The problem with the .30/06 is that it is just too good. There are few rifle shooting chores it won't excel at, so it's the best choice for the rifleman who wishes to use one rifle for many occasions. But it requires that one must ask the question of his rifle, "What is it for?" Today people are less happy with the one rifle concept and wish to have a specialized rifle for each day of the week, and some may even want to switch at lunch time. Others simply are unable to get their heads around the idea that a 100 year old cartridge can be as good as anything designed within the last 10 minutes. This is all good and keeps the small arms industry robust and healthy, but I prefer to have fewer, less specialized rifles and I appreciate time proven designs in both rifles and cartridges.
There might very well be other cartridges that are as versatile as the .30/06. The .375 H&H comes to mind, but you never saw a .375 win any medals at major competitions or see battle rifles chambered for Mr Hollands .375. Yet the .30/06 has won medals in competition, it has won battles around the world in wars both major and small, and it has taken all manner of game around the world.
If you are looking for formulas to assist you in your quest for advanced marksmanship(corrections for wind drift, uphill/down hill corrections, corrections for range, temperature and elevation corrections, corrections for humidity, corrections for spin drift over range, etc) chances are that formula you seek was either written for or pre-existed and was modified to the .30/06.
The .30/06 is the most powerful of the military rifle cartridges, outclassing such popular rivals as the .303, the 8X57, and the 7.5 Swiss. The much touted .308 falls short when you attempt to load it with bullets heavier than 200 grs, although the .308 enthusiasts will smugly point out that their rifles are available in short actions and the need for .30 caliber bullets heavier than 180 grs exists solely in the minds of .30/06 shooters and most of those bother to use the old 220 and 250 gr round nose bullets. Even if that claim were true, the most they can claim is that the .308 was designed to match the ballistics of the .30/06. As for the advantage of a short action rifle over a long, I fail to see it. MY wife's light weight .30/06 weighs the same as many short action .308s, about 6.5 pounds, and I have been unable to detect any difference in cycling time between the two action lengths. A difference may indeed exist, but it cannot be exploited to the benefit of the shooter. The 7.62X54R comes very close in power to the .30/06, much closer than the .308, but its .310 bore and large rim diameter hinders it from being chambered in typical sporting rifles or from gaining much popularity outside of eastern Europe.
As good as the selection of factory ammo is for the .30/06 rifleman, the choice of components for the handloader is unmatched by any other cartridge. The range of burning rates suitable for this cartridge begins with Unique for the cast bullet shooter, ranges from 3031 to 4895 for light weight bullets, from 4895 to 4350 for mid weight bullets and right up to H-4831 and Re-22 for heavy jacketed bullet loads. If a commercial ammunition manufacturer makes rifle brass, he makes it in .30/06. Many cartridges that have gained attention over the last few years are only made by a single manufacturer. This will often limit the supply, probably on the day you need to get some. By contrast, once fired .30/06 brass can often be picked up from the range for free. I bought a box of Nosler brass to try out, but it is still sitting in the box while I shoot up what appears to be an endless supply of "free" brass that increases in number with each visit to the range.
Is a .30/06 as versatile as a .300 magnum (Winchester, Weatherby, WSM, Ultra, 30/378 and the various .30 caliber large case wildcats)? That depends. A .30/06 with a long fast barrel can give a .300 with a short slow barrel a real run for it's money, and do it with considerably less recoil and blast. But yes, the '06 does fall short of the velocity possible with a .300 magnum given equal rifles firing similar bullets. Does that make the .300 more versatile? Perhaps the .300 is equally versatile, but I doubt if many riflemen could exploit it's ballistic advantage, and many more would be intimidated by the .300's greater recoil and blast. If the .30/06 has 8" of bullet drop at 300 yards while the .300 drops 6", does it matter when you are shooting at a moose, and more to the point, does it matter when the moose is at 75?
I have previously said that the cartridge a rifle is chambered for is the least important element of it's design, and I stand by that statement. The choice of the type of action, the weight, length, and contour of barrel, the choice of magazine, the choice of sights, the choice of stock, stock material, bedding and dimensions are all more critical than the chambering to the ultimate success or failure of your rifle. Many cartridges do a number of things very well, particularly when handloaded, but in the final analysis, few do them any better than the .30/06.
