I’m seriously thinking about selling every non-lever centerfire hunting rifle that I have that isn’t chambered in 30-06. I don’t believe that there is anything more effective on whitetails than a 30-06 stoked with 150s running 2900 FPS or better. Every deer I’ve ever shot with that combination just flops over and dies. They don’t run 30 yards, they don’t meander around, it is literally bang and flop.

I know that there are lots of cartridges that work as well and I’ve used a lot of them. But the confidence I have with that combination cannot he overstated. I’m getting to the age where reloading is more of a chore than a passion and the ability to just grab a rifle and pretty much any factory 150s (if I don’t have any loaded) is nice.

Yeah, 30-06 is boring but at this point in life, excitement can be overrated. It just works.

I'd say it also speaks well of your shot placement.

Indeed. Good marksmanship makes almost any cartridge look good. OTOH, if you cant get it done with a .30-06, you probably shouldn't be trying it.

I’ve experienced similar results with my .27-06!

And the 25-06!

Thank you for reminding everyone the 25-06 does indeed bang flop.

Maybe it’s the -06 part that does the quick killin?

Have the same results with a .223 as well. Just not 100% of the time.

Same for my .243, .308...etc.

Shot placement.

And bullet performance.

In many cases you can shoot any deer behind the shoulder, and it's a "Good Shot", and the deer may run.



Anyone that uses "always" in their statements, hasn't killed much, compared to those that have.

Are you guys all looking for arguments?

I agree... you can take about any cartridge and have the same results. I am thinking about selling all my big rifles except the .223... everything it hits dies...

Here we go.....pass the popcorn.....at least 10 pages..............................................................................

Hell, I don't even have to shoot them with my 45-70. I just point it at them, and they just give up & fall over dead.

There just isn't much to pick an arguement with the 30-06.

The 30-06 doesn’t recoil, it can be made in an extremely light rifle, and it is accurate out to all reasonable distances. More and more, I’m just happy to be bored. And I say that while being a huge fan of the mild non magnum 7mm’s, which also work great in my opinion.

I have one of those 06's with a 25 in front of it. Kills every thing it looks at.

Jerry

Obviously, you've likely never killed deer with a 45-70 then.

But if your experience with the 'o6 is as you describe, that's not exactly the norm with that cartridge, so far as 100% bang-flops go.

Not that the 'o6 isn't a great round, because it is.

How many have you killed with it?

MM

The larger point of this thread, is probably to pick something. Be happy with it. And go forth and kill things. I think I’m about done being a rifle loony.

.270 win is a tranny .30-06

I have the same experience shoulder shooting them with a 150 grain Partition from a 280. Bang flop every time.

Shot one with a 45-70 last year. It penetrated literally from stem to stern and did amazing damage. Deer ran 100 yards with no blood before tipping over.

In excess of fifty with the 30-06.

Yeah, me too.

All my magnums, except for the big ones (338 & >) are gone.

Standard non-belted rounds only; never needed more, really.

MM

Finding a cartridge that doesn't work well on deer is the challenge.

NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I've not killed 50 with a 45-70............25-30, but never had a one take a step; 405 grain Win/Speer boolits, 53 gr. IMR-3031 at 1850 FPS.

MM

LOL.

I wish someone had told that to the Model 700 ADL I used to have. The one with the hard plastic buttplate.............

I thought this was going to be a 270wsm thread.

Or my 1970 760 gamemaster with no recoil pad.

I have had 2 run from the 06. It certainly is a death ray. I've also shot with the .270 and .280 with death ray results. Actually, not a step was taken my a deer from either caliber.

It's all about the bullet....the cartridge is just the motivator....

*** And how/where it lands.

I think a lot of us experience the same feeling you do once hunting season gets going. Perhaps not with the 30-06 but with what ever number they are using. All year long we fantasize about trying out new guns and loads but when hunting season starts reality kicks in and we realize we already have the right tool for the job as long as we do our part.

Yesterday I just took a large doe through the neck with my 45-70 using a Speer 400gr JSP at around 1600 fps. That deer did not go anywhere and I had the same thoughts you did. If I would have used my 30-06 i still would have felt the same way.

Yes sir...

The U.S. military stopped using it for a reason.................... just sayin'.

MM

I know how you feel. I used to have one of those on my Rem 700 BDL 30-06 until I replaced it with a Pachmyer Decelorater recoil pad.

I know. They needed something that women and effeminate Yankees could shoot well.

I thought the .270 was brutal, until I shot it in something other than my 1980 vintage Remington 700 ADL.

And back in the 30s, they were going to go with a .277 caliber round. Then, of course, they realized that homosexuals weren’t allowed to serve and had to revert back to the 30-06.

TFF

But a grain or 2 of truth as well. Also influenced by NATO standardizing on the 7.62 round.

MM

I have three of them. I have complete confidence in my 30-06’s. I shoot Ballistic tips or Barnes in mine. 150 grainers

It should have been. Short actions, lighter weight, better balance and minimal kick are all great for old men.

What is your shot placement? Have a feeling that has more to do with your bang flop ratio than caliber choice.

I do not believe that there is anything on the planet that will drop a deer any quicker than a good 130 grain bullet from a 270 Winchester.

If there is, it hasn't hit the market yet.

great thinking from the op. me, I have two 3006 , both styers. one green one black. bought the second one in case something bad happened to the first. just for fun, then I bought one in 9.3x62. god bless all !

Blasphemy and heresy, sinner!

From a fellow who owns, I believe it's seven 30-06's, at this point.

30-06 definitely does the deed quickly on deer with a soft 150 gr. bullet.

Why, yes, of course, it makes complete sense that my shot placement is different with a 30-06 than it is with anything else.

