Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles The Last .30/06

I’ve always had trouble it seems, hanging onto my .30/06s. This one will stick I think, not because it’s necessarily the nicest, but it’s pretty nice, and the barreled action was born the same year I was, 1952. Great sales point.

Stock’s a trifle short, but I can crank the bolt without banging my nose, so it’s good. The sight is a Lyman 57FN, the base on the receiver ring is for a Sparc 2 red dot, probably what it’ll wear when Grandpa takes it hunting. The stock had to be inletted just about an 1/8” for the Lyman. Xacto saw, chisel, file, pocket knife, then some poly spar varnish.

This was on GB. I put in my top bid, then someone came within $30 of snatching it.

nice

Very nice Pappy. I see no steps on the barrel. So a commercial barrel on it. I have an old Colombian I got that still had the stepped barrel. Even killed a couple deer with it. Accuracy went away so put a new 06 barrel and it shoots fine. Something to enjoy.

It’s a commercial FN barreled action. Matching serial numbers and dates on barrel and action, solid side rail, single-stage trigger. No crest or even the usual FN marking on the left side rail. No doubt it came in intended for gunsmith customization. I really like the crests, but hate to see holes in them. My 1948 .270 has the FI crest.

Is that "last" as in most recent or last, like no more? I'm guessing the former.

Score! "Ain't nothin you can't fix with $700 and a .30-06!"

I've fixed alot of things with a 30-06, and I've fixed a couple 30-06's. I like keeping one around. Currently a 1918 '03 does the job

Everyone should have at least five or six

In every manufacture's various rifles.

Actually, it’s the latter. I’ve been very clear, especially to my wife, that I’m not buying any more guns.

LOL Pappy, I say that too. Just bought 3 on here. And two more down the road from me. Darn the luck just cannot pass up a good deal. And I have 4 30-06's

I'm down to 14 ea. 30-06's and I still reach for my pocketbook when I see one for sale. Damn

Flip side

Does she smile and roll her eyes?

Mine does!😉

Nice. Bought an 03-A3 about a week ago. Seems to shoot great. I have 4 06s also, but it really isn't my favorite caliber probably 4th or 5th down the line from the top. But brass is everywhere, about any powder works, .30 cal. bullets are easy to get. Just a fun caliber. Enjoy!

One or the other, not always both……

I keep saying no more to, but I don’t trust myself.

At least^^^

Interpretation:

and no less, the rate oughtta be about the same.

As my son used to say to his mother when she’d comment on how many seemed to be coming and going,

“There’s been no net gain in guns”.

That was to the Previous, not the Current, who really doesn’t GAF.

She is hopefully also the last one.

The major weakness with 30-06, it's not 'sexy'! It just gets the job done as it has for over a century by now! If '06 ammo isn't available, likely 'no' ammo is! You can find all sorts of guns to du jour for most every taste if you aren't consumed by 'newer & hotter'! The '06 doesn't require any sort of apology! There are other great chamberings I admire of course, but the '06 has its own special place in America!

As far as that FN, it's simply one of the best iterations of the classic mauser design adapted to modern sporting use. As noted the solid sidewall, add absence of clip loading feature and consequently the "thumb slot". The low swept commercial bolt rounds out the practicality in category of modern bolt rifle. The "FN" logo was featured on 'some' of the wider genre as marketed directly under FN name and aura. Great FN rifles came in many falvors including even the Sears Model 50!
Yours is the earlier edition with traditional bolt shroud. The "Supreme" (or such by other marketing names) had a streamline shroud. The big difference was the safety. The early model - traditional mauser on the shroud. The later, a sliding lever adjacent to the action tang. I prefer the earlier edition with the safety that impinges directly on the striker - more positive. The later version impinged on the trigger. Either worked well and in some contexts the latter better accommodated scopes.
The Husqvarna Model 640 of those same early fifties were the super value of those FN models marketed considerably less than the FN branded rifles.
To my thoughts, these FN actions are distinguished by finish, stock and accoutrements since all were about functionally fine rifles! Factoid that 'generally' earlier ones 1950 and before weren't factory D&T for scopes.

Congrats on a very nice, quality rifle!
Best!
John

"Last 30-06"? My condolences.. Nice knowing you. When did you find out you had a terminal disease? Did the doctor say how long you have to live?

I prefer the earlier shroud as well, especially on a rifle with irons. It’s also quite possible to leave that safety in place while adding an aftermarket trigger with side safety and use it for security while walking around and then the side safety on stand for quiet.

Had one of those Huskies for a bit, long enough to fix the almost ubiquitous stock split and replace the boogered-up mount for the Lyman 4x. Passed it on to a young couple from West of here at a good price (for them). Also had a Sako High Power on the FN for a bit. That one was pretty heavy.

This one and my 1948 are both gunsmith-drilled for mounts that don’t follow the current .860/.5” standard. I had an additional hole drilled in the bridge of the 1948 for two-piece mounts, but this one has two rear holes spaced 3/8”, so unless a bridge mount fits one of them, I’m SOL without some smith work. No matter, as the stock is shaped for irons, which was my goal anyway. Have lots of scoped rifles, and a 2MOA red dot on the receiver ring is fast and plenty accurate enough as well for anything I need it to do. The front sight is pretty tiny for woods work. Options for replacement are limited, as in non-existent, due to the tiny odd-sized dovetail, so if I want to replace it I’ll have to file down something like a Skinner. BTDT.

Used to run 165gr Sierra HPs in my ‘06s, but I scored a bunch of bargain 150NPTs here and there, so I load those over a starting load of H4895 for a presumed velocity of 2800 or so and good accuracy in every rifle I tried it in.

Haha! I had to count mine................ 6. Yep, I'm good

I have four 30-06's.I have become very fond of that great cartridge.With the powders we have today,that cartridge is better than ever.

Ditto. After walking around telling people I had "8 or 9", I dug in and counted them and it's actually 10. I gotta get a life.

I bought my one and only 30-06 at Carter's in Houston in 2000 for $500 with a vintage Redfield scope (4-12X ?). It is a commercial FN in great shape. I bought it and sold the scope for $100. I scoped it with a Vari-X 3 3.5-10X, took it to the range and found that it shot well with the handload I made up. Thinking it was a 150 gr Partition? It went in the safe soon after and remained until 2018 when I booked a trip (not just hunting) to Namibia. It needed to go hunting but a relatively heavy combo and I am a light rifle fan. I easily developed an accurate (consistent 3 in
1" works for me) and decided to take it on the hunt. The combo just flat worked though the added weight sucked.

That said, just a fee weeks ago I bought a NIB Kimber Subalpine 30-06 at the LGS...

Even at 2000 prices, you stole that one.

Indeed. Houstonians tended towards Weatherby's and Sako's it seemed... This one sat on the rack for quite some time.