Author Topic: The 30/06 (Read 7633 times)

kix · « **on:** February 24, 2009, 04:13:41 PM »

Hello all. Growing up in the 50's and 60's the shooting world was full of tales of the .264 Win and the 7 Mag. While the .264 grabbed my fancy real quick the 7 Mag. did nothing for me. To this day I have only fired one round of 7 Mag and that thru a friends rifle but let's talk about the old 'o6. The 30/06 was old news,yesteryears caliber, 100 yrs. old and worn out. Now we have the wssm's, the wsm's,the Rumg's (and whatever else) making the old 'o6 as in the same category as a a horse-drawn wagon. I was in the same boat(new was better) but suddenly it came to me-the 'o6 was the cat's meow for 90% of North American game. A variety of bullets,easy to reload and plenty of brass; what's not to like? Let me hear from you if you "found" the 30/06 as I have. Kix

Cabin4 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2009, 04:17:26 PM »

I have many center fire rifles and while I like them all, the 06 will always be one of if not my favorite of them all. Although my 45-70 also holds a special place as well in this regard.

BTW: I grew up in the 70's.

MGMorden · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2009, 05:10:28 PM »

I've got 2 .30-06's - have had another that I sold. My first (and second) hunting rifle was chambered in '06 pretty much because it's what my dad had always hunted with.

I'll buck the trend (slightly)

. I like the .30-06. Both of mine are great guns and I've killed quite a few deer with one of them (the other actually hasn't ever gone out hunting, but it shoots well). That said, all I hunt (with a rifle) is whitetail. I'm on the East Coast in heavily wooded areas, so virtually every shot is within 100 yards. Within that range, a .30-06 is almost overkill for the deer around here. With the excess recoil and meat damage, I've taken to leaving mine home more and more lately. Instead I've been taking out my .257 Roberts a bit more, and have quite honestly been hunting a lot with my .30-30 (a Marlin 336 - though I recently bought a Savage 340 as well that I took out once towards the end of last season but didn't get to try it on anything). The .30-30's in particular are lighter guns overall, and still have plenty of "oomph" within the ranges I normally shoot at.

Basically, there's nothing wrong with a .30-06 at all - my Savage in .30-06 was my go-to gun for the longest time. Ballistically though, there are lots of other good cartridges out there too. Also, I wouldn't be too harsh on the guys buying the newer stuff. Sometimes they're just looking for something interesting, and admittedly, most of those cartridges are just fine for hunting too. I'm just making an observation that there is often just as much picking on the newer cartridges (which are themselves plenty effective on game) just because they're new as there is picking on the older ones just because they're old.

timothy · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2009, 05:35:11 PM »

I bought a 700 cdl in 06 and topped it with leopold. I screwed myself though, now everything else seems like a downgrade.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:00:36 PM »

My Ruger 30-06 topped off with a 3-9x40 Elite 3200. Its killed many a bear, hog and deer. Great shooter as long as I stick with 150 grain bullets.

BRL · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2009, 01:55:42 AM »

In 1986, I bought my first rifle at the age of 18. It was the .30-06 in a Remington auto 7400. I am a lefty and was brand new to the sport then. That is what the store rep suggested. Not knowing anyone who hunted, I went on a hunt about every 4 years (still the same today) and they were guided, ranch hunts for exotics or hogs. Today, I have many rifles that are suited to hunting. But, that first gun of mine in .30-06 in the only gun I've hunted with. It has a 100% success rate at game shot. Now part of that is my anal-retentiveness of taking only the "perfect" shot and passing on way more shots than taking. But, that rifle and caliber has me looking for my first bolt gun, probably in .30-06, and some reloading dies to produce some of the best loads around at the level of .30-30 on up to .30-06. I like the factory "managed recoil" loads too for under 150 yards.

jro45 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2009, 02:34:46 AM »

I'm on my third barrel with my Remington Model 700 30/06. That's a fine caliber. I have a Burris 3X9 Blistic Plex Scope on it.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:23:54 AM »

Started out with a Ruger 7mm Rem Mag in 1982. Absolutely no regrets. Dad gave me a Browning B92 in .44 Mag and those were my only centerfires for many years. Then in the '90's Dad gave me his Savage .22-250 as well. I shot the barrel out of it and replaced it with a new Ruger M77 MKII VT.

After 2000 I started adding more rifles to the collection. Marlins in .375 Win, .45-70 and .30-30, Rugers in .257 Roberts and .300 Win Mag, and a Remington in .308 Win.

