Bored with my .30/06, what to do? - Becoming a Super .30

I agree with the very first response to your post. Let some young hunter develop a serious love for the one you now find boring. But......

If you just can't part with it, there is an alternative to re-barrelling to an '06 based caliber or all of the serious modding to rails and bolt face to accommodate
a 308 Norma or other 300 Win Mag sibling.

A simple re-chamber to a wildcat called a 30 Gibbs will give you very near 300 H+H performance out of your rifle. It is a 30-06 case with just about all of the body taper blown out of it and the shoulder pushed ahead about a quarter inch. Way more case capacity than the standard -06 round. If you don't currently reload, then you will need to for this caliber. You will also have to fire form 30-06 cases into 30 Gibbs. Sound like fun yet?
And by the way, a re-chamber job is seriously cheap compared to either re-barrelling or converting to a Magnum chambering.
 
I did the whole "AI tail-chasing" thing a few times... And the rechambering thing many, many times... But I have retreated to rechambering standard calibers in particular platforms that I want to shoot and can't get in that particular cartridge... I don't need or want to AI anything... There are plenty of cartridges available to "step-up" to... So I guess my advice would be sell off your .30/06 cheap to some other needing/wanting shooter and apply whatever you get for it to a new gun in whatever snappy caliber that captures your imagination...
 
IMG_3084.jpg


This was my answer to an extra .30-06 I had ;)
 
Chamber it out to the Norma or Win mag if you like, there is no great trick to opening the face on a Sako and the feed rails will need next to no work at all, if any. The only rifle that is difficult to open the bolt face on is the Rem 700 all the rest are a 10 min job. The feed rails and follower aren't rocket science either, nor are they time consuming, it is a very easy conversion on the L61R Sako.
 
CoryTheCowboy said:
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas...giving me lots to think about. 99% chance it stays as it is, but I thought a little discussion never hurt anything ;)

Cory
Click to expand...

I would send it out to a reputable Gunsmith,remove the sights so it has a clean barrel and get a high luster blueing job done !

I have 2 Husqvarna H5000's 30-06's at a gunsmith as we speak one is getting the stock refinished and the sights removed and a high luster bluing job and the other is just getting a but pad put on it.
I'll post some pictures once I get them home !
 
To me being bored with a .30/06 is being bored with rifle shooting. If you can do it with a rifle, you can do it with a .30/06. When I got interested in long range shooting, a .30/06 sporter built on a M-17 Enfield was what I used. And after some work I could count on half mile hits on 12" plates under favorable conditions. That was with a 3-9X40 hunting scope on a flat base mount so I needed an aiming target above my impact targets. With my long barrel .308 target rifle and 4-16X S&B there is little challenge in that kind of shooting, but with a hunting rifle you have to work at it a bit. Cast bullet shooting is the other end of the spectrum, where a pinch of pistol powder kicks out a lead slug at 1600-1800 fps. It takes a while to get that hang of that too. Small game, fur hunting, and plinking can be accomplished with cast bullets or with FMJ military bullets over the cast bullet load. If varminting or coyote shooting turns your crank, a light weight soft point will shoot flat and hit hard at 3500 fps. As for big game, this is where the '06 really shines, and you can't think of a big game animal that hasn't been killed by a hunter armed with a .30/06. If you can find a SAKO receiver sight, you can work at shooting with irons. When I fluke of a 5 shot 3" group at 300 yards with my old Brno, I feel pretty good, until I shoot my next group and I spoil it by being over confident and careless. That does not instill boredom. Perhaps the most challenging shooting is putting out targets at unknown distances along a trail. The object is to engage and hit each arget as you walk along the trail. You get a point for each target you hit, -2 points for each one you miss, and zero for a shot you pass up. Once you fire your first shot at a target, you're committed and must continue shooting until the target is hit. At its most challenging, the course should be arranged in such a way that prone can be seldom used, and much of it has to be shot from high positions.
 
Boomer said:
To me being bored with a .30/06 is being bored with rifle shooting. If you can do it with a rifle, you can do it with a .30/06. When I got interested in long range shooting, a .30/06 sporter built on a M-17 Enfield was what I used. And after some work I could count on half mile hits on 12" plates under favorable conditions. That was with a 3-9X40 hunting scope on a flat base mount so I needed an aiming target above my impact targets. With my long barrel .308 target rifle and 4-16X S&B there is little challenge in that kind of shooting, but with a hunting rifle you have to work at it a bit. Cast bullet shooting is the other end of the spectrum, where a pinch of pistol powder kicks out a lead slug at 1600-1800 fps. It takes a while to get that hang of that too. Small game, fur hunting, and plinking can be accomplished with cast bullets or with FMJ military bullets over the cast bullet load. If varminting or coyote shooting turns your crank, a light weight soft point will shoot flat and hit hard at 3500 fps. As for big game, this is where the '06 really shines, and you can't think of a big game animal that hasn't been killed by a hunter armed with a .30/06. If you can find a SAKO receiver sight, you can work at shooting with irons. When I fluke of a 5 shot 3" group at 300 yards with my old Brno, I feel pretty good, until I shoot my next group and I spoil it by being over confident and careless. That does not instill boredom. Perhaps the most challenging shooting is putting out targets at unknown distances along a trail. The object is to engage and hit each arget as you walk along the trail. You get a point for each target you hit, -2 points for each one you miss, and zero for a shot you pass up. Once you fire your first shot at a target, you're committed and must continue shooting until the target is hit. At its most challenging, the course should be arranged in such a way that prone can be seldom used, and much of it has to be shot from high positions.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say I'm bored with rifle shooting (all respect intended), it's just the .30/06 as a cartridge doesn't really do anything for me. I know I need to work on my shooting (especially offhand) and I appreciate all the options you listed to help with that.

When I bought the .30/06, I thought I was going to be a one gun hunter because like you said, there's nothing I wouldn't feel comfortable hunting with it...right now my go-to rifle is a 7x57 with a 9.3x57 as a backup.

Again, thanks everyone for your thoughts and opinions.

Cory
 
Put a decent ballistic reticle or turret scope on it and start shooting gongs at 600 yards with it...and then move onto some long-range hunting......definitely not boring!
 
Surprisingly enough, That happened to me with a Sako I had 25 years ago. Wanted sights and just wasn't enamoured anymore with it. Sold rifle and changed caliber to 308 and 7mm. 25 years later, I have 3 older PH's and am back with the trusty 30-06, because it serves so many purposes.

By the way, loading cast - is very fun to shoot and watch the splatter on gongs. If, as others have stated you are really, really not enamoured with it...sell it and allow someone else to enjoy the rifle, as it seems very well taken care of.
 
i'd leave it alone and go buy something else to play with .

from reading the first post i'm assuming it is reliable and accurate .....

something that can be sighted in and left on a corner for years , but when needed it can be easily and quickly put back into service with a couple boxes of factory ammo .

with that said , i'd also consider rebarreling it to 9.3x62 , but keep the 30-06 barrel if there was ever a need to return it to 30-06 .
 
That rifle sounds incredibly boring... in all honesty you should probably just mail it to me so that I never have to buy another one haha.

I love the .30-06 now that I have one, so I wouldn't change it at all although I am a fan of oddball stuff as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom