Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game "The 30-06 is obsolete!"

All my sons-in-law get a .30-06 as a wedding gift from me. If I could find a better cartridge for a first big game rifle, they would get that instead. But I can't.

I don't know of any other cartridge that offers the flexibility the .30-06 offers. Yes, there are perhaps better choices if you only plan to hunt small southern or coastal deer. Or only grizzly. There is a much greater variety of ammunition available for the .30-06 than there is for most other cartridges. If any cartridge can match the variety, it may be the .308 Win, but even it falls short when the yardstick is the breadth of application. For the .30-06 you have factory ammo options from 55 grain .22 Accelerator loads to full diameter loads from 100 grains to 220 grains. For the handloader, there are all kinds of other alternatives. Midwayusa lists 297 .308" bullets, 96 .264" (6.5mm) and 90 .277" bullets.

Some would argue a .308 Win will do everything .30-06 can do. Close, yes, everything, no. FWIW, I did recommend a 308 Win for Daughter #1 when it was time for her to buy her rifle.

WIW is, not nearly as much as you think it is.

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All my sons-in-law get a .30-06 as a wedding gift from me. If I could find a better cartridge for a first big game rifle, they would get that instead. But I can't.

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Are any of your daughters currently single? Asking for a friend... 🤣

This may come as a shock to you, but your opinion is W nothing to me.

LOL, I'm very well aware of the fact that others aren't necessarily interested in hearing me prattle on with my personal opinions on trivial subjects such as the superiority of the .30-06. Or any other cartridge for that matter.

That's why I tend to avoid laboring under the assumption that others are interested in reading those opinions.

You should try it some time.

People like you read what I write. Can't seem to help themselves.

Yes, I keep searching for that most elusive entity, the useful nugget of information.

I guess that means I'm an optimist?

How many daughters do you have??

They are all taken.

I forgot about it and used that obsolete round to kill two deer last month... Now I am worried they will be hoping out of the freezer and running off.

Remington manufactures a 125g reduced recoil round that is appropriate for Youth shooters. The 30-06 production ammo range is an amazing 125g to 220g in every configuration imaginable, definitely on the verge of obsolescence.
MM879

What happens if you load a modern, lead free, plastic tipped bullet, like an Etip or TTSX into such an obsolete round? Sorry guys, I think I just committed a sacrilege!

The modern bullet instantly becomes as 'obsolete' as the .30-06.


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Huh...i guess I better re-think my decision to whack this guy with an '06...I suppose he's gonna tell me that 180gr Partitions don't work either?!? And for that matter, I suppose the obsolete Ruger No. 1 I used was a bad choice too...

Terrible decision. Your judgement is in serious doubt now. Not only did you take on the raging beast with a mere 30-06 & 180 gr lead-core bullet... But with a single shot rifle!

Good grief man! You're lucky the moose didn't just chuckle and stomp you into the dirt!

Guy

Dean Anderson,

I find it "interesting" that he believes the old "ought-6" is obsolete, inasmuch as it's fully equal to the "well-regarded in Africa" .318 Westley-Richards, when loaded with a 250 grain bullet.
(The .318W-R has taken many a Cape Buff., so it's plenty powerful, presuming that the shooter does his/her part.)

yours, tex

Nice BigSkyGuy and congrats! I bet you felt you were part of the Lewis & Clark expedition with your setup! LOL! Something for the wall and a lot for the freezer! satx78247, this guy wouldn't of know a .318 W-R from a canoe paddle! He did have nice areas to hunt though, but that wasn't enough to endure another hunt with him. Like I said in a previous post, he's out of business now. Probably still trying to figure out why no one would hunt with him! With the 30-06, old school still works great and the new technology makes it even better. But no matter what you use, you still have to use it correctly and no matter where you go, you'll find a box or two of 06!

I can remember when I moved to Alaska in the mid 90’s, I knew nothing about hunting the big critters of Alaska. My first quest was the elusive moose. I started talking to some guys that I had met and was picking their brains about how to go about killing a bull. Most told me my chances were slim of being successful, I was like that’s cool I’ll accept the challenge. Then they started asking me what I was hunting with and I said a 30-06, I was then schooled with the idea that I didn’t have enough gun. I was told I needed a 300 WM minimum and that a 338WM or 375 H&H would be optimum. I didn’t have much money back then and the 30-06 was going to have to do. Fast forward to my first hunt and after 5 days of seeing no bulls I glass across this valley and I see two big white circles, I’m thinking what the heck are those and then I see the circles move, I’m like holy crap that’s a bull and a really big one.hes like a half mile away. So I proceed to run down this valley and up the other side. As I’m creeping through the spruce and it starts thinning I knew he was bedded just above Tree line. All of a sudden I see movement, the Bull appears just past the last small spruce tree. He’s no more than 40 yards from me chewing his cud and has no clue I’m in the planet. His rack was massive! I steady for the shot and the comments about not having enough gun start racing through my head, I’m like oh well we’ll see. Needless to say the bull was kilt without incident. I’ve killed a bunch of stuff with an 06 from bears to moose, and IMO it has no flaws!

Bull

It always baffles me when folks say "you need a 300WM because a 30-06 is not enough". My statement is, then the 300WM is only good for 100-150yds, since that's all it has on the 06.

AlaskaCub...I'm not moose hunter and pretty sure I will never get to see one live, but I know enough from watching TV that the moose in your picture is a very nice one. Way to make the naysayers back up a little bit!