Is 30-06 still a decent round?

I sort of agree with the fact that the 300 Win Mag's neck is too short, but it really depends on the bullet. Long, tapered, boat tail heavy for caliber bullets can have issues with neck tension/friction. But I also shoot a lot of Gibbs designed cartridges that have short 1/4" necks regardless, so I don't find it a real drawback. However, and more in tune with the OP's question, the 30-06 is better then it has ever been. Modern bullets, modern powders, have stretched the legs of this cartridge to an amazing degree. Other cartridges too, but there are no flies on the '06. I would take one hunting for anything in NA and not feel undergunned. It still remains a top, middle of the road choice for an all around gun. FWIW - dan
 
Idcurrie said:
It is:

"However, the short neck with the shoulder moved forward does cause some real problems. Since the .300 Winchester Magnum is designed to work out of a standard length action heavier bullets will need to be seated deeper into the case. Since many heavier .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullets have a long taper, and these bullets will be required to be seated deeper into the case, the neck will end up being positioned in the ogive rather than on the shank of the bullet due to the fact that Winchester had moved the shoulder forward.[6] This prevents the case from having a good grip on the bullet. Under recoil such loosely held bullets in the magazine will be pushed back into the case. Also, if using a highly compressed load the cartridge might “grow” in length and may not be able to fit into the magazine. For these reasons bullets weighing over 200 grains (13 g) are not recommended.[18] Norma goes further recommending that bullets heavier than 180 grains (12 g) not be used with the cartridge.[17]"


17 ^ a b "300 Winchester Magnum". norma.cc. Norma Precision AB. Retrieved October 24, 2010.

18 ^ Hawks, Chuck (2004). "The .300 Winchester Magnum". chuckhawks.com. Guns & Shooting Online. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
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No chance Norma is trying to sell its own .300 mag?

Any chance Chuck Hawks is just quoting stuff he read? No, that never happens.

Any chance a Wikipedia (from which that is quoted without reference) article has some stuff in it that should just be ignored? Any chance?

I just have never known anyone who actually uses and loads for the .300 Win to have had any issues where bullets "fall out of 300wm cartridges in the magazine". In fact, that quote does not suggest that at all because that is impossible.

I have seen lots of bullets, from lots of different cartridges that were hammered into the case by recoil in a magazine. I always check any compressed load with any cartridge to make sure the neck tension is enough to hold the specific bullet and prevent pushing it out. I expect all good reloaders do the same.

I don't know how many .300 Win rifles there are out there, but it must be many thousands. The "short neck" issue has been argued as a disadvantage forever, and those that actually use and load for the round (including military uses) just don't seem to have the problems that some predict are such "well known" issues.

Criticizing anything based on a Wikipedia article does little to increase anyone's credibility. Put the first line of that quote into Google with quotation marks, and see how much of the internet is just plagiarism of one statement repeated so many times it looks like an important "issue".
 
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 know there's no such thing as a stupid question but... Read this and decide:

http://hunting.about.com/od/guns/l/aasttopriflecar.htm
 
Idcurrie said:
It is:

"However, the short neck with the shoulder moved forward does cause some real problems. Since the .300 Winchester Magnum is designed to work out of a standard length action heavier bullets will need to be seated deeper into the case. Since many heavier .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullets have a long taper, and these bullets will be required to be seated deeper into the case, the neck will end up being positioned in the ogive rather than on the shank of the bullet due to the fact that Winchester had moved the shoulder forward.[6] This prevents the case from having a good grip on the bullet. Under recoil such loosely held bullets in the magazine will be pushed back into the case. Also, if using a highly compressed load the cartridge might “grow” in length and may not be able to fit into the magazine. For these reasons bullets weighing over 200 grains (13 g) are not recommended.[18] Norma goes further recommending that bullets heavier than 180 grains (12 g) not be used with the cartridge.[17]"


17 ^ a b "300 Winchester Magnum". norma.cc. Norma Precision AB. Retrieved October 24, 2010.

18 ^ Hawks, Chuck (2004). "The .300 Winchester Magnum". chuckhawks.com. Guns & Shooting Online. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
Click to expand...

http://www.norma.cc/de/Munitionsschule/Ladedaten/300-Winchester-Magnum---schwer/
The above Norma link shows loads with long 190/200gr and 220gr bullets.

http://www.norma.cc/de/Produkte/Jagd1/300-Winchester-Magnum/Norma-Oryx-200-gr/

And Norma makes factory loads with the 200gr Oryx. I don't know where you got that quote from - but I, and I suspect many others, disagree with the notion that it is a bad idea to load heavy bullets in the .300 Win Mag.
 
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?
Click to expand...

If I had the choice to keep only one rifle, it would be a 30-06.
 
Idcurrie said:
Yeah. It may not be a good idea to do that...

The 300wm is the only cartridge to have a neck smaller in length than the diameter of the bullet. It has such a small bearing area that it is well known that bullets of 220gr and up tend to fall out of 300wm cartridges in the magazine...

30'06 doesn't have this problem...
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For years, the 300 WinMag was the only caliber I used, from Moose to Duiker in Africa. First in a Sauer 80, then later a Browning Abolt when they first came out. I always reload and my practices are definitely more unorthodox than most. I never crimp bottleneck calibers, I handle primers with greasy fingers and I don't have a case polisher or primer pocket cleaner. I've used powders ranging from IMR 3031 to Norma MRP and RL25.I've never had a bullet fall out,never had an issue with a short neck and that's after 20+ years of reloading 300WM.
That said, the 30-06 is a great caliber as well, not necessarily better or worse.
 
I'd take the 30-06 over a lot of hyper modern cartridges that might be here today and gone tomorrow. Ain't nothing wrong with the 30-06.
 
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