quote:

we don't stock any new 30-06's because it's a dead cartridge and we can't sell 'em".

Unbelieveable The kid behind the counter obviously dont have a clue and is a bit wet behind the ears.
Its possible in his locale it might be a slow mover but dead it will never be...

Not that I shop for guns there but I've never been to a Walmart that didn't have an .30-06. Locally, several of the chains have ads in the local rags, invariably the .30-06 is one of the caliber choices unless of course the model is only a short action.

Most of my big game hunting has been done with the 3006. It is without a doubt one of the most useful rounds. The only drawback to the round I can see is that it is a military cartridge so it would be a problem in those countries that have that silly prohibition. I will never be without an 06 it has just the right amount of power and wonderful accuracy that makes it a classic. Sadly, most of my younger clients opt for the .300 Win Mag.

Aleko

quote:

it is a military cartridge so it would be a problem in those countries that have that silly prohibition

As far as I know It's not a military cartridge anywhere on the planet. I also believe it's legal in every African Nation.....can someone correct me?

Is the .30-06 dead? Not in Texas, not in my town. Three gun shops, plus two Wal-Marts, and Academy, and they all stock plenty of .30-06 ammo. Are you sure you aren't talking about some kische eating town in Massachusetts?

LLS

There is a lot of justified emotion contained in this thread. If the major American arms manufacturing marketing people are successfull and brain wash our shooting youth the popularity of the 06 in just 25 yrs.could be like that of the 7x57 today.

Not a popular statement I'm sure but most of the guys shaking their fists in the air my be nothing but a memory or at most a very small minority having little sway of what really is the cartridge to have in some lad's next rifle. Hey! already the young bucks are giving me those knowing smiles. In a few years they'll also be patting me on the head. As we go gentlemen the 30-06 could go also.More and more I hear hunters as old as 40 commenting that the 06 is a HO-HUM cartridge.

In this forum we will share and support each others opinion and reverence of the beloved 06, but is that really what's happening accross the gun counters of the world????????????? There are thousands of young people behind those counters making $7.00/hr and they don't know anything about guns or , hunting or fire arms history. Forget nostelgia. These people now and in the future are the industries' front line information network. Does anyone sense that I'm starting to vent? roger

Bartsche

I know where you are coming from.
The youngsters can be shown graphs and red,blue and green lines on a chart showing trajectory and dont have any real experiance with shooting but the ARE sure they have picked a superior round over the 06'.

Chances are that these guys will never be able to shoot enough to do a REAL comparison
of their own.And realize they were just a newbie consumer.
And I will stop right here

bartsche-
I agree with you when you speak of the new generation of salesmen. I also believe they will be reeducated with a little experience and a few trips to the range -especially so for the new shooters. They will soon tire of mediocre accuracy (largely because they can't handle recoil) and eventually they will be humbled by someone with a dime-store rifle chambered in 30-06. It's a privilege reserved for those that spend time at the range to "see the light come on" with people like that.

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
There is a lot of justified emotion contained in this thread. If the major American arms manufacturing marketing people are successfull and brain wash our shooting youth the popularity of the 06 in just 25 yrs.could be like that of the 7x57 today.

Not a popular statement I'm sure but most of the guys shaking their fists in the air my be nothing but a memory or at most a very small minority having little sway of what really is the cartridge to have in some lad's next rifle. Hey! already the young bucks are giving me those knowing smiles. In a few years they'll also be patting me on the head. As we go gentlemen the 30-06 could go also.More and more I hear hunters as old as 40 commenting that the 06 is a HO-HUM cartridge.

In this forum we will share and support each others opinion and reverence of the beloved 06, but is that really what's happening accross the gun counters of the world????????????? There are thousands of young people behind those counters making $7.00/hr and they don't know anything about guns or , hunting or fire arms history. Forget nostelgia. These people now and in the future are the industries' front line information network. Does anyone sense that I'm starting to vent? roger

Roger, I too grew up saying that the .30-06 was obsolete.....and I said it wasn't the best for anything...I found every reason in the world to avoid it. The .270 was better for deer....the .25-06 was better for pronghorns, the .338 was a better elk and moose cartridge, the .300 mags were better for caribou. I found no reason for a .30-06....until I saw my PH in RSA use it to totally devastate some large and wounded game.

My .300 mag wasn't a bit better and I (of course) knew that I needed that extra power. I carried a two pound heavier rifle with four inches longer barrel for nothing!!!

When one sits at the bench and sights in his .30-06 and gets a feel for the incredible power it has he gets a wake up call and it's a healthy one. It's in arrears to the .300 magnums by a incredible slim amount.

I have every confidence that the next generation too will see the light.

I don't have to sell the .30-06.....It'll sell itself as it has been doing for the last 100 years!!!

