What can't a .30-06 do?

[NorCalRifleman]

I recently inherited a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight chambered in .30-06 Springfield, without question an American classic. It's a fine rifle despite needing to be cleaned up a bit and I expect that it will serve very well as my sole big game rifle for many years to come (and I hope to pass it on to my son when the time comes).
What I wonder is, what are its limits? Not in range, but in game size. I don't doubt that with the right load and if I do my part I can hunt black bear and elk with this rifle. So what in North America is solidly outside the realm of the .30-06? I know that if the planets are aligned and there's a blue moon someone will be convinced I could take an elephant with a .177 caliber airgun, but seriously, is the .30-06 sufficient for larger bears or whatever else?
Just because I know someone will ask, I would very likely take 90% of shots inside of 200 yards and closer than that if I can. I'm a respectable shot and don't doubt my ability to put the bullet where it needs to go at that range.

Thanks,
SrA Leedy

 

[nico]

This is based on heresay, but

In the lower 48 states: nothing

In Alaska: Brown Bear/Grizzly

 

[Dale Taylor]

Nico stated it well. [email protected]

 

[Geno]

Many a bear, even Cape Buffalo have fallen to the .30-06

I have video footage of Cape Buffalo in Africa being (illegally) taken with a .30-06. Now, the shooter also let's say, did not make it, dying sometime later, but so did the buff. The operative word is effectively, ergo non-danergously to the shooter.

Given my belief that the foremost consideration is accuracy (placement) foloowed closely by penetration. I would put an 06 against anything on the North America continent at 200 yards, given the proper hand-loaded ammunition (Barnes 200 to 220 Gr). But, the point I add is this--regardless of the caliber I carried as primary for the big bears (even if a .338 Win. Mag), I would carry a Model 70 in .458 Win with 500 Gn solids as back-up. That perhaps explains the lack of hesitation in use of a .30-06.

Doc2005

 

['Card]

If I was going to hunt Grizzlies, I may want something bigger, but other than that? I can't think of anything that a .30-06 wouldn't be perfectly suited for.

There are obviously a lot of excellent cartridges out there, but I personally don't believe there is any single cartridge that does as many things as well as the .30-06, in as many different platforms.

 

[stevelyn]

Plenty of grizzlies fall in front of an '06. The '06 will do everything that needs doing in N. America.

 

[Matt King]

The 30-06 is the Swiss Army knife of rifles, just as the 12 gauge shotgun is to Shotguns, and the .357 Magnum is to handguns.

 

[Owen]

the dishes?

 

[Oldnamvet]

or windows

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The late, great Townsend Whelen used to say, "In North America, the .30-06 is never a mistake." And he killed many a grizzley, moose and other heavy game with it.

 

[1911 guy]

Who said?

There ain't too much a man can't fix with seven hundred dollars and a 30-06.

 

[DWARREN123]

Make coffee!

 

[Abby]

Well, it's a little rough on squirrels for the dinner table...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Well, it's a little rough on squirrels for the dinner table...

Only because you don't know the secret magic words.

I carry a Hammond Game Getter in my pocket. This is an ordinary .30-06 case (you can get them for other calibers, too) with a steel head. Instead of a primer pocket, it's chambered off-center for a .22 nail-setting blank.

I use #2 (brown) nail-setting blanks and a sized 00 buckshot in the mouth of the case (it comes with a sizer). This prints right on top of the thick lower crosshair at 25 yards, and will hold a 1" group at that range.

 

[jjohnson]

Pretty Much Good to Go - Except.....

I dunno, if we stick to the original question on how big you can go with game, yeah, lots of big nasty stuff like Cape Buff have fallen to the 30-06 and 7mm Mausers... but a lot of us would like to have something a little bigger like a .338 or my favorite for the 'next notch up' a .35 Whelan for stuff that's actually dangerous like Grizzly, Kodiak (I'm sticking with this continent). If you do your job, you can still do what you want on large bear with premium ammo or good handloads like 220gr or larger Barnes as an example. The 30-06 will do the job, but on the really big nasty stuff, most of us err on the side of safety... bigger bullets.... not elephant guns, but up one notch.

 

[MCgunner]

I wouldn't hunt brownies with it, but I'll never get to hunt brownies anyway. My favorite hunting rifle is the .30-06 short....aka .308 Winchester. It'll kill anything I'll ever hunt. Might prefer my 7 mag on Nilgai if I ever get a shot at one of those things, but I think the .308 would do the job with a Barnes bullet.

 

[Anthony T.]

The 30-06 is the best thing that ever happened to this country. It has won wars for us and has been loved ever since. There's never been made a better cartridge for general N.A. hunting IMO. It is definrtly on top of the totem pole.

 

[Abby]

I hate to be off-topic (beyond just humor), but I have an opportunity to learn something here...

Vern - I can't visualize this "game getter" object. Do you have a picture? Is it something like (forgive me the gross comparison) a "snakeshot" round, but for a centerfire?

 

[JohnKSa]

I can't visualize this "game getter" object.

http://www3.telus.net/gamegetter/

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Vern - I can't visualize this "game getter" object. Do you have a picture? Is it something like (forgive me the gross comparison) a "snakeshot" round, but for a centerfire?

Think of it as an ordinary .30-06 cartridge, with a 55-grain bullet and an off-center primer.

 

[4fingermick]

3006

My license plates are SP3006!! Thats how much of a good idea I think it is. Mick.

 

[HMMurdock]

Bear in mind I have no first hand experience with this, but my research on hunting grizzlies places the 30.06 like a .380 handgun is to a person. It'll do the job, you just damn well better know what you're doing with it!

Other than that, it seems to take down about anything you want --especially in North America.

TRL

 

[Art Eatman]

Re grizzlies and Cape Buff and such: Killing is one thing, stopping a charge is something else.

If you're sitting quietly somewhere and BigNasty doesn't know where you are, a neck or heart shot will indeed kill the critter. But, if BigNasty is headed your way with bloodlust in his little old heart, you probably oughta grease up that '06, or cover it with chocolate.

Art

 

[MCgunner]

The 30-06 is the best thing that ever happened to this country. It has won wars for us and has been loved ever since.

Beg to differ, but no firearm won any wars for us. The men who carried those weapons won the wars. The weapons themselves were just the tools they used.

 

[[email protected]]

^^^
The sodier is as good without his rifle, as his rifle is without him, they are both equal in their place.

On topic: the .30-06 is N. America favorite hunting cartidge and has been for about a hundred years, there has to be some reason agreed?