Field and Stream recently ran a contest pitting a bunch of different rounds to see what was the favored whitetail cartridge. It came down to the 270 and the aught six with the 30-06 winning handily. I myself am kinda partial to this round, but am curious to see what some other fellas might think is the ultimate whitetail round.

For whites only its kind of hard to beat the 270. There ain't a deer on the plant that can walk away from a well placed shot with a 130 gr. bullet.

if "king" defined as "most popular", it probably is.

I think its a gay round.

Tom your gay.... the '06 is like the .22 of centerfire rounds everyone has had one and if not your weird.

Sucker....................

The .270, .30/06, the 7mm-08 and the .308 are about the same for all intents and purposes on deer sized game.

i have read (in the gun rags for the last 10-15 years) that the 06' is the most popular "big game" cartridge in the u.s., and either #1 or 2 worldwide. with the 06' being the number one cartridge, and the deer being the number one game animal in the u.s., i'd say the 06' was the number one deer round. like ruger77 above, i prefer the 270 win for deer.

I know it isn't cool to admit it, but I still like the 30-06. Having said that, I always considered the 270Win to be the gold standard when talking about deer cartridges. I tend to shy away from both, only because I'm a rifle-nut and they are too common to get me really excited.

It must be the off season already.

There is a lot of overlap in the effect from centerfire cartridges. The 30-06 Springfield had been the primary military cartridge of the greatest nation on earth over the last century. The 06 works just fine and so would other similar rounds if they were in its place.

It may be kind of big for deer however many of us deer hunters also choose a rifle cartridge that will be adequate if we go moose, bear etc. hunting. Thus the 06!

Selecting a hunting cartridge can be a personal thing. A hunter should get what he likes then practice with it to make it work.

Yes, Id say in My neck of the woods that the 30.06 is the most popular cartridge in the Whitetail woods, it really is very hard to beat but You can say the same about at least a half dozen other cartridges..................VaHillbilly.

No doubt the '06 is the most popular big game cartidge, if it was used for everything. IMO for whitetails the .260, 7-08 or .308 are more suited...

Savage 99 got it right.

The 06 is a great cartridge for the one gun for everything type of guy. Can range way up or way down and will perform adequately to spectacularly on whatever you're using it on.

Not a big fan myself but I understand the draw of the old 06.

Although my favorite is a 30.30 the 30.06 is king today!

The 30-06 is an elk round. Whitetail deer just don't need that much killing... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Used one for years but they are now pretty much my BIG guns. I remember thinking one fine fall day, WTF do I need all this to kill a deer, and I was right.

Not that it won't work.

Scott, in this age of mega-magnums, I think it's easy to lose sight of how muscular the 30-06 is... if there ever was an "everyman's elk round", the 30-06 is it... likely the same could be said of the 7-08 and whitetail.

And with the bullets today as opposed to 30 years ago. I haven't hunted one for years but if I ever go elk hunting it will be the one going.

I do know it works on moose. Fact is I've killed from squirrels to moose with one.

If it wasn't so easy I could happily use my old 30-06 for everything.

Truth is I've got a compact edge on the way for it; I may end up doing just that. And instead of using 10 different bullets I would just run a 150TSX at 2950fps for everything.

The one thing you never want to be without is a good 30/06.

It's hard to beat a .30/06 with the large variety of bullet weights it has plus the capability of driving those bullets at reasonably high-velocities.

It's also hard to beat a .270 (a .30/06 case necked down to .277"), especially if the ranges are long. The ".270 vs .30/06" argument has been going on since the .270 Winchester cartridge was introduced in the 1930s (1935?) and will probably never stop creating passionate responses from either cartridge's proponents.

The "bride-waiting-in-the-wings" is the .308 Winchester... a shorter bolt-throw plus slightly better accuracy (than the .30/06) may eventually topple the "king" (the .30/06).

