30-06 is boring

Jeronimoe83

Jeronimoe83

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Prince George, BC
Well, I have a nice Winchester Model 70 CRF 30-06 that my dad gave to me when I was 12. Ive had it for a few years and its collecting dust. Dont use it. Find it sort if boring. Any reason why I shouldnt re-barrel it to a 6.5-.284 Norma for my sheep hunting trips I do every summer?
I sort of lost interest in 30-06 ever since pops started calling it a pea shooter when I waa a young buck. Of course he shot a 300 win mag. Will re-loading the ‘06 turn it into a screamin demon?:confused:
 
They are certainly more capable than many people give them credit for. Think about it, the .308 can launch an efficient .95 178g bullet up around 2650-2700 FPS on the high side, add 150-200fps better (again on the high side) and do it just as accurately. Not too Shabby preforming out to 800 y on deer and 600+ on larger elk/moose if you can put it where it needs to be. Those ranges are beyond many ethical ranges anyways. The caliber is plenty capable of accurate shooting beyond 1200 yards and will serve on paper and steel satisfactory to those ranges. Brass is supper easy to accuire and has a very wide range of bullet weights based on your needs from 120-230 grain. I think it’s often overlooked. And I am not a pusher of this cartridge and believe there are many capable ones.
 
Know matter what you do reloading the 30-06 you will never make it's performance on par to a 300 Win. mag. No disrespect but it appears your Dad has unduly tainted your outlook on the 30-06 I have used a M-70 in 30-06 since the early 70's loaded with 165 gr Nosler partitions. Such loaded the 30-06 has made a lot of moose and deer very dead for me, they would not have been any more dead using a 300 Win mag or a 6.5 or 284 Norma. Closest moose I shot was about 25 ft. the farthest 400 yardish. The 06 did the job no problem.
Yes the cartridge is old, it's not exotic, it may sound boring and very common and almost everybody has one and you can buy the ammo at most corner stores and drug stores. But that's because the cartridges works well with a variety of bullet weights, has very tolerable recoil, and is a very effective game killer.

I would suggest if you just can not come to peace and comfort with the 30-06 then buy another rifle chambered for what you want and don't butcher a perfectly good M-70 30-06. Sell the rifle to someone who appreciates it and move on to what you want.
 
The .30-06 is boring. I’ve just received my second .30-06 today actually, they make great donors! My first one became my .35 Whelen and my second one will become a .280AI. Never shot the first one as a .30-06 and don’t plan on shooting the second one either.

That being said, if a new hunter would ask me for a recommendation for a rifle for deer/elk/moose rifle, I’d tell him to get a .30-06.
 
mrgoat said:
Know matter what you do reloading the 30-06 you will never make it's performance on par to a 300 Win. mag. No disrespect but it appears your Dad has unduly tainted your outlook on the 30-06 I have used a M-70 in 30-06 since the early 70's loaded with 165 gr Nosler partitions. Such loaded the 30-06 has made a lot of moose and deer very dead for me, they would not have been any more dead using a 300 Win mag or a 6.5 or 284 Norma. Closest moose I shot was about 25 ft. the farthest 400 yardish. The 06 did the job no problem.
Yes the cartridge is old, it's not exotic, it may sound boring and very common and almost everybody has one and you can buy the ammo at most corner stores and drug stores. But that's because the cartridges works well with a variety of bullet weights, has very tolerable recoil, and is a very effective game killer.

I would suggest if you just can not come to peace and comfort with the 30-06 then buy another rifle chambered for what you want and don't butcher a perfectly good M-70 30-06. Sell the rifle to someone who appreciates it and move on to what you want.
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:agree:
 
Most people can understand that, if they feel guilty, that feeling is their own doing. The same is true of boredom (actually all your emotional reactions - anger, frustration, etc.) If you're bored by anything, it's your own doing, not any real quality of the thing you think you find boring.

If being competent, reliable, and effective on a very wide range of game at any range that the vast majority of hunting is done is not interesting to you, then I guess you should try some less well rounded, more specialized, and somewhat limited cartridges, just so you aren't bored. But the .30-06 is so vastly popular precisely because it is really good at many things. I don't find that boring, although I have never actually owned one. I like playing with guns too much, so I use several less rounded, more specialized, and sometimes more limited cartridges for specific kinds of hunting. But not because I find the '06 boring, and if I wanted to hunt all big game with only one gun, it would very likely be a .30-06.
 
I don’t presently have a 30 06 but if I had a CRF rifle that my Dad gave me it would have a home in my gun locker until I had an opportunity to give it to one of my Son's or another family member, 30 06 is always a good candidate for a back up rifle on a hunting trip and it is usually not that cost effective to re-barrel. I had a BSA in 30 06 that my Dad gave me and I passed it on to my Son and He still has it. I find 30 06 boring as well.
 
