With the right load and the right shooter, the M1 can be very effective to at least 1200 yards. Some say even further.
Probably not with iron sights only.
30-06 is still a very incredible cartridge.
I much enjoy shooting mine at 400 yards. I can consistently hit a vital area on a target with the iron sights. The MI-Garand is a work of art.
“30-06 is still a very incredible cartridge.”
Yes, it is.
“... the M1 can be very effective to at least 1200 yards. Some say even further, Probably not with iron sights only. 30-06 is still a very incredible cartridge.” [Texas Fossil, post 15]
US cal 30 Ball M2, the final GI configuration of the 30-06 cartridge tailored specifically for the M1 Garand, and 7.62mm NATO Ball M80 have the same muzzle velocity and the projectiles are quite close (30M2 = 152gr flat base, M80 = 147gr boat tail), but the M80 projectile retains velocity better thanks to its aerodynamic shape, affording greater max effective range (some 3500m from a fixed mount). For operational uses, the performance of two cartridges is the same at close ranges.
During testing for what became 5.56mm NATO (US M855), it was found that the 62gr bullet of the new round penetrated the old-style M1 helmet at ranges farther than could the flat-base bullet fired from 30M2. This was reported in print, in American Rifleman magazine.
The military establishment now generally estimates the max effective range of hand-held individual-issue weapons to be 600-800m, in the hands of typical troops. Human abilities are judged to be the limiting factor; assessments of what abilities are needed, and what constitutes “typical,” are irreducibly subjective. Such are the limits of operational testing.