Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Todays 30-06 - still the perfect round

I run an automotive shop out of my garage to put myself through university. I never use a crescent wrench because there is always a better tool for the job. I don't own a .30-06, either

Jordan, You must not live on a farm. Ain't much you can't fix with baling wire and a crescent wrench.

Actually, I did grow up on a farm. I never have been a big fan of stripping bolts and nuts, so I prefer to use the proper tool for the job.

Just funnin you Jordan.Always seems to be a crescent on the tractor vs going back to the barn for a 13/16 box end. Like when you find a calvey heifer out in the field ready to drop and neeed ot use a calf puller that just came apart. Going back a few miles and returning might mean a dead hiefer and a calf. Welding a hammer end on one end of the crescent even makes them more useful.

Just saying you can make an .06 do about all you need to do.With some guys it takes until they are 40 something to figure that out.
Remind sme of when teenagers think thier parents are dumber tha box of rocks. When in thier 20's,they find out they don't know as much as they thought they did.Then in thier thirties, they start to think maybe thier parenst did know a thing or two. By the time they are in thier forties,they figure out thier parents know a heck of a lot about things and maybe they were not so dumb.It's about the same with all the younger guys looking for the holy grail of rifles. They think us old farts don't know anything about them, but by the time they reach 45-50,they finally figure it out themselves. We could'v saved them a lot of money, but thier egos get in the way a lot

As Lindy Wisdom so aptly said, "Ain't many troubles that a man can't fix, with seven-hundred dollars and a 30-06."

Really no such thing as the perfect cartridge. 30-06 wins many close races though. All about what you like.

270 vs the 30-06, Hey somebody should write an article for a gun magazine on that subject!

I have listened to this arguement for at least 65 or my 75 years, and I have used both for at least 60 years and I still can't tell any differnce in them or the .280, 284, 7x57, and probably a few others...Damn me! all those years wasted!

I guess the only difference is for big bad bear or Lion where the 220 gr. Nosler shines in the 30-06 would be the only place the 06 wins, but then the 130 gr. .270 beats it on long shots across desert canyons, so there ya go..

No worries. I can see your point about the crescent, and I definitely think the .30-06 is a fantastic cartridge that can get just about anything done that needs doing. I don't personally own one because I have a few other rifles that are better than the -06 for the particular task that they're meant for. If I had to choose 1 rifle, the .30-06 wouldn't be a bad choice. But neither would my 7RM, or a .300Mag of some sort, or my .308, or....

I do think the argument that "the .30-06 is the cartridge which all others are compared to" is kind of silly. The .30-06 has been around the longest, is American (American people are biased towards American products <g>), and has been very affordable and accessible every since its inception. Naturally, people compare what is new and unproven to what is old and familiar.

What can anyone say about the .30-06, that has not been said many, many times over?

The 30-06 is a lot like Nosler Partition bullets, most everything has been compared to each!

Col. Whelen said it best. "The 30-06 is never a mistake."
Paul B.

AlaskaCub, you seem to be pretty intelligent. I like your statement about the partition, and you are probably correct. I've always thought the partition was it when it came to tough controlled expansion bullets, but the younger crowd seems to be dissatisfied with everything from great bullets to excellent cartridges. It seems everything needs to be improved upon. Like one guy said about teenagers thinking their parents are dumber than a box of rocks and then after they are about 40 or so, they realize their parents knew what the hell they were talking about. Why do ammo manufactures waste their time on trying to improve when they need to be thinking about how they can keep up with our demand?? I'm a little fed up when it comes to these guys. As an example, I was looking for some 22 magnums today and couldn't find any. Bi-mart was out (at 3 different Bi-marts!!!!) and Big 5 had some for $18.00 per box of 50. Needless to say, I didn't buy them at that price. My question is, how much more improvement do we really need over the cartridges we've been using for over 50 years? Quit wasting our brass for the wsm's, rcm's, wssm's, rum's, stw's, and all the other bs we don't need.

chief,
Its called marketing. There is always a segment of the populace that is looking for something "new". That means its better.
You see it here. There is nothing wrong with that. Some buy one rifle and look no further all their hunting career. Others always have a "rifle build" going on and would never be satisfied with a "box gun". Its the way of the world and what makes the economy work.
On the other hand, some component makers have so much new stuff to make that they can't produce what they have in the market already. They are reluctant to expand production in a fragile economy - hence shortages, although improving, are pretty common. Some of the "Obama syndrome" helped as well.
My .02

...so there you go. Yes that is a good point to make about the difference between the .270 and the 30-06. The two cartridges are always lumped together but when you get down to comparing what bullet weights are available, there is a difference. It may be splitting hairs, but the difference remains.
I have a friend who hunts with a Remmy pump 740/760 (I forgot)
something in 30-06. That's all he ever had and has taken countless deer and 5 cow elk with it. He wouldn't know what b.c. means nor care. A mediocre Bushnell 3-9 sits on top that he turns sometimes. He is happy cause it all works and the freezer is full. He laughs at all my loonyism as I laugh at his simplicity. Who is happier? I guess we both are.

'Bout sums it all up......

Whats left out is the fact that the 30-06 Springfield had been our military cartridge for over half a century. Therefore millions of military rifles exist where the 270 has no such history or distribution. Granted the 270 is popular but the 30-06 is more popular and has a far richer history.

The 30-06 was the cartridge that won World Wars one and two! Nothing compares to that.

You guys always keep me laughing. I love the beating the dead horse pictures. They are much better than the ugly women i've seen on here (ha ha).