Personally, I'd rather have either a .30/06 or a .270 than a .308, but that's just "me". Old farts like me like the old cartridges.... heck, I hunt whitetails with a 57 year old (1953) Model 99 Savage lever-gun that was introduced well over 100 years ago in a caliber (.300 Savage) introduced 90 years ago (1920)... how's THAT for being a "modern hunter"?!?

Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I love my 300 Savage as well.

But, I can't argue that the 30/06 has killed more deer than anything else out there. So, by that standard, it's king.

It's also probably the easiest caliber to find in any store in America. Also king there.


Still, I wouldn't trade my 300 Sav for a 30/06 ever. I confess though that I am bias and sentimental.

Lots of deer killed with the old 30-30 to.....

FACT!

Doubt it .... unless it is bi-. It's spawned too many other fine offspring to be 100% gay

The .30-06 is the Swiss army knife of lower 48 hunting. It is one caliber that, with proper bullet selection, will do it all. But like the Swiss army knife, it is not the best for anything. For whitetails, I'd rather have a .270 or something similar from 6.5mm (.260) to 7mm (.284)for flatter trajectory with less noise and recoil. For elk I'd rather have a .338 Win Mag or one of the .300 mags. But if you can't afford but one big game rifle for the lower 48, the old '06 will do.

I agree with everything posted above......one thing I notice about the 30/06 is that whatever anyone says about it is generally "true"....perceptions and uses of the cartridge change from person to person,and they are all correct(except silly negative stuff like it is not powerful enough,does not kill stuff well, not accurate, etc....)

But I guess this comes as a result of its' tremendous versatility and utility....

I'm somewhat more of a 270/7mm shooter myself,but I would feel butt-naked without a 30/06 around.I am one who believes that the true advantage it has over the smaller calibers is the ability to nicely handle 200-220 gr bullets;where the game gets larger than even elk,like big bears,or dense cover moose or elk hunting;bush veld stuff in Africa....maybe even braining elephants!

There are no doubt maybe better cartridges for that stuff, but I dunno...a good guy with a properly loaded 30/06 is pretty invincible!

Its the king because more folks use them. My .257 Roberts is reliably gay based on credible reports from folks I hunt with. On the other hand I have seen two failures in my life with a 30-06 (so far) to shoot through a puny WT deer both were bucks. Personally every lunged deer with a 30 cal 180 running from 308 win speeds to 300WSM speeds ran just as far. Its the king but no doubt; but same as what Scott and Bob said, ignore the bullets at your own risk.

I've often said I think a .270 Win may be the best dedicated deer cartridge available (including mulies).

Don't have one and feel no need, however, as I have that ground well covered with a .257 Roberts, 7mm RM, .30-30, .308 Win and two .30-06s.

For a dedicated whitetail rifle I think a .25-06 would be the a very good choice.

If I were to build a dedicated deer rifle for the northeast i would probably not build a 30 06. based upon what I've seen and used, I'd build a mannlicker stocked 7x57 and run 160 NPs through it at a moderate velocity.

I've read that the best deer cartridge ever is the 300 Savage. Heard some old farts say it too.

I agree that the old .30-06 is a little on the large side for deer but they never seem to complain much.

I guess if I were considering recoil I'd give the nod to the .308 Win. So many reasons.

If recoil wasn't an issue I'd go with the 300WM. Normal hunting distances about equal with the .30-06 but after 400 yards it really shines.

Tom

I used the .30-06 for about 30 years pretty much exclusively, and have taken hundreds of head game with it. It killed everything I shot as dead as you can get.
Since then I've sold off the 06s and moved to bigger rounds, such as the .300 and of course the .375s. That said, I'm goin back to the .06 as my main hunting rifle, and going to attempt to just flat wear out a new Kimber 84L in .30-06 before I die!

Isn't that an oxymoron?

I dunno....is it?

Naw, everyone knows the KING of WHITETAIL DEER CARTRIDGES is either the 25-06 or the 7mm08. All else is overkill.

