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The Range
Rifle & Shotgun Discussion
for hunters - 30-06 VS 308
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<blockquote data-quote="HMFIC" data-source="post: 1646521" data-attributes="member: 7539"><p>Because hunting is not about "taking a shot to test your skills". Leaving a wounded animal in the wild to suffer and die later is not desired by anyone. The probability for doing that is <strong>much</strong> greater at 500 yards, no matter what your skill level is. </p><p></p><p>As MO described, the factors of bullet flight time, vs. animal unpredictability come into play as well as well as a host of other factors that make a 500 yard deer shot not advisable.</p><p></p><p>Consider this:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The kill zone on a whitetail is around 15 inches square. At 500 yards, that means you must hold and shoot within around 7-1/2" from the center of that kill zone. It's not about how well you can group shots, it's about each and every shot and it's distance from center. Can you even shoot that well under ANY circumstances? </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Bullet flight time of a typical .308 or .30-06 round is around 3/4 of a second. Are you able to predict animal movement for that long.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> While considering the animal movement issue, also keep in mind your trigger control and how accurate shooting especially at that distance requires precise release and in the best cases, not knowing exactly when your shot will break.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Are you able to determine the EXACT distance to the deer? At 500 yards on a .308, just 10% error means you will miss the deer entirely. Less than that means you potentially wound the deer. Rifle ranges are measured precisely and called "Known Distance Ranges".</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Heart rate, breathing, vision, is all affected by the adrenaline in your body when you're getting ready to kill an animal. Can you control this enough to make the shot count at 500 yards? Match shooters have a hard enough time doing it in a controlled environment.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Did you remember to take into account the angle of elevation for the shot? At 20% you're moving the shot around 5" with .308</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> How about temperature? If you sighted in during a nice blamy September aftertoon at 80 degrees and you're now shooting in 40 degrees, it does make a difference along with barometric pressure and humidity changes too.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Wind? Can you read the wind at your location and all the possible cross wind variations between you and the target? It matters significantly at 500 and beyond.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> You won't likely be shooting a match bullet with a high BC. Although hunting bullets have made much progress in their accuracy over the years, it is still a factor in long distance accuracy that adds to the rest.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> How accurate is your rifle with a cold bore? Is that how you sighted it in? Deer don't typically stick around to let you take sighting shots.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Parallax? </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Seriously, I could go on like this for days...</li> </ul><p></p><p>I don't want to upset the 500 yard deer hunters, but I hope those who would take this shot are realistic and honest with themselves about it. There is a difference between making a shot that you are skilled and comfortable with vs. playing pretend sniper on a deer.</p><p></p><p></p><p>To answer the OP's question specifically, either cartridge will provide practically the same results at 500 yards.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="HMFIC, post: 1646521, member: 7539"] Because hunting is not about "taking a shot to test your skills". Leaving a wounded animal in the wild to suffer and die later is not desired by anyone. The probability for doing that is [B]much[/B] greater at 500 yards, no matter what your skill level is. As MO described, the factors of bullet flight time, vs. animal unpredictability come into play as well as well as a host of other factors that make a 500 yard deer shot not advisable. Consider this: [LIST] [*] The kill zone on a whitetail is around 15 inches square. At 500 yards, that means you must hold and shoot within around 7-1/2" from the center of that kill zone. It's not about how well you can group shots, it's about each and every shot and it's distance from center. Can you even shoot that well under ANY circumstances? [*] Bullet flight time of a typical .308 or .30-06 round is around 3/4 of a second. Are you able to predict animal movement for that long. [*] While considering the animal movement issue, also keep in mind your trigger control and how accurate shooting especially at that distance requires precise release and in the best cases, not knowing exactly when your shot will break. [*] Are you able to determine the EXACT distance to the deer? At 500 yards on a .308, just 10% error means you will miss the deer entirely. Less than that means you potentially wound the deer. Rifle ranges are measured precisely and called "Known Distance Ranges". [*] Heart rate, breathing, vision, is all affected by the adrenaline in your body when you're getting ready to kill an animal. Can you control this enough to make the shot count at 500 yards? Match shooters have a hard enough time doing it in a controlled environment. [*] Did you remember to take into account the angle of elevation for the shot? At 20% you're moving the shot around 5" with .308 [*] How about temperature? If you sighted in during a nice blamy September aftertoon at 80 degrees and you're now shooting in 40 degrees, it does make a difference along with barometric pressure and humidity changes too. [*] Wind? Can you read the wind at your location and all the possible cross wind variations between you and the target? It matters significantly at 500 and beyond. [*] You won't likely be shooting a match bullet with a high BC. Although hunting bullets have made much progress in their accuracy over the years, it is still a factor in long distance accuracy that adds to the rest. [*] How accurate is your rifle with a cold bore? Is that how you sighted it in? Deer don't typically stick around to let you take sighting shots. [*] Parallax? [*] Seriously, I could go on like this for days... [/LIST] I don't want to upset the 500 yard deer hunters, but I hope those who would take this shot are realistic and honest with themselves about it. There is a difference between making a shot that you are skilled and comfortable with vs. playing pretend sniper on a deer. To answer the OP's question specifically, either cartridge will provide practically the same results at 500 yards. [/QUOTE]
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