I like that cartridge, too. With a short action round that throws a 110 grain Barnes TTSX at 3500FPS, what's not to like?

For me its the 140g Gameking with a very modest charge out of my 260 that inexplicably makes them die on the spot.

Definitely find Sierras kill faster than Hornady's. And for some reason faster out of the 260 than my others.

I suspect a 257 Weatherby firing 100 grain Interlocks may be a challenger.

Nah.........not even close.

and here i thought the Official Campfire Deer Death Ray was the 25-06 pushing the 115 grain blue meanies...

Have you used a 257 Wby. much compared to your 270?

The 30-06 is the most overrated cartridge of all time.

Another category within which the '06 is at the top!

270 / 110 TTSX is like a death ray....say'ith some. I've not death rayed with it though...

Used to have good luck with the 150 and 165 game kings.

They were pretty soft. At least the 150 was.

I’ll be damned. The kid shows some wisdom.

Truer words were never spoken.

And the funny thing is Canadians say that about the .303 Brit for the last 100 years or so.

Nobody cares about what the Snow Mexicans have to say.

I like the 150 GameKings in my 308’s. They hammer deer pigs and pesky Aoudads. Some of the pigs and Aoudads weigh over 225 lbs.

Shot my friends 30-06 Lone Eagle a few times.................I'll guarantee you there was recoil...............

Shot one deer with a 45-70. Ran about 50 yards after a behind the shoulder heart/lung shot.

That's why my deer death ray is a creedmoor.

Lol , well now that explains a lot !
Kenneth

140 Partitions at 2800 FPS from a 7mm-08 does the job right now on deer.





P

Now that's funny!!!!!! LMAO

The 30-06 is a great cartridge and we all know that. I have several rifles in that chambering as well as 25-06, 27-06 (270), 338-06 and 35-06 (35 Whelen). All are super performers.


When I think about "death ray" though, the 260 Remington comes to mind. The flat trajectory and great penetration of the 260 has rendered a lot of bang flops for me.

T.S.

How DO I get by????


I don't own a 30cal. anything!

You AREN'T getting by - you just think you are.

It’s UnAmerican not to own at least one 30-06

I've had identical results with my 30-30. OK I'll go to the back of the bus now....

PS: Same-o, same-o with my .44 Mag. (But only out to about 100 yds.) Beyond that, they just kinda bounce off the deer.

PSS: Almost forgot, my Daniel Boone stare gets em every time too! DRT

That mirrors my experience with the 30-06 and 150 cup and cores.

Yeah that was news to me as well.

I’m sorry. I meant to add “if you have a penis” after that.

Yeah I wasn't exactly sitting here concerning myself with what the Canucks think either.

So... The bigger your penis, the more recoil you like?

I always suspected it was quite the reverse.

Don't know how old you are these days but sometimes i just feel like the 250 sav. with 87 grain bullets.

In a somewhat lighter rifle as well.

Something in 577-450 Martini Henry would be good fer whitey tails.

Say, like a Martini Henry in 577-450!

30-06 is boring . My first deer rifle was a 30-06 .

It was a death ray too , until I met the 7mm rem mag .

I shot lots of deer, back twenty and thirty years ago, with the 30 06. I was using Remington Core Lokt in 180 grain and also a Winchester bullet in 180 grain, back then that was about the only ammo available.
Bang flop? Not for me. The average deer ran 110 yards on the lung shot. Good blood trail but what a tracking job!

I shot over 50 deer that way.
I was using a scope and I was a good shot, I did start getting in to the neck shot and I made about 10 neck shots. Bang flop.

I must say, on the lung shot I got much better results with my Tennessee Mountain Rifle and the .490 round ball. Never had one go over 50 yards with the lung shot with the round ball.

Been killing stuff for so long it doesn't need a rating.

Because you used inferior ammunition for deer.

Yeah, it was inferior ammunition. Damn bullets would not expand.
I even made home made hollow points, I drilled in to the end of the bullet about 1/4 inch, with a 1/8 inch bit.
Shot 3 deer that way didn't do a bit of good.

No internet, I was in a small town in Georgia and the 180 grain Core Lokt was the only ammo available. On the lung shot, thirty caliber entrance wound and 50 caliber exit, a white tail waving at me, and a 110 yard tracking job.

Just curious. How so?

No, just the wrong weight. I got tired of blood trailing with 180's too so I switched to 150's. All the sudden there was no more blood trailing after that.

How do I know that you didn’t read the original post?

My 30-06 Creedmoor is even better.

With 2nd place going to your 30-06 WSM?

My "death ray" of choice is the (older than -06) 6.5×55...…...second place is a toss up between .270,.280, 7-08,308, 30-06,7×57,6.5 cm,25-06, 250 & 300 Sav, 257Bob and 243 (not necessarily in that order, and prolly missed a couple)

Pictures or it didn't happen...

What caliber doesn’t kill whitetail well?

Really......even a Dodge caliber WILL work in a pinch.

I must be "UnAmerican"......never owned a 30-06....never will. Many .270-06 and now a 25-06. As I've aged recoil matters which I honestly admit here on the campfire.

LOL!

The last two desert mule deer bucks I killed, both fell to a single 25 grain, .17 caliber bullet from my little CZ 527 chambered in .17 mach4. Neither went more than 10 steps from where they were hit, both shot, where I shoot all game animals, in the plumbing, behind the shoulder. This shot placement, never ruins any meat, and will always kill an animal, and as an aside, offers the largest lethal target area on the animal. Ive seen lots of zhit hit smack on the shoulder, from coyotes to deer and elk, hit with substantial calibers, hobble off, never to be found. Hit them in the water works, where blood is oxygenated, and they will die, simple as that?