They could be handy in areas where the land owner requires larger than .28 caliber to shoot at their giant deer.

Well I have three 30-06 and one 270 so I guess it is king in my house.

I'd say "don't worry I shoot a 300" and never tell him it's a 300 Savage in a 700 Classic.

Well .. IMHO, yeah! My question was dishonest. I've never met an '06 that wasn't, in some way or other, a "problem." If someone GAVE me an '06 I'd surely have to try it out, but given the run of problems I've had, I would have real misgivings about spending money on an '06, any '06. Got rid of my last one years ago and I have no interest in having another. If '06 is the answer, the question is wrong.

... not that I have any particular opinion on the subject, mind you!

Tom what kind of problems have you had? Curious here!

I thought it was king of the elk too.

IMO

Like all rounds the 30-06 is a compromise�

That said is very good for a variety of applications and less so for others� It is a fine WT deer round, but if it was only WT deer you could do as well with something else.

I would buy and have bought an �06� but for it�s flexibility, not because it is the WT King

Same could be said for the .243, 6mm Rem, 250 Savage, .257 Bob, 30-30, with the proper bullet.

My 30-06 is my heavy hitter.

I own three 270's and only one 30-06, but when the going gets tough I always reach for the 06. It was the rifle I shot my first deer with so I suppose I'm a bit biased.

well lets throw in the 300 savage,its been around along time also.but the 06 is hard to beat. you can load rather easily as price for component. if you buy your loads you can buy good loads for all most any thing you want to hunt. for a fair price. if its just deer and you want to hunt you canget by with 150 gr. pointed soft point for about $20.00.

Yes. 'Nuff said.

30-30 is the king of the deer woods

30-30 cost me a BIG buck at 186 yds. about 12 years ago. switched to a .280 and life became great!

The 30-06 is still Master and Champion. Even though I don't hunt with one much, I don't know of another cartridge that offers the versitility that the good ol' 06 provides.

It has to be the King, just Like Elvis and Richard Petty, no matter what comes along, it doesn't have the long, hard won history of the '06.

That's why it will always be the King of the Big Game cartridges in N. America, good performance with a storied history that other cartridges can only dream of.

'cepting the 7x57 and 8x57, you say, and right you are.

186 yeard sounds like bad shooting nothing a 30-30 did wronge

The 30-30 has a wonderful history, but not so wonderful performance. It's versatiltiy is very limited.

With an '06, you can hunt varmints up to N. America's largest game, including quite a few species in Africa.

A 30-30 just can't match that, but it is a classic round nontheless.

Best,

JM

Yes

Yes. I also hunt with the 6.5x55 and 7x57. This year with the 257R. But it's still the '06.

I've taken deer past 200 yards with a .30-30, but it has better sights than the factory buckhorn, and I shoot it a lot.

A .30-06 does make it far easier to do, no doubt about it.

I would go the other way and say it's redundant.

Long story. My hatred of the '06 comes from my growing up years. Some otherwise readily solvable problems were made "fugly" by family politics.

Tom

Tom you sound like an Anti. Blame the object rather than the person.

Added question... if not the king, when was it dethroned and by what? Lots of good cartridges out there

I don't think anyone truly into guns and hunting can seriously look at a single task the '06 will do and not find something else that does that one specific task better.

To use your analogy, the king is dead ... replaced by a committee of ministers of this and minsters of that that, which, while they can't individually do the whole job, can collectively do the job much better than ye olde king working alone.

Or some such BS.

I would guess the problem with a contest or poll like that is most vote for the one they have or have killed a deer or two with. Since almost everybody who hunts, and a lot who don't, have an '06 in the closet, it's likely to be voted prom king. There's nothing that is even close to objectivity in such a contest.

That may or may not reflect on its capability which I think is very significant.

Good point. A person who only has one gun is likely to think it best because they know no other. A person who has a bunch has a decision to make among them which will dilute the answers.

