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Post by ozark on Oct 1, 2009 16:04:06 GMT -5
This cartridge has probably been fired more times than all others combined and anyone claiming it to be an inferior cartridge will fine little ground for arguement. 1n 1906 it was adopted as the US military cartridge. It was the primary cartridge used during both world war 1. and WWII. Not just for the Infantry soldier but in the light and heavy machine guns. It had it all, velocity, accuracy and dependability. It wasn't just Sergeant York and Audie Murphy that used it. It was THE cartridge for the military for over fifty years. It was natural for it to become the favorite of many thousands of hunters because it would do the job on any animal that walked on earth. It is fine to have favorites other than the 30.06 but it is difficult to really be critical of the cartridge itself. I have used tracer ammo as well as armor pericing. Is it better than the .308? or a dozen othe popular cartridges? Perhaps not better but it is hard to believe that any are much better than the 30-06. I personally fired it in competition at 600 yard and occasionally at 1000 yards using iron sights. I lost most every match I entered but It wasn't the rifles fault. Question: What is out there that will put it to shame hunting?
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Post by northny on Oct 1, 2009 17:11:15 GMT -5
I don't think anything can shame the '06. For any one particular task, you can certainly make a case that some other caliber has an advantage for that application. But for a single do everything rifle, I still thing it is the king. There are some other that come close, but can get ammo for the '06 anywhere.
Don't get me wrong, I like the other calibers. I now have or at one point have had .222, 22-250, 220 swift, .243, 308s, 30 -30s, 257 roberts, 270s, .338 mag, 7mm mag. But if I had to go to just one rifle for hunting (self defense is another issue), I would take the 06, with the 7mm mag and 270 tied for second.
Although Jack Oconner was best known as great fan of the .270 win, he also like the 06 and stated that while he he had three .270s in his gun cabinet, they were right next to three .30-06s and that summed up how he felt about it. He also agreed with the statement of a friend of his that if a man had a .22 rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun, and a .30 -06, he could hunt anything in north america and not be disadvantage to any degree.
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Post by dougedwards on Oct 1, 2009 19:19:19 GMT -5
It is probably just my particular rifles but I have never known the 30-06 to be a particularly accuracte cartridge.
Doug
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Post by ozark on Oct 1, 2009 19:38:49 GMT -5
dougedwards, There are many 30-06 rifles that are not accurate. But with the right load and a accurate rifle it can be a tack driver. The service rifle was not especially accurate as issued because it was semi automatic and designed to function when drug through mud and all kind of stuff. The National Match Service rifle accurized by a competent armorer and using NM ammo was a different rifle. Hunting rifles with hand loads can post some small groups. I have to agree with you that there are others more accurate but the ought 6 is plenty accurate in the hands of a good marksmand to precisely place bullets in the kill zone of the animals we hunt. No, it will not shoot groups with the .223, 25.06 o6 or a number of others. But it is plenty accurate to get what the hunter wants. IMO
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Post by deadeye on Oct 1, 2009 20:31:15 GMT -5
the 30-06 is a great caliber still,there are some new awesome performers like the 300rum which is superior in its own arena but like everything there are drawback's(pro's& con's). it amuses me so many people turn their nose @ the 06,when i tell them it is capable of moa accuracy @ 1,000yds & i own a few to prove it,they are in dis-belief,kinda like the .45acp was to surrender to the .40 or .41,it is in the hands of the beholder
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Post by whyohe on Oct 1, 2009 20:41:09 GMT -5
Ozark, i think the reason the 30-06 is so good is that with all the use it had in WWI and II it has had alot of use to get the cartrage right. do i think it is the greatest cartrage?? I'm truly not sure. I always look at the application. would i use it it on an elephant... no but could it be with the right bullet.. I'm sure it could. but as for using it on any North American game,, I think it is the most versitile carterage.
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Post by Tarheel on Oct 1, 2009 20:54:02 GMT -5
Few cartridges can claim the versatility of the old '06. With a selection of bullets ranging from 55gr. accelerators to 220gr. round noses (and they are just the factory loads!!!), few calibers can perform better while still maintaining manageable recoil.
PS I love 125gr Federals for deer.
In my opinion, save for the elephants and rhinos, I believe it can handle the large kitties though the legal minimum starts at the 375 H&H
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Post by rossman40 on Oct 1, 2009 22:17:07 GMT -5
I have a Savage 112 in 30-06 that I have gotten down to .4. I get less then a inch with a lot of ammo but with Federal match grade ammo I get around .5. You will not get real accurate with a sporter barrel or a Remington 740 or 760. You can tweak your loads and with a long barrel you can take advantage of the big case. I've thought about cutting the chamber to a 30-06 AI but I'm doing alright as it is now.
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Oct 2, 2009 4:56:34 GMT -5
I've owned 2. Both A3-03's. 2nd one had a sport stock. Missed my 1st shot ever at a spike horn with the 1st one and killed by first buck with the 2nd one at 10 yds. Both guns were used when I was a teenager. The second one had a very crappy 3 X 9 tasco scope on it and I made my longest shot on a woodchuck in my life. 525 steps 25 years ago before lazer rangefinders...and after walking my shots onto him.