Then I found myself in Texas for several months, 1000 miles away from my rifles and reloading equipment. Picked up a Ruger .30-06 at a gun show with the intent of hunting hogs. Never got around to the hogs.

Returning home I purchased another .30-06, this one a Remington. Then yet another for my future son-in-law as a wedding present. (He doesn't know it will be his rifle but he has already hunted with it.)

That makes my last three purchases the same - .30-06. Its a very capable cartridge and I shoot it out to 500 yards on a regular basis. Not giving up my 7mm or .300 magnums, though, and I'm building a 6.5mm-06 AI for long range deer and antelope. The .30-06 is a great cartridge, but it isn't perfect. None of them are.

no guns here · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:39:56 AM »

Well... I'd have to say that you've figured out what five generations of shooters have found out... there are better rounds for specific tasks BUT there is in my opinion, no single cartridge that fulfills so many duties so well as the '06. You will not be "undergunned" for any thing from the size of a large bull elk on down. It is not, nor was it ever intended to be a round for dangerous game, nor for high volume varmint shooting. It is however more than adequate for everything else in between. That being said... I have a bunch of those "other" cartridges represented in my safes. Just having an '06 is BORING... Productive, yet boring...

ngh

Swampman · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:55:09 AM »

The 700 Remington in .30-06........

It don't get no better!

bill439 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:14:06 AM »

Found??? I never lost mine. bill439

Biohazard Monk · « **Reply #11 on:** February 25, 2009, 05:21:05 AM »

Since I was a kid, I always wanted a 06, but everytime it comes down to buying a new rifle, I choose a different caliber for whatever reason...I am determined that my next rifle will be a winchester m 70 or a remington 700...The only problem is that I am left handed and have a real hard time shooting right rifles so I have to dig around for a while before I find one that fits me.

Old Fart · « **Reply #12 on:** February 25, 2009, 06:09:57 AM »

I'm ashamed to say that I don't currently own an 06.

But reading this has made me want one again.

One of the possibly hazards of reloading in chronic compulsive behavior syndrome.

I have jumped all over the place chasing new calibers over the years.
And have let many a fine rifles leave my presence in search of a new one.
I kick myself regularly over it.

I'll have to tell my therapist about my new desire.........

Never had any problem with the round, always did everything I asked of it.
Albeit many times it may have been a bit of an overkill for some task.

OF

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #13 on:** February 25, 2009, 06:26:56 AM »

The new gee whiz stuff is just that. Everyone wants to try to make a better mouse trap. The current idea is to fit win mag speeds into a short action. I perfer .308 as a hunting round, I think it is more versitle and will cover 95% of all game, but they are really the same.
I do have a 30-06 in my safe most of the time. I keep a standard rifle, usually a remington or a ruger, with a 3-9X40 scope as a back up rifle for big game trips. I know that I will be able to find 30-06 ammo everywhere and have it sighted in with 180 grain bullets.
I take a back up rifle on trips case I have fallen off a hores, slipped, broken an ankle, you name it on a hunting trip, Mr Murphy has been there. When elk hunting I like my 338 Win Mag but an 06 will usually go with me because it will throw the 180 grain bullets better than will my 308's. If I ever come across a standard weight Remington, Sako, or Ruger in 308 I will most likely part with the 30-06. but you never see a 308 on the used shelves cheap.

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2009, 12:19:52 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on February 25, 2009, 03:55:09 AM

The 700 Remington in .30-06........

It don't get no better!

Sure it does. Many times, many places, many ways.

efremtags · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2009, 02:19:31 PM »

The 06 doesn't get current press because it is not sexy. Talking about it's capabilities is stating the obvious, because i is so proven itself. The fact that any new ammo made is typically released in this caliber first should state something.

I sold mine about 7 years ago and have no regrets because I rarely hunt with rifle's anyway because of where I am. I use mostly shotgun and pistol. I recommended one just recently to a friend who was on a 300WM kick. I have one, its a great gun, but the 06 ammo is about a 1/3rd cheaper, and in a slimmer rifle package. He got the 06.