I'm fairly comfortable saying the '06 is the most likely choice of the one gun hunter. Probably a wise choice for such a person. That doesn't translate to it being the favored choice among the available choices of the multi-gun hunter.

I would half to say that the 30-06 is the king of North American big game hunting. If your talking solely whitetail and nothing else, an 30-06 is a lot of extra bang and kick with nothing to show for it.

I'm pretty sure my home state of TN has a lot more whitetail harvested every year with a 30-30.

That nailed it.

I absolutely love my 30-06. Love it. But it is a bit much for whitetails and black bears and hogs and whatnot. Muscular is the term Brad used and I think that it is all of that. A 30-06 is a strong round.

But to me the true beauty of the 06 is bullet performance. It is almost impossible to pick a bad bullet for anything an 06 has any business doing if you use common sense. Just pick something between 150 and 180 grains in a hunting bullet and then forget about it. From 4 feet to 400 yards you are in good shape. Not only is the 30-06 great as a one gun arsenal but you can also be a one rifle/one load hunter and not miss a thing.

The same thing cannot be said about a lot of the cartridges that have better paper ballistics.

Will

Probably not for rifle and cartridge snobs like us, but many, many deer hunters are not.

Expat

My sportsmans club runs a sight in day in Northcentral Pa right before buck season. There are usually somewhere around 80 hunters who stop in.

30-06 is far and away the most plentiful case in the brass bucket
243 is second, maybe 60% of the 30-06 count
270 is 3rd
30-30 is 4th.

No real clear cut winner after that, usually some 308, a few 7mm-08, I've also found 6mm Rem, 7mm Rem Mag, 260, 8mm Mauser, and 223. One guy uses a 45-70 but takes his brass.

Dale

All my newbies ask me what to buy. Most of them will have only one rifle all their lives. I have more than I need. I always recommend a .30-06. It's like a sore weiner...you just can't beat it. Dee

Have you seen our Coues White Tail? Maybe my 06 with a 100 grainer, but seriously a 53gr 22-250 or 100gr 6.5x55

Deer vary a good deal in size region to region,but even given that the "overkill" argument strikes me as curious.

Because if you take the 30/06 and compare ballistics between it, and of those cartridges deemed "just right",and look hard at the bullets and velocities,you may find there is more similarity that difference.

The most common bullet weights deer hunters use in the 30/06 range from 150 to 180 grains; most factory 150 loads give 2850 or so;this is within 10 grains of bullet weight and 50-100 fps of things like the 7x57 and 7/08,which are deemed "perfect " in many circles...and if you toss in stuff like the 270 with 130-150 gr bullets,or the 280 Rem with common factory loads or hand loads with 140-160 gr bullets, the differences become even more obscure,even though these are also considered just "deer cartridges" in many circles.

And 6.5 advocates get all lathered up over 140 gr bullets at 2700-2900 fps.Other than bore diameter,there is not 5 cents difference between any of them in terms of effect on deer of virtually any size. The differences,I think are in the style of rifle chambered for them,and the head of the guy carrying them.

All this is part of the reason I stifle a yawn when someone starts beating me over the head and shoulders with arguments about these huge differences between 270's,280's and 30/06's,or a bunch of others.They are all comparable in this power range,and the only place the 30/06 differentiates itself from the pack is with 200-220 gr bullets.

Good post Bob. Don't fight it, just go ahead and yawn.

JM

JM: Getting sleepy here..... LOL!

For the one gun fellow the 30-06 sure makes a lot of sense, I have lived that life but have been transmografied through association with others into a rifle loony so its all different now!

jimmy: Haven't we all....

But that's no reason to lose touch with reality....

reality? What is that?

Like you I have shot a deer or two! Not much diff on WT deer that I have seen from 243 to 30-06...yet many....follow the logic below!

An appeal to emotion is a type of argument which attempts to arouse the emotions of its audience in order to gain acceptance of its conclusion.