I consider it a large game cartridge and most Americans don't hunt anything close to large. For starters.

Which bullet?

I'd agree with that and add that the 243 is just as underrated...as is the 223 (though no personal experience with it and deer). My stupid state says 223's won't kill no deer, but every state that borders us says they will.

But a 6x45 is just fine...

I always enjoy this type of thread. I'm amazed by how many guys have shot dozens of deer with a particular caliber/cartridge, and every single one of them DRT. Certainly hasn't been my experience.

I've killed well over a hundred big game animals in North America and Africa. I've watched my kids make over three dozen of their kills, again in North America and Africa. Have made the kills with a half dozen different styles of broadheads, .243, .257 Roberts, 7-08, 7mm Rem mag, 7mm Dakota, 30-30, 300 Savage, 30-06, 300WSM, .358 Winchester, 45-70, .50 muzzle loader.

It has been my experience that the cartridge case that holds the bullet is a lot less important than the particular bullet used and where it is put. I have used Barnes, Hornady, Sierra, and Nosler bullets. Barnes always gets the nod when hunting away from home.

Probably about a dozen whitetail with the 30-06. Mostly with 150 grain cup and core. Probably a couple with 165s. Some DRT, and some ran a short distance. Pretty much the same results with every cartridge I've used.

Since I like to eat the meat that tends to surround major bone structure, I try to avoid breaking down front shoulders. For me a perfect shot enters and exits just behind the shoulders and takes out both lungs. Miss the major bone structure, take out both lungs and the animal might DRT, and it might take off running for a short distance. If I don't see them go down, the blood trail is usually pretty easy to follow. If you want EVERY deer to DRT, you had better plan on breaking down major bone structure, which ruins meat, or go for a CNS shot, which can be pretty dicey on a skittish deer. YMMV, but that has been my experience.

Will the 223 work on deer.........sure, but so will a 22LR. It doesn't take a large caliber cartridge to kill a deer. As with anything else, it's more to do with shot placement than anything else.

I do have personal experience with the 223 on deer, and IMO it would be my last choice. Yes, it will kill a deer, but a 243 will do a better job, with one hand tied behinds it's back.

The deer shot with the .243 were more deader?

Dummy. You should have switched to the mighty .17. Killsem DRT, lung shot 2.

All the deer i lung shot with a 22 were DRT (they just didnt know it yet)

A military dictum is to bring the mass the most force on the objective as soon as possible.

I’m starting to look at it that way with cartridges. There are plenty of cartridges that will do the same as well or about as well in most cases. But why? Why prove a point by using less if you can use more as economically and as well?

And that is the point with the 30-06. Does it kill better than a 7-08 or a 25-06? In most cases probably not. Is it cheaper? Usually, yes. Is it easier to find? Most of the time. Is it harder to shoot? Not if you have a penis and are otherwise healthy. If you can’t take the recoil of a 30-06 in a properly designed rifle, you need a different hobby. Does it require a heavy rifle with a long barrel to get its best work done? No, a light rifle with a 21 or 22 inch barrel with wring most of the performance out of it while not beating you up.

The are pluses and minuses to every cartridge out there. And to be honest, the .308 combines most of the positives of the 30-06 with a few of its own. Others perform just as well, but maybe lose out on a few of the other factors. The .270 is great and has most of the positives, but I’m not homosexual, so I couldn’t include it in my favorite list. For those who swing that way or maybe are just a little curious, it is a great option. And of course, if the 6.5 Jesusmoore keeps it up, it may become the new standard for soy latte drinking hunters of the future.

But as the saying goes, “Not many problems that can’t be fixed, by $700 and a 30-06.” Of course, we should probably bump that up to about $2,500 nowadays.

I wish I had an actual count number of deer I killed with my grandad's old .22 Magnum as a youth, on our family ranch...

I do have a count on how many I lost after shooting them with that rifle... Zero.

All a matter of where you hit em.

You gonna start your kids out on a 30-06?

30-06 was/is likely more popular because of availability. I thought I'd read where Chuck Yeager used to drop ammo boxes to his buddies in WV. I'd guess WW1 and WW2 had more to do with it than deer hunting. And I know from a WW2 Vet that O,Connor and Outdoor Life sold him and his buddies on the 270. I'm certain he's not the only one.

Maybe he can convince them of that...

Or maybe not.

Fact is, I did start my youngest son out on one of my 30-06s. He was ten years old and had no problem with the recoil. Everybody is different. He now hunts with a 7 Mag.

T.S.

Sissy bar...

Does the kid have a penis? That seems to be a deciding factor from what I'm reading.

You gonna ride a Huffy until you’re 40?

If he's got an extra small one, he has been mandated to shoot a belted magnum of some sort...

I'll take that as a no.

My boy started with a 7mm 08 with reduced loads. He was shooting a 30-06 by the time he was16 with full power loads. I feel if they start out with light loads they handle recoil better. I think wearing ear muffs when you are hunting stops a lot of flinching also. I think knowing you are going to hear a loud noise causes a lot of apprehension before the shot.

My first centerfire deer rifle at 12 was the much feared 700 ADL with a wood stock in .270. I thought a black and blue shoulder was just part of the game. Before that, from about 8 years old, I deer hunted with a 12 gauge.

Times were different. We didn’t have kid’s rifles unless they were .22s and when you were old enough to get a deer rifle, you got one that you could and would use the rest of your life.

I take that as you don’t get the point. Are you going to wear your jumpers until you are an adult? What does anything a kid does have to do with the best choices for adults?

So...

a 30-06 doesn't recoil.

But a .270 leaves you black and blue?


Got it.

Unfortunately my penis size correlates closer to the 308....
Interesting the way these threads gravitate this way...

