Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The Most American Cartridge

30/06 & 30/30. In Canada it is the 30/30 and .303 British. War surplus. 303's were everywhere as a kid.
None shot well, many had excessive headspace and factory ammo was anemic....it killed moose from sea to sea to sea.

.308 Winchester outsells .30-06 these days and is still actively in use by the military and has been adopted by our allies.

So, I'll give the nod to .308 Winchester, an American icon that lives on, though the corporate accountants and MBA's killed the company.

.45 ACP - John Moses Browning, the greatest designer of all time.

People argue about whether 9mm is good enough, never hear anyone ask that about the .45.

I don't know about anyone else but my first was .410 shotgun.


Jerry

I think you nailed it jwall.

-Jake

.22, .45, 30-30, 30-06, 12 guage. Can't go with just one.

i have never had a .45 tho.

NOT to argue there sharps. I guess living the South and not knowing anyone personally who has travelled to hunt Moose or
Buffalo or Big Bears-----> the 45-70 never came to mind. I know 'some' of its history and it CERTAINLY is American !

Jerry

Most American is very subjective. With that said on pure numbers alone it would be .22LR, 30-30, 30-06, 45 Colt, 12ga

But do pure numbers make it the most American?

gnoahhh, I'm not going to argue with you. I've heard that before from you and 1 other person. I haven't checked it out for myself but I am GOING TO.

My REcollection is that the 06 bagan life as we'd call it....30-03. That was an even longer case than the 8 mouser!

Gnoahh & Cowboy Tim - I know and I ADMIT that I'm PREJUDICED against the German ............. !

I'll get back to you on this.


Jerry

Americas cartridge is 30-06 or 30-30

Gods cartridges are 270 and 25-06

Rimfire would be .22LR

IMO, no it's not the numbers. Obviously the 06 isn't AS popular as it WAS for DECADES.
I'd agree with whoever said the 308 is seeing more use today than the 06. What about 'collectively' over the years ? that's another question. However the 308 is @ 1/2 the age of the 06.

We have many American proprietary cartridges and I'm GLAD.

The 270 Win certainly IS American w/o Question.

Maybe it's my "maturity" , aka age, but when asked or someone mentions 30-06 >>> WW I, WW II, Korea, etc. comes to MY mind.

AMERICAN? Yes Indeed.

Jerry

American Cartridge > not deer cartridge.


Jerry

.30-30 IMHO. Mine has been taking deer since 1951. It claimed an 8 pointer this year. You can certainly make a good argument for several other cartridges, though.

I 'hear' ya Ross ! My question is Where Is It Now ?

American YES, we moved on.


Jerry

wilkes, I haven't touched a 30-30 since 1974.
It IS one of my nominated cartridges tho.


Jerry

gnoahhh, I'm not going to argue with you. I've heard that before from you and 1 other person. I haven't checked it out for myself but I am GOING TO.

My REcollection is that the 06 bagan life as we'd call it....30-03. That was an even longer case than the 8 mouser!

Gnoahh & Cowboy Tim - I know and I ADMIT that I'm PREJUDICED against the German ............. !

I'll get back to you on this.
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"Aug 4, 2015 - 30-06 was first known as “U.S. Cartridge, Model of 1903,” and was loaded with a slow-moving 220-grain bullet; the whole package was designed for the Springfield Model 1903 bolt-action rifle. This was all very well and good for two years—until, in 1905, the Imperial German came up with an 8mm mauser"

This is what I found when I did "30-06 origin" Google search.

I'm NO expert and won't base ALL my opinion solely on this but it's what I found.


Jerry

30-30 and 30-06

If we are talking most American CF's I would be inclined to agree with jwall's list. 30-06 has killed many of our foreign enemies. Its a cartridge that we've all probably owned and love (I have two). A close second would be the 30-30. Its fed alot of American's also. The first CF's I bought my kids were all 30-30's. Third would be 45 colt because it's in almost every western and has a neat place in American law/outlaw history. I own one also.

Additional Info 8X57 Mauser


7.92×57mm Mauser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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7.92×57mm Mauser

Place of origin German Empire
Service history
In service 1905–present
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The 7.92×57mm Mauser (designated as the 8mm Mauser or 8×57mm by the SAAMI [2] and 8 × 57 IS by the C.I.P.[3]) is a rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. The 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge was adopted by the German Empire in 1903–1905, and was the German service cartridge in both World Wars. In its day, the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge was one of the world's most popular military cartridges. In the 21st century it is still a popular sport and hunting cartridge that is factory-produced in Europe and the United States.


Guys -- It seems to me that the 8X57 was BEING developed at the SAME time as our 30-03--30-06.

NO ?


Jerry

jwall, you're only getting the 2nd part of the history of the 8 X 57. The ONLY difference between the 7.92 X 57 you're posting about and the original from 1888 is the bullet diameter. The 8 X 57 beat the -03 by 15 years and the -06 by 18 years. Sorry. In 1905 the German Army changed the bullet diameter from .318 of the original 8 X 57 to .323 and the bullet weight from 220 to 150 grs. The .318 change to .323 has confused most American shooters ever since. The case head, rim and body diameter of the -06 are, for all intents and purposes, identical to the 8 X 57. They were not being developed at the same time. Any cartridge based on the 8 X 57 can be easily made from -06 brass usually simply by resizing and trimming. Many thousands of handloaders have made those modifications of -06 brass, me included, probably millions of times. Rarely will the neck diameter of the formed cartridge need to be reduced.

The 30-06 is indeed derived from the 30-03 which was derived from the 8 X 57. So much so that Mauser took Springfield to court not only over the 1903 rifle but also the spritzer bullet of the 30-06. I am open to correction but I believe Mauser won both cases. I know Mauser won the case over the 1903 for patent infringement and except through WWI, Springfield had to pay Mauser $1.00 per rifle royalty. The bullet law suit I am foggy on but I thought Mauser won it as well.

Truth be told, the Germans were a generation ahead of the Americans in cartridge development until after WWI. Paul Mauser developed what is basically the 6mm Remington in 1899. Wilhelm Brenneke beat the 280 Remington by 38 years. If a person is to be completely honest about it, most popular cartridges can trace their origin to the 8 X 57 Mauser and the 375 H&H Mag.

So, essentially, gnoahh is right. The essentials of the 30-06 are not of American origin. But for cryin' out loud, what is more American than a 30-06?....and I don't really care for the cartridge.

This