RE: Long Range Question
By "pop", what do you intend to hunt that your old .30-06 can't handle? School buses?
All kidding aside, if you're shooting at North American game at ranges beyond what the .30-06 is capable of, you don't need to be shooting. Grab a radio and call in some artillery. Dismounts in the open, fire for effect.
Like many, I enjoy TARGET shooting our to 500 and 600 meters. If I'm hunting big game though, I want it to go down hard with the first shot with a better than 95% guarantee. Yeah, if I won the lottery and bought a Barrett M82 I might try a poke at that kind of range. But, until then I'm saddled with a .30-06 or .300 Wby Mag, neither of which I'm going to attempt shooting anything beyond 300 yards - maybe less.
If you plan to hunt Alaska, the .325 might be justified.