Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .30-06

I just realized how long I have been without a .30-06 so I think I will keep the Steyr-Mannlicher Model M Professional as is for now and shoot a deer or two before deciding g if I should rebore it to 9.3x62mm. I am waiting on the Warne QD rings and bases from Brownells and the Meopta Meostar 6x scope from Cameraland of NY and I will be all set. I am afraid it may be the perfect all around gun and then I won't need anything else...........nah, although it does sound like pretty close to it.

Every rifle looney should have at least one good .30-06, just in case his/her sanity is restored...

Well I do have a 9.3X62, picked up a Winchester PF 30-06 for next to nothing that had a horrid camo job and butchered stock. Cleaned it up and shot it, it works well. It is going to SIL as a Christmas present. I'll keep the 9.3X62..

Maybe even 2. Just a thunk..

Pretty much. Killing stuff dead without much fuss and argument for 108 years, but what's the fun in that?

The 30-06 also won two world wars!

There have been only 2 world wars and the 30-06 won them both!

...have a Professional Mk3 30.06 w 1.5x6 and Professional M in 7X57 w a fixed 6x - the funky black plastic stock snaps to my shoulder every time on target. As much as I enjoy look'in at all the cool rifles out there, these 2 are just great-great tools.

The 30.06 will shoot within a 3" string with 150g, 165g, 180g, 200g at 100 yds - each weight has it own 1" group within the vertical. Before hunting, I'll pick the weight and confirm the zero - it just does not change.

The 7x57, I have just used 150g partitions - it shoots great as well with less shoulder thump.

I know there is a lot of study/discussion about cartridges, efficiencies and all ...but...the 30.06 & 7x57 are simply classic designs that created the standard.

Keep the Steyr a 30.06

Yeah, anyway. I think there are least three of 'em around here someplace, last I looked? Might even be four.

But then homemade vanilla ice cream is a favorite and I wear T shirts and jeans most of the time, drive a Chevy truck.

Those dang ol' '06's�

I got back into hunting with one, & it boringly did everything that needed doing. Still, if was worked further & further toward the back of the safe as I accumulated "cool kid" chamberings. Doing so, of course, created an "arsenal", and all arsenals have holes, so then one has to buy more chamberings to fill those holes. So I sold the '06 about a year ago, since it was overlapping too many other chamberings.

Then one shows up in the classifieds here, & no one else will buy the darn thing, and it's going too cheap, and the next thing ya know, it shows up at my FFL guy's shop, with my name on it.

It shoots like this:








� and I don't think it'll be going anywhere.

Dang ol' '06's�

FC

FC,
I'd say that group is a little "marginal". Back to the reloading bench for you!

If you can't get it done with the 30-06 in the USA Hunting Fields , then you need to go back to the range for more practice

Yeah, I'm fiddling with seating depth now�

It does show a bit o' promise, though. Hell, it may even warrant an upgrade from a 4x scope.

FC

I happen to be '06-less right now, sold my last pre-64 a couple years ago, may need to get busy remedying that.

Damn good shooting there FC.

The patriotism of anyone who does not own at least one 30-06 is questionable. Don't be a commie bastard, keep at least one in your safe at all times.

Yes, at least one.

I believe that I have about 9 of them.

I bought my Mauser 1996 American for $360 back in '99 before I caught loonism. That thing shoots lights out, balances wonderfully, and kills everything I point it at.

In spite of dropping all kinds of loot on custom rifles, that one gets more field time than any.

Just can't imagine a better all around American rifle than a 30-06. They do EVERYTHING.

I'm hooked on 168 NBTs & Hunter



as a "do it all in lower 48" load, but this fall am running 130 TSXs & RL15 for whitetails.

I should think the Brits and Russkies might have something to say about that!

We pulled their bacon out of the fire in WWI, but mainly due to our industrial support. The Russkies broke the back of the Wehrmacht in WWII.

That said, the good ol' '06 is probably the least gay cartridge out there.

