Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles after chasing the dream...

Well, yes. I've owned and hunted with a number of different rifles and cartridges, but went full circle and returned to the 30-06, the cartridge Dad told me 50 years ago was "all the gun you'll ever need." He was right.

Last year my 30-06 Rem 700 CDL provided me with elk, mule deer, pronghorn, black bear, wolf and grizzly. Ranges were from less than 40 yards to 338 yards. It's a great ol' cartridge that really does a nice job of handling all the big game hunting I'm likely to do.

It was a lot of fun messing with, and learning all those other cool cartridges though.

Regards, Guy

I was told just over 20 years ago by the ex father in law that all I would ever need is a 220 swift. He killed 17 elk with that rifle all 1 shot kills. I've always known he is correct in his assessment and its why I'm going to likely end up going with a 22/250 in the near future. Still I think I'll keep a 6.5 around as when he passed he hadn't had the opportunity to see what a .698 bc bullet does at 800 yds 😁


Trystan

I wouldn't say I've gone back to an '06... I never really left it. It's always stayed in the safe. Others have come and gone, but the '06 will always be there, and always be ready to go. If I travel it always goes as a back up as well. And when I decide to use it, or when I need it, it never disappoints.

-Jake

I am exactly like this. I have tried to find the rifle chambered for 30-06 that I can fall for. I've tried several. It just doesn't work. Even if I really like the rifle, I end up having to face the fact that it is a 30-06. I've even tried calling it a 30 Whelen, but that doesn't cut it either.

Im a fan of the .30-06 if indeed you are shooting stuff bigger than deer....which I rarely do anymore. That said the 'winter project rifle' is a .30-06 and Ive already tuned up a lighter 150 grain load for the deer sized critters....


Hoping to make Joel snuggle up to it on the spring pig hunt....

I think that is the deal for me, Tom. I don't shoot anything bigger than whitetails, and so I don't have a need for much more than a 308.

I no longer own a 30/06.It was my first rifle and I've killed everything from squirrels to moose with it. That said, the last time I fired one in anger was January 1, 2004.

As a grew older, every time a killed a deer with one I couldn't help but think 'I don't need this much' and so the search began. I'm honestly quite happy with 25 calibers as my 'deer guns' and I have a 300 Savage or two that will always be with me for my 30 caliber niche.

Trystan we think alike. Said long ago a 120 at 2700 and up is where ideally a deer round would be. Since then I’ve dumped many with 6BRs and 243s. Bullets have become so good the idea of wanting a 338-06/08 or a 35 bore out of any ‘need’ even in timber has waned. Ringman your logic can’t be argued. An 06 is more gun but an 08 is easier on the shoulder and gives up very little with bullets given the quality now and in the 165 arena.

Nothing bad about a good 06 other than recoil and blast. Practical and effective with ammo options no doubt.

Settled long ago on 6.5’s. 6-7mm is a good place to be. Never scratched my 250 or 250AI interest but a 110AB would do a lot afield.
A 1B 25-06 was sweet shooting and great wood but I decided to simplify.

To the gent above - I hope post divorce life is going well.

Regarding cartridges - most all modern rounds are capable when optimized with good bullets over good powder, and steered thru vitals.

So very well put! As has been the case for a century, the virtue of an ‘06 is its versatility, especially if you’re a hand loader. In an age where specialty
is valued over versatility, I think many of us loose track of the value of a rifle that can be used for all of our hunting needs. If nothing else, the 30-06 is the world’s best backup rifle. I can’t think of another cartridge that has as much utility in hunting critters from small deer to moose as the Springfield.

Last year I was so doggone pleased with the 30-06 afield. Used it to take six animals with wolf and pronghorn on the small end, and elk & grizzly on the large end of the scale.

I used two different bullets, the 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip, and the 200 gr Nosler Partition, but am sure I could have done it all with 180 gr Nosler Partitions.

It's just a great ol' cartridge!

