James Rogers wrote:
>
> On 10/1/01 12:44 PM, "Mike Lorrey" <mlorrey@datamann.com> wrote:
> >
> > You want to look at ammunition which has relatively flat trajectory at
> > distance. 30-06 is okay, but on the small end. .300 Winchester Magnum,
> > .270 Remington, and upward to .416 Rigby, .375 H&H, .458 and .45-70 or
> > .45-100 have a flatter trajectory at greater range than the 30-06.
>
> Huh?!?! Most of the cartridges you mention most definitely do *not* have a
> flatter trajectory than a .30-06. Hell, half of them can't do much more
> than 2,000 feet per second whereas the .30-06 can do a little under 3,000
> fps on average. And never mind that the .4xx and .375 H&H have hideously
> low ballistic coefficients, where the BC defines the flatness of a
> trajectory for a given initial velocity (higher BC = flatter trajectory).
>
> The .300WM has the same BC as the .30-06, but a little faster so flatter.
> The .270 (Winchester, not Remington) has a nearly identical trajectory as
> the .30-06 for a given BC, but in a slightly smaller platform.
>
> In fact, out of that entire list, only the .300WM is generally a flatter
> shooting cartridge than the .30-06 at a distance.
>
> I have to say, I am puzzled that you made these mistakes as I would have
> expected you to know these in your sleep.
Shooting from the hip, of course. ;)
While the 30-06 is a standard military round dating back to WWI, where
average infantrymen could make 600-1000 yard shots on enemy soldiers
with general regularity (though the 8mm Mauser 98 of the same period is
considered a better long range weapon). The standard listed BC for the
larger caliber rounds are generally published for round nose big game
rounds, where you want to put as much metal into the meat as possible
(and as deep as possible, with good spreading). There are a number of
factory loads for these larger calibers with relatively high BCs and
rather flat trajectories. Now, I personally don't recommend these for
everybody, unless you are a Palma class shooter with similar credentials
in the NSCA handicapping system for clays shooting... The advantage of
the 30-06, beyond its relatively flat trajectory, is its utter ubiquity.
It is one of the easiest rounds to buy at great quantities from surplus
very cheaply.
The comment I made about the 30-06 was specifically targeted in
comparison to the .270, which according to Ruger and several gun mag
writers, has a flatter trajectory than the 30-06, which is why they
consider it a superior deer round versus target rounds, because your
average hunter doesn't have the time to tweak on his mildot scope like a
bench rest target shooter does.
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