I'm down to 2 '06's. May have to find another someday. Maybe another Ruger No.1. I read somewhere that if you can't do it with a 30-06 and 180 gr. partitions you might as well move up the a 375 H&H. I think they were probably right.
Doc

Yeah, and the 30-06 didn't even come into the second one until it was half over!

uhhh, the 30-06 started to be used in -ta da- 1906. It was preceeded by a cartridge called the 30-03. The 30-06, in the bolt action rifle model 1903, saw action throughout WW1. Because of it's superb accuracy, the 1903 rifle was used by Marine snipers all during WW2.
Perhaps you're thinking of the Garand.

Even the Garand was in the second one pretty early. The last campaign that started with the '03 was Guadalcanal, and it ended with all units in the field having Garands. The first Army units that came ashore had them. The Marines received theirs shortly after.

The M1 was type-accepted and issue started in 1937. I believe there were some gas-trap models used in the Philippines when they were first overrun, though they were not in widespread use.

Some people forget WWII started much earlier than December 7th, 1941.

The war in the far east between Japan and China started in 1931 and Germany invaded Poland in September, 1939, after which Great Britain and France declared war on Germany..

Very nice! How many grains of H4350 got that group for you?

Ed

I have ome of those federal blue box 180grn flat base soft points I pulled with a inertia puller if any of you guys are interested 40-50 of them I would trade for something.

I'm trying to get '06-less again. I spent 26 years without one, knew exactly what I was missing, and was thankful for that. I really truly hated my first one. I bought one in january on a whim for a project I've since canceled so as soon as it gets back from Remington (sent back for the trigger fix) my NIB 700 XCR (first group, kind of yellow-green finish) is gettin' its ass sold.

This thing would be an ok loaner if I needed a loaner but for myself, the only '06 I might be interested in is one of the Kimber 84Ls ... maybe the Ascent version ... but I think I'd be better off with the .280 AI or even .270.

The .366 does not make good all around cartridge. It has been around since before WWI and I suspect even on its continent of origin the old American military 7,62x63 is far more popular chambering. In USA one can get 7,62x63 twenty four hours a day at just about every 24 hour Walmart.

Could be wrong, but I am pretty certain you can't rebore to 9,3x62; you'd need a set-back & recut chamber, also.

Spoke to JES and he said is one of the easiest rebores with no setback

1/2 over by '41? just damn, didn't know our declaration of war on Dec 11, 1941 the war was more than 1/2 over.

I have 2 that sit in the safe. They are both going down the road. Mucho prefer the 308.

Don't have one right now, but I do have a .308, which is about 95% of one.

The Japan/China thing is what precipitated the sanctions that eventually led to Pearl Harbor.

I believe it was referred to officially as a world war in the 1939 invasion of Poland. The European powers also involved their colonies in the fireworks, while the USA held off until Japan brought us into it. Hitler then declared war on the USA almost as an afterthought.

It's an interesting subject unto itself, but a total hijack and I apologize.

Hunters who use the .308 tend to never feel they are 95% equipped and it is rare for them to sell of their rifles and move away from the cartridge. It has too many pluses, starting with a shorter lighter build and then accuracy, competence, versatility, reloading components et al.

The only time I see the .308 giving up anything to the '06 is when bullets over 180 grains are used and velocity is a concern. The extra case capacity helps, then, but until that's real important, the .308 is basically on par with the .30-06 in field perfomance.

I can't argue with that. My 30-06 is the best rifle I've owned for the last 20 + years. I used to load everything to the max but now most of my loads are at 308 velocity and work just as well with less recoil.

I went up and down the scale of loonieism in my early days, now what I use is not so important because I found just about any sane chambering will kill elk.

So I kill elk with a 30-06, mostly loaded with 220 gr RN, but generally if I am hunting more open country, it is loaded with 180 gr C&C bullets of one variation or another. A lot of guys swear by the lighter weights,150's or 165's,but if you look at a good 180 gr C&C bullet driven at about 2600 fps,it will hold together at closer ranges and there is only 2" of difference in the drop at 400 yards with a 200 yd zero, if you compare it to a 165 gr bullet starting off at 2800fps and retained energy is almost identical.