For deer though - ya - it is more than "needed" but it sure works.

Guy

Easier to get wrapped up in rifles than get unwrapped...

I am a gunsmith and because I make rifles, I can own about anything I want for the some basic price as any other.
I make the ubermags and ultra modern calibers all the time. I make what my customers order from me.

I have owned and used many of them myself over the last several decades too. All the guns I make are zeroed with either factory ammo of the customers choosing, or handloads I work up myself in that rifles I make, and those rifles comes with the shell holder, set of dies and the recipe for the load. So I can say honestly, I have learned a lot about cartridge and bullet performance in most of the cartridges used for the last 50 years. And many, if not most of the cartridges I make rifles for, are older than that by a lot.

So yes, I make super modern and "New and Improved" rifles.

What I own personally? The ones that I think are the best performers as a whole (as in those that I can afford to shoot a lot, and not have to re-barrel every year)
222Rem
223 Rem
25-06
6.5 Mann/Scho
6.8SPC
270 Win
30-30
308 Win
30-06
300 H&H
8X57
9.3X57.
9.3X74R
375H&H
404 Jeffery
You will note that the "youngest" shell on the list is the 6.8 SPC and it's ballistics are about the same as the 250 savage, of 1915 which is quite old.
The next youngest is the 222 Remington, developed in 1950. It's still older than I am and I am 61.
The 3 on the list that I have killed the largest number of game animals with are the 270 Winchester, developed in 1923, the 375H&H developed in 1912, and the 30-06, developed in 1906. I can have "new" if I want it, and I might want it if I saw something that impressed me enough. So far I have seen only a very few new ones that do impress me, ----- and those that do, impress me because they give me ballistics like one of the old ones that have a stellar success story.

Some shells, new and old, I would gladly accept, but don't own at this time.
Here is a list of them. These are all shells I think have real merit without any appreciable "down-sides". The ones with * are those I have owned and sold when money was tight with the intent to make another some day. "Some Day" has not come around yet.

257 Roberts*
6.5 Grendel
260 Rem
6.5X55*
6.5 Creedmoor
7X57*
7/08
280 Rem
338-06*
338 Fed
358 Win
---------------------


These are a list of shells I had rifles in, that didn't keep my interest for one reason or another. What I have owned and liked, but didn't like enough to keep forever.
All these were sold.
None were huge disappointments, but none showed me any real-world advantage (for my uses,) over something I have in list #1. or list #2.
Some like the 22-250 were not the gun I needed at the time. (I was earning a lot of money on fur, and the 222 killed everything I shot, but didn't blow big holes in the hides like the 22-250 did.)

So these were all sold for my own reasons. For me none of these did what I wanted to do any better than those in list #1.
22-250
243 Win
6MM Rem
250 Savage
257 Weatherby Mag
264 Win Mag
270 Win Short mag.
270 Weatherby
7MM Rem mag
300 Win Mag.
308 Norma Mag.
338 Win Mag.
300 Weatherby mag.
348 Winchester.
358 Norma Mag
416 Taylor (this one I sometimes feel I should not have sold. If I had not, it would be in list #1 still. Slimmer than my 404 Jeffery and lighter. I kept the 404, but maybe I should have kept the 416 Taylor.)
416 Rigby
458 Winchester.
460 G&A
460 Weatherby
50-140 Sharps

This set of lists are not proving anything. It's just part of the conversation.

The reason for that is first the gun magazines and then the internet. How many times have you read that a .308 shooting a 150 or 165 grain bullet "kicks a little and kills a lot" but a 30-06 in the same rifle shooting the same bullet "is about as much as the average shooter can handle comfortably". Physics and the recoil tables will tell you that the difference between "kicks a little" and "as much as you can handle" is about 1 3/4 ft lbs of "recoil energy".

I am still somewhat of the ""perfect" cartridge for "that" application". Though fully realize that the 30-06 is one of the best.
But, I do like various cartridges and rifles.

