Plinking guns, and hunting rifles are not the same thing. I can shoot the Handi for less than 5 cents a shot. That's how I recover my money.
My point, which you appear to have missed completely although it is a simple one, is that you can laod plilnkers for the .30-06 as cheaply or very nearly so as you can a .357. I load my .45-70 with cast for plinking purposes, driving a 300g bullet at 1167fps and 350g bullets at 1097fps for 5-10 cents a shot depending on the bullets I use.
Even if the .30-06 ran 10 cents, which would be high, you would have to shoot 3,000 rounds to recover the cost of a $150 iron-sighted NEF. At 8 cents 5,000 rounds would be required. Either way, that’s a lot of plinking.
If your .30-06 was the “perfect rifle” as you claim, you would have no need for the NEF.
(By the way, for defensive purposes I’ll take my Marlin .45-70 or .30-30 and 5 reduced=power loads in the chamber over a single-shot NEF any day.)
The Handi is also my Bug Out gun.
Really? Why not take the .30-06, the “perfect rifle”?
There is no better (deer sized game) hunting rifle than the Remington Model 700 in .30-06.
For a multi-purpose cartridge the .30-06 is hard to beat – one reason I own 3 of them. But this thread is about dedicated deer cartridges and for that purpose many would choose a .270 Win as it provides plenty of deer-killing power, shoots flatter and generates less recoil.
If you want to beat your shoulder up for no advantage or gain in the end result, feel free to do so.
The only other logical bolt action caliber for North Anmerica is the .223.
Really? Such a cartridge would be illegal for big game hunting in many states. Here in Colorado a .243 is the legal minimum. To avoid jail or other unpleasantries I suggest a good argument could be made for a .243 or larger. Based on sales of .243’s, .25-06s and other low-recoiling cartridges, many people would agree and so vote with their money.
The last logical caliber is the .375 H&H (but not for North America)
Now there’s a practical deer-only cartridge!
I personally would want them all in Remington 700s.
Feel free to get all the Remington’s you want – no one cares.
A .22, A good inline muzzleloader, and a 12 gauge shotgun make sense for those who actually hunt and eat what they kill.
If I could only own one gun it would be a Remington Model 700 in .30-06.
Got a couple .22’s, a couple muzzlestuffers (including a Remington), and a couple 12 gauge shotguns (also including a Remington), but I wouldn’t consider keeping the muzzlestuffers over my bolt or lever guns.
For many years I did own only one centerfire rifle and it was a 7mm Rem Mag. A .30-06 would have offered nothing of value and in fact for my purposes could not do what the 7mm RM could do.
The idea that the .30-06 is the “perfect” cartridge is meaningless without context. While it may be “perfect” for you (tell me again why you bought the NEF?) it generates more recoil than many hunters are willing to put up with, cannot shoot as flat as some of its siblings or other sub-.30 cartridges, and is no more deadly on deer. Many hundreds of thousands of hunters have voted with their wallet for the best cartridge for their purposes and while the .30-06 remains at the top of the list, overall there are more who vote against it than for it.
