Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 30-06: Overstated versatility?

Half of my rifles are chambered in 30-06. They definitely outnumber every other cartridge.


Okie John

I don't have a single one.
There are more 7mm-08's then anything else, other than .22 mag.

If saying most any centerfire would have served as well makes me anything... *shrug*

Though I apologize if I was too direct for all involved to have a good time.

Guilty as charged, as well as being a versatile cartridge it is or was the brass deals for me. Young guys <45 don't really understand how it was. So I'll mention a few specifics. Back in the day military 06 brass was plentiful and dirt cheap if not free we didn't have to get fugged in the butt for brass. We all knew we'd have to fix primer pockets, trim, chamfer and maybe re anneal somewhere down the line. It didn't bother us. Occaisionally a guy would score some.NM LC brass. We all were satisfied with what we had. Those of us that were ardent reloaders were really happy we tailored our loads to the job at hand. Not only did we think we had more accurate than we could buy but saved money too. Later more than a few did the same with the 308 then the 223. We saved money and met our needs. It wasn't until internet forums with the I got more money to spend attitude did we realize that people looked down their noses at our plain simple gets the job done approach. Igloo, you don't like the 30-06? Well gfy because it's mom ,apple pie and the girl next door American...mb

What could I have possibly said to make you think I don't like the 30-06?

Quote it for me before telling me to go self pollinate, if you don't mind, MB? Anything, at all, in the entire thread?? I made sure to qualify lots of statements with "I like it too" etc etc.

Its as if one simple thesis statement: "Lots of people say the 30-06 is the MOST versatile cartridge of them all, I don't think so" causes literacy rates to fall to third world levels here. Did you not bother reading ANYTHING I said, or are you just challenged in some way? The emotional investment people put into a cartridge...wow. Peoplw were calling this "pot stirring" but I really didn't think there were any jimmies that would be rustled by something so minor. I'll remember just for you not to say that American cartridges that were essentially ripped off of European dimensions to function in a ripoff of a European rifle are nothing but the best thing ever, thrown down by God himself, and the sun shines out of their flash holes.

BTW there used to be a Super Swager on my reloading table until I figured that putting a Hornady primer pocket uniformer into a drill press was even cheaper to remove crimps. I dunno who is flexing on having money to spend in the younger age bracket but you guys don't have a monopoly on practicality/saving money. There's still lots of military M80 or what have you brass out there that does just what Mainer in Ak said...throws the same 30 cal bullets pretty much fast enough not to matter, with less powder.

It’s cheap. It’s plentiful. It’s about the largest cartridge the average person can shoot well. It works on anything. It’s available worldwide. It’s available in just about every single rifle made in the last 115 years. It shoots flat enough. It can do just about everything. Maybe the .308 is about as good, but it wasn’t first. And of course, with modern powders the 30-06 can be closer to what a .300 mag was. Plenty of cartridges are just about as good, but they’ll recoil a little more, not be as readily available around the world, not be in quite as many rifles, or something else.

If cartridge development had stopped after it was invented, not much would that different nowadays.

If I absolutely could only have a single gun for all things. I would be hard pressed not to choose the 30-06. Many bullet weights, ammo everywhere in the world, components are everywhere..........ETC. YMMV

This has to be one of the more bizarre threads on the Campfire.

Will add to it only because my friend Phil Shoemaker, the well-known Alaskan brown bear guide, posts here under 458Win, which indicates his regard for that cartridge. But Phil's sig-line is: Anyone who claims the 30-06 is not effective has either not used one, or else is unwittingly commenting on their marksmanship.

JB,

How many similar cartridges would YOU say that about? Is it unique in that regard?

Again, if the original post is basically "People complain about how there's supposedly so much hype for the 6.5 CM, but no one has a problem with 30-06 being called the MOST versatile round..."

Never had a problem with its effectiveness. We've (you and I) spoken about the .270 in regards to tipping over moose, and you were not the only pro to tell me that it is a very potent killer on large moose and west coast bears. I doubt it is alone in that regard. Could very well be someone says "Damn, if that had been a 30-06 instead of that 8x57...."

But if you, or Phil, say that no, actually the 30-06 is doing something that it, or any similar cartridge cannot do...I'll change my tune. Consider me schooled.

(Caveat given that the availability IS a solid argument in its favour).

I think two things happen in response to your original statement:

1. We forget that old school shooters today are reacting to the Creedmoor the same way old school guys did a century ago when the 06 came out. ("You damn kids and your 06... my 44-40 and 45-70 still... etc.)