So for center-fire application, and the fun factor I have 7ea "my favorite perfect application" cartridges.
I have others and some may be more practical, but they will likely only see range use.

The cartridge decisions, I am pretty much done with. Perhaps with one exception of the "just want" list, yep the dreaded 6.5 Creedmoor.
The optics issues, I am getting close to being done with, as to scopes.

I do have a 30-06, but it is not included in the 7ea above. Everyone has their on lists and reasoning for them.
When it becomes a pain with dealing with too many different cartridges/rifles, then "the fun factor" is gone.
I have learned over the years to just shove them in the back of the safe, instead of selling. Because my list is subject to change.

I suppose that I could part with my 458's and 300 magnums, but have done that before also. They don't eat anything, unless I want to feed them.

You guys are 'wuzzies'!!

Yeah, a couple years ago I cleaned out and bought a spectacular S&W Husqvarna 30-06. Then I had a heart attack and the Dr. told me because I still have an aneurysm I can't tolerate recoil. So I sold the gun. Now my new Cardiologist tells me where my aneurysm is located recoil is no concern.

+1

The 30-06 makes a lot of sense in South-Africa. I know there is a lot of hype around 6.5s and I have been shooting the 6.5x55 since 91 and have owned the 55, 57 and 284 but the 'non-magnum' 6.5s just kills a lot slower on large animals than something like a 30-06 and in thick brush this could mean that you lose an animal easier (even with good shot placement)! I know the 6.5s are great with their impressive high BC bullets but a 6.5 is still a 6.5 and paired with moderate velocities the terminal damage on large animals is only 'ok'.

I presume one of the next posts will be how someone kills elk at 1000y regularly with their 6.5s and how I do not know s..t but it does not mean that it is the best option for large game like a Blue Wildebeest or Elk. Yes, I have killed large animals with 6.5s and have seen clients kill large animals with 6.5s but it is not the ideal cartridge for large animals. If I walked on a piece of land where you could potentially hunt anything from Springbok to Eland I would gladly rather carry a 30-06 than a short 6.5.

Yes, we hear about all the Moose killed in Norway with 6.5x55s but how many was never recovered over the years that might have been recovered by using larger diam cartridges fired at higher velocity? People killed Elephants with 7x57s but it does not mean that it is the right cartridge for the job.

My point is if you take an off hand shot and you hit something like a Wildebeest very high in the lungs the 30-06 will be better than a short 6.5 any day of the week. If you think you can always hit smaller targets than that off hand then just shoot for the head if it is that easy!

I haven't owned a ton of centerfire rifles, but a 700 BDL 30-06 was my first.

Then after that the list is pretty short. 8mm Mauser, 308, 30-30, 243, and 270.
Of these, and the 30-06, the 30-30 is the only one that I would always come back to. There's simply no other cartridge that has all the virtues of it and comes in the rifles that it does.

My next venture into centerfire rifles will be a bolt action .223, and for me I'm sure it'll be in that class with the 30-30. A deuce or Hornet would be cool too but can't match the availability and versatility of the .223 Rem.

For the mid range sub magnum bolt actions I liked all the ones I've had, but am liking the lower end of the scale with the .243. And although I've often thought that moving up slightly to a 7-08 or a .260, they just don't have the support of more mainstream cartridges. The 6.5 Creedmore may be the one if I was to move up with it's apparent popularity and availability.

I might get nostalgic and own another 30-06 some day in the form of a sporterized 03A3 or something like that though. But I don't feel that I need one.

The ol' -06 is a good cartridge, very good. Along with a few dozen others that will do exactly the same thing. Technically and, in reality, it is the 8 X 57 lengthened 6mm and necked down .015 from .323 and if you go back to the original 8 X 57 groove diameter of .318 it's only necked down .010. Given the dates of introduction .318 is probably the more accurate of the two. I'll always be of the opinion it's a popularity contest and/or tradition/nostalgia. It has no magical or mystical abilities any more than any other cartridge.