I am not buying into the popular theory that the WSM and SAUMs are outselling the standard cartridges. Do a little homework on Gallery of Guns, who like it are not are a major distributor. Check the inventory, there is a 3 to 1 ratio, on the new and improved to the old standbys.

Remington and Winchester have bet the farm on this so to speak, tied up all their resources on marketing hype. If you want a sad tale look at the current Winchester lineup, damn little in choices left in the catalog lineup. But that isn't the worst of it, once you pick through and actually find something you want to buy, and go looking its vaporware, they aren't available, not in stock, and backorder only. And no distributor has ever seen them. The gun companies need to need to actually start making some of the models, fire the marketing executives ( a whole other piss of subject for me ) who live in the world of color glossy catalogs and websites.

For the salaries they are paying these bozo's they could can the whole department, and put $20.00 back into the quality of the rifles.

Its all smoke and mirrors and frankly I am not buying into it.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

it is a military cartridge so it would be a problem in those countries that have that silly prohibition

As far as I know It's not a military cartridge anywhere on the planet. I also believe it's legal in every African Nation.....can someone correct me?

It may not be a CURRENT military cartridge but it WAS a military cartridge. I may not have this exactly right but I believe military cartridges are banned for hunting use in France as one example. Edmond would know the details better than I.

-Bob F.

quote:

It may not be a CURRENT military cartridge but it WAS a military cartridge. I may not have this exactly right but I believe military cartridges are banned for hunting use in France as one example. Edmond would know the details better than

And we know someone that wants to go to France?????

this website
from Reminton shows what they are chambering for. Look to see what they're actually chambering for.

The ole -06 don't look that dead to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Dago Red:
The 06 is to guns what Audrey Hepburn was to the silver screen. Others will come and go but nothing will ever equal.

My first game (bigger than varmint) was taken with an 06 as well. Now that I have listened to stinkin' Allen so much and am trying to thin my herd to finance "fewer better" the one I just can't part with is that old springfield 06.

Red

Audrey Hepburn?? She is just a waif. The 30-06 is a powerful rifle cartridge. Perhaps Kathryn Hepburn maybe Remington Hepburn but not Audrey.

Folks, I'm going to go against the grain a bit. I believe, because of all of the hype, cartridges like the 30-06 and 270 are not selling as well as they once did. I do not, however, see this as a bad thing. I see it as an opportunity to find some great deals. The gun shop with the young fellow would become one of my frequent stops. I'd be calling them every week to see if anybody traded in some old "junk" 30-06.
The '06 is here to stay and I plan on stocking up while short mag craze is on.

You would think that might be the case but I find in my area that the '06 and 270 still bring premiums in the used market. I should say in the non-collectable used market.

OTOH, you can't hardly give a 7Mag away but it is still a popular round nationally. Go figure.

quote:

OTOH, you can't hardly give a 7Mag away but it is still a popular round nationally.

Same in my neck of the woods, for some reason 7mm Mags are always available. And cheap 30-06's this time of year move like hot cakes, elk season always brings out the unprepared hunters.

I think the 30/06 will be around forever to the end of time. That is my first rifle. Had it for over 40 years. It had a new barrel and still shoots 1.5" group at 200 yds with 150 gr bullets
I mean what more could you ask for. Its a Great Gun.

Ask him for a plasma rifle in 40W range or .300 UCC.

Fat chance! I play with a lot of catridges and enjoy them but rarely have I actually found a need for more than a 30-06 offers. As long as there are shooters there will be a demand for the 30-06 and rifles to shoot it.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by bartsche:
Roger, I too grew up saying that the .30-06 was obsolete.....and I said it wasn't the best for anything...I found every reason in the world to avoid it. The .270 was better for deer....the .25-06 was better for pronghorns, the .338 was a better elk and moose cartridge, the .300 mags were better for caribou. I found no reason for a .30-06....until I saw my PH in RSA use it to totally devastate some large and wounded game.

When I grew up the 06 was king. We had no 338 or 25-06. We had 333 OKH, and 25 Niedner wildcats. I've always thought the 30-06 is a totaly adequate cartridge. We however were not influenced by the type and numbers of magazines that guide our shooting youth today. The old men sitting around the pot-bellied stoves in the back of the sporting goods stores were our mentors. They were mostly sold on the 06 because they could get cheep 03s and 1917s along with a lot of inexpensive Military ammo.They figured the price was right and the cartridge certainly had a lot of power.

Today the rags guide the VAST numbers of unknowledgeable (ignorant) shooters and they aren't going to promote 06. Small groups such as we have little if any influance on these large numbers of people.

I've often wondered that had the 03 rifle used a Military .270 would we have ever had a 30-06 at all? What if it had used the 8x57,or 8x63 what would we be touting today?