Just because you started out with an heavy recoiling, ill fitting weapon to hunt with is no excuse to punish your offspring. The 30-06 is one of the more popular rounds because it was just about the only modern high velocity round we had here in the states thanks to the Germans coming out with the 8MM Mauser. The early hunting rifles were customized 30-06 rifles restocked for civilian use. Teddy R. used one to hunt Africa. We've come a long way since then and today sportsmen have many great choices in calibers and actions for hunting. If you think it takes a 300 Maggie to kill a thin skinned deer weighing less than 300 pounds or thereabouts have at it. It's a free world. I just hate to see people put down stuff they don't use.

Then you've never used a 257 Weatherby and 100gr bullets on them. I've used both extensively as well as calibers up to the 375 H&H and nothing kills them like the 257.

Your use of the word "jumpers" explains a lot.

Thanks.

It goes without saying that higher velocity magnum calibers will kill more effectively. But, usually with more recoil and always with more cost.

I found your pics on the internet.

Having that picture on file answers any remaining questions.

Thanks.

Again.

If you would stop sending them to me with all your little PMs, I wouldn’t have them.

I read all your posts and assumed you like dick.

Sorry.

Look, I’m.not here to judge. But like I said, I don’t shoot a .270. You should probably stick to your daily posts on Grindr.

What's Grindr?

Don’t be coy. It’s okay, we’re not here to judge.

only if they have a penis.

OK, I'll agree with that. I hunt deer with a .30-06 and it is usually a bit of overkill.

That’s kind of my point. It’s overkill because it seems to work damned near instantaneously nearly every single time. But it isn’t overkill in the sense that it has punishing recoil or shells cost $92 a box. If you’re not a rifle looney just looking for something different, it really can’t be beaten.

The recoil of a 257 Weatherby is significantly less than that of an 06. Cost, you got me there, unless you reload,

I have a couple of 257 Weatherby rifles. I don’t think they kill any faster than a 30-06, but they will fuuuk up a lot more meat.

In my experience nothing kills like it. Close to fifty and not ONE has taken a step. Ever. Impressive

yes the 30-06 is a heck of a cartridge , but ! I have shot some very nice whitetail bucks and mule deer bucks too > with a 257 Weatherby Mag ,with my 100 gr. bullet either Nosler Partition or A -Frame in my hand loads, the 257 W.Mag. kill`s those bucks real fast, and I have used a lot of different cartridges including a 22 mag up to 375 h&h and that 257 Weatherby Mag. for me is now and always will be my go to rifle for deer. As a dear old friend always said : SPEED KILLS good luck,Pete53

I'm thinking it's a bunch of dudes wanting to show me their 30-06.

Hence the qualifier “usually”.

In my experience this is the voice of inexperience.

With your experience and $20, you can buy a box of 30-06 shells. But not, of course, on your usual website hangout of Grindr.

Don't get your jumpers all knotted up.

It's not my fault you haven't hunted much.

Now we know if we're buying a 30-06 all we need is a Single Shot.

Is this an add for Ruger #1's? Someone's got a 2-3" dog they're about to drop into the thread.

......and this thread jumps the shark

308 with 110ttsx is a great deer round, MV around 3300fps....

I am a big fan of the .366-06 with a higher shoulder... also known as 9,3x62 Mauser.

Lots of rounds work similar, with the exception that if you shoot enough animals in non CNS shots, they won't all fall over right there. Nothing wrong with the 06 though. Though no recoil is not what I'd call the round. Easily managed for most is what I'd call it.

my handloads with either a Nosler partition or a swift A-Frame bullet in my 257 W.Mag doesn`t ruin any more meat than a 30-06 ,but my 257 W.Mag does kill much faster and easier out to 500-600 yds. when and if you don`t know the distance for a quick shot.

My 30 06 is a Mauser and it kicks like hell. I am 6-3 and 225 and I can't take more than 10 shots at the range. I like that rifle but I don't like the recoil.
If you say the 30 06 doesn't kick, you are a real bad ass.

270 in that rifle also was a shoulder wrecker. GW

Try to tell that to enemy soldiers that faced it during several wars. GW

I have a 700 and a Sako L-61. The Sako isn’t bad at all, but you better be ready when you light off the 700.

there are a lot of variables here , some people don't have the luxury of hunting were the deer population is so high that they can always wait for the 100% DRT shot which would be in the cns area which requires range and rest to be adequate for the shooters ability .
I have seen heart and lungs demolished by various cartridges , I mean to jello , and deer still run a 100 yds with a broken shoulder and never give a clue of an out of order limb when running off .
But all that taken into account The 30-06 is my go to caliber , just strikes my fancy . Although last year I did use the 45/70 on three and it is likely it will get the first week or two out this year . Certainly not a better round , just something about an old cartridge that still gets it done .
Yep been through the others and wouldn't take a thing away from them from a 243 up .
Kenneth

100 ttsx and no meat damage to speak of...

Though they run sometimes, usually not far though, but now and then they'll make 100-150 yards. Obviously you can guess that I and friends that have used the 257wtby, do not shoot shoulders, only ribs and lungs, but all in all its an ok round for sure.

LOL.....that's just exactly what I thought Mr. Mom looked like.

Thanks a million

Depends on the bullet, hanco.

Ive seen a few deer shot with some kinds of bullets from 30-06s where some didnt have ribs on the off side or maybe the off side shoulder was gone. It kinda turned me off to the 06 as a kid.

They rarely say anything funny.

This^^^.

150gr CoreLokts have shown me a fair amount of black gel in a deer's hide. They can be plumb nasty sometimes in the 30-06.

And I am short mofo and also dislike recoil. Hmm, go figure.

