Here are some responce choices or comment with yer own.

Question:
Is the .30-06 more gun than you mostly need?

Choices:
Yes, Ive found I can do most of my NA hunting very effectively with a smaller cartridge in a same or lighter weight, more pleasant and accurate to shoot rifle., wish I changed earlier, but did not mind the 30-06 experience.
Yes, but the extra recoil does not bother me too much to have any great ill effect.
No, I feel that I should have that power level and tolerate the recoil for elk situations even at more moderate range(150yd)
No, I cannot get enough power and recoil and the 30-06 just barely begins to fill the bill.
. 30-06 recoil,power and cartridge vesatility are not my primary concern, I just simply could not find myself without such a classic round.
It truelly bores me to tears, but they are easy to sell, has wide factory ammo choice, and ive really only got one cause im used to doing mostly what everyone else does.
Im ready to swap if for a good set of golf clubs any day.
I would not dream of anything else.

 

Ive added a couple responce choices an hour after posting the poll, so a small number of you may need to vote again.

For a handloader, you can do a lot of things with it..

Seafire Jr had to have one this year for hunting, even tho he is only 14...

so I downloaded it with a 125 grain bullet and an MV of 2400 fps...

it will more than do the deer hunting job asked of it..

I use smaller calibers myself..but the 06 is still a very capable round...not always needed.. but sure is more practical than any magnum in my book..

I was going to add something "insightful" but we all already know about the 30-06.

My initial vote would have been for option one as it is true, however, incomplete. Take that response and add the one that #2 and #5.

The 30,06 comes in so many forms, as Seafire stated, I mean two much power ?
than load down with a lighter bullet.
Not really a good varmint round, But get your self the right bullet and it a very good round for anything from lopes to moose.
And although I would not buy it for brwonies or grizlies, If you had to stop a bear, I bet a 220 grain round nose at to velocities would do quite well.
Its still te best rould for the one rifle hunter, in my book.
I think I may well take my old JC higgins custom out this year...tj3006

For Elk I would use a 300 win mag.

quote:

Is the .30-06 more Gun than you mostly Need?

80% of my hunting is adequately handled by the 6.5 X 55 and 15% is adequately handled by the .30-06 and the rest is handled by the .375 H&H.

There will always be a .30-06 in the closet but the gun used the most is by far the smaller cartridge.

It's a very versatile round and can pretty much take care of anything I would ever hunt in NA. That obviously doesn't keep me from having rifles with more power and less power .

Ken....

If mine weren't specialized rifles, a Browning Highwall and customized Mauser I stocked myself from a blank, I wouldn't have a 30-06. For the majority of what I hunt, it simply isn't necessary.

THEN there are the Poor! When I was a poor student I got my first centerfire rifle for under $40.00. It was a Mauser 98 in .30/'06. Back then I could buy all the surplus ammo I wanted at about $0.05 a round. Regular and AP. With classier new rifles going for over $100.00 and ammo at $5.00 per box of 20sounded like a great deal to me. No regrets. Still have it somewhere. Little big for varmints. Maybe a bit small for big bears but how many of those are left and, for that matter, "huntable?" This round and the Springfield "weaned" the WW I generation off the lever actions of the old west. Uncle Sam left fired brass laying around to be picked up free. Screw in a .270 barrel and run your brass thru a full length sizer and you had the hottest hot rod of the day. With this kind of government support it is almost a wonder that there are any other calibers. Of course, the DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship) is moribund now. So it becomes an "able" classic that can be bettered for most uses but little rivalled for "all around." Enjoy.

i have never been a big .30-06 fan.

probably because where i live we dont have any animals between fox and moose.

I guess I am in the bored to tears group. I have never hunted with one but own two. Go figure. There always seems to be something else in my rack better suited to the task. However, I recognize the utility in one and am contemplating buying one of the Kimber Classics in 30-06. I have a nice Swarovski 3x-9x that I think would top it off nicely. Should I?

More gun than I mostly need?

Good question. Let me spend a little time dissecting my answer, as it will not be a very clear-cut answer.

The bulk of my hunting is deer and black bear. Occasionally moose and elk, and rarely caribou. That being said, under regular circumstances, a .30-06 is an excellent choice.

However, one rarely finds themselves in regular circumstances when they are at the mercy of Mother Nature and her animal kingdom.

I hate to be hunting black bear with anything less than a .30-06 and 180 grain bullets - I need the peace of mind and comfort that nice, hefty bullets equate to when afield. Personal preference, really.

There have been a few times while hunting elk or moose that I've passed up on imperfect shots while carrying a .30-06. Not that it can't do the job, but doing it at 250 yards while the animal is quartering away really is more .300 magnum territory. Just the peace of mind/comfort of being able to hit vitals no matter what the angle/range. Had a bad experience once where the .30-06 didn't quite cut the mustard. Have since carried .300 magnums for such work.

