Best LR .30 caliber on .473 bolt face

No Sir, there is no need. It is not a matter of performance between the two, they are supposed to be identical. My goal on my .30 Gibbs thread was to simply add to the knowledge base.
The Gibbs is often overlooked, but they were the original high performance 0.473 boltface cartridges. I need to give your Gibbs thread another read because it had some great stuff in it 👍
 
The way you talk up that gibbs....hornady will catch on, standardize it, and sell it as the 30 creedmoore. But a least brass will be cheaper!

All joking aside. I'd go 30 gibbs but I don't mind reloading and forming.

I have to admit, I am learning a lot about it. I have Gibbs CD but have not explored it as deeply yet.
 
30-06 AI (30% Shoulder) - & U can use original 30-06 if you are in a pinch out in the middle of NoWhere.... I love mine and gave to my Son
That's one of the best ways to go. Either the AI with the 40 degree or the 30 degree shoulder. Both will give you near 300 Mag. performance and let you use easily accessible 30-06 brass. Also, the brass lasts longer due to the way it acts in the chamber, with less pressure against the bolt face. My gunsmith shoots an Ackley Improved -06 from a 26 inch tube and gets around 3,000fps with a 180 grain Sierra.
 
The Gibbs WAS the original HP '06 chambering. No flies on either it or the PO Ackley flavor. Thought hard about both. In the end of the day when it came down to it, there isnt an elk alive that will be able to tell the difference. That and I don't want to fireform. Like I said before, the EASIEST and best bang for the buck if you handload, is the .30-280AI. Just my opinion.
 
30-06 AI (30% Shoulder) - & U can use original 30-06 if you are in a pinch out in the middle of NoWhere.... I love mine and gave to my Son

Just trying to get clarification that your .30-06 AI 30-degree is the same as pictured below.

.30-06 IMPROVED INSIDE VOLUME.JPG
 
Unless one loads to a significantly higher pressure than the basic 30-06 case is loaded, none of the improved versions (to include the Gibbs) are really going to produce much of an advantage over the basic case. Using the ROT that the potential velocity at a given pressure level is going to increase by right about 25% of the increase in volume, even the Gibbs is only going to pick up about 60 FPS over the basic 30-06 case with (for example) a 200 grain bullet.
To get more you're just going to have to load to more than the 60K PSI the basic -06 case was held to (as you certainly can, and safely too). Which begs the question - why not just load the basic 30-06 to something more than 60K PSI. How can it be unsafe when it's OK for so many other cartridges with the same case head/bolt thrust?
I don't do it, but I wouldn't condemn it if there was a reliable source of pressure tested 30-06 "+P" data. I don't think one can tell 65K PSI from 70K PSI using traditional observable "pressure signs." How nice it would be to have some actual tested 65K PSI data for the 30-06.

Just my two bits,
Rex
 
even the Gibbs is only going to pick up about 60 FPS over the basic 30-06 case with (for example) a 200 grain bullet.
How exactly did you come up with only 60 FPS advantage? The 150g example below indicates a substantial gain.

.30 GIBBS cartridge.JPG


According to my Berger reloading manual, the fastest load for the 190 Berger VLD they tested is with 58.8 RL-22 with 2741 FPS out of 26" barrel.

I am currently getting 2806 FPS with 57 RL-17 out of 24" barrel.
 
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As @FEENIX showed above, the Gibbs has nearly 9% more capacity over the standard 30-06. Even if it only gained 4% velocity, if a standard 30-06 does 2800fps with a 180Gr the Gibbs will do 2926fps. In reality the Gibbs is a 150-200fps gain in velocity.
 
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