You don't have to worry about finding some ultra tough bullet that will hold together like you do when shooting some high velocity magnum, nor worry about it doing the intended job like when using some sub caliber chambering like a .243.

What is not to like?

I am a huge 30-06 fan who suggests 308 Win more often than not, but have to point out that I've applied this same logic to why, as an 06 lover, I don't need a 300 Win Mag.

If I ever burn out my 06 barrel I'll likely replace it with a 308 Win.

Absolutely.

The .30-06 is a beast with 200 grain bullets. And, until you get to that weight, I'll take either chambering, but the good old '06 starts showing what it can do with the heavier weight bullets.

I have a 30-06 SS bedded in an HSP stock. It is well used. BUT, I own two 308s. My old 788 is a favored hunting partner for most anything on hooves in NA.

+1

Americans have no proof houses or proof laws therefore just about anything is possible.

A 30-06 is NEVER wrong & very one should have at least ONE!!!

Only 3 in my safe .

Finally got the scope on (sent wrong mounts, got fixed instead of qd but mounted it any way) and will sight in Friday! I like this Meopta 6x

Love the .30-06. Mine really likes 165 grain Gamekings.

I had 5 30-06's and at my age decided I didn't need that many so I had gotten down to three, but I ran into another one that tempted me so I'm back up to 4. But I still have less than I did. I'd be surprised if I don't die with at least 3.

LMFAO , a 8400 Montana reamed to '06AI just to be interestingly different make provide a spark.

And I've necked ALL my '06 brass stash to 338" LOL, I'd have to start anew with brand new cases.

A sh*t ton of rifles in a myriad of chamberings have come and gone for me over the last 4� decades, but one consistency is the '06. I have never been without at least one since setting off down the path of rifle lunacy- yet I have never owned a .308. (Kind of hard to drive a Yugo after being used to an Alfa Romeo!)

how do you know if you have too many 30-06s?

OK, OK, I have two 06's.........had to laugh, my Marlin X7 06 with plain ole corelocks did a number on cow elk a few years back. I just laughed, all my other rifles I reload for, got in a hurry that year, grabbed the xl7, an a box of corelocks and at 200 yards, the thing just worked. That's the 06......

An impossible question to answer, because the answer is undefined -- there is no such thing as too many 30-06s. It's like having too much money.

if X = the number of '06's you currently own, then the proper number required to own is

X+1

This

Dang It!! When I read this I blew a mouthful of Cheerios on my keyboard! LOL

Partriotism? Commie Bastard? I owned one once upon a time but that was way back in 1975. Yup, my first deer rifle when I was 16 years old. Traded it off for a 308 Winchester at the age of 17. Have NOT owned a turdy-06 since & frankly I don't see it happening ever again.

So put me down as a COMMIE BASTARD!

I haven't had a 30-06 in a while.. But I still have a [bleep] of ammo and brass for it.

That would make a great signature line!!!

Blue box Federal factory loads from my bone stock Ruger M77 MkII with 4x Nikon Monarch.

Just needed to be adjusted for elevation.

Can't really complain. Still going to start loading my own after the remaining box of factory loads is done. It's nice to know that there is something I can fall back on if needed though.

...+1

There are some good shooting 30-06's here. Here's how my 2 shoot the same loads:


Cheap practice loads:




180gr. Nosler partition load with the same seater die setting as the cheap win power point load:



Same 165 Hornady sp load in my 2 rifles:

MG][/URL]

[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/001-79.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/006-26.jpg[/img]

These 2 30-06's will do anything I need them to:
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/IMG_1119_zps9fe65caf.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/DSC00098_zpsd2a78f65.jpg[/img]

What is the color combo on that swirly?? I'm guessing black/dk gray/white??

I don't see any downside to owning an '06. It is my primary hunting rig, and between range practice with full-power loads and reduced cast bullet loads, and all the general playing I do with various bullets and powders anyway, I put at least 400 shots through that gun a year. No noticeable roughness in the throat. Treated the bore a few years ago.