I normally carry a long barreled 7mm RM for hunting deer from a tree stand as it handily outshoots my '06 any day with favorable ballistics. I'm confident in 300 yard shots with it. Not so my .30-06.

My carry rifle could be a .30-06, but I prefer my 6.5mm since shots come closer and may happen in the blink of an eye so low recoil = fast follow up = one extra chance, so in that instance, the .30-06 is more than I need.

My caribou were both taken with a .270 I owned a while ago - another instance where the .30-06 was a little more than required in terms of energy/bullet weight.

Ultimately, about half of my hunting is handled by my 6.5mm - whitetail deer at short to medium range, stalking. So "yes", but at the same time, "no", since in other circumstances I prefer more gun for one reason or another.

Well I find it to be a great choice for all NA game animals exclucing the big ones that bite back. I prefer to pretty much hunt everyting with my .270 but my .30-06 is my second choice for my go to rifle. I'm comfortable using it well beyond 150 yards on everything including elk, hell if I can easily take down elk at 250 with a .270 the 06 will not have any problems either. I've taken my first elk and bear with a .30-06 and don't have any problems using it on pronghorn and deer.

Jack of all trades master of none.

I don't own one, and I don't see owning one in the future.

I am in the 270 camp, grew up using one. Have used one for over 25 years.

If I need something bigger than a 270, I'm going bigger than a 30-06.

If I could truly only own one gun for NA.
With factory ammo not a deciding factor, it would be a 338-06. If factory ammo was a deciding factor, it would be 338 WM.

If I could only own one gun for the world.
With factory ammo not a deciding factor, it would be a 9.3x64 Brenneke. With factory ammo thrown into the equation, it would be a 375 H&H.

quote:

Originally posted by SDhunter:
Jack of all trades master of none.

Master of none? What does it take to be a master?

I mean... if the application is strictly big game hunting and the shot is well placed and your animal is down, what's there to master?

I must be missing something....

My first centerfire was a Win 70 Ftw in '06. Dad got it for me via a sales promotion with Underwood typewriter in 1963 when I finished high school. The first time we shot it it really hurt, bad. I added a recoil pad, removing no wood and that tamed it. I then proceded to learn to reload so I could afford to shoot while in college. That plus some friends in National Gurard supplying me with LC National match let met shoot a lot.

I have a few othe 30-06's and will keep at least that first one until I can no longer shoot plus I have enough prepared military match brass to last me several lifetimes.

I like to shoot, everything from 22 Hornet to 458 Win mag, I'm not going to say recoil does not bother me, but I have learned how to shoot the heavies so that they do not hurt so much, in face a 375 H&H is one of my favorites.

I am neither bored to Tears or moved to give any other vote in the poll.

I have never been a fan of the 30-06 or the 270.

I will recommend either as a first rifle for a beginning hunter, or an only rifle for the occasional hunter.

My question is, does anyone remotely in their right mind think that either the 270 or 30-06 will ever be relegated into obsolecence, with ammunition not being offered for sale or rifles not being chambered in those calibers.

I Think Not.

There never has been, is not now, nor ever will be an animal that is sport hunted that can testify as to what it was killed with and if it was killed any deader/quicker/cleaner by one cartridge/caliber over another.

With proper weight bullets for the game being shot, and proper bullet placement, the 30-06 has proven its self time and time again to be adequate for every living species of animal on this planet. JMO.

Nothing can be said about the 30-06 that some scribe hasn't already penned. Had there been no "Great War" the 30-06 would have been a modern marvel anyway in an era where lever guns and gas lights were fading rapidly.

The whole question is based on that you think the 06 is too powerful and has to much recoil.

I find it slanted against the 06 and more powerful rifles. Iam thinking the person asking belives it is too powerful and hurts to much.

Yes you can get by with lesser calibers and you can make bigger calibers work just as well.

But the 06 is about as perfect a all around cailber as one can get.

I had two '06's, but now own 2 7mmRM's, one that is one hole 3 rd accurate at 100 yds. The other shoots half inch with factory A Frames. The rifle I shoot most is my .375. With my .25-06 thrown in, I can take anything on the planet.

Great cartridge, but it bores me to death. Realistically, 90% of the cartridges out there will perform perfectly on 90% of North American game, 90% of the time. The 30-06 just sits in the middle of the continuum, that's all. Lou

I had one for a long time, but don't own one now. The 30-06 is kind of like the F-250 pickup truck, its heavy duty but not too heavy duty, will work for short hops around town to pick up groceries but is not ideal in this role as it burns a lot of gas and is just not convenient, will work for hauling stuff heavier than it should be hauling but is not ideal for this role either and you should be using an F-350 dually.

