My first thought was .30-06, but then settled on the .30-30 for purely historical reasons: the .30-06 was an outgrowth of the 8x57 Mauser, the Ordnance Dept. having necked it down to .30 to suit our "decimal" sensibilities (and then current use of the .30-40 Krag) and lengthened a tad for the powder capacity needed to drive the .30 bullet at the speed we desired. So in that respect the '06 isn't purely an American invention. The .30-30 is.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