Milt Dale said:
I don’t presently have a 30 06 but if I had a CRF rifle that my Dad gave me it would have a home in my gun locker until I had an opportunity to give it to one of my Son's or another family member, 30 06 is always a good candidate for a back up rifle on a hunting trip and it is usually not that cost effective to re-barrel. I had a BSA in 30 06 that my Dad gave me and I passed it on to my Son and He still has it. I find 30 06 boring as well.
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That right there is a good enough reason for me to build off a different action. Have a future hunting partner in the making.

Thanks for the input.
 
I've killed many hundreds of head of big game with a 30-06 and still find it boring. Its just a middle of the road 30 cal, and does about what you'd expect a middle of the road 30 cal to do. Its better than the slow ones and less than the fast ones. There's sure nothing special about them.
 
I've never had much use for it either. A longer action means a longer and heavier gun. Long cartridges tend to need longer barrels to get the best ballistics too. Not a good recipe for a woods rifle IMHO. Add in the additional recoil that some hunters find offensive. I'll give credit where it's due however. It's common, inexpensive to shoot, and has stood the test of time. I prefer, short, light, moderately recoiling cartridges. Depending on the territory you hunt, shorter lighter guns make better hunting rifles. I prefer 30/30, 308, and 358 as my go-to rounds.
 
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I took many years to ever get a 30-06, due to the same old "boring, vanilla" stuff I always heard.

But then I kept going on hunts with guys putting down all the same game I was, and they were using 30-06's and I was mostly using 338 win mag and sometimes 375 H&H.

Darned if I could actually see any real difference on black bears, caribou and moose, between the '06 and the medium magnums.

So one day I got a great deal on an old '06 and just started hammering stuff with that.

I still use magnums sometimes, but a properly handloaded 30-06 in the hands of a skilled hunter is an absolute killer, period.
 
I’d say it may be boring but I’ll never sell mine. Just buy another one you may regret butchering it up one day.

The 30-06 is so boring that it’s actually exciting. I’m going to shoot mine soon!
 
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I sold mine many years years ago. Wish I hadn't because it killed everything I pointed it at. I have a wide assortment of guns and think I need to add a 30-06 to the line up. Shoot heavy for caliber bullets 185-215 gr with some modern powders and I think the 06 will hold its own.
 
If you can't do it with a .30/06, you probably won't be able to do it with a .300 magnum either. The .300 shoots flatter, hits a bit harder, but you need some talent to be able to exploit the advantage. Dogleg has it, but I'm not so sure I do, so I'd just as likely jump up to my .375 Ultra when I needed flatter, harder and wanted enough recoil to put a smile on my face. The cool think about handloading isn't the advantage you gain in velocity over factory ammo, its that you can make ammo that does very specific things, which is something factory ammo doesn't. If all you going to do is use 150s at 3000 fps, or 180s at 2850, you're not using your '06 to its full potential.
 
Jeronimoe83 said:
...30-06....Find it sort of boring...
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Just added a 30-06 which sets a precedent in my collection. A brand new Sako 85 Bavarian Carbine. Wanted this particular model but no heavy caliber offerings. From the choices available I chose 30-06. Why? Because I shoot 308 and 300 WM so I already have a selection of bullets for it, and the 30-06 fires heavier bullets faster than the 308. Plus the 30-06 remains quite popular so it has good resale appeal.

Boring? I think in terms of adequacy. The 30-06 is adequate for heavy ungulates, my preferred quarry, with proper bullets and precise shot placement to break heavy shoulder bone and sever spinal chord for decisive 1 shot DRT kills within its limited range. However, I question its adequacy on certain large species.

During pre-season scouting I watch for telltale signs to know what I could be up against. So when hunting in areas where certain large species are present I will take a heavier caliber rifle of course.

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Having had the privilege of hunting BC and Alberta for about 60 years now, I
will endorse the 30-06 wholeheartedly.
While I have and use many chamberings, the '06 has accounted for the Lion's
share of game I have taken.
It has quite a bit more potential than many realize. A good 24" 30-06 will drive
150's to 3100, 165's to 2900+, and 180's will flirt with 2900 with some of today's
excellent powder choices.
There is not much game in this country that will be safe inside of 500 yards
if packing an accurate, properly loaded '06 with a good driver at the helm. EE.
 
I'm pretty sure the only 30-06 I presently own is my Dad's Remington semi Fuddtastic rifle. I doubt I would ever buy one unless it was an M1 Garand.

Nothing wrong with the 30-06, it will kill stuff just like a .308, 303 British, 7-08, 270 or dozens more cartridges in it's category. Because it was a military cartridge and rifle and cartridge selection was more limited back then, it became very popular and still is. it's a great option for a guy that is more focused on keeping hunting simple and wants to buy a box of factory ammo a year. Then again so is a 308. :)
 
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