Bob asked me to post this.......
30/06 overkill.



Bob, I promise I'll like mulies if you can put one like this in front of me.

The same can be said about the 25-06 using 100gr to 110gr bullets.

Scott: Thanks for posting....this buck was over-killed with 30/06 150 gr managed recoil ammo by the 12 year old young fella with me..(.....uuhh... he is the one on the right holding the deer...

The week before he over-killed a 5x5 bull elk with the same ammo...LOL!

Hmmmm reads like that .308W Prince will make a fine King.

Battue: How's that for a first buck!


I got to watch the show from a distance,and pull the truck around to gather in all the perps....but also got to pose for the hero shot per order of his Dad who is an old buddy from Wyoming...pretty good, huh?

Good show, Bob!

I just bought another 30-06 last weekend. It is one that I have wanted to own for some time but it just never came together. It is a Ruger M77 MkII. Yes, it's about as "plain vanilla" and "unexciting" to a rifle loony as they get, but it is wonderful to me! That CRF action feeds those unbelted rounds up into the chamber slick as greasy sausages. I still need to work on the trigger to bring out the best in my ability, but it shoots really well. It wears a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40 in low Ruger rings. I would prefer an American-made Leupold scope on it but that Bushnell Elite was available and is a pretty dang good scope for a foreign job. For deer I'll shoot my 180 grain SSTs until they run out. If I ever draw an elk tag I'll switch to Hornady 220 RNs. I really didn't need another rifle but my daughter stold my Weatherby and the 03-A3 is an open-sight gun. I just wanted this rifle. Now I have it. Life is good. I thank God.

...or the 270 shooting a 110 TTSX at 3400; or a 280 shooting a 120TTSX at 3250....ad nauseum... ad infinitum......that all sounds pretty "25/06-ish" to me

Like I been sayin' there is more that's similar about them than there is different....it's all in the projectiles,not the launching pad......

stubblejumper I am about to conclude that you just don't like the 270,since you seem drawn to everything around it that all does the same stuff....and of course vice versa!

30-06? I thought the 7x64 Brenneke was king of the whitetail cartridges. Anybody else heard different?

Well it is a great Buck no matter the sequence and pretty good is putting it mildly. My first I missed and while it was not that big, it was a dandy mountain Buck.

He tried to give himself to me. I was 12, by myself-Dad had let me do a little circle on my own-and couldn't pull it off. I can still see him standing there while I emptied and old open sight 8mm. Finally I got close enough that he said goodbye.

Give the young man a well done hug when you have the chance.

With a lot of us older hunters the 30-06 and the 270 will always be our choice of calibers. We grew up with them, took deer with them and could go into any store and fine ammo for them. You also have a good choice of loads to hunt with. I'll stay with my Remington 30-06 Mountain rifle. There are a lot of great calibers out there it's a personal choice.

Naturally there are more 30-06 rifles than anything else but what is meant by "still the king of whitetail rounds"?
As compared to a 270 or 7 mag at the longer ranges, a 30-06 drops more and drifts more, but do these qualities make it king? I dunno.....

The '06 was my first. I prefer its little brother (308 Win.) now.

100% agree!~

..same here. I was skinny 16 year old kid with a 700 BDL that kicked the snot out of me...it was a big mistake. Guess I've had an aversion to the 06 since then...

Probably the bigger reason I don't shoot/hunt with 06 is I like short actions and short barrels. The Remington 600, SEVEN and 700 Short action with 18-20" barrels are my favorites...

So the only 06 that has been in the safe in the last 40 years since the 700 was traded for a 7x57mm is an 1903 Springfield...

Bob

Battue, he got that and a hearty congrats all around! He was also told what a lucky young man he was to have killed such a buck.....many hunt for a few years and never get one as good....the young fellow is a perfect gentleman and thanked us all for helping.....the father is a hell of a guy and good hunter.The boy has been brought up correctly.