Oh - almost forgot, now is when I am supposed to insult you and say something-something-penis.

So Germans fell in love with the 30-06 and we became enamored with the 8X57?

I love saving these.

Lil' James is too stupid/southern to figure out why.

Curious minds want to know, bullet used - SP, FMJ, or JHP, and placement? Assuming under 100 yds.

All with those Win 40grJHP's. Nothing much past 100 yards. Most in the neck. Couple behind the shoulders.

And the most underrated.


The worst thing about the 30-06,


is hearing idiots say..........my'06........

I imagine in a period of time where a 30-30 was considered THE high powered rifle of the times, the popularity of the 30-06 after it was adopted by the military and made readily avl. to civilians soared and stayed there for decades.

When compared to a 30-30 levergun, it was indeed a new era.

Recoil depends on the gun and recoil pad.

I would let my 15 year old daughter use a 30-06 if I had one light enough for her.
5'6" 115#, she can't really handle a heavy rifle.

When she started to shoot center fires, she was afraid of the 45 Colt and 45acp.
I told her it wouldn't hurt as bad as catching a line drive in the palm of the glove, or
making bad contact with the bat. That did it. Now, she ranks the recoil as insignificant.

We avoid anything nasty.

Heck, I haven't felt the need to shoot the 300 Win. in several years.

Ha. Yep, ive killed more than a few with my Win 9422M. All drt neck shot. None tween the eyes with a light.
Took a couple with 22 lr and shorts.

I taught my gsp to trail up deer, bobcats, coyotes by shooting does with the 223 broadside behind the shoulder. Since i didnt shoot a bit high and spine them, they ran a good way leaving a minimal blood trail she could follow with her nose better than i could see to follow.

I hate that sinking feeling i always get while trying to follow a lung shot deer near dark in brush country when it was hit with a small cal bullet that blows up inside and doesnt leave a nice exit hole with a good blood trail.

I know that as a high school kid the 243 had a bad rep as a deer loser for that reason. Thankfully that problem has been mitigated to some extent by better bullet construction now days. Many people wont follow up a shot at a deer if it doesnt leave obvious sign of a severe injury.

I found a few others reported shooting and felt they had missed by taking a straight course in the direction the deer travelled for 75 yards. 75 yards can be a long way near dark in brush full of cactus, huisache, mesquites and rattlers, especially for city folks unsure of their sight in and shooting ability.

I think a lot of people like the big bores as they often give more evidence of a solid hit and often the deer falls without getting out of sight.

I can certainly see why many state game agencies restrict the small calibers.

I'll take that any day over the "cool cats" talking about their 257 Bob, or their 270 Roy, or 'Bee "rig" with the Leupy scope.................... I just never understood how Roberts, Weatherby, or Leupold was so hard/inconvenient to spell out...................

I like the 30-06....haven't owned one since they started making good bullets, but I like them. If I ever go to Africa, it's probably what I will shoot.

Recoil tolerance is a relative thing. I have found that becoming accustomed to truly heavy-recoiling rifles can make you a better shooter. I have many rifles that far exceed the 30-06 in recoil. Once I became accustomed to the heavy rifles, the 30-06 seemed like a rimfire.


In my opinion, the 30-06 is a good choice for anyone that wants one rifle for hunting in North America.

T.S.

It doesn't hurt! And even though I have killed a lot of deer with the 270, the 25/06 has a higher % of the bang flop on WT's than anything I've killed them with. But...I'm always looking for something better...lol.

Thanks for this^^^^

Your a short fart who cant handle recoil. BFD. The o6 is still the ultimate "Death Ray" on deers.

Coors Silver Bullet.

This again depends on the bullet, Hanco. Interlocks, partitions or ttsxs stay together.

deleted.

fixt

Any 12 gauge with duck loads is way more unpleasant than any 30-06. I don’t own any real heavy kickers but my 1973 made steel butt Marlin 1895 will get your attention with heavy loads. And I have a eight pound 9.3x62 that can be a bit jumpy. I don’t even notice a 30-06.

It was inevitable....what with all the talk of Huffy's/jumpers/.270's

I kinda like my 35/06!

Rong. My Model 12 12 has a red Win pad.
My sons Rem model 700 -06 with a hard black plastic pad really kicks pretty bad. In fact, i had rather shoot my 300 or 270 Wby mags.

I'll be totin my .30-06 on the deer opener here this Saturday. I personally haven't found it to be more effective than any number of other rifles I own, including my trusted old .30-30 and .243, but it's the only stainless/synthetic rifle I've got and it's supposed to be a mix of rain/sleet/ snow.

A death ray, hardly.. Bullet placement is most important given a decent caliber.. Yesterday I shot a very large whitetail buck.. One shot .25-06 100 gr. Sierra at 3400 fps.. He had his head down feeding.. The bullet entered the chest and ranged back.. He dropped on the spot and as far as I could tell never moved.. About 200 yards.. This eve I shot a small doe same rifle and load about 250.. Broadside, the 100 hit just behind the shoulder and exited on the off side.. She ran at least 100 yards... I have shot lots of deer with a .30-06..If you take out the spine, bang flop as the folks say, but shot though the lungs or heart, they will run aways..

Nope.

You sir are full of [bleep]!!
I have shot the 06 longer than you have been alive.

My sons 06 kick is much more than my m12 12 kick with BBs for geese or sandhills.

I dont need an 06 for deer. I dont need a death ray. I am the dr death as far as deer are concerned.

Without the 300 wby i would sign up for the 06 in grizzly country.

I see you mention the heart shot, whycoyotehunter.

