… “Efficiency” is only important to the degree that “efficiency” is the goal.
Call me crazy, but it should be a BIG part of the goal. Otherwise we'd all be shooting .30-378 Weatherbys or .30-338 Lapuas and making fun of jwall's puny .30-06 and it's pathetic external ballistics. All you're going to see is the dog's rear, jwall! See how stupid that is?
A sensible hunter has an animal (or animals) they want to kill, knows what bullets will provide good terminal performance on that animal and at what velocities, knows what trajectory they need, and then is looking for an efficient cartridge that gets that done with the minimum rifle weight and recoil. That analysis almost always favors the factors I listed above, as well as smaller calibers with high sectional density premium bullets. Looking at those factors .30-06 pretty much is never the right answer. It is however what great grandpa carried in the trenches in France. But grandpapa hated the darn thing (an inaccurate metal butt plate .30-06 with an eternity-long lock time - horrible idea) and I don't care for it one way or the other.
Ok, you are crazy.
More importantly you are myopic. You believe that everyone should arrive at the same conclusions you do based on the available evidence, yet you fail to see the entire landscape. A fast-twist .223 is highly “efficient” based on your weight and recoil criteria and would easily suffice for most of the shooting and hunting most people will do in their lifetimes - yet they often shunned for various reasons and are illegal for hunting big game in some (most?) states.
The .30-06 has about 19% more case capacity than the .308 Win. Handloaders can easily take advantage of that capacity to push bullets of a given weight to a given velocity at lower pressure, heavier bullets to the same velocity or same weight bullets to a higher velocity. Nothing “obsolete” about that.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
