There is no better rifle than the 700 Remington in .30-06. The novice will cling to the Mauser extractor but it amounts to nothing. The same can be said for controled round feed. The 700 Remington will operate perfectly upside down. When you get some big boy pants, let us know what you think.
With all due respect to Sam Falada, his is just one more opinion and his conclusions are based on the context he chooses, primarily retained energy, which is irrelevant in many situations. If retained energy was the only significant factor, people would be choosing something else entirely, like a .300 Win Mag or maybe a .375 RUM.
Sam ignores the fact that dead is dead, or that the difference in retained energy is often so small as to be insignificant. His discussion is not about a “deer only” cartridge but rather a general purpose cartridge, which changes things significantly. He also glosses over the fact that the .270 Win delivers less recoil and ignores the fact that this is important to many people who find the .30-06 recoil more than they want to endure.
Yes, the .30-06 can deliver more energy downrange, but it does so at the cost of increased recoil. If the bullets are punching through deer and expending much of that retained energy in the landscape beyond the deer, do minor differences in retained energy really make a big difference? No. Does a 20-25% increase in recoil make a difference to shooters? In many cases, yes.
The fact is that the .270 Win will shoot flatter than the .30-06 and do so with 20-25% less recoil, while still delivering 1000fpe past 500 yards. That is more than adequate for 99.9% of all deer killed, and where it is inadequate a .30-06 won’t make a significant difference. If you want to beat your shoulder up for no gain, feel free.
My preference for Mauser-style extraction, and yes, controlled round feed as well, has nothing to do with dangerous situations but rather ease of use at the bench. I tend to draw the bolt back slowly and angle the brass out where it can be easily plucked from the receiver, all with a single hand. My Remington requires two-handed extraction to keep the brass from flying. The controlled-round feed is less important to me but still comes in handy on occasion. In either case, I have rifles with and without both features and manage to shoot them equally well. At 57 I guess I’ve been in “big boy pants” for some years now and am quite capable of determining what I prefer, whether you agree or not.
