Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles I do not "hate" the 30-06, but...

Some denominations think it sin for females to wear cosmetics. Some think it sin to wear none.

I never over-killed a deer.

g

Sin or not -- it's a SHAME for some without it.

Jerry

Way to go Dave.


Jerry

No, you are not wrong.
Use what like, and like what you use.

I'll drink to that....

I have 3 '06. a .338 WM, .243, ..30-30, 260, several BP(various calibers). and have had other calibers, including gay...

They all kill, with no discernible lag.(PLACEMENT ADVISED! ) ...., tho I have yet to personally blood a BP. My brother in Colorado did so with my .50 Hawkin, which he "borrowed" about 20 years ago...

Mostly I kill with the '06..

But after 40 years, and several tons of game with it, I finally got that .243 to shoot decent groups... Now the damned thing wants to go kill something! Sorry Bud- the .260 has first in line....for a moose anyway. You already killed one...

POST OF THE MONTH...

And your point is?

Any of your " preferred" cartridges for deer sized animals will work on anything in North America. Better? perhaps on smaller game , but adequately on larger. I personally "prefer'. an '06, or .338 sometimes, but I took my .260 elk hunting. It worked just fine...and will on moose if it gets the chance..Probably gonna gift it to my Denver son for a deer/elk rifle. It only likes 140 gr bullets, which are certainly adequate for the game intended.

By preference, I personally think a .22 caliber is too small for anything over 100 lbs. Eskimos take 1,000 lb polar bears with .22cf all the time. Haven't heard of anyone getting mauled yet..... A difference in perspective - those boys just seem to me to be recoil shy, and too bashful to admit it..... They think I'm hunting with a howitzer.....

From 78 through 90 I owned a 22-250 and a 30-06. I killed far more ground squirrels at longer ranges with that old Win 670 30-06 than I ever did with a couple 22-250s. I killed elk and many deer with the '06. I loaded everything from 110 pistol bullets at 2000 fps to 220s as fast as I could push them. That rifle ate a couple thousand 165s and several hundred Hornady 190s at 2800 fps. I used 180 gr X and Win Failsafe in it. I worked with every powder imaginable, SR 4756, IMR 4198, 3031, 4064, 4895, H414, 4320, 4350, IMR & H4831, Rl 19, RL22, even H870. Then I AI'ed it and started over.

Finally, there simply was nothing left to learn from the cartridge and I traded the rifle off out of sheer boredom.

.
So I am with the OP. Give me a fast 6mm or 6.5 for deer and a 7 mag or 300 for elk.

I tried to nip this in the bud before it gathered momentum, but it appears I failed.

I love the idea of getting a 30-06 or two and hunting the world, but I have never found them to be particularly accurate. I have messed with 40 or 50 of them trying to find my "Holy Grail," a super accurate 30-06, but I am still searching. Some have been pretty good (Tikka, NULA, Kimber) of which I have owned multiples except for NULA. At best, I have found them to be finicky and plus or minus MOA with preferred loads. Most have been mediocre, shooting 1.5-3". I have tried custom rifles, different ammo, dies, etc to no avail. I'm still looking and just bought another clean pre-64.30-06. I think the cartridge is much harder to get to shoot than a .270, .300 WM, 7-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc. I know of a Ruger .30-06 that shoots well so know that they are out there.

Not until this comment

I'm sure others will be along posting pics of tight '06 groups so I won't bore you with that.

Have several rifles, an Enfeild with the original barrel that I've managed 3-shot 5/8" groups, a M70 Classic w/ BOSS that will do 1/2", a 110, 5/8" if you can tolerate the recoil. Not that I can get these results every time. When I'm hunting I use 150 gr. Hornady Light Mags in the M70 @ 3165fps. I'd try to duplicate this load but I value my fingers & eyes.

That said, most of the time I'm carrying a 280AI.

Not until this comment





Personally I've owned 1 30/06 and it ended up going down the road after about 2 years. Ive gravitated toward the rounds that still kill very well but don't recoil all that much but then again I generally shoot well into the thousands of rounds every year and high round count and high recoil don't really go together IMO. I realize the 30/06 is said to kick like a pussycat by many but most of the people who make that statement only shoot a box of shells a year sighting in and then subsequent years might see far less shooting.


Trystan

I have had a few .30-06s that would do 0.75" or so for three shots with select loads but never had one that was consistently accurate with most everything. Every 7-08 and the two 6.5 Creedmoor I have owned would do what you list above for five shots with a variety of loads. I don't remember owning an inaccurate .270 either. My current one is 3/4" for five shots with many loads and I had a ULA that may have been the most accurate hunting rifle I have owned. Most .300 WMs I have owned have been accurate also. .30-06s have always for me required more work.

I have a couple of 30 calibers, but do not feel the need to use them for deer sized animals.

Am I wrong?

Nope.

But it's not the right question either in my opinion.

See, we are engaged here in discussion and comparison. Like talking about Eggs Benedict, a Spanish Omelet or Eggs Over Easy.
Some folks will prefer one over the other.
No one is wrong. And no one "needs" to eat one for some logical reason, over another.

It's a very petite and stupid man that gets angry that you don't agree with his preference when another option does the same job.


We see Dem/Libs on TV and the internet every day that are "offended" that we don't agree with them
Why would any honest man with 1 oz of integrity stoop to that same level of emotionalism?

Free Men buy what they want. Slaves are allowed what their masters think they need.

Just never hit the right one I guess.

Sig worthy.

Where you be finding those Hornady Light Mags? Been hard to find in my AO for the past 10 years or so. Since they were discontinued.

G

Everyone knows Eggs Benedict rules. Add a bit of Dungeness Crab and an avocado slice on top of each egg and serve with Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs.

It’s the Creedmoor of huevos.