Being retired I'm able to spend more time at the range testing bullets and powder and such. More and more people are enjoying just shooting paper all day long searching for smaller and smaller groups. The rifles that these folks are buying for this are not big kickers like the 30-06. These people are the modestly affluent older generation who were 30-06 advocates, and probably own one or two but only seldom dust them off.Sitting all day and shooting an 06 is more fun than most want.

Maybe your crystal ball is clearer than mine but 20 years from now will any of us give a big rats ass? roger

I resisted getting an 06' for years because everyone had one and I needed to be different. Now I have 4. My son and I kill Elk with them every year with plain ol 165 core lokts in hand loads doing 2730fps.(shoots sub MOA in everything) We shoot, they fall down, then the work starts. I sure do enjoy grilling those steaks though.

Walmart has Mossberb bolt action 30-06's for $240 BTW

In all honesty I think that if indeed the sales of 30-06'es are down it is in no small way due to the fact that the market is already severly flodded with them. Go into any used gun shop and they may not have the chambering you are looking for, but they will have a 30-06. Usually several of them. They have become like the millsurp surplus rifle of our time. Same with the 270. They wont be going away anytime soon.

Vapodog
Excellent point on Rems website link.

Looks like their most common caliber

My first rifle was a 06 Rem 760 and I shot my first deer with it. Then I went to the 7mm mag and every rifle cal in between as I convinced myself the 06 was obsolete. I currently own a couple of 300 win mags, 300 and 338 RUM, 375 H&H, 416 Rem, 45-70, .270 win and a slew of handguns. I didnt give it any thought till I started reading this thread but last weekend when I went out hunting caribou and moose I took my 06! The thread also made me think and I believe I have killed more game animals with this paricular 06 than all my other rifles combined.
Now it makes sense to me why I talked my son into getting one of the new Rem 700 SPS in stainless for his "big" rifle.

I believe Italy does not allow its citezens to own weapons s if they are chambered for a military calibre.

A bit OT, be relevant. In the October 2005 issue of SHOOTING TIMES, there is an interesting comparison of the .270 Win. vs the .270 WSM. For all the hype and BS, the WSM doesn't come out all that far ahead of the "obsolete (?)" .270 Win. In one case, the difference in velocity was only, IIRC, 13 FPS. So who's BSing who?
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by Brad:
Boom Stick, I like your analogy but am going to have to disagree because Denim is a French invention!

I believe they also had a hand in the invention of smokless powder. .

quote:

I believe they also had a hand in the invention of smokless powder. Wink Big Grin.

If the French invented it, it was the Germans that taught them how to use it!!!!!

The 30/06 is not going any where, I think it's agreat cartridge, and I miss having one in the safe..........................especially seeing as i hve loaded ammo and dies and heaps of brass still here, I think another will get to me at some stage.

Just saw the guys at my favorite gun shop unloading a case of .30-06 WEATHERBYs case of .30-06 WEATHERBYs today. Sure does not look like the old .30-06 is dead in Texas.

LLS

quote:

Trying to maintain my composure and seeing that the kid was probably in his early twenties and had alot to learn, I stated that the 30-06 will outlast him. Am curious what others think about this...

This kid is obviously a victim of the latest manufacturers' hype-"short magnums", etc. Maybe his customers are too!

Back in the first part of last century, a gun writer by the name of E.C. Crossman said something like "It is the right of every free-born American to buy a rifle chambered for a cartridge other than the .30/'06. But it is no great tribute to his intelligence if he does so." IMO, at least as far as the purchase of one's first HP rifle is concerned, this is still a very valid statement!

quote:

Originally posted by MLG:
Just had look that Kimber America site again and from what I can see one cannot purchase a Kimber 8400 or 84m in a 3006 or 270 Win!!!

That's because Kimber isn't making an action LONG ENOUGH for the '06 or .270-their actions are for the shorties.

quote:

That's because Kimber isn't making an action LONG ENOUGH for the '06 or .270-their actions are for the shorties.

That'll change in a couple of months!

I believe it is changed now isn't it Brad?

Dober

Dober, it is... just not released to the public yet!

You going hunting today?

I read a price page that a dealer had just got last Thursday from Kimber. The only long action cartridges listed were the 270 W. and the 30-06 and then only in the Classic. The prices were $799 to the dealer and about $905 MSRP.

Did I read somewhere that those long action cartridges in the Kimber were going to have 24" barrels in the standards and 26" in the magnums?

I have plenty of wood and blue here and so does the marketplace. I am waiting for a Montana and to see if the new feed ramp in the 8400 ever gets into production for the WSM's.

quote:

Originally posted by Brad:

quote:

That's because Kimber isn't making an action LONG ENOUGH for the '06 or .270-their actions are for the shorties.

That'll change in a couple of months!

I was not aware - thanks for putting me right.

THE 30-06 IS A DEAD CARTRIDGE!


everything that I ever shot with it died.

TerryR