I'm working on an article and my research so far tells me that the first commercial 30/06 was the Model 95 Wincester. I know the 03 Springfield was out there as a military gun, Teddy's gun was a 3003 as was the first of the first of the 95's. But I am a little surprised that the first sporter was not a bolt. Have I missed something?

I'm not sure but I don't think the .30-06 came out in the 1895 until later. 30-40Krag but not 06. I could be wrong but know I read the lineage somewhere.

Thanks, that is what I've found so far, first the 95 was in 30/40, then 30/03, and finally in 30/06. But is it possible that our beloved 06 really came out first in a lever and not a bolt?

03 springfield was originally a 220 gr bullet in 30 cal. In '06 it was changed to a 150 gr bullet and relabled cal 30 of '06. I do believe the 1895 was chambered in 30-06, but I don't know that it was the 1st.

John

quote:

Originally posted by Black Fly:
I'm working on an article and my research so far tells me that the first commercial 30/06 was the Model 95 Wincester. I know the 03 Springfield was out there as a military gun, Teddy's gun was a 3003 as was the first of the first of the 95's. But I am a little surprised that the first sporter was not a bolt. Have I missed something?

I found this in a huntingmag.com article on the internet.

"The first sporting rifle chambered to .30-06 was probably the Winchester 1895 lever action, rather than a bolt gun. It was chambered first to .30-03, and then to .30-06 in about 1908."

hunting mag article

First off, I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to the history of firearms. That said, from what I've read I believe the Winchester Model 1895 was the first commercial sporting rifle (as opposed to custom Springfields) chambered for the .30-03 and the .30-06. IIRC, the Model 1895 was first chambered for the .30-03 in 1905 and the .30-06 in 1908.

.30-06
Over 95 years old, it remains America's favorite hunting cartridge.
--Craig Boddington
"The first sporting rifle chambered to .30-06 was probably the Winchester 1895 lever action, rather than a bolt gun. It was chambered first to .30-03, and then to .30-06 in about 1908."
http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/30_06_springfield/

100th Anniversary Of The 30-06
"The 30-06, which was originally designed for military use in 1906 for the Springfield 03, and later chambered in the famous M1 Garand, is still widely used by millions of hunters and shooters all over the world. Available in a wide range of bullet weights and designs, the 30-06 and cartridges developed from this case continue to dominate the cartridge choices offered by most rifle and ammunition companies today. It was first commercially available in the Winchester 1895 lever action rifle."
http://www.winchester.com/products/newitems/whatsnewcontent.aspx?productid=41

-Bob F.

someone please correct me but I'm of the opinion that TR used a customized 1903 Springfield in either .30-03 or .30-06 on his first Safari as well as his lever action guns.

Additional input on this subject, Jack O Conner also refers to the 1895 winchester in this manner as well.George Madis's book about Winchester states that the 1895 was in .30 army (34-40 krag)in 1895, 30-03 from 1905 until 1908 when the 30-06 round was introduced. Several sporters were built on springfield actions prior to that ( ref Brophy Book of the Springfield) but they would be considered custom.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
someone please correct me but I'm of the opinion that TR used a customized 1903 Springfield in either .30-03 or .30-06 on his first Safari as well as his lever action guns.

Correct. But, at the time (pre-WWI), the Springfield rifle was only produced by the Federal government (at Springfield Armory) as a military rifle so it wasn't a commercially produced, civilian sporting rifle made by a commercial manufacturer (such as Winchester or Remington) for the commercial civilian market. So, the Winchester Model 1895 was the first commercially produced sporting rifle chambered for the .30-03 and the .30-06.

From the Boddington article:

"One of the first recorded sporting uses of the Springfield rifle and .30-06 cartridge occurred during President Theodore Roosevelt's celebrated nine-month African safari in 1909. T.R. was ecstatic with both the Springfield and the cartridge, but it was some years before the Springfield action was available to the public in significant numbers.

The first sporting rifle chambered to .30-06 was probably the Winchester 1895 lever action, rather than a bolt gun. It was chambered first to .30-03, and then to .30-06 in about 1908.

By the late teens, early custom gunsmiths like Griffin and Howe in New York were doing a brisk business making custom .30-06 rifles on both Springfield and Mauser actions. In 1921, the Remington Model 30 was introduced in .30-06, as was the Winchester Model 54 in 1925. It was, of course, an initial chambering for the Winchester Model 70 in 1937, and for the next quarter century the Model 70 .30-06 was perhaps the most famous - if not the most common - production sporting rifle."

Note: TR's Springfield rifle was actually cambered for the .30-03 cartridge.

-Bob F.

Thanks guys. Since retiring, I've found it important to get a ground check.

quote:

Correct. But, at the time (pre-WWI), the Springfield rifle was only produced by the Federal government (at Springfield Armory) as a military rifle so it wasn't a commercially produced, civilian sporting rifle made by a commercial manufacturer (such as Winchester or Remington) for the commercial civilian market. So, the Winchester Model 1895 was the first commercially produced sporting rifle chambered for the .30-03 and the .30-06.

So we have a president of the US going on safari with funding from the Smithsonian (documented) and further funding from Andrew Carnegie (also documented) and further taking government property, a custom make springfield, (currently in Cody Wyoming I believe).

I'm also believing that some of the crates he shipped to the Smithsonian are still in the archives and unopened.

Why didn't he just do a book deal like Bill and Hillary did? For the $20 million they got for the books they could go on safari a long time.

Maybe he did. It's out in paper back. I got my copy of his book at Barnes and Noble!