30,06 not enough?

[Tinmancr]

Since when is 30,06 not big enough?
I bought a box of 180 gr sp power shok ammo, it says it is rated for medium game.
MEDIUM GAME!!!!!
No bigger than a mule deer?
30,06 has killed every kind of game imaginable, I burned a hole in a piece of half inch steel.
It was almost a half inch wide
.44 magnum splats against it.
And I fired it through my WWII 1903 SPRG

 

[trueblue1776]

It's always enough! Mush meat enough!

 

[Happyshooter]

It is not enough when you are an ammo maker and want to sell your338/3000/6000 short magnum.

 

[Tinmancr]

..........

I hear that but must admit 338win mag is impressive
and the others seem to be more so.

 

[kevin davis]

a lot of times "medium" means thinner skinned game, not necessarily size. i shot an american bison with a .30-06 using remington 180 grain corelokt and they worked fine. he weighed a good ton. the first shot went all the way through, missing ribs both times.

 

[Smith357]

The .30-06 might be a bit under powered for dangerous African game. But I have never felt the need for more power in North America.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I don't recall the exact wording, but before he passed on didn't Jeff Cooper write that anything you can't do with a .30-06 probably doesn't need to get done?

 

[Titan6]

Well, just don't buy ''those'' bullets. Buy a different brand of 180gr SP's and you should be okay. There is clearly something wrong with those bullets.

 

[eliphalet]

The elk I have been eating the last couple of decades seemed to think a 30'06 with a 150 grain bullet was plenty, not a one of em ran off. Bullet placement is key.

 

[Lupinus]

short of large african game 30-06 is more then enough for many animals. These are the same people telling you that .270 is no good for anything larger then a white tail.

Everyone always wants the biggist baddist new hot round out there. Why I will never know.

 

[cheygriz]

The elk I have been eating the last couple of decades seemed to think a 30'06 with a 150 grain bullet was plenty, not a one of em ran off. Bullet placement is key.

I've never lost an elk that I shot with a .30-06. It might be a little light for Alaskan game, but in the hands of a skilled hunter/rifleman, loaded with the proper ammo it will get the job done.

In my much younger days, I used to believe the krap that some of the old time gun rag writers like Kieth and Cooper wrote. I hunted elk with a .375 H&H.

When all of the other members of my hunting party made one shot kills with .30-06, .270. 7MM and 8MM Mauser, and even .257 Roberrts, I switched to the .30-06 and never looked back.

If there's something in the lower 48 that you can't kill cleanly with one shot from a .30-06, either you need to learn how to select ammo, or how to hunt or how to shoot.

I use the 150 grain bulets, Speer SPBT for deer, and Barnes "X" for elk and moose. They drop in their tracks, or within 10-15 yards.

 

[Geno]

Well, there you have it. The .30-06 Sprg. IS enough. Send the company the box along with this: That should get their attention.

Doc2005

 

[Gerald in Ga]

If a 7x57 mauser can take elephant, I guess a lowly 30-06 could take one too. Just read about Walter Dalrymple Maitland "Karamojo" Bell. I have never had a deer go more than 25 or so feet. It's all about placement. Remington 150 grain corelocks.

 

[Rangr44]

You can never go wrong, choosing the .30-06 !

 

[skidooman]

.06 is more than enough for anything I've ever ran into. I think .270 is plenty for anything I will ever do. The first deer I shot with my .270 was a very large bodied mule deer, and at 304 yards I believe it was dead before it hit the ground. Got the heart a lung and flew through the other side into the dirt behind him.

 

[zero_chances]

What, youve never needed 2 or 3 well placed shots of 30-06 to bring down a ... sqirrell?

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

They want you to buy premium ammo and not standard ammo that works just as well on most game.

 

[floridaboy]

Cooper and Keith were'nt full of crap. Elmer just wasn't around when good bullets became available. 80 years ago, you needed a big, heavy slug in case of jacket separation. Thats really not much of a problem anymore. I've used an '06 for 20+ years. Use the right bullet, put in the right place, and you'll likely never have any troubles.

 

[Tinmancr]

thanks guys

I feel better knowing how many supporters the 100 some year old round has,
and the modern ammo for it

 

[MDHunter]

Maybe More for Brownies

TinMan,

The 30-06 will kill everything in North America! But, since you're posting from Alaska, you may want something a little bigger if you hunt the big peninsula brownies, or go to Kodiak. Not saying that the .06 won't drop the big bears, but they tend to take multiple shots before they die, and are often found in thick cover....so a .338 WinMag, or a .375, might be the ticket for the big browns.

I've always hunted moose and caribou with the .06, but upgraded to a .338 a couple of years ago when I added grizzlies to the species I was hunting. Haven't had a chance at a griz yet, but did drop a wolf and a nice moose with the .338 last fall! Maybe next year I'll get lucky and find a nice bear out and about.

Michael

 

[greenflash107]

I know the 30-06 is as big a round as I will ever need. It is also my favorite big game round(Notice I did not say medium game). My father-in-law had a trap built in the late eighties as we were hand loading all of our different caliber rounds. It was made from 1/4 " steel, and curved down from front to back. Needless to say, we started out trying our different handgun rounds(9mm and 38) after we had the right loads down for them, we started on the rifles. Both of us had 30-06's. The trap did not make it through that day. They blew most of the back of the trap away. I never had any doubt after that, that I needed a larger caliber round for anything. I guess there is a good reason it has been around for so long,and so many people swear by it.

 

[1911Tuner]

Ought Six

With the proper bullet for the target, and good placement, the old .30-06 is capable of taking anything on the North American continent. This is not to say that it's ideal, nor that there aren't "better" choices for dangerous game, such as the big Browns...but it'll do if you're up to the task.

 

[Flyboy]

a lot of times "medium" means thinner skinned game, not necessarily size. i shot an american bison with a .30-06 using remington 180 grain corelokt and they worked fine. he weighed a good ton. the first shot went all the way through, missing ribs both times.

Kevin hit it. I have some .30-30 for "medium" (defined as thin-skinned) game. I also have some designed for penetration (think hogs). It's not saying the caliber is unsuitable for larger game, it's saying that particular bullet design is optimized for "medium" game.

 

[sparky2726]

IIRC, the rateing for medium game refered more to bullet construction than the caliber. I remember seeing the came brand of ammo, in 30-06, where one was rated medium game, and the other was rated large game. The only difference in the 2 that I could see was a different design of bullet.

Sparky

 

[browningguy]

As I recall the power shock is a very lightly constructed bullet designed primarily for good expansion, not penetration. So while I use them, I do think they should be limited to thin skin game. I don't know for sure what would happen if one hit an Elk shoulder, or even a big rib, but a more heavily constructed bullet would sure make me feel better.

Also remember that Bell was using 170 gr. and heavier solids in his 7x57, absolutely tremendous penetration with their high sectional density.