Elk cartridge 30-06

[6mm Remington]

Here is how I line the jugs up. I have the one's on the side in case I don't make a perfect hit and the bullet strays a bit I hope that the outer jugs will catch it.



This is the 180 gr. Accubond out of the 300 WSM at 500 yards. It exited the 5th jug and just about made it into the 6th.

 

[6mm Remington]

If you take the center of the 3 shots it is just a bit below 12" of drop at 400 yards.

 

[6mm Remington]

6mm 100 gr. Partitions on the bottom recovered at 100 - 200 - 300 - 400 yards. Not sure where the 300 yard Partition is of if I captured it at 300 yards or not.
6mm 90 gr. E-tip at the top recovered at 100 - 200 - 300 - 400 yards.



From the top shows that they all expanded pretty nicely. I have some Accubond pictures at the different distances too here some-place.

 

[6mm Remington]

Another view from the top side.

 

[6mm Remington]

Here is how the 30-06 bullet got deformed at 400 yards. I was about 3" lower than I wanted to be and it hit the particle board as it was expanding while taking out water jugs. I cannot find one of the pictures that shows the lower dot in comparison to the groups out of the 30-06.

 

[6mm Remington]

Accubonds a great bullet for all North American game. These are recovered at 25 yards.

 

[6mm Remington]

24 inches low at 500? You sure about that? mtmuley

mtmuley I apologize and I stand corrected. I did that drop testing and water jug testing back on July 2012 according to the time stamp on my Photobucket site. You can see that at 500 yards with me holding at the top of the target on that dot my two shots with my Ruger 1B 6mm hit centered and about 4 1/2 inches below the center of the dot. Look at the Partition scratched on there and how the ION drops off. The top dot on this target is the one I also shot my 30-06 at as you can see the ION on the sheet with 30-06 group. Now mind you I had 5 rifles I was shooting that day and that is probably why I unintentionally shot the same target. Anyway the center of these two 6mm rounds is about 4 1/2 inches below the dot center.



This is the target I shot at 400 yards with my 30-06 and it is hitting 2 inches below the center dot so drop would be 14" and not 12" at 400 yards. The center of the group being about 2 inches low. As you can see I am slightly right and needed a little left hand correction which I did not mess with and left it to complete the shooting with all of the rifles. Now if you look at the 500 yard target with my 6mm holes and the sloping Partition it makes sense that I shot at the top dot on this target set as the rounds would hit a bit further to the right as the range increased. By looking at the 500 yard 30-06 group I can see that the center of those 3 shots is about 4 inches below the center of that same 6mm group which center is 4 1/2" below the 400 yard dot. That would make my 30-06 bullets impacting at 500 yards 8 1/2 inches below that bottom dot which is 24" low on the target stand, that would make my total drop at 500 yards, 32 1/2 inches.



That's a wee bit better. Wow I'm exhausted.

 

[mtmuley]

I wondered. Was gonna run numbers but forgot. I shoot both .30-06 and .300 RUM. 24 inches low at 500 is where my 200 grain Accubond load impacts at 500 yards. Thanks for the update. mtmuley

 

[6mm Remington]

I don't think I mentioned but it's a lot of fun testing your bullets by shooting them into water jugs at various distances, and it's a kick in the pants. No it's not the same as the bullet hitting an animal, or shooting into ballistic gelatin, but it will give you a pretty good idea on what type of penetration, weight retention, and expansion you will get. It is an easy, simple, inexpensive, and repeatable way to test bullet though. I think I was paying about 99 cents per jug. That's a far cry from the price for ballistic gelatin. It's really good practice too. When you can center punch or get very close to center punching a gallon water jug with your first shot every time at the longer ranges of 300, 400, and 500 yards, you should feel confident in your ability to make a good shot on an antelope or other game animal at those distances. It will provide you with some confidence too that your bullet should penetrate, hold together, and perform the way you want it to.

All I have shot for years is Nosler Partitions, Accubonds, or E-tips. It would be fun to have some folks on here shooting different bullet makes to shoot some gallon water jugs to be able to do a comparison. I have not taken the time or had an opportunity to shoot the E-tip into the jugs at 500 yards, and that is the only one remaining to be tested at everything from 25 - 500 yards. I put 6 or 7 jugs out, 7 should do it, and that is plenty to stop I would estimate most bullets except maybe something like a solid out of a 458 Winchester or 375 Winchester. Come on guys we are self-isolating and need something to do especially since the weather is mostly starting to get nice so get out there and show the rest of us how Hornady, Sierra, Speer, Barnes, or any other manufacturer's bullets do in the stress test!