The -06 served as the United States primary sniper round from WWI up until sniper rifles were standardized during the later part of the Vietnam conflict. The -06 offers good ballistics and served as an outstanding sniper round. While its purpose might be limited in the Law Enforcement arena, due to possible over penetration, but with the selection of the right ammo, the -06 would serve as a stellar round in a Law Enforcement situation. There is a shortage of sniper grade weapons in the .30-06, which I have never understood why. The -06 falls in-between the .308 and the .300. and there has always been match grade ammo produced by Federal. I personally think this is the ideal military sniping caliber, it offers better ballistics then the .308, but doesn't punish the shooter like the .300.

Recommendations: I recommend the .30-06 highly for military applications, but I am a little reluctant to recommend it for Law Enforcement use, unless you take the time to research and find a good, rapidly expanding round.

Note: I have chosen the Federal Gold Medal Match .30-06 for military use. It is more then adequate, but I really wish that they would load the 175gr at 2700fps, this would really be a good round, and it would be any easy change, its all done with the .308, and would have no problems reaching 1000 meters.

Federal Gold Medal Match - .30-06 168gr Sierra Match King at 2700fps

Bullet Drop (Inches)

Energy (Muzzle - 2720 Ft.-Lbs.)

Wind Drift (Inches) 10mph Crosswind

Note: I chose the 150gr ballistic tip round over the 165gr do to the reduced penetration. The ballistic tip round has rapid expansion and lends itself well to Law Enforcement, but some tests need to be executed to test for exact penetration and to see if excess fragmentation occurs. I highly recommend tests shooting through glass also, as the b-tip has a thin case that will probably strip when passing through glass. A Federal 165 and 180gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw round is available and would probably make a great glass busting round, but with high penetration if the bullet stays intact.

Federal Premium .30-06 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip at 2910fps

Bullet Drop (Inches)

Energy (Muzzle - 2820 Ft.-Lbs.)

Wind Drift (Inches) 10mph Crosswind

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