Emu
This is an excellent and timely thread for me; but only as it pertains to shooting paper vs hunting at longer distances. I have NO personal experience hunting (I.e., I shoot squirrels only and at normally 25-40 yards max) at greater than 50 yards. There are many here on the forum who do hunt at 100++ yards, so their experience would help you. However, I will provide a data point related to your accuracy question using different calibers for BR 100 yard target shooting.
From my observations it does appear that more and more of the 100 yard competition BR paper target shooters are experiencing improved accuracy results with specific pellets and/or slugs using high end .30 Cal PCPs. This is well documented by competition BR shooters on both the GTA and AGN forums. It is also very true that folks have had very good results with .25 and .22 calibers.
Here is an example that is relevant to me as it relates to your .30 caliber accuracy question. I have kept my NUAH practice 100 yard targets for the past several months shooting my RAW HM1000x HP .22 Poly barrel using almost exclusively the JSB.22 cal 25.39 redesign pellets. I typically shoot six or eight Five shot strings for each target. Total number of targets is usually six or eight targets. While I have some rare good targets, I have been unable to shoot MOA for “score” at 100 yards with my .22 HP RAW. My average CTC is in the 1-2 inch range for each range outing. Skill, technique and wind are all in play here as they relate to my past and current results.
So, I am trying an experiment based on others who have had some good results using a RAW .30 cal rifle cut barrel. I asked Martin to swap out my .22 Poly barrel for a new .30 cal barrel and tune the reg and power for the JSB 44g. pellet. Once I get it backI I will head back to my local outdoor 100 yard range and see how I do with the .30 cal. I will post my results on CC’s “magic group” thread or my own 100 yard “improvement thread” under the BR topic area.
I am hoping my accuracy improves, but we shall see. Good luck with your long distance shooting!