30-06 is boring

For the most part of my hunting life I have owned a 30-06, I still do to this day. It is one of the top classic cartridges of North America. In 1906 this grand cartridge evolved from the 30-03 and hasn't looked back. It is only human to find it mundane, however it has served it's purpose and will continue to serve.
 
Boring ?!!! Wow !! There are more do everything loads for the .30-06 than any other cartridge in existance !!! Look at it this way, if you cant kill it with the the grand 'ol 06 with a Nosler 180gr loaded to the gills, go back to camp, pack everything up, go home and re-evaluate your life choices.
 
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Yes, they are great..... greatly boring that is. I bought just one, and that was to turn it into something else (9.3 bandwagon)
 
No blaspheming the greatest cartridge of all time! Of which all others are compared to... Since 1906!!!

Won't have it! It's like calling a pre 64 M-70 a crappy rifle... BASPHEMY! and ya should be burned at the stake as a heretic...
 
If I had my pick of one only rifle, it would be chambered in 30-06. As it is, I have a few 30-06's - Garands, M1917 in military dress and a nice old BSA sporter Model "C", Norwegian 98. But I have some other "boring" rifles in all different calibers.

Aside from the nostalgia factor, I like the nice long cartridge and the way it works in bolt action rifles. I love firing a Garand, and, well, almost any rifle. :)

I have to accept the fact that I have never got past the old favorites - .303 British, 30-30, .32 WS, 30-06, .308, 8x57, 6.5x55, 7x57, and so on. I cast my own bullets and reload for all my old babies. About the only rifle I have that has been rechambered is an 8mm-06. The rifle was my main deer rifle for a few years.
 
A brass tube with enough power to launch one of a 100 different bullets at velocitys that will take down anything in NA or punch holes in paper further than most can or should be shooting, what boring about that? Boring rifles maybe, but cartridges???? Most anything that goes bang when I pull the trigger is far from boring, isnt this gun nuts? A boring cartridge is an unfired one.
 
I got bored of the 30-06 years ago, so I decided to update my rifle to something that made it exciting again.

So I had a Shilen Match Select barrel made, and took my Rem 700/DM/SS action and had it blue printed.

Then I put the newly barreled action into a Cadex Strike Light Chasiss. Now it is an incredible shooting 30-06, that I stretched out to a mile with!! Fun stuff!

What ever it takes, make it fun!
 
Awesome hunting cartridge. You could walk into any gun store/farm supply store in the world(or North America) and buy ammo for it I suspect. Although I do prefer the efficiency of the .308 less noise and longer bbl life, I noticed during the last ammo crunch .30 06 was still more likely to be on the shelf vs .308

I do want to do some feral pig shooting abroad, so I picked up a used sako 85 black bear in boring 06, mounted a boring leupold with boring talley qd rings.

Would like to do something similar to what this guy is doing, as I’m not a trophy or meat hunter but can’t say I don’t enjoy just blasting critters.


https://youtu.be/3ft4aUH5lEo
 
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I started with a .30-06 as my first big game cartridge. I have been up and down the scale with just about every other "non-boring" cartridge since that time. I came to realize that it was just an unnecessary waste of my time and money. Having experience with SOOO many other calibers has shown me one thing...... I am a fickle, stupid man. Realizing this.......last year, I bought a new Winchester Extreme weather model 70 in...........30-06. Back where I started. It is just so damn versatile. If you want to be "less boring" , reload for it with exotic bullets and powders to spice things up. Save yourself lots of time and money. If it's not broke.....dont fix it.
 
The 30-06 might be the bee’s knees for some of you, but after shooting and hunting with a 300wsm, its hard to get excited with the 30-06 again. Thankfully, someone changed my mind before I butchered this rifle because of the sentimental value.
Forgot to say, I own 2 30-06s. Maybe I need to refresh my memory and take one out on a hunt this year. Maybe harvest my first elk with my grandpas 30-06 that I inherited.
 
Jeronimoe83 said:
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.
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That is probably the best reason as well to preserve the rifle. 30-06 hasn't been, and never will be inadequate for any large game in North America despite what some might say: Just take your dad's comments as he likely intended - as teasing... I think most dads do that. "Boring" in such cases as this is an arbitrary feeling declared by emotion. Objectively speaking: What makes a 6.5-284 not boring aside from the novelty? (that will eventually wear away) I expect in the long run, a couple >600 barrel changes in that overbore blow torch will become exhausting. ;)

I have rifles that are obsolete calibers, and anemic compared to the 30-06 but as barely adequate for white tail, I took my first two deer with my great-grandfather's rifle and it's one of a few sentimental guns that I could never part with. While history is being made every second, some of it is insignificant in the "greater scheme" of things: But to consecutive generations of growing boys, such pieces of history (should) hold immense value and establishing their place in said history.
 
Jeronimoe83 said:
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:
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I think your pops might have been joshin you a bit, the 30-06 isn't underpowered, it's just obsolete. As a versatile all-around cartridge for people shooting cast loads, or they got a rifle given to them in this caliber it's fine. You can find ammo for it anywhere, and there's lots of loads available. The issue with 30-06, and why it was replaced, is because it's obsolete. New powders and modern steel chambers have kept it on life support, along with modern bullet construction.

The main issue I have with 30-06 is that it has the trajectory of a basketball.

It's also a long action cartridge, the bolts usually wobble and require extra effort to cycle. This also makes the rifle longer and heavier, and can reduce accuracy if scoped.

You'll rarely see a 'tactical' style rifle chambered in this, if that's your thing.

With the 308win cartridge, there is no reason to own a rifle in 30-06. Insert comments like "Well I been using it for X years blah blah" below
 
Yep! “Rocket Surgery”.

I havent seen a tactical 30-06 in YEARS! Thats why I built one. I built it as a switch barrel rig.

The rifle shoots in the high .3’s to low .4’s. Lots of fun to be had. It isnt everyones bag of tricks, but I like it.
 
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