1marty · « **Reply #16 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:52:02 PM »

growing up I hunted mainly with an '06-my Dad was a veteran of WWII and the only rifle he had was an '06. Every deer I shot with the '06 was a one shot kill. Several years ago I bought a Rem 700 mountain rifle in '06. The rifle was so light, the '06 was just too much of a bullet. My shoulder would kill me and several times my nose got banged up from the recoil. I hunt now with a 7-08-it's a great cartridge for deer. Do I have anything bad to say about the '06? No-but don't try it with a light weight gun.

tangob5 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:11:17 PM »

First rifle was a used Remington 30.06 that was not as accurate as I liked but I was young at the time and still managed to hit a few deer with it. Second rifle was a Ruger M77 in 30.06 that has killed 26 deer, a moose, a black bear and many coyotes (even using the 55 gr. Accelerators) along with various other critters. I had ( note the past tense) a M77 7mm Rem Mag and a Win. Mod. 70 300 H & H. Still always preferred the 30.06. The 7mm has been replaced with a CZ 550 .243 which now has 2 Mule Deer to its credit and is one great shooting rifle and the 300 H & H is now going to be replaced with a Tikka T3 Stainless in .270 as soon as my 10 day waiting period is up (California) because I want my first all weather rifle. However, if I was to be limited to 1 rifle, and being in California it may come to that, I would choose a 30.06 over anything else out there. It just is the best overall rifle one can own in my opinion. What other rifle can you go from a superfast 55 gr. PSP for coyote to a massive 220 gr. round that will knock down the largest land mammal in North America.

kix · « **Reply #18 on:** February 26, 2009, 12:47:54 PM »

Hello all again. It was nice to see all of you have an appreciation of the old girl but my camo hat goes off to Mr. No Guns Here for hitting the nail on the head with a GIANT hammer. No, the '06 isn't perfect for everything but it does a pretty good job at it. And, the '06 is boring; I know because for so many,many years my head was filled with the newest wonders of the day. Fact is, if I had had the money back when the short mags came out I would have jumped on that bandwagon as well. The last '06 I had until recently was in '83 and bought it just for the scope; the rifle was sold quick because,after all, it was just an '06. I guess what turned me around was last year when I traded for a 1963 700 Rem. 20" barrel carbine. I just love that little rifle but it does kick like the devil with that aluminum butt-plate. And now recently I found a scoped 700 ADL (nice sling,super clean rifle) for $250 at a gun shop. Turned out it was mis-priced but the shop honored the deal. And last weekend at a gun show I bought a bunch (a bunch!) of .30 cal. bullets, everything from FMJ's to 220 gr. Hornady's for next to nothing cause they were part of an estate sale. Then he gives me some once-fired brass for free! I really can't explain it; it just seems the 30/06 isn't boring anymore. Maybe not sexy but certainly not boring. I have found it. Kix

Cabin4 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 26, 2009, 12:56:17 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on February 25, 2009, 03:55:09 AM

The 700 Remington in .30-06........

It don't get no better!

I certainly won't disagree with that. I love my 700 in 300wm. What a great piece of work for an off the shelf rifle.

roper · « **Reply #20 on:** February 26, 2009, 01:17:03 PM »

I was a young lad (20's) back in the 60's and I got bit by the 7mag bug. I still cann't shake that bug I was 63 got the 300WSM last year at 66 got the 270WSM when I started to have wildcat calibers build I always ask "what if". I truly admire someone who can just own two rifles doesn't matter what caliber I think I'm still chasing the perfect caliber and I've sure enjoyed the chase. Last Fri gunsmith called new 270 and 30-06 were finished he will have the 257Wby done next month.

Myself I sure wouldn't want to go to the 60's and walk in a gunstore everything was so limited be lucky to see 10 calibers in deer/elk rifles. I'm sure there may be some who missed out on the 30-06 but that isn't the only caliber.

charles p · « **Reply #21 on:** February 26, 2009, 04:36:19 PM »

I have 243, 25-06, 270, 7mmWaters, 7mm-08, 280, 280AI, 7mm rem mag, 308, 30-06, and 300WSM.
Ninety nine percent of my hunting is for whiitetail. The 30-06 will do anything all the others will so.

diesel instructor · « **Reply #22 on:** February 26, 2009, 09:18:12 PM »

it's a mite heavy for woodchucks and a mite light for browns, but loaded correctly, it will do the job on either and anything in between. I have 2, a Stevens 200,2x7x32 Nicon and an H&R, 1.5x5x20 Simmons Whitetail Classic, a back-up, if you will.

41 mag · « **Reply #23 on:** February 27, 2009, 12:14:09 AM »

I grew up around them, pop, uncles, and friends of the family all had them. Most used the same or very close to the same loads, so if someone happened to have forgot theirs or ran out during a hunt, there was generally always something readily available.

Myself, being somewhat forced to shoot them in my younger years, found other things to my likings. I hunted with my first rifle a Win. 70 in 243 through high school and into my early 20's. I then purchased a used '06, then a 25-06 after selling the former. I have to admit, I wished I had kept it as it was the most accurate factory rifle in that caliber I have ever shot. Being that as it was, I already had three of them sitting in the safe, handed down from my pop.

