30-06 still King?

jmr40 said:

I think it is fair to say that 30-06 is the cartridge all others are judged against. I used one almost exclusively from the mid 1970's until about 10 years ago. It is an awesome round, but is bigger than 90% of American hunters need. It took me a long while to reach that realization. I still have a couple, but they will never be my go-to rifles anymore.

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Which is why the .270 W.C.F.... is First Knight.






GR

One should not confuse utility with popularity. It is true a number of other caliber rifles are purchased more and even reloaded more, the .30-06 Springfield can do many things well in the hunting world. However, one should not ignore some other rifle/cartridge combinations. Such as 7x57 Mauser (or .275 Rigby), any number of 6.5mm rifles and some 'modern' but largely ignored rounds like .300 Savage and .257 Roberts. All those are quite versatile and easy to shoot. Other rifles and cartridges will sell more volume, but the standard rifles - like .30-06 - continue to be more useful over all.

It is by far my most popular cartridges, I started hunting with one in the early 70s and still have that rifle and have added many more, recently mostly 03A3s and garands. I think a lot of people enjoy their freedom because of it. One of the recent auctions had a Howa 1500 that came home with me for 300$ including a Leopold scope that shoots very well.

I copied and pasted this to my puter a few years ago from a BB post. I can't vouch for its accuracy.. Comparing the 06 to the .280 Rem.

30-06 150gr ENERGY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2820 2281 1827 1445

280 150gr ENERGY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2781 2293 1875 1518

30-06 150gr VELOCITY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2910 2617 2342 2083

280 150gr VELOCITY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2890 2624 2373 2135

The .280 outperforms the 06 hands down. So now whats the new all around rifle

DDDWho said:

I copied and pasted this to my puter a few years ago from a BB post. I can't vouch for its accuracy.. Comparing the 06 to the .280 Rem.

30-06 150gr ENERGY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2820 2281 1827 1445

280 150gr ENERGY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2781 2293 1875 1518

30-06 150gr VELOCITY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2910 2617 2342 2083

280 150gr VELOCITY
muzzle 100yds 200yds 300yds
2890 2624 2373 2135

The .280 outperforms the 06 hands down. So now whats the new all around rifle

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WOW! Now that's exciting! Like picking nits I'm thinking. At 300 yards 73 foot pounds and 52 more feet per second. Got my attention. How does the 280 do with 200 grain slugs? Personally I use a 190 grain Hornday at MV of 2700. At 300 yards it's doing 2178 fps, and 2000 fp of energy.
The 280 with the heaviest bullet in the book is a 175, leaving the muzzle at 2700 fps also. At 300 yards the 280 is doing 2147 fps and 1791 fp of energy.
Well the point is, that the versatility of the 30-06 is the point. The 30-06 is King when you look a a wide spectrum of use. The 280 is a great cartridge, but it's in the back seat so to speak. New does not mean better. Like I said, picking nits. Both will get the job done.
Keep in mind if not for the 30-06, there would not be a 280, or a bunch of other near great cartridges.

It is the standard bearer followed by the .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmore in my opinion.

I prefer 243 for most tasks. 6.5 CM for anything a 243 may not be up to.

giggitygiggity said:

It is the standard bearer followed by the .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmore in my opinion.

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Better add the 35 Whelen

The old "Ought-Six" will still cleanly kill anything in North America, and most anything that walks the earth. Those animals killed by it never noticed the difference.

By current volume of centerfire rifle fire across the US I'm pretty confident the answer is no. Most shooters these days like lower recoil and the old 30 caliber hasn't been shining on the target scene for decades now.

But for hunting, definitely still at or near the top. Maybe not King but more like aged royalty. Every new hunting rifle of any sales volume comes standard in 30-06. Tons of hunting ammo sales. Definitely enough gun for anything you might find a tag for in North America (including bears regardless what folks enjoy pontificating).

