Is 30-06 still a decent round?

Dogleg said:
Plenty of people are after grizzlies, and many more do take those over 400 yard shots.
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Give me a break... if you can't do it with 180's at 2800 or 220 partitions at 2600 then you need to re-evaluate your hunting skillls. I am drunk so give me some slack.
 
StoneHorse said:
I agree with you about the bench but were is the smokeless powder comment coming from :confused: People were (and still are) shooting accurately far beyond 100 yards with black powder.

Getting back to the OP's original question, "Is the 30/06 still a decent round?" In a word, yes.
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More a reference to arcing trajectories than anything. I tend to stay under 250 yards with muzzleloaders but thats just me.
 
Biggest mistake I made was giving my -06 to my little brother. I bought a sweet little 25-06 for deer, and thought the 30-06 was "too small" for big game, and I needed a magnum. Bought a 300 and hated it! But in the mean time had givin my m70 30-06 to my bro who was just starting out. I've sold my 300 and even worse my Little Brother wont give my rifle back.... :kickInTheNuts:

Live and Learn, I guess.:rolleyes:
 
1899 said:
Give me a break... if you can't do it with 180's at 2800 or 220 partitions at 2600 then you need to re-evaluate your hunting skillls. I am drunk so give me some slack.
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Slack given, nurse that hangover.:p Whatever my capabilities are, or aren't doesn't change the difference between the cartridges. I can have that difference for a dimes worth of powder. Whats the disadvantage?

I don't hate 30-06s, I've got a couple and a couple .308s. I'm just saying that the "30-06 is the most versatile crowd" is ignoreing every cartridge that can do everything a 30-06 can do and then some.
 
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30-06 is good, seen a lot of game taken with them. My thought, it's just like driving a 2wd ford truck, it works, lots have them, will I ever have one? not a chance.
 
9Guns said:
There is the P-14 M1917 variant though.
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The P-14/M1917 is a good rifle and if I wanted a .30-06 I'd be happy to find it in an unaltered M1917. But there is more Mauser than Enfield in that design and I like the Enfield No.4 much above all. Fortunately I'm content with the .303British.
 
Jet A-1 said:
Yesterday I was at a local gunshop and saw a one only special on a new Stevens 200 chambered in 30-06 (for $300)... old stock or left over, something like that. Anyway it got me thinking about that caliber in light of more recent and/or "popular" calibers like 270, 7mm or 300's and the like. Is 30-06 still a decent chambering for big game? d:h: I kind of thought that the deal was good but wasn't really certain about the caliber. Opinions & advice?
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The 30-06 is now a better round than when it was first introduced, due to improvements in powder technology.
 
Jet A-1 said:
Yesterday I was at a local gunshop and saw a one only special on a new Stevens 200 chambered in 30-06 (for $300)... old stock or left over, something like that. Anyway it got me thinking about that caliber in light of more recent and/or "popular" calibers like 270, 7mm or 300's and the like. Is 30-06 still a decent chambering for big game? d:h: I kind of thought that the deal was good but wasn't really certain about the caliber. Opinions & advice?
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The 30-06 is one of the few cartridges on the face of the planet that just doesn't fit anymore. The .308 does more, for less, in a short action. In a long action, the .300 Win Mag can easily be loaded down the 30-06 levels, but no matter how hard one tries, a 30-06 can't be loaded up to .300 Mag. velocities.
I'm not a big fan of the .308 either, but it makes a great parent case.

The 30-06 is so bad, that you can't even neck the suck out of it.

R.
 
How exactly do you figure it doesn't?

Have a look at some load data. Roll some up. Then go shoot both over a chronograph.
You'll have your answer.
Just for the record, the .308 is no flaming hell either, but like it's been said, at least the suck can be necked out of it.


R.
 
The '06 is kind of like your wife - not as ###y as the girl down the street, been around a while, can be a little cantankerous at times, but when it comes time to put food on the table or get things done, nothing else comes close.
 
Rman said:
How exactly do you figure it doesn't?

Have a look at some load data. Roll some up. Then go shoot both over a chronograph.
You'll have your answer.
Just for the record, the .308 is no flaming hell either, but like it's been said, at least the suck can be necked out of it.


