Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7 mm WSM or .30-06

Todd -

We agree there is nothing wrong with either the 7mm WSM or .30-06. The disagreement is whether it is "silly" to consider ammo availability in choosing a firearm - and particularly factory ammo.

To test the validity of an idea it is often useful to take it to the extremes. Would you choose a 45-120 for hunting if using factory ammo? How about a 28-30-120 Stevens? In either case you might be years searching for ammo. So we agree it is a valid concern.

How about silly? You posit the case of a guided African hunt in which you could just use the guide's rifle. What about unguided hunts away from but closer to home? It would be pretty silly for me to take my .375 Winchester thinking that if I left my ammo at home I could just pick some up somewhere. I've thought about selling or giving that rifle to a SIL who lives in Iowa as a deer rifle, but the limited factory ammo is a problem even if he hunts from home.

In "normal" times there is a much greater selection of .30-06 ammo on the shelves than you will find for 7mm WSM. In many places you might be lucky to find any 7mm WSM without driving to a larger metro area, even though the shelves are well stocked with .30-06. I contend that if a concern is "valid" it isn't "silly" to consider it. Whether it becomes a limiting or the deciding factor is something else entirely.