Wish I still had that gun but where I live I have absolutely no use for it. Deer are the biggest quarry and rifles are a no-no.
My favorite hunting load that shot awesome was the 150 gr silvertuip.
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Post by jims on Oct 2, 2009 17:50:47 GMT -5
I own only one 30-06, that is a M1 Garand, H&R. I do have a .270 and 25-06 which are "based" on the case but necked down. I know the .270 is slightly different but "close" on the case. The 30-06 can still kill alot of game but the manufacturers like to have new cartridges to keep us interested and sell more guns IMO.
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Post by ozark on Oct 2, 2009 18:22:08 GMT -5
Jims, that is the game. Make a few modifications and change the bullet size a bit, give it a catch name and hope the public goes wild. I neve could justify having more than one big game rifle at a time. So every few years I sold or traded one and got another. This has permitted me to try out about all the popular deer rifles. I mus say the Magnum never got my interest. I seen it as giving me an extra 50 yards paid for by extra punishment in recoil. Roy Weatherby came up to Fort Lewis and traded ideas with me a couple of times. He was very supportive of our program and naturally since we were poineers in the glass bedding arena he was interested in that. His company in Southgate Ca. made some beautiful and good rifles. Funny I never owned one but have shot several. While the bolt action rifle leads the field most everywhere, here in Arlansas the semi Autoloaders are popular. I mean here in my specific area. I am strictly a bolt action rifle man and a slide action shotgunner.
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Post by dans on Oct 9, 2009 17:31:32 GMT -5
Have two 30-06s One is a 740 Remington autoloader that shoots consistant 1 inch groups at 100 yards with Remington factory ammo either 165 or 180 grain pointed softpoints. The other is a Ruger 77 All weather with the boat paddle stock. This one shoots 180 grain round nose Remington core locts into 1 in. at 100 yards. Now both of these rifles have been said not to be very accurate but I have not found that to be the case. In my deer camp in Wisconsin, there are 4 Remington semiautos, 3 bolt actions, and one single shot. Five 30-06s, one .308, one .270, and one 30-40 Krag.
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Post by john55 on Nov 4, 2009 19:35:46 GMT -5
Great cartridge and one of my favorites. For the guy shooting factory ammo it might be the best, but today there are so many choices I'm not sure it has the advantage it once held. For my own use I have settled on the 300Wby as the one to do anything and everything, but my '06s still see their share of hunting time. Many folks have trouble dealing with more recoil than an '06 generates, so for them it makes a better rifle than something that kicks more.
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Post by whelenman on Nov 4, 2009 21:03:14 GMT -5
The 30-06 has some kind of history behind it. My 30-06 is a WWI P17 Enfield that had been sporterized sometime in the past. It had a beautiful piece of walnut but hadn't been properly bedded or finished. I have no idea what the barrel on it is but I refinished and bedded it and it produced this. Not bad for a $300 rifle. Alvin York would have approved of this one. They can be an accurate cartridge if setup properly.
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Post by jims on Nov 4, 2009 21:51:35 GMT -5
I would like to see the complete gun, another photo I could enjoy.
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Post by whelenman on Nov 5, 2009 8:10:28 GMT -5
I would like to see the complete gun, another photo I could enjoy. I looked back and found another photo of the entire rifle.
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Post by jims on Nov 5, 2009 16:32:20 GMT -5
Nice outfit.
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Post by boarhog on Nov 6, 2009 23:24:21 GMT -5
In late 1962 or early 1963, a good friend's Dad showed me his hunting rifle. It was a customized 03 Springfield '06. It had a 2 groove barrel, the first telescopic sight I ever looked through, and a beautiful stock by Al Bieson. It was 20+ years later before I knew enough to understand, and appreciate, the work of art it truly was, but something Mr. Miller said stuck with me. He said, "Boy! Get yourself an "06, and marry it! It'll never let you down!"
What he meant by "marry", was to shoot it a lot, and often. Practice until you know the trajectory of your favorite load , and where it hits at any distance you are likely to face in your hunting. It was good advice then, and now.
I took Mr. Miller's advice, and not long later, I put a Remington 700 ADL, in 30-06, on lay-away at Walgreens in Odessa, Texas. The price, a very hard to come by $97.50! I can still remember how proud and excited I was the day I paid in full, and walked out with my new Baby. Later, I scraped together enough to buy a Bushnell Banner 3-8X scope and mounts for it.
This rifle is, to this day, the most consistently accurate and forgiving rifle I've ever shot. One of the very few loads I've ever tried that it didn't like was a box of Federal Fusion factory ammo that grouped around 3". Loads it likes best regularly keep 3 inside of 1/2", and packed away somewhere, I have 2 targets, signed by witnesses that were at the White Wing-Winchester Shooting Range near Houston, TX, that were 5 shots into one ragged hole just a tiny bit larger than 30 cal.!
There is no way to count the Jack Rabbits, Coyotes, Crows, hogs, and deer that have been harvested with this 30-06. Deer alone would number well into the hundreds. Some 20 years ago, I handed it down to my youngest Son, and he loves it as much as I did. Our agreement is that if he ever gets an urge to sell or trade, I get first dibs! Boarhog
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