Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Any love for the 30/06

The Maine train in the 06 has to be the venerable 180 rn.

Is this a trick question?

Win m70 Extreme Weather
JC Higgins M50

180 or 200 grain Speer HotCors + IMR 4350

Take a stroll down a typical big box sporting goods store and peruse the .30-06 offerings. Me thinks it's doing just fine, but perhaps someone from the sales end of the manufacturers will chime in on last years sales numbers.

I've been out weekly at the range for the last two months working up back-up loads with different powders for all my .30-06 loads. Best as I can figure I'll be doing the same through at least the month of May.

I'm down to one .30-06, a custom rig built around a M70 CRF complete action built 23 years ago and assembled with all the usual suspects. It's been with me on a few African hunts and will be going with me again on the next. For those trips it's loaded with 180 grain A-Frames at just past 2,700 fps MV. If I decide to wack another Gemsbok, then I usually bring along a handful of 180 grain Oryx for the event.

It just seems appropriate to do so.

A quick look on AmmoSeek says yes.

30-06. Blah. They never work and are expensive to shoot.

Today I took new to this rifle once fired factory brass that was given to me, powder was an old metal can of IMR 4320 that was given to me, CCI 200's from the 90's that I bought in 2022 for $12.50 a brick, and 150 Sierra PH's. Also a freshly mounted today old Tasco 3-9 on the rifle.

No history using 4320 in 30-06, just trying it. Loaded them for a JC Higgins M51 at .080 off and loaded 3 @ 50gr's, 3 @ 51gr's, and 3 @ 52gr's.

50 & 52gr's both shot under an inch, 51 shot over but positive will shoot under an inch also, I know why the 3rd shot went out. Everything going against it to out of the box shoot respectable including lack of real load development, and the old cartridge & rifle still made it easy.

I was a magnum hunter, but figured out I don’t need that for the puny whitetail down here!

I’ve heard that from more than one here on the Fire and agree.

DF

I have five .30-06s. I don’t use anything else. Just bought another Model 70. Reworking a 700 right now. The JC Higgins Model 50 is a favorite.

I still have a couple of 7 mags, bigger boys have left the building

I often kind of wished I was because I turned down several rifles that I would've loved to have, and the price was right, but were chambered in the wrong cartridge for me. Usually 7 or 300 mag.

In hindsight I'm perfectly happy with those decisions. Not knocking them, they have their place, but I've no need for one.

It'll satisfy your needs, maybe not your wants, but it sure works!

DeanAnderson

That is exactly how I feel about it.

Weatherby Mk V Lightweight .30-06 24” barrel. Load was Federal 165 TSX until they stopped production, newer same load doesn’t shoot as well, so I switched to Barnes LR loads with 175 gr LRX. I killed my first buck with that rifle in 2007 and the 2024 buck. I think there are more .30-06’s at our club than others. There seems to be a few with interest in the 6.5 Creedmoor and almost none with a .308 Win.

That’s me too Shade. I’ve owned several 7 and .300 magnums but I just didn’t need them. They went down the road.

I’m down to these 4, Garand,
, 700 C grade, G33/40 I bought from MR Mule Deer, and a Kimber BGR

The king!

The fact that Midway has 85 ammo loads in stock should tell you something, it remains very popular!

Still a great cartridge! My family has always gotten great results from a 150 grain spitzer boat tail propelled by 50 grains of 4064.

I killed two nice bucks on consecutive days using my dad’s J.C. Higgins Model 50. It still has the Weaver 4x scope it had when the original owner bought it at Sears Roebuck seventy years ago. I lost count a long time ago of how many deer he killed with it.

I recently got a FN Commercial in .30-06 and I am looking forward to using it this coming season.

There have been various times in the history of American firearms when “something new” came along that was better than what was out there already, but for bolt action rifles that hasn’t happened in a long time. If you own a .30-06, you don’t need any other rifles for anything in North America.

Edit - needs are, of course, not the same as wants.

165gr. Sierra Game King over IMR 4350 kills whitetails dead, my rifle is a pre'64 Winchester M/70.

still like the 30 whelen !!works on most things