The .30-06…the king of cartridges is it fading to the sidelines?

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Varminterror said:
People say this over and over, and it really has never been true. .30-06 is an elk rifle, decent but not great among its peers. Grossly overpowered for deer species, hogs, and antelope, and underpowered among peers for great bear, moose, or Buffalo.

“Capable of” everything, sure. “Great at everything,” not a chance. And certainly not moreso than a dozen other cartridges on the market.
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That's sure news to millions of US hunters over the years.

Looking at the factory ballistics charts, the .30-06 has roughly 2800 fpe versus roughly 2000 to 2600 fpe for "standard" deer rounds. More powerful- yes, but grossly overpowered?

Then there is what you can do with handloading- everything from 7.62 Tokarev/.30 Carbine/7.62x39mm/.30-30 equivalents up to .318 WR/.300 H&H levels.
 
I haven't killed anything too dead yet. It is definitely way in excess of the minimum amount of power and recoil needed to kill a 100-200 lb animal, but to call it grossly overpowered to me implies that you get a poor result such as using a sledge hammer to pound a finishing nail, and I just don't really see that in the real world with proper shot placement. I whole heartedly agree that it burns 2 or 3 times more powder than is required to kill a deer, and that it produces recoil well in excess of what is required, but those two criteria are unimportant to me personally. If I were shooting it 1000 rounds a year the powder usage would be a bigger deal but I average probably 100 or so rounds a year in whichever rifle I choose to hunt with that year including practice. I can afford an extra $10 of powder and a 30-06 is well within my comfort threshold for recoil in a hunting rifle.
 
I don't think so unless the prices go around $47.00 for 10 rounder box. There will be forced to look for another options or convert them to old safe queens of last century.
 
czhen said:
I don't think so unless the prices go around $47.00 for 10 rounder box. There will be forced to look for another options or convert them to old safe queens of last century.
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Yeah, because if the price of 30-06 ammo goes to "around $47.00 for a 10 rounder box" the price of the other "options" won't be just as bad.o_O
I think I'd take up handloading before I'd "convert" my 30-06 to an "old safe queen of the last century" just because of ammo prices. Oh wait - my 1980's 30-06 has never seen a factory load because I was already a handloader when I bought it.;)
 
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Maybe I am on the way out. I shoot military surplus rifles and have several Garands and three different military 308's. I have a good stock of ammo and will not need to pay the prices that are being charged today. I have several poodle shooters but there is something about a battle rifle that just satisfies the soul.
 
LoonWulf said:
I don't see 30-06s very often anymore, I know one guy who still hunts with one, and that's his only centerfire rifle. I feel kind of weird not owning one, but when I DO have them I never use them....maybe I need to pony up for a really pretty 06, then I can sit around and admire it, even if I rarely if ever shoot it.
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If you can get one, a CMP Garand is a good choice! I may be a smidge biased though...;) If I ever get to the point where I run out of loaded ammo, reloading supplies, and cant find any ammo on the shelves, we are truly in a dark time...
 
My M1 Garand will thrive on my stockpile of Greek HXP ball, Federal, Winchester, and Remington hunting ammo, and my handloads for a long time as I can reuse the brass and I have a good stockpile of Accurate2700 and Win760 powder which at the modest powder charges of the 06 class case, is a lot of loadings! Now, 300RUM on the other hand........
 
Blah, blah, blah!

Anything the 30-06 can do, the 5.56 does better.

Wait! Dangerous bears? 30-06 wins hands down. Or not?

Full on charge. Mouth shot from either is a kill shot. I can make that shot. Can you? Are you going to argue 30-06 makes up for your lack of skill?
 
Everytime I get the desire for a new hunting rifle I start with the cartridge. No matter how many different ways I play with the ballistics they never come out so dramatically different that it negates my .30/06 at reasonable shooting ranges for me. I like to get within 300 yards or so for a shot. I have a great Winchester Model 70 that I have taken most of my memorable animals with and just love to hunt with. I will stick with my .30/06 and be happy. I do like the .308 but my .30/06 has never let me down so no reason to change.
 
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30-06 out of an FN Winchester, brought this moose down, I also own an FN Mauser in 30-06. They are making the 30-06 hunting rounds better than in the past... to each his own...I’ll always have a 30-06 for hunting...
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codytrucker said:
I live in a part of the world where outfitted ,guided horseback hunts into camps miles in from the trailheads are popular . if its 6:00 in the morning , and you suddenly discover you need ammo , Walmart in Cody is the only thing open , and they don't handle a lot of what's on your list . And they aren't gonna wait for hours for you to be able to look around the local stores in hope of finding 338 norma , or any other special ammo .

Odds are someone will have an extra '-06 or two to loan you , between hunters and guides , or the cook or wrangler for that matter.
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Who would go on a guided hunt without at least two full boxes of ammo???
I never understood that argument?
When traveling to a hunt via an airplane it is always a good idea to send extra ammo ahead to your outfitter! And leave it with him when the hunt is over as an extra thank you.