Yes, with a heart shot, and I have made about a dozen of 'em, just a low lung shot, the damn deer always ran at least 80 yards, some farther.
How the hell he can run with his heart blown in to hamburger is a mystery to me. Humans can't do that. Amazing.

Then you must not be shooting it right.

I have shot more rounds than your ever held.. I also held a high score for my college for more than 35 years.. An 06 is good but not magic.. My grandfather shot one of mine since the 1920's.. not all deer dropped on the spot .. Either you are full of it, or not shot many deer!!

I already told you how many I’ve shot with it. You should read. Like I said, you’re not doing right.

25 grain Hornady HP is my preferred bullet in all my .17s. Certainly not making a case for the .17 on deer, just adding to the importance of bullet placement, rather than caliber necessary to kill one. Ive killed them with my .17 mach4, .17 rem, and even took a decent buck with my little T/C Contender chambered in .17 ackley hornet, which by the way was my furthest shot with a .17 on a buck, just the other side of 300 yards. All the rest were in the 60-80 yard range.
Killing, without them taking a step is an odd benchmark to my mind, dead is dead, whether they DRT or sprint a bit, what [bleep] difference does it make. I get the feeling the guys who puff their chest up with the admonition that the last 50 deer they shot never took a step, really believe they are superior to the rest of us mere mortals who methodically just wander out and kill deer without concern with how big our cartridge is, but rather where it is, we hit them with the caliber rifle we choose to use. I suspect some make that flawed presumption of taking themselves more serious, than their subject?

I see you hunt in Arizona. If I hunted there, I wouldn’t worry about them running a bit. Where I live and hunt, fifty yards without a blood trail, and a deer is as good as lost half the time. And a deer on a full sprint can cover a lot of ground before the first drop hits the ground. There is a lot of value to dropping them in their tracks.

I don't see how anybody can argue with the OP that the 30-06 is way more than enough gun for a deer.

Pics please.

I posted a pic of a deer I shot Sunday on the deer hunting forum. If I remember it this weekend, I’ll take a pic of the four year old pine plantation thicket twenty yards from his nose when he fell.

Funny .....my feelings exactly...shot a really nice buck today...went over to check cows and told the wife I better take a rifle with me as the rut is full on....we just got there and here comes big ole buck hot on a doe....didn't pay us much attention....he did stop at 125 yards or so...I had grabbed my old husky chambered in 30-06 scoped with a Lyman all american 2.5 post....load was 200 gr AB..not for long range but rather just I loaded heavy bullets for this just for brush load....the heart was laying in the cavity compleatly severed buew the top off....he went actually farther than most ...about 10 yes..

Great minds think alike. My favorite rifle is a Husky 30-06 with a Weaver 4.75x fixed power. Easy peasy.

Kudos to the OP for one of the more masterful jobs of non political or religious trolling ever! Paddler who?

When I first started deer hunting back in the mid-60's the 243 was starting to gain popularity. A lot of guys bought one to shoot groundhogs with, then used it on deer. I have known of more deer wounded and lost with the 243 than any other cartridge......but in all fairness, it was bad bullet placement or bad bullet choice that was the culprit. Back in those days, there was two factory loadings available in the 243......100 grain SP, and 80 grain SP's, with the 80 grain bullets being varmint loads, and it was those varmint loads that many hunters used on deer. The guys that shot the 100 grain bullets did alright, and the 243 proved to be a very good deer killer with the right bullets.

The same can be said about the 223. There are too many choices in bullets for the 223 to list here, but if someone uses the right bullet, they get good results, and if they use the wrong one, they end up with a wounded deer that might not be recovered. I've seen hunters buy the FMJ and the 50 grain VMaxs for deer hunting, out of simply not knowing that there is a huge difference in bullets.

22LR, 223, 243, 270, 30-30, 30-06, or 300 Mag........put the right bullet in the right place, and you'll end up with a dead deer. Put the wrong bullet in the wrong place, and you're going to have a wounded deer., and as the bullet and caliber get smaller, the chances increase that you'll most likely lose that deer.

Bullschit.

Per always.

5000 views, 200 replys at this point,

proof that the '06 is King of the Hill. You have one, or you're jealous of one.

My .243 kills very dead,

My deer often run unless I take out shoulders or CNS.

Close the thread.

Nah, that would be that Creedmooor or howeverthefuk you spell it..

This thread may never go away.

If I understand correctly the terrain in which you hunt, your best bet for finding a deer that ran is to simply walk down to the bottom of the hill to the deepest part of the holler. That's where your deer will be.

It’s pretty hilarious. In my OP I admit that there are lots of cartridges that do just as well. Still, people want to call me stupid and say that ... well, there are lots of cartridges that do just as well. I specifically state that I’m talking about the 150 grain bullet. People want to tell me I’m stupid because some of their deer ran when they shot them with 180s. Then I stated how much I liked the fact that you could pick up an box of 150s and just go. Some want to tell me how stupid I am because if you reload, lots of cartridges are just as cheap and easy. Some want to talk about how it is overrated because you don’t need that much cartridge for deer while telling me that a deer running a bit before dying is fine as that dead is dead. Some want say that it NEVER goes bang flop.

Well, I’m sure if we had hollers, that would be the case...inconsiderate bastards.

The people that use the adverbs Never or Always... are either ignorant, or liars, or haven't killed much.

In honor of this thread, I have decided to use my .22 Creedmoor to catch a deer this year.

This seems to sum up the thinking of most users of .30-06. We all know that most calibers/cartridges will work, but few are any better for medium to big game except in special situations ( say 500 yards ). The load research and field testing has all been done. Good reasonably priced ammo in a huge variety is available for those who don't load their own, and most hunters don't. I keep a .223 Vanguard with me at all times for predator and hog control at the farm, but if I'm really deer hunting and don't want to hunt after the deer is shot I use .30-06. As the OP stated, "confidence.......cannot be overstated".

