal | 200 | .395 | 2,540 | 2,865 | 23.17 |
| Remington | 220 | .294 | 2,410 | 2,837 | 24.80 |
30-06 Ballistics Chart:
| 30-06 Springfield Ballistics: | |||||||
| Rifle barrel length: 24 Inches. Ammunition: Hornady 150 grain SST bullet. Bullet diameter: .308 inch. Bullet weight: 150 grains. Bullet ballistic coefficient: .415. Rifle zero: 228 yards, 2″ mid-range rise. |
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| Range | Muzzle | 50 yds. | 100 yds. | 200 yds. | 300 yds. | 400 yds. | 500 yds. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Velocity: | 3,080 fps. | 2,962 fps. | 2,848 fps. | 2,628 fps. | 2,418 fps. | 2,218 fps. | 2,028 fps. |
| Bullet Energy: | 3,159 ft.lbs. | 2,922 ft.lbs. | 2,701 ft.lbs. | 2,300 ft.lbs. | 1,948 ft.lbs. | 1,639 ft.lbs. | 1,370 ft.lbs. |
| Bullet Drop: | – 1.8″ | + 0.5″ | + 1.8″ | + 1.1″ | – 4.7″ | – 16.4″ | – 35.2″ |
| 30-06 Springfield Ballistics: | |||||||
| Rifle barrel length: 24 Inches. Ammunition: Hornady 165 grain SST bullet. Bullet diameter: .308 inch. Bullet weight: 165 grains. Bullet ballistic coefficient: .447. Rifle zero: 252 yards, 3″ mid-range rise. |
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| Range | Muzzle | 50 yds. | 100 yds. | 200 yds. | 300 yds. | 400 yds. | 500 yds. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Velocity: | 2,960 fps. | 2,854 fps. | 2,750 fps. | 2,550 fps. | 2,358 fps. | 2,175 fps. | 2,000 fps. |
| Bullet Energy: | 3,210 ft.lbs. | 2,983 ft.lbs. | 2,770 ft.lbs. | 2,382 ft.lbs. | 2,037 ft.lbs. | 1,733 ft.lbs. | 1,465 ft.lbs. |
| Bullet Drop: | – 1.8″ | + 0.9″ | + 2.5″ | + 2.2″ | – 3.4″ | – 15.3″ | – 34.6″ |
30-06 Cartridge measurements:
- Bullet Diameter: .308 Inch.
- Maximum Case Length: 2.494 Inches.
- Trimmed Case Length: 2.484 Inches.
- Primer Size: Large Rifle.
- Maximum Cartridge Overall Length: 3.340 Inches.
Check out this page for an in depth rifle ballistics chart for many different calibers.