I'm a reloader, so I have specialized loads for various game. I would ditto Seafire2's comments. I would add the question: What do you expect to learn or prove from the thread?

I find the 30-06 an excellent cartridge with easily managed recoil. Rifles for it are generally very accurate, it is a reasonably flat shooter and kills fast. The only bad thing about it is that it negates the need for so many other rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy P Coaltrain:
I had one for a long time, but don't own one now. The 30-06 is kind of like the F-250 pickup truck, its heavy duty but not too heavy duty, will work for short hops around town to pick up groceries but is not ideal in this role as it burns a lot of gas and is just not convenient, will work for hauling stuff heavier than it should be hauling but is not ideal for this role either and you should be using an F-350 dually.

There is the answer to the "jack of all trades..." question. It'll do, but there is probably something else that'll do it better (better being a relative and speculative term)

Personally dont, and wont, own one. I like special tools for special jobs, and for me hunting is about as special as it gets.

I've owned a 30-06 from time to time, but never held onto one. We talk about "all-around," but all that means is that if you own more than one rifle, the '06 becomes redundant and unecessary.

I've owned a couple and they seem to get sold pretty quick. If I felt like I "needed" a 30-06 for some hunting job, I probably really need something bigger and or faster and would grab a 338 or a 300WM.

The 260Rem and .308Win work for all of my regular deer hunting

I didn't vote because none of the options suited me..

I have a number of guns and am not particularly recoil sensitive until you get beyond the .458 Lott.

If I had to choose one rifle and caliber to hunt the whole North American continent, it would be the 30-06 with 200 gr. Nosler partition bullets at 2700 FPS, and a couple of boxes of 220 gr. solids..but since I don't have to do that I like to use a number of other calibers from time to time..

I do believe that good blood trails start at 30 caliber...and thats important to me as only on the internet do folks get instant kills every shot.

From Atkinson

quote:

as only on the internet do folks get instant kills every shot.

An astute observation!

i used a 270 win for 25 or so years, for most everything in alaska on down to florida. a few years ago i switched to a 30-06, shooting an accurate load of 180gr partitions. while i can understand those who want many different rifles, i want only 1 or 2, and i'll use #1 for everything unless it breaks. today i have just an 06' and a 270 win. i enjoy simplicity!

The 30/06 is not the forte of those shooters that own 6+ center-fire rifles,but is unsurpassed for those that desire or can afford only one rifle for hunting the lower 48 and Canada. With recoil levels the same as a 12ga. that shouldn't be a problem when hunting. It is and will remain for the foreseeable future the most used of all hunting calibers. You can't go to any hunting camp in the USA where somebody is not using one.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:

If I had to choose one rifle and caliber to hunt the whole North American continent, it would be the 30-06 with 200 gr. Nosler partition bullets at 2700 FPS,

Hey Ray!

What is your load if you don't mind, I've use 200 grain Partitions in .30-06 and only figured I was getting between 2400-2500 fps. I don't have a chrony and was only using 52 grains of H4350 1.7 grains south of max. If I could get north of 2500 with good accuracy I'd be very happy.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:



If I had to choose one rifle and caliber to hunt the whole North American continent, it would be the 30-06...

I do believe that good blood trails start at 30 caliber...and thats important to me as only on the internet do folks get instant kills every shot.

I agree with Ray and I would add that I suspect it would be a great caliber for most African plains game as well. I just finished putting together a Blaser with a set of 30/06 and 9.3X62 barrels and I think that combination makes a great rig for the traveling hunter for most of the world. My 06 will be loaded with 165 grain TSX bullets at 2800 fps and my 9.3 will be loaded with 250 grain TSX bullets and banded solids in the same weight at 2450-2500 fps. Perfection!

I've got one, it's killed a few deer, but has not left the cabinet in long, long, long time. I dont know why; I guess I am bored with it.

At the same time, I can't imagine not having one.

I have an 03-A3 I use strictly for DCM shoots. For 30 cal hunting I have 5 different.308Win chambered rifles. Big stuff-.375H&H, little stuff-.222Rem.

Andy

More gun than I mostly need?

Are you kidding? I consider this the minimum gun I'd want to be out hunting with around here....since you never know what you'll run into.

I own a number of rifles, both larger and smaller. The 30-06 is the one I keep coming back to for outstanding versitility. I consider it head and shoulders above the 308 due to heavy bullet capability, for example.

Once again, what you hunt and where you hunt needs to be included for this poll to make much sense.

Cheers,

Dan

Think of it this way:

Suppose Obama is elected (perish the thought!). Suppose he appoints a judge or two. Suppose you can have only one gun.

For my money, it might just be a 30-06.

friar