My 2-5-7 is so effective that I just open the gunsafe and look at it and the biggest buck within four miles just falls over dead. One day I was out in the woods and had to piss though and when I shook it off all the deers on the section just turned themselves in to the local locker under my name. I don't even open the safe no more, just go out on the back deck and shake my cock and the freezer is full for the year.

We saw the same just across the Sabine from JPro- those small East Texas deer are pretty dainty. My dad called the 30-30 the "Big gun" and said the 30-06 was for "killing Japs" (he would know) and tore up "too dam_d much meat". When I started using the then new Federal loads with the Sierra 165 SBT, the '06 was much kinder. I had a friend who used the 220gr Corlokt in his Mod 742, and it was about perfect...but they did run a bit.

Ha! I've been guilty of using both "Bob & Bee", but never leupy...so sorry! One I that makes me cringe is calling a Remington "Remy"...I think of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine wanted her boyfriend to change his name from Joe Rifkin ( the strangler) and she mentioned "Remy". He said he should just wear a Beret and get it over with, ha. Ah...to each his own, we all torque somebody up....:)

Only the deer in that section? Sounds a bit smallish...

What applies for the lizards you hunt, does not necessarily apply to deer.

Agreed. They usually run some distance. Sometimes a short distance sometimes a little further. I have shot some through the chest that fell right there but that sure ain't the norm. I use 150 grain SGK's in MY .06 and have for about 40 years. None of my rifles are always DRT guns so as the OP said I must be doing something wrong. However, I have been doing it wrong all these years so I guess there is no need to change now.

Nah, killed em with 30 cals, 7 mag and others. Only thing I ever swore off was the 3.5"magnum 12 gauges.

I just don't need the recoil. Oh, ..and something something penis!

I don't care who uses what. Use what you like and go have fun.
My 260 seems to kill quicker than anything bigger or smaller- so I use it.
I would remind whoever said to ask Germans and Japs about the '06 that you could ask marines about the 6.5.

Good info Rockinbar - speaks to shot placement.

I've fired literally hundreds of thousands of rounds of both '06 and 308 Winchester over the last 68 years for target competition and hunting and day in and day out I'll have to take the 308 Winchester because when hand loaded to it's potential I consider it to be the ultimate in accuracy and with the right bullet it is a brutal killer on game!

A .308 bullet at 2800 or 2900 FPS is a .308 bullet at 2800 or 2900 FPS.

I shot my favorite 30-30 2 times yesterday to make sure it was ready. Whitetail and mule deer usually fall right over.

Same here the old Roberts is deadly!

Then you are as retarded as you're making yourself to be.

How would you know?

I like the 30-06, mostly because I have shot a great deal of game with it including Whitetails. With full power loads at the usual ranges of under 150 yards and 150 grain C&C bullets like the Speer Hotcor yes damage can be pretty severe! That said you get a big exit and a splashy blood trail, short if the hit was anywhere near good. I typically load my 30-06 with 180 grain bullets, Hornady Spire points and get all of the above and less dramatic damage. I am of the group that really doesn't think a properly stocked 30-06 with a good recoil pad kicks all that bad. I have no problem sitting down at the bench and shooting 40 or so rounds and making good groups til I'm finished.

Anyone with a camper top on a pickup has no room to talk about being retarded.

My .366-06 gives me great results

But you know that the case isn’t actually based on a 30-06 even though it is very similar right?

That would explain why it doesn't suck.

Well, really it is just an illustration that when the Germans were trying to figure out the perfect case size for the 9.3x62, they came up with something so similar to the 30-06 that some people think that it is based on it. Perfection always finds its way to the top.

That would imply the 06 dimensions are perfect for 286gr bullets.

It’s perfect for all things at all times.

Try a 35 Whelen sometime

I think you should stick to lawyer'ing. Guns aren't your thing.

If you continue on this path of incorrectness however, I recommend you try the 125gr Nosler BT's at some point. They're pretty wicked on lung shots.

Why would I do that when I already possess Teutonic metric perfection?

I like camper tops on my traveling pickup truck. Keeps the German Shorthairs dry and allows a bunch of dry storage for hunting gear. I can even chunk a deer in there too.

friend at work has been trying to sell me a Whale for about a year now. I might have to just take him up on it.

Don't fight it, just buy it
It will leave a blood trail that Helen Keller could follow.
Normally they just drop. Bang Flop!

250-3000 is where it's at.

As far as bang flops go, the 257 wby has performed well for me.

Yes sir...and mighty accurate....OUT OF A SHORT ACTION!!

This^^^. As time goes by i am enjoying my pre 64 mod 70 fwt 243 death ray more and more, kenjs.

I have a white tail death ray. A 300 Weatherby. When I shoot the deer drop straight to the ground and usually don't even twitch.

Yep. And I’ve never understood guys that shoot anything other than the 120 gr NP and 7828 powder.

They shoot well in all the 257 Roy rifles I’ve tried them in and they just kill stuff dead.

If you can only have one rifle, a 7 Rem Mag outshines a 30 06 in every area.

If you can have more than one, an 06 don’t fit there either.

Above it, below it, or sideways from it, there’s something that beats an 06.

Missing some history I think...

.30-06 was invented based on the Mauser... The U.S. had to pay infringement royalties on the action and clips, but they ducked royalties on the actual round.