Sure the more popular a cartridge is the easier it will be to find, and more likely that someone else will have extra.
I haven't seen 30-06 ammo on the self at Wal-Mart in over a year, but they have 308. Problem is I have a 30-06:(
 
P5 Guy said:
An intern's first assignment is to write an article on the death of the .30'06
Seems like this comes up every few years since the late 1920s
100 years of .30'06 demise stories? Find an original topic for your new intern!
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I disagree with this. One of the internet things that gets my hackles up is use the search, or something along these lines.

I have played with guns for quite a long time, played with some uncle sam gave me, played with some from other places, played with my own. I bet there are many here that could say the same thing.

There are however people that are new to this shootin' ting. They are actually looking for something to fill the void in their experience. I will try to take everyone at face value, every question is legit. Sure I get suckered into trolls, but eh. If that one guy goes away thinking people helped them here I see that as a win.
 
The 30-06 is the standard that others are compared to in big game hunting cartridges. There are better choices for different situations and for species of game, but the-06 will do it. I don't think it will vanish anytime soon.

I'm more concerned that the hunter will vanish before the 30-06. Take a kid hunting or someone else who has never been hunting this year. Pass on our love of hunting.
 
WisBorn said:
The 30-06 is the standard that others are compared to in big game hunting cartridges. There are better choices for different situations and for species of game, but the-06 will do it. I don't think it will vanish anytime soon.

I'm more concerned that the hunter will vanish before the 30-06. Take a kid hunting or someone else who has never been hunting this year. Pass on our love of hunting.
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People also need to learn that guns have uses past killing. Take a kid shooting, but be smart about it. Don't hand that 6yr old a 357. That was real funny in 1970.....today I would say it is teaching a kid that these gun things are bad. We have enough of that.

You can have as much fun "killing" steel animals.

That is not to say I am against hunting, far from it. My home range is likely a place where many people would hunt. I can sit there watch the owl in the tree, or the red tail. See the toad sitting in the shade of the bench, listen to the wind in the trees. Trust me I get it and once did the hunting thing.

Make it more far reaching, the more people we get shooting the better.
 
WisBorn said:
I'm more concerned that the hunter will vanish before the 30-06.
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Just going by what I see in my own little world, I figure the "hunter" probably will vanish before the 30-06. I mean, my wife and I have 4 grandsons (no granddaughters) and only 2 of them have become hunters in spite of the fact that my wife and/or I took each and every one of them hunting on several occasions. Something has changed from the (hunting) world I grew up in to the world of today, and I have don't know what it was. I guess it could have been a lot of things.o_O
At any rate, maybe the disappearance of the "hunter" is the very reason the 30-06, the "king of cartridges" is "fading to the sidelines" as the OP asked about. I love the 30-06 myself, and I relied on it as my "go to" big game hunting cartridge for many years. But honest to goodness, if all I was going to do was punch holes in paper targets, or make steel targets "ring," I'd find something more practical than a 30-06 to do those things with.
As far as that goes, my beloved 308 Norma Magnum is an even worse choice for punching holes in paper or "ringing" steel. I don't much care though - I'm a hunter, and one of these days, one of my wife's and my two hunter grandsons will be using my 308 Norma Mag for what I had it built for.:)
 
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Remington1911 said:
People also need to learn that guns have uses past killing. Take a kid shooting, but be smart about it. Don't hand that 6yr old a 357. That was real funny in 1970.....today I would say it is teaching a kid that these gun things are bad. We have enough of that.

You can have as much fun "killing" steel animals.

That is not to say I am against hunting, far from it. My home range is likely a place where many people would hunt. I can sit there watch the owl in the tree, or the red tail. See the toad sitting in the shade of the bench, listen to the wind in the trees. Trust me I get it and once did the hunting thing.

Make it more far reaching, the more people we get shooting the better.
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I fully agree that we need to get as many new people into shooting sports as possible!!! Hunting is one of those shooting sports.
Two of my nephews are shooters but will never hunt. Another nephew is a hunter/shooter. One nephew's wife joins me in the archery woods. I enjoy my time with all of them.
I have also spent many hours as a 4H shooting sports instructor and RSO at the local range. If you love to shoot - volunteering as an instructor is a great way to spend time and give back!
 
When I decided I wanted “a hunting rifle,” my first choice was a .30-06. Sure, you could buy 3 dozen different rifles in different calibers or configurations, each the absolute most optimum for one species in one environment…. But for most practical purposes a good quality .30-06 with a good scope will do the job and do it pretty well. It’ll also hold its own punching paper out to 1000 yards if you’re so inclined (I’m not) and in normal times does have the advantage of being available and in many different loadings.
 
Declining ? As in demand? Because, as an example, 350 Legend-19$ a box: standard 30.06 ball, 42$ a box...
 
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