Ever wonder how many "magnums" are sold to deer hunters who may, at best, be able to find the resources to hunt elk once or twice in a lifetime, let alone find enough spare coin to put a Kodiak hunt together?

Someone else said that the .30-06 is "jack of all trades, master of none". I think that pretty much nails it. If you have a .30-06, you have everything well in hand from deer on up through elk to moose. Yup, it might be a bit light for comfort on a charging grizzly (most often seen by hunters in movies and magazines), and it's on the heavy side for prairie dogs and coyotes.

If you own a .30-06 though, there's little need for anything larger on this continent. If anything, you'll want to fill out your battery with something smaller, like a .204 or .223. Guys will go into a gunshop yet and buy a .300-something-magnum and think they have the whole world covered, when in reality, they're not really any better off in the end than they'd have been with the simple, reliable, plain-jane, un-sexy, .30-06.

Otherwise, the singular prospect of having one rifle is very unappealing to many of us, regardless of the .30-06's many pros and few cons. Maybe that's why some folks don't like it - it takes away the excuse to go tell their significant other, "it's too (big)(little) and I need another rifle"?

Whatever. I own two .30-06s, as well as a .300-something-magnum, and two other calibers in three different rifles that do the same things the .30-06s will do. I have bigger rifles than .30 caliber. I like rifles. I like to have choices. But I certainly do not hate the .30-06. If I had to start my battery all over again, I'd keep just the .223, .243, .30-06, and .375. That way, I'd always have at least two rifles for every game or non-game species I wanted to pursue.

i think alot of those super mag shooters are only graduating from somthing they couldnt shoot well to something they shoot worse. honestly 90% of the rifles out there arent built right to take advantage of those mags and theres even a fewer amount of people that can actualy shoot the ones that are built right.

Who says they Hate an 06 ? probably a fool, I have taken just about every game except an elephant with .06 caliber.

Well said. :party0005:

That is the REAL question. So many times on this site, people will ask about "best cartridge" so on and so on. Invariably, the 30-06 gets poo-pooed. It's my baby, just seeing the consensus. Clearly the haters are not as prevalent as once thought.

I think when people answer the "best cartridge" question the reason they invariably leave out the 30-06 is because the 30-06 really isn't best at any one specific thing. For instance the 25-06 would be a better antelope cartridge. Or the 338 Win mag a better elk and moose cartridge. Or the 375H&H a better grizzly bear cartridge. Although the 30-06 will certainly get the job done in any of these circumstances.

IMO, the 30-06 ranks as the absolute "best" one cartridge to do everything cartridge.

That is why I bought my son a 30-06. It will do everything he will likely ever ask of it to do. If he needs (wants) a larger or smaller cartridge aimed at specific sized animals that he may hunt in the future I figure he can buy it himself if he can afford an elk, moose, sheep, what ever hunt. If a person is to have only one rifle it should be chambered in 30-06. Nothing else will fill the one rifle hunter as well as a rifle chambered in 30-06.

Amen to that! It's kinda right in the middle. Never really thought about it that way....

Never hated the .30-06...........

My first .30-06 was bought at Sears & Roebuck in 1953.........It was a Husqvarna Mauser made for Sears......My father paid $99.99 for it!

Like some have mentioned, over the years I have had many different calibers in rifles........I used the .270 for many years also and then bought a Ruger 6.5mmSwede and now a 7mm-08......

Also have 7mm Mag, .243 and .30-30's.........

I have one, love it, and have killed more deer with it than any other caliber.

I think people are just bored with it.
 

That would be my guess. Hard to talk up the new short mags, or short cartridges like the 7mm/08 or 308 without saying the '06 doesn't do this, or kicks too much or something. I love mine, and unless I hunt griz or brown bear (highly unlikely), I can do the rest of my hunting with it. Mine is a Husqvarna M-8000 with a Brown fiberglass stock. Weighs 7# loaded and with a 2x7 Leupold. That 1 in 12 twist must help it, cause I can feed it loads that gave some of my other '06s fits. I can get 3100+ with 150s and my favorite all round load is a 165 gr. boat tail Barnes X-bullet that it shoots at 3000 with no pressure signs. What else do I need other than a smaller gun for coyotes or something like that?

Had to shoot mine in after failing:cry: in Archery season this year. First 3 shots, centered 2" high and a 3/4" group. What's to hate?