2. We forget that no one on this forum has any intention of ever actually using a single rifle for everything... which doesn't mean it's not true in the 06's case, but sort of farcical.

Pointless? Sure. Esoteric? Absolutely. But comparatively bizarre for the Campfire? Not even in the top one thousand!!! LOTS of major weirdness in this camp. 🤭

Look, I admit that not too many people would go hunting groundhogs with an '06. However, I've done it, and it was a gas. That was with a 55 grain bullet. I've also loaded the 110 grain plinkers. Although my experience tops out at 180 grainers for whitetail and hog, I know there are guys on here running 220 grain bullets. I haven't seen that kind of range out of any of the chamberings you threw at me. What's more, I used to know a guy with a BAR. I've got some old black-tipped bullet pulls in case the Commonwealth of Kentucky ever declares an open season on pickup trucks.

By comparison, 25-06 has a general range of 75 grains to 120 grains. 7mm-08 has a range of 100 grains up to 180 grains.

Now granted, everyone points at Karamojo Bell and his penchant for 7mm on elephants. However, I'd say that for as exotic a locale as SW Bracken County, KY, 30-06 is about as versatile as it gets.

Suffice it to say that if one of the wandering elk herds we occasionally get coming down the Licking River shows up out in the back 40, I won't flinch at pointing my '06 out the window. Given 30 seconds to grab a gun off the rack, I can promise it won't be a 257 Roberts or a .243 WIN.

Exactly what does the Grand Poobah of Versatility define as versatility?

Have you read through much of this? The bullet weight range has come up many times before this. That's great, but what is a 220 grain bullet from a 30-06 killing that can't be killed with a 6.8mm, 7mm (or 8mm really) bullet? Is there an animal they are in an exclusive class as far as ethically killing goes?

The black tip pulls can be loaded in any 30 cal cartridge, someone already made a good case for the versatility of 308 Win, so...




You seem so invested in this lol.

I dunno, what else does the mighty atomizer of rodentia and "cervid serial killer" have in his armory? :P I'm sure if those hypothetical elk ever do crest the hill there are any number of cartridges that would do the job just fine.

Was a very simple question. What kind of hunting can it do that similar cartridges cannot? That's all. Whatever titles that bestows upon me or anything else is strictly between your ears.


Its an esoteric waste of bandwith for sure, perhaps a pothole on the information superhighway, but thank you! I was rather taken aback, in terms of bizarre I had thought this wasn't a contender at all.

Challenging sacred dogma, apparently. But not all that bizarre!


That sounds legit!

We can add to that the category of "I didn't read the original statement at all, but I'll just decide you said the 30-06 sucks, or isn't versatile, or isn't effective etc"

Worked for me last year



https://imgur.com/a/O6KyZ8M

Guilty, have three of them. Also have two .223 and an AR in 5.56. And two 308's, one an AR. One of everything else. 257 Roberts is my favorite, 7mm RM is my most used.

Used my 7mm RM for everything when I first got it because it was all I had. Prairie dogs to elk.

For a legitimate magnum they sure are easy shooting.

Amusing

Could any number of other cartridges have risen to the prominence of the 30-06? Sure. But they didn't. Not here anyway.

Could any number of cartridges achieve the same things as the 30-06? Yep and a case has been made for several. Wont argue with anyone over it though.

It is funny when someone starts an intentionally provocative thread then acts like they are being attacked when others offer an opinion.

Are you by chance be related to any Alaskan loggers?

Nothing intentionally provocative about it. It was a simple statement. People say there is a lot of overhype surrounding the 6.5 CM, but don't seem to mind the overhype surrounding the 30-06. Sounds like something that can be rationally talked about. Good points are made, like the availability, price etc. Or maybe there are other things it can do that others can't. I just didn't know. There's data points or there ain't. Can't get any easier. Yet mum is your word on that?


See? What is there to even argue about? You just said it yourself.

People become emotional over a rifle cartridge, and you think there's a problem with me? You're right, that is pretty amusing. Never felt attacked by anyone offering an opinion. At all. I've made counterpionts. I've even conceded on things. I've laughed when people who didn't even bother to read the original post have told me to go [bleep] myself or got butthurt and started calling people "grand poobah". That's not feeling attacked over opinion.

Don't want to talk/debate about it? That's great. Don't. You've been happy to keep participating in this thread nonetheless. Why?

...

Good Lord.......the idiots are multiplying faster around here than the sane folks.