homers brother

I think I'd have to put my vote in that it's about sales.

Face it, in spite of its proven capabilities, there's nothing exciting about owning a .30-06 rifle. It's in our nature to want to be different, to feel like we have an "edge" over our competitors in the field, even if it's a statistically insignificant edge.

I remember when the 7mm-08 was THE new best cartridge. And, now that everyone owns one of those, it's the Creeds. I remember a lot of excitement 20 years ago about anything "STW". History. In 20 years, once everyone owns a Creed, something newer and better will come along.

Without some excitement, no one sells any rifles.

REM_7600

keep it going guys'

I interested in why "I,ll never own a metric labeled cartridge"

Dont get me wrong the 6.5 CrapMoor is a very capable cartridge...

Myself, I'll go with the 7mm-08

Tell me why that's wrong "with a guy(me) asking about the '06 being not chambered as often."

REM7600

homers brother

There's nothing wrong with the .30-06 for those of us who know it. Chances are probably pretty high though that many of us have settled on what works for us and aren't going to be in the market to add to our collection any time soon. That doesn't sell rifles.

It's the younger generation of hunters/shooters they're after, those who don't have someone handing family heirlooms down to them. Those out looking for their FIRST rifle. They don't necessarily know the .30-06, or even the .270. Those cartridges don't get written about in the gun rags very often, do they? Jack O'Connor? Who was that? It's the YouTube generation, those people watching some shooting personality poke at an animal from distances we'd advise against, and then thinking that the can do the same thing if they had the same equipment.

I can pretty much "cover the world" with what's in my rifle battery. My daughter should have no need at all to ever stand at the gun counter when she wants to get serious about hunting.

BarnesX.308

Everyone already owns a 30-06.

RyanT

Agree with the sales/marketing push strategies here. To me, it's seemed like all things 06 have been slowly going the way of the buffalo for a long time now...

TN Lone Wolf

I didn't own a 30-06 until I got one as inheritance.

As for why it's not more popular anymore? I think it's due to several factors. How many millions of American men across two different generations carried an 06 to war, and then returned to use that same cartridge to hunt? That'll certainly create a large attachment to the cartridge. That, and with widely available loads with many different bullet weights, it can do just about everything. However, I think the trend for the past 50 years or so has become more specialized cartridges for certain tasks. The numerous magnums for longer range shooting, then short action cartridges for more mild recoil and/or greater accuracy, and now we have rounds designed for benchrest or accurate longer range shooting, among other smaller trends.

I'd imagine for a lot of people, there's a lot of *new* and *exciting* cartridges nowadays. To many people, I think the 30-06 comes off as well trodden ground.

REM_7600

All FAIR, albeit a bit disturbing comments.

I would hate for the .223, .243, .270, .308, .30-06 go away because "they are boring"; HELL the '06 can be used for almost anything in world when loaded with today's bullets!

The 7 and 6.5 cartridges do carry better energy further. One reason my go to now is generally the 7mm-08. I am making my '06 into a fine rifle though! Attached is my truck gun, I gave it a slight upgrade... ;-)

REM7600

hardcastonly

maybe its having been a mechanical engineer for 5 decades (now retired) ,
but just for giggles lets compare a 7mm-08 vs a 30/06
using appropriate projectiles, to maximize long range punch

https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady...alculators/#!/

http://bergerbullets.com/ballistics/

http://handloads.com/loaddata/defaul...Powder&Source=

http://handloads.com/loaddata/defaul...Powder&Source=



30/06 2800 fps 200 grain, .597 drag

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...00-gr-eld-x#!/




7mm-08 2600 fps 160 grain .630 drag

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...62-gr-eld-x#!/

REM_7600

HardCast, I don't have time to run through everything right now... The '06 is most efficient at 180 grains and the 7mm-08 I use 120's. Can you summarize your findings?

REM7600

hardcastonly

in my opinion the trade off for the lighter projectile weights,
to gain velocity,is not always an ideal trade,
youve lost a good deal of impact inertia to gain a bit less drop,
than the heavier projectiles listed above,
and considering most game is shot at under 300 yards,
its rarely going to be too your advantage under field conditions

that 7mm-08 at 300 yards traded close to 300 ft lbs of energy retained for less than 1" of flatter trajectory

even with the 30/06 swapping from a 200 grain to a slightly lighter mass 178 grain lost impact inertial energy in exchange for little in flatter trajectory

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...20-gr-v-max#!/
7mm-08 3000 fps 120 grain .365 drag


https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifl...78-gr-eld-x#!/
30/06 2700 fps 178 grain, .552 drag


youll rarely find a trade to a significantly lighter weight projectile beneficial, except as a way to reduce recoil.
as the lower inertial mass almost always results in less retained impact energy and less penetration and a lower ballistic coefficient
naturally theres a mathematical, trade-off point, where you can,t gain the required velocity, with the pressure curve available,
you can over do anything, taken to extremes, but a rifle bullet in the .260-.300 sectional density range will generally work well