R.
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This is the hunting rifle section... not the precision rifle forum.... most of the folks, and I suspect the OP is one, don't roll their own rounds....

The .30-06 is still one of the best if not THE best HUNTING calibers around.... we can sit here and argue all day about rolled rounds and necked cartridges etc.... but most folks are happy buying a box of core-lokt off the shelf and hunting out to 300 yards....

If OP was a hand loader he likely wouldn't have even entertained asking this question
 
Papaclaude said:
The '06 is kind of like your wife - not as ###y as the girl down the street, been around a while, can be a little cantankerous at times, but when it comes time to put food on the table or get things done, nothing else comes close.
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Maybe, but maybe its like the town slut. Everyone has had a crack at her, we know shes predictably easy, some think she's over-rated, some think she wasn't ever that great in the first place and some have deduced that she isn't ever going to be better than she is right now. Others conclude that they could do a lot better, and some sorry SOB is gonna fall in love and marry her.:p
 
I had never claimed that 308 is superior to 30-06 overall - I just said that lately some premium ammo in 308 is loaded to 30-06 levels or hotter.
Look @ http://www.nosler.com/Ammunition/Trophy-Grade.aspx for example. The 150 gr loads in 308 are hotter and 165 gr are the same. I am used to see a 100-200 fps on average 30-06 advantage over 308 with the same bullets...
Another example would be the 178 gr BHTP 308 Hornady Superformance round, which is not matched by anything 30-06 in their lineup...
 
A good quality bolt action 30-06 rifle with iron sights and a scope can fill the big game hunting requirements for most of the guys in Canada. Shhhhhhh, just don't tell my wife that!!!!!!!
 
Dogleg said:
Maybe, but maybe its like the town slut. Everyone has had a crack at her, we know shes predictably easy, some think she's over-rated, some think she wasn't ever that great in the first place and some have deduced that she isn't ever going to be better than she is right now. Others conclude that they could do a lot better, and some sorry SOB is gonna fall in love and marry her.:p
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Once again I spit my coffee on computer screen, this computer is tough..lol
 
Jet A-1 said:
Yesterday I was at a local gunshop and saw a one only special on a new Stevens 200 chambered in 30-06 (for $300)... old stock or left over, something like that. Anyway it got me thinking about that caliber in light of more recent and/or "popular" calibers like 270, 7mm or 300's and the like. Is 30-06 still a decent chambering for big game? d:h: I kind of thought that the deal was good but wasn't really certain about the caliber. Opinions & advice?
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I just had this conversation with my dad for like 3 days over a long weekend. I told him it's a fantastic round that he shouldn't buy, which confused the heck out of him.

Here's my argument against 30-06:

* The existence of .308Winchester

1) Find surplus ammo for practice
2) You mag capacity is lower
3) The action is longer
3.1) The gun is now heavier
3.2) The bolt is usually wobblier
3.3) The scope has less flexibility to move front and back
4) The hunting ammo is usually a bit more expensive
5) .308 can kill anything 30-06 can


In the end I actually told him to go buy a Tikka T3 30-06 simply because it doesn't matter which cartridge is better, it matters what you're comfortable with. He owned a Sako 30-06 in the 1970's, and the Tikka has the same action length regardless of calibre, so 308 would have been long action regardless. Modern bullet construction really makes it so any cartridge that can push a premium projectile of 130g faster than 2500FPS is a big game killer, so you may as well pick whatever is shortest, most available, cheapest, and comfortable to shoot. There's even 7mm-08 which isn't too shabby.

What's funny is that the guy at the gun store started going off about .270 vs 30-06, it's such an easy argument to make, but it further confused my dad:

* Beyond 150y .270 is better than 30-06
* Below 150y .270 is going to kill anything it hits
* Therefore, .270 is better than 30-06
* Buy .308

I really wish that clerk wouldn't have brought up the .270 because I had to then agree that it was better than 30-06

I just think it's funny how he started off wanting a 30-06, I told him .308 is better, and now I'm trying to convince him to get a 30-06. He has more experience with the 30-06 than the .308 but he's so convinced that .308 is better now.

I have this feeling I'm going to be buying him a T3 in 30-06 just to stop him from calling me every week to go over this. It's hard enough trying to explain why rifles don't come with irons sights, and why the stocks are plastic now.
 
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