The thing about them is that you can load them from basic gallery loads up to darn near magnum loads with the available powders on the shelves today. With the vast range of weights, and types of bullets, your set to hunt most anything.

A couple years ago, I pulled out pop's old sporterized 03A3 and gave it a good scrubbing. For the most part of 30 years it had only shot late 50's ball ammo, which he simply pulled the FMJ, and replaced with a Sierra 150gr spitzer. He never got overly concerned with clover leaf groups, but with that load and his rifle, one didn't bet he couldn't hit anything you challenged him with. After cleaning the tube for what seemed an eternity, I finially got clean patches. Having some loads I developed for a friend and an nephew on hand, I slipped off to the range and shot one of my best five shot groups ever. Never say an old dog can't hunt.

I agree that it might not be good for everything, but for someone who wanted only one rifle to cover most criteria out to easily 400yds, I agree, it is hard to beat.

BRL · « **Reply #24 on:** February 27, 2009, 01:46:37 AM »

All other calibers should be banned.

Just Kidding!

teddy12b · « **Reply #25 on:** February 27, 2009, 02:56:59 AM »

When I bought my first high power rifle it was a 300RUM. I had read in the magazines and believed the hype. It was a 700 BDL that didn’t shoot worth a darn.

I sold it and bought an encore 30-06. It has two deer to it’s credit and is a fine gun. I later bought savage 110FP in 30-06. It’s even better than the encore and I use it for long range shooting & hunting. I have given two 30-06’s away to people as presents and they couldn’t have been happier.

It’s amazing how everything comes full circle. The 30-06 doesn’t have the best of anything, but it’s the standard all others are judged by. My next rifle will hopefully be a 750 in 30-06. I think Remington had me in mind when they built that because it fits me like a glove.

Hard to beat a cartridge that can be loaded from 100 – 220 grain bullets and be very effective.

AtlLaw · « **Reply #26 on:** February 27, 2009, 04:05:26 AM »

I've said this before the last time the 30/06 subject came up, but what the heck, I'm told I repeat myself a lot anyway...

Back when every gun writer was doing an article on the '06 for it's centenial it dawned on me that I didn't have a sporting rifle in that caliber. I have had hunting rifles in '06 but they now are in different chamberings.

So I figgered I'd get me one... everybody should have an '06 sportin gun, kinda like a M-94 lever and a M-12 shootgun.

I also didn't, and still don't, have one a them CZ Mausers. So, while enroute to a gun show, I stopped off at a dealer who had bunches of them. I picked one out, but they wouldn't sell it to me because the address on my DL was no longer where I lived.

Ta heck wid 'em; I went to the show.

There I found a M-700 Mountain in 30/06. It was really gummed up, so bad you couldn't get the bolt release to ... well... release the bolt!

A little haggaling with the seller, not a dealer, and I left with the rifle.

That thing looked like it have never been cleaned! But when I was finished with it, it was bright and shiney! It looked just like new!

And, after doing what I routinely do a newly acquired bolt gun, it does what I expect a 700 to do; it puts the bullet where I aim it. Of course the '06 also still does what I expect it to do; the bullet hits the animal, the animal dies.

Ho Hum. boring in it's efficiency. But in the same vane, comforting in it's reliability. Kinda like a good woman!

jmayton · « **Reply #27 on:** February 27, 2009, 04:34:00 AM »

I had an old gunsmith/hunting guide friend (and I mean old) who taught me a lot. He also gave me a bunch of Handloader Magazines from the 60's. He thought I would find them interesting. Well in the 1966 May-June issue, Dean A. Grennell subtitles his article on the .30-06, "Is This Ancient Caliber Obsolete? 'Not By a Damsite!'" I get a kick out of that. Hey the cartridge was only 60 years old when he wrote that...now it it's 103 and still going strong. I'm not planning on getting rid of mine anytime soon and hopefully when I'm old and teaching some young punk all I know, I'll still be reading articles on the "Ancient" .30-06!

the jigger · « **Reply #28 on:** February 27, 2009, 11:02:55 AM »

If the 30/06 is not the ultimate cartridge why is it the parent to so many others?
25/06
270
280
338/06
35 Whelan
And more wildcats than I can list.
By the way, my first centerfire rifle was an 03A3 by Remington.

efremtags · « **Reply #29 on:** February 27, 2009, 12:33:18 PM »

don't forget the 280 REM and the 50 BMG (yes this is a scaled up ROUND based on the 06 dimensions and proportions).