One advantage that should be quantified when discussing the 30-06 over the 308 or the Win Mag or the WSM is that the neck length does reduce the flame turbulence that the throat is exposed to, thus having some small effect on the life of the throat. It isn't much, but it is there.

Crappy picture, but it's the old coyote bomber:

50/25/25 Dark Grey/Black/Med Tan

Had a Steyr M Proffesional in .270 that is on my top 5 list of rifles i want back. Had it been a 30-06 i would have sold my brother into prostitution to keep it. Had the green stock, sights,, and the DST, and Cone-trol rings. Damn it, those are really, really cool rifles.

You sure?? I had a coyote bomber....and that looks more shades of gray/black.

ETA: I do see a little tan.

Yep, pretty sure. USPatriot sold it to me and I don't doubt the color % he quoted. Pictures don't do it justice. One of these days I'll get a better camera...

Almost looks like it has some purple in it........I guess it is the camera.

Purple would actually be kind of cool, but there isn't any purple in the color scheme. Here is one of USPatriot's pictures of the stock in action:



However, the colors aren't much better in this pic...

With 9 .30-06s in the safe and another one coming (a Cooper), I guess I like the caliber. This one (Savage from the custom shop) is the one I'm playing with now. Load is 165 grain GameKing factory.
Bob

I love that lefty. Even though it is a Savage. Damn nice rifle!!

I think it will stay an '06 for a while after all. I took it out and sighted it in and found out what I suspected would happen: It shoots great! I have had the MIII Pro and the M Pro both with single triggers and double triggers but this is the first one I have had with a single set trigger and I think I like this one the best.

I've got one of each, .308 in a Savage 99, 30-06 in a Mauser 98 and a .300 Win Mag in an ER Shaw Mk.VII...They all work, but I'm liking the .308 more and more these days(the Mauser might turn into a 9.3x62).

I'm glad I'm not alone in loving the 30-06, but if a man has 2 or 3 30-06's, it's not a bad idea to turn at least 1 of them into a 35 whelen or 9.3x62mm

I got 2 and love'm.

An old stainless/syntheic Ruger MKII I got in 1992 as a Christmas gift from Dad because if I had a 30/06 deer would literally walk to my feet and give up the ghost out of respect for the round, which didn't happen but it should have.

I also have a Gen 1 700 Ti bedded in a Brown Precision with Talley UL's and a 2-7x33 Leupold VX2, 6lbs 1oz unloaded. It's a touch sporty off the bench but very accurate and it packs like a Red Ryder BB gun.

Here's a different '06 story. Before you gag ("OMG, a PUMP rifle!"), let me give you the scoop on this one.

I bought it for $110.00 in the FT Bragg PX years ago on a close-out sale. Because I was assigned to the FT Bragg AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit), I had access to literally a truckload of LC (Lake City) .30-06 168 gr GI match ammo. I shot this rifle almost every day for over 18 months, anywhere from 50 out to 500 meters. It was my only centerfire rifle at the time. I also killed a half-dozen NC whitetails with it, along with a few hogs.

After I left the FT Bragg AMU I sent it back to Remington because I was only getting 3-4" groups after almost 2 years of non-stop shooting. The buttstock was also cracked at the grip in two places and the trigger wasn't always re-setting.

Remington replaced the barrel, rebuilt and tuned my trigger and replaced the buttstock. They thoughtfully glassed the head of the buttstock that joins the receiver, stopping future cracking, and added swivel studs. The safety was also reversed (I'm a lefty).

The scope is a Lyman 4X All-American, one of the last ones made. While my rifle was at Ilion, NY for rebuild, I had Lyman clean, refill and seal my scope. They also put a duplex reticle in it.

Remington customer service sent me a short note while my rifle was being serviced, asking how many rounds had been down the tube. I told them somewhere close to 18,000 rds of jacketed HPBTs, sometimes over 100 rds a day. I was told by them that my 7600 had the customer record for number of rounds fired that they knew of. Incidentally, all the work was free.

