30-06 ? Dad was right!

More than 50 years ago, when I was a kid Dad told me I only needed a .22 rimfire and a .30-06 for hunting. Last year I selected my 30-06 Rem 700 CDL for all my hunting. Umm... It worked... So, do I really need any of the others? Why not sell 'em all except the 30-06, and fund another hunt or two?













Well? I dunno. I do LIKE the heck out of several other rifles, but dang... Only tag I didn't fill was cougar, because I didn't see one. Pretty sure the 30-06 could have handled that as well.

Guy

Nice!

Guy, that's quite a variety. You're not alone being an exclusive 30-06 user. I know a good number who think like you. With the components and barrels now available, there has been a bit of 30-06 renaissance.

Thanks. I don't usually stick with the .30-06 for everything, but last year presented that opportunity, and I'm glad I did.

What a great old cartridge!

I do think that someone with a .270 or a 7mm magnum, or whatever could have accomplished the same or better. But I'm glad I did it with a 30-06 rifle!

Guy

Can't beat good ole' .308 holes in chest cavities !! I used one myself for about 10 years..everything I hit didn't take but a step or two. I used the150 grain Nosler Partition and no matter what angle I hit any deer from the bullet always came out the other side. A good well constructed bullet traveling at 2800 fps will take out any animal you chest hit with it in short order. Out to 400 yards I wouldn't worry about shooting anything with one..a good old warrior that has stood the test of time. I've only ever seen one custom cut chambered /06 with a tight neck gap on the match circuit and it was capable of amazing groups at 500 yards....can't g wrong with a 30/06 for anything.

Well done sir! What bullet (s) did you use on all those hunts? Did you pillar bed your CDL?

Guy M said:

More than 50 years ago, when I was a kid Dad told me I only needed a .22 rimfire and a .30-06 for hunting. Last year I selected my 30-06 Rem 700 CDL for all my hunting. Umm... It worked... So, do I really need any of the others? Why not sell 'em all except the 30-06, and fund another hunt or two?

Well? I dunno. I do LIKE the heck out of several other rifles, but dang... Only tag I didn't fill was cougar, because I didn't see one. Pretty sure the 30-06 could have handled that as well.

Guy

Click to expand...

Well he almost had it right...but you need a 12ga and 1911 too.

I read somewhere,
"The only way to improve a 30-06, is to clean it once in a while".

I have several rifles from 22 long rifle to 338 Lapua, with several over lapping cartridges in between.
And if I could only choose one for the rest of my life, it would be my 30-06. There's nothing it can't do. And if I want to shoot steel at 1200 yards it can do that too. I know this for a fact....
Love the 30-06!!!

I am starting to think that cause I reload. Every gun is sort of another caliber. For me, it is buying for components. But regardless you use them.


But I look at balistc tables, and agree. Lots of the little guns are not getting over 3k fps, in a deer killing round. So might as well use 150s. I was looking at 300 Win Mag today, 30 cal but its speed was not all that much either.

So unless you are going to go for bigger hole, I agree.

My 30-06 was my very first big game rifle, and kinda holds a spot in my heart like a first girlfriend!! I bought it at Sports Authority in '95 for $350. It's a Savage 110. It came with a hard case, leather sling, walnut stock and a bore sighted Bushnell 3-9x scope (and I still have all of those components). It's the most inexpensive weapon I own and it's an absolute tack driver, and that was before I changed anything on the rifle. It shoots sub moa with the cheapest to the most expensive factory ammo. It killed every Michigan cedar swamp deer I ever put the crosshairs on, and it out shot my hunting friends' expensive Browning. It's in a Bell & Carlson stock with a nice Zeiss Conquest HD scope on it now. I hand load for it, and it shoots about 0.25 moa if I'm doing my part. It was the easiest of all my rifles to do load development for. I bring it along on all of my hunts as my back up rifle in case I have an issue. I honestly should take it hunting more often. It's a great caliber

And a Yugo will get you from point A to point B. But it will not do it with the same style or speed as the Bugatti Chiron.

No one takes anything away from the venerable .30-06 Springfield, you simply can't. When called upon to perform, it performs. Maybe not with the velocity or trajectory of some of the newest hotshot cartridges but it will get to the target and put meat on the table.

However, some of us love to stray towards the Bugatti's occasionally...

Regards.

Yep, I've used the 06 for years and tried other calibers in between but just have to keep coming back to the good ole 06. Like mentioned above it just gets the job done no matter how big the game.
There is a book I read once it's called One Man One Gun One Land by J.Y. Jones it's about his adventures taking every big game species in North America with a Remington 700 ADL in 30/06. Some good stories especially the ones about the big Kodiak bears.

First Rifle I hunted deer with when I was 12, Sporterized Model 1903 Springfield 30-06 with 22" barrel and a Williams Peep Sight.
Have a Sako L61R 30-06 that my Dad bought new in the spring of 63 and just acquired another Sako L61R 30-06 Mfg in the early 70's it is in almost like new condition.
After I get through playing with my 6.5 Creedmoor build I am going to work on loads for the second Finnbear I got.