Cartridge ballistics

.30-06 Springfield ballistics chart

The .30-06 Springfield trajectory with a 168-grain bullet: drop, wind drift and retained velocity from a 200-yard zero to 900 yards.

Overview

The .30-06 Springfield has been a standard American big-game cartridge for over a century. It drives the same .308-diameter bullets as the .308 Winchester roughly 100-150 fps faster thanks to its longer case, which flattens the trajectory and extends effective range on game.

Factory ammunition spans 150-grain deer loads to 220-grain projectiles for the largest North American game, making it one of the most versatile hunting cartridges ever produced. It is a field cartridge first; dedicated long-range shooters have better options.

Typical uses: All-round big-game hunting from deer to moose and large bears, and vintage / M1 Garand shooting.

Sample load

The trajectory below is calculated for this representative factory load in a standard ICAO atmosphere. Your rifle will differ — enter your own chronographed velocity and verified BC in the calculator for numbers you can dial.

Bullet
Hornady 168 gr ELD-M
Muzzle velocity
2,800 fps
Ballistic coefficient
0.263 (G7)
Zero
200 yd

Open this load in the calculator

.30-06 Springfield trajectory table

Zeroed at 200 yd. Drop is bullet path relative to line of sight; elevation is the come-up to dial. Wind column is a 10 mph full-value crosswind. Italic rows are subsonic.
Range (yd) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft⋅lb) Drop (in) Elevation (MIL) Elevation (MOA) Wind 10 mph (MIL)
1002,6242,5681.8-0.5-1.70.2
2002,4532,2460.00.00.00.4
3002,2891,955-7.60.72.40.6
4002,1321,696-21.81.55.20.9
5001,9811,464-43.62.58.31.1
6001,8361,258-74.43.511.81.4
7001,6961,073-115.54.715.81.7
8001,560908-168.76.020.12.0
9001,430763-236.27.425.12.3

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