"the inspiration for developing the U.S. .30 round that evolved into the .30-06 was the 7x57 round. Ordnance was well aware of the 7x57 round from Cuba and used its overall dimensions as a guide for the 30-03 although in the quest for flatter trajectory with the 220gr bullet the case was lengthened to 63mm. The base is the same between the 7.x57 and the .30-03/.30-06 and the general outline of the .30 case follows the concept of the 7.x57 which at the time also used a RN bullet like the .30-03. If the U.S. hadn't encountered the 7x57 there most likely would not have been a drive to replace the .30 Army (Krag) round until WW1 demonstrated the superiority of the rimless high velocity round in a modern clip loading magazine rifle. Even the clip that the U.S. copied for the 1903 rifle is taken from the 7x57 clip and not the 8x57 clip."

"The 9.3×62mm was developed around 1905 by Berlin gunmaker Otto Bock, who designed it to fit into the Mauser 98 bolt-action rifle."

.30-06 came out a year later in 1906... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-06_Springfield

Read some very interesting stuff on all of this a few years back... can't find it now... must be the bourbon.

Nope, I’m not missing anything. The 30-06 was inspired by the 7x57 not based upon it. And in any case, the 8x57 preceded the 7x57 and the dimensions of the 7x57 was simply an 8x57 necked down. The 1903 was a copy of the 1894 Mauser.

The stripper clip had first appeared when Mauser developed new rifles in 7.65x53 for the Belgians. This same design was adopted by the Argentines and others. Susbsequent improvements ofthe Mauser design were developed and marketed to/for other countries with Spain adopting the 1893 Mauser in a 7mm caliber that was simply the German caliber necked down and using the same stripper clip design as developed for the Belgians. Then in 1898 the Germans adopted the more or less final form of the Mauser and it once again incorporated the stripper clip. Heretofore, even though Mauser was a German company, the Germans had used a Mannlicher style clip in the 1888 commission rifle. Since the case head dimensions on all of those rifles was the same, I’m not aware of any differences in stripper clip design between the 8 and 7x57. But, the 1903 stripper clip is wider than those used in Mauser rifles.

The 9.3x62 was a private development to give German farmers in Africa something with which they could kill lions with that could be made in the standard Mauser action length. The joke I was making was that the perfect case length just so happened to be close to the 30-06 indicating indedoendant arrival at perfection.

Did you know that if you use a 7X57 instead of a 30-06, your chances of success decrease?

This is especially true for all the retards that live in TN.

Agreed.

If you simply must buy one, be sure it's on an appropriate platform:

That’s funny, my two 7x57s disagree.

Don't tell the retard in TN.

He'll start complaining about black people.

Which retard, please?

Cracks me up to see people proclaiming one single cartridge / caliber to be the ultimate death ray...

Put a pointed stick, a spear, or a bullet into the heart lung area on any buck or bull and the thing is going down fast.

There is no camper on my pickup.

"Upper Decker Deflave"

When I saw death ray I was thinking it a Q-beam or maglite thread,,, carry on,

"I specifically state that I’m talking about the 150 grain bullet. People want to tell me I’m stupid because some of their deer ran when they shot them with 180s. "

I was the one talking about 110 yards of blood tracking, on average, when shooting 180 grain. But you misunderstood my point.
I wasn't calling you stupid. I was calling myself dumb for using the wrong bullet.

But my point was it wasn't my fault for being dumb, as I lived in a small town in Georgia, there was no internet so I couldn't get good advice from guys like you on 24 hr campfire, and since 180 grain bullets were the only ones availible that is what I used. I didn't know any better.
Like I said I did try drilling out a box of ammo with a 1/8 inch drill, made home made hollow points. I wanted the bullet to expand and blow that deer's chest up!
But that didn't work either.

So as a very experienced deer hunter, my advice is, never hunt whitetail with the 180 grain Core Lokt in the 30 06. Try the 150 grain.

My favorite is the 150 Interlock. But back during the shortages I ran out and you couldn’t buy them. So I loaded up a bunch of 180 Interlocks. Dead deer, but no flops and short tracking jobs every single time. I take that back, I did have one flop but I spined him.

Roy clark is dedd

Still? Was it a 150 or a 180?

180 Corelockt

Available at walmarts

I havent been in there in over 25 yrs

Sales on anything excluded.

Im not particularly fond of watching hunting shows, but Ive viewed enough to see, that the "pros" that all seem to do their deer waiting sitting in a blind box, placed some distance from a corn pile, all tote nice firearms and still at their shot, the buck bounds off into the mesquite thicket, to be located after the shooter shakes and shivers, and still whispers after the killing shot. My question being, they must not read the pages of this board, they obviously have chosen the wrong caliber rifle and bullet to shoot their deer with. With all the bang floppers in this thread, you'd think they would sit up and take notice?

How many smokeless cartridges have been around longer than 1894?

Lol..."bang floppers". I'm stealing that. We do have a LOT of those don't we?

Savvy that!

My experience is strictly anecdotal, but I’ve killed quite a few head of game with various cartridges and nothing kills quicker than a 257 Weatherby stoked with 115 Gr Nosler Ballistics Tips. Pretty amazing cartridge.

Not in every area, the 200 and 220 grain partitions can't be matched with a .284 bore and then there is the extra bore diameter.

I picked up this thread at the top of the last page. I’m not ashamed to say my youngest sons first deer ever this season was a bang drop. Not even a flop just a leg twitch. Puny 243 shooting Winchester 100gr power point.

You don't need to put it into the heart-lung area if you have a Weatherby Magnum!

Ceerrraap. Hit it with a 74 ford T bird at 90 mph on a Sunday night on a trip from Buchannan to Odessa while crossing a dry creek bridge will beat that, hands down.

Venison came out the tail pipe.

Hwy patrol asked from the smell how i got it cooked before he got there.

Hit them just right and they just vaporize.

I have a death Ray in the stand with me right now.

Flave, what make of Garand is that?