Like everyone else, of course I am biased. I love shooting and hunting with mine, gave my son one too. Even have a loaner rifle in 30-06 for the brother-in-law or neighbors who might want to go on a hunt. However I'm positive there are better choices for specific uses and if I was doing it over today would probably settle on something else.

I'd say the 308Win is close enough in performance to consider any differences moot to the average person. Plus it comes in shorter, lighter rifles. Or just as heavy if that's what you want.

I'd take (and have) a 308Win over a 30-06 any day. I do happen to have one of each, but the -06 is more of a toy (sporterized Mauser) than a tool (like my R700).

I am a handloader and a bit of a ballistic geek. About six years ago I looked really hard at a do it all hunting rifle for where I live. Had to do everything from pronghorn through moose from brush hunting out to 500 yards.

I ended up with a Sako A7 and I have been more than happy with my choice. 180g Accubonds at 2,875 fps gives me .300 WSM performance from the outdated ‘06 with cheaper brass and less powder.

Edit: I was REALLY close to going with the .308, but the desire to push 180g bullets relatively fast swayed me.

illinoisburt said:

However I'm positive there are better choices for specific uses and if I was doing it over today would probably settle on something else.

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"better choices for specific uses" you make my point about versatility of the 30-06.

I have a nice old 1914 Newton rifle down in the Skunk Works. Work included undoing some neglect and Bubba tinkering. I look at this rifle and also a 256 Newton newly assembled Mauser here and ask a question. Is there really anything new after the Newton cartridges? The Newton rifle here is an '06. How much of this ruling business has to do with gun rag guru's talking crap?

Alaskan Ironworker said:

Ill repeat the old platitude, “if I could only have one hunting rifle, it’d be 30-06.” Near magnum power with widely available and good factory ammo cheaper than a dollar a shot.

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Ditto.

Garandimal said:

The '06 wears the crown...

...because it possesses the 200 gr. NP as its royal scepter.

All hail the king.




GR

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A famous gun writer fairly made the case that the 165 gr. ttsx will out penetrate a 200 gr. bullet in 30-06.

I just recently bought a new hunting rifle to use for all my hunting needs, for all potential game I'd ever hunt in N.A.. It is the only traditional hunting rifle I have, it could have been any make/model/caliber.

I chose a Browning X-Bolt in .30-06.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2015/12/20/america-s-most-wanted-ammunition/

According to this article from 2015 which cites Federal as it's source, 30-06 is the #1 caliber for hunting and #3 caliber overall behind 223 and 308 (308 could be argued as #1 hunting round, but I reckon those sales are driven by AR-10 use, not hunting, just like 223)

Every time I get the hankering for a new rifle, I run the numbers, read the tea leaves, gaze into the crystal ball -- and the result is always the same, .30-06.

I have 5 of them

Shotgun-style safety Ruger Model 77
Pre-'64 Winchester Model 70
M1 Garand
Two M1903A3s (one Remington and one Smith-Corona.)

If I had to have one rifle it would be the '06.But that's not the case so I have many calibers for specific tasks.

I have Handloader Special Edition Fall 2018 and it list top 10 reloaded rifle cartridge and it's year behind.
#1-223,#2-308,#3-6.5CM,#4-30-06,#5-243,#6-300mag,#7-270,#8-300 Blackout,#9-7mag,#10-22-250.

Be interesting see Fall 2019.

It’s a classic and very capable, but in recent years I’ve come to question whether it (and other cartridges in its class) are maybe a little overpowered for what most North Americans hunt.

If Someone is regularly hunting elk and moose in addition to whitetail, blacktail, and mule deer, yeah, the ‘06 is a great all around choice.

But if deer is all that’s on the menu, why endure that much muzzle blast and recoil? That goes double in places where deer just don’t get all that big.

mshootnit said:

A famous gun writer fairly made the case that the 165 gr. ttsx will out penetrate a 200 gr. bullet in 30-06.

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That's why I shoot 168 gr TSX out of my M1 Garand.

But they don't have the upset that a heavy NP will give you.




GR