I'm careful with this 2nd barrel. I only shoot 3-shot groups before cooling; no rapid-fire 5-shot strings at 200 meters anymore. It shoots very well with almost anything I put in it, but loves 168 grain LC Match. I have some VERY nice rifles now, but I'll be buried with this one.
Bob



I added a Lyman 4X, one of the last ones made. Lyman rebuilt the scope for me after thousands of rounds. I put a new base and rings (Leupold) on after rebuild, replacing the older Weaver rings.


Two groups with the 7600 at 100 yds. Not as good as some bolt rifles here, but I'm happy. Top group is with 168 grain LC Match; bottom is Federal factory 165 grain GameKings. These two loads will do for now.

Very cool story, RGK. Thanks for your service and here's hoping your pump gun lasts for another 25,000 rounds.

+1. Great story, thanks for sharing.

Top notch right there!! I just wished they made them in true lefty, like they did with the 870!!!

I have had two or three .308. I just like my 06 better.

RGK, great piece of writing for a great gun. I end up sentimental for guns or they go away. You've turned that 7600 into a collector! And I approve wholeheartedly of your expanding 30-06 collection. The '06 is often underestimated now days, because of magnum fever and the ubiquity of 308's, but just like Cindy Crawford, the cartridge still looks really good after all these years.

I loved my 7600 30-06 It was accurate....but kinda' heavy.

When I first decided to learn to hunt a few years ago, I picked up a couple of oddball 35 caliber rifles, because I always seem to end up getting into oddball stuff no matter the topic. One of them never shot right because the crown was messed up, and the other one is a Whelen that is a little overkill for coastal blacktail deer. Then last year I bought a pile of old guns from a friend who had collected them over the years, but never shot any of them. I sold almost all of them on, but there was a old Model 30 Express in the lot, made in the 1920's, in 30-06. The bluing on the barrel is really worn away, and the stock could stand to be stripped and refinished, but I figured every gun nut should have a 30-06, so I kept this one. I had Ed Lapour make custom scope mounts for it, and he mounted an old Redfield widescreen scope on it for me and I ended up using it to get my first deer ever last Sunday morning, on the last day of the season.

I still have the 35s, and just got the crown fixed on the lever gun a few weeks back, but I really am fond of this 30-06, and now it will always have a special place in my stories, no matter what I do with it from now on.

The downside is that once you own a .30-06, you realize you'll never have justification to buy another rifle!

Please don't say that around this place..

Doc

I just sold an awesome 300 WSM because I came to the realization that my 30-06's will do anything it can. Sad but true realization....

My 30-06 is probably my favourite rifle. Close to it.

But you know what? With 180 grain bullets it kicks a fair bit. Its pretty far from pleasant over a bench rest.

The 30-06 is not perfect.

My 30-06 is one of my favorites (least amount of recoil) off the bench. I guess I have bigger guns than you do...

Perhaps.

Want an arm wrestle?

Agreed Ben... I have a pair of Model 70s, one blued and one stainless in 30/06, with 3 x 9 Leupolds on top...

don't shoot them much, but what kind of American doesn't have a 30/06, especially in a Model 70 with a 3 x 9 Leupold on top..
how close to apple pie can ya get?

What a great story RGK!

as Joel said, hope that old gal lasts ya a long time still to come..

No kidding!! It has gotten difficult for me to buy hunting rifles!! I end up with lever guns and handguns, because everything I look at, I realize upon comparison that the 30-06 already does that. Blast!!!

Well, the opposite is true for me. Have a 270 WSM in a Winchester 70 Fwt and a 308 Win in a Savage 99. With those two, it's hard to justify getting an '06.

In fact, I've never owned an 06. Dad had a M-1 Garand Tanker, but he let that go years ago. Only took that hunting one season before I got my first rifle that was really mine (as opposed to a dad loaner).

Always figured if you had a .30-06 you didn't need anything else. After I bought my first I soon found myself with three. Then Dad gave me a 4th, which I later sold when I couldn't get it to shoot the way I wanted it to. The other three are keepers and will likely go to my three daughters some day.

My first bolt-action centerfire was a .30-06, and I just knew that it was the pinnacle.

I've bought numerous rifles since then just to see the shortcomings...