Why do so many hate the 30-06?
 

So many guys talk about how the hate the 30-06. Why?

everyone has one....everywhere ya go you can get a 30-06 shells..if ya forget your ammo, chances are that somebody in camp will have a few for ya....they been around along time..they even make factory loads comparable to a 300short.....and i beleive less for plinking or young shooters.. i sold mine, no reason...jus moved on, for now

i don't hate the 30-06 i hunted over 25 years and was very happy ....untill .. i saw the BROWNING S/S STALKER 300WSM ...and sold my 30-06 can't carry 2 rifles at the same time and also the wsm takes care of everything that we have up north ...

I don't hate the 30-06. There was an article on the 30-06 once, titled "30-06, Jack of all Trades, Master of None." That about sums it up for me. If I had one gun, it probably be the '06! However, I am not limited to one gun! So, there ARE better calibers for the game I hunt!

In 50 years of hunting, I've owned most of the calibers out there. Yet, I still hunt with a 06. Besides the big bears, it'll take any
thing I'm gonna hunt or have hunted. I figured out many moons ago that proper shot placement was better than taking leaves off trees.
It is also a easy round to reload with excellent bullet choices. Just my own hardheaded opinion.
Dan

News to me, Ive always thought it was the most respected and widely used big game cartridge ever.:confused:

I don't hate them, I just prefer a .270.

I don't think anyone hates it, per se. It's like what someone said above, everyone has one. 92 on the *yawn* factor.
Everyone respects it, it just doesn't "grab" you like a "Super short action belted long magnum improved westerner +p".
Anything new and odd sounding gets the oohs and ahhs at the gun counter and camp food trough.

I love mine. It's my go-to setup. Haven't heard many people speak down on them around here.

The 30.06 is kind of the equivalent to driving a plain jane mid 90's Ford Taurus or Ford Tempo. Pretty nice cars, nothing fancy, they just get you to work and back. Except that the 30.06 is probably more reliable and more liked. If you want a do it all work horse that will put meat on the table then a 30.06 or one of its spin offs is your gun.

x2
You guys can keep your macho magnums, I'll keep my 30-06 as my go to gun and can drop anything you can in N.A.

Bobby

I think this sums it up perfectly.

You hit the pipe early this morning.

Hate the 06? I have several different rifles to hunt with, but the last one I would ever part with would be my 06. The 06 is one of the most versatile calibers on the market and has proved this for over 100 years now. Its the standard which all calibers are judged on. A wide variety of bullets sizes to chose from and ammo that can be bought any place that sells ammo. Not finicky to reload with very good accuracy. Jack of all trades but master of none. Not hardly the 06 has mastered just about everything. For medium size game I think you would be hard pressed to find a better caliber than the 06. I don't use mine as much as I use to, but thats because I just wanted to try some different calibers. I have a rem 700 that I bought 29 years ago, my wife uses a ruger m77 that I bought her 10 years ago. Those two rifles will stay in my gun safe from here on out.

Personally, I think it's just down to the fact that some will always be attracted to shiny new things and that applies to guns as well. Being the 06 has now celebrated it's 103rd birthday, there isn't much shiny and new about it, but some things stand the test of time because they work and work and keep on working.

Even 103 years later, the 06 is still a very, very versatile caliber with tremendous performance in a wide variety of situations. I have to differ with anyone who uses that tired old line about it being the jack of all trades and the master of none. Countless thousands of head of game from deer to antelope to elk to African planes game have been mastered by the .30-06. What criteria are you using to determine that they could have been shot deader with some other caliber?

There are other versatile calibers out there. Some invented long ago, some are fairly recent. The .30-06 will probably be among the most versatile for as long as gun powder remains in use.

Grouse

Best selling cartridge in the USA !




What is your real question ?



BTW - I don't own one..................but ?!?!

the old '06
 

Well a cartridge that has been around over 100 years and still #1 or #2 in cartridge sales every year its obvious everyone doesn't hate it. The '06, while not the most efficient cartridge case can handle any game animal on this continent including the big bears. No, it wouldn't be my first choice but will definately do the job if the shooter does his. Yeah, there are faster, hotter, more powerful chamberings out there, but the old '06 just keeps plugging along and killing its share of game every year. Besides, it almost seems unAmerican not to own a 30-06 and a 30-30... :)

i see no difference in some calibers out there. if someone shoots a big buck, does it make it any smaller or bigger if its shot with a 06? well thats not really a good point but almost all bullets were in some way effected by the 30-06. the 300 win mag was made to fit a 30-06 action. the 308 was based off it so any short action magnum was indirectly effected by a 06 offsping. the same can be said for most other medium/short action magnums and stanard calibers. and the few extra ounces of a long action isnt going to make or break a hunt.

The 06 has a lot going for it. It is the largest non magnum case and the cost of ammo is the same as cartridges that are less powerful like 243, 308, etc.

Its effective range is further than most huters can accurately shoot in the field. Its recoil is tolerable for 90% of the shooters.

Its popularity means many components are built around the 06s performance level. Take a look at the avaliable Powders, bullets, and quality brass that are loosely based around the 06s cartridge.

Premium bullets are really not needed at 06 velocities and the range of bullet weights are from 125 to 220 is as good as it gets in factory ammo.

The readily available variety of factory ammo is probably better than any big game cartridge.

When I was 15 years old I bought a Remington 700 BDL in 30-06. That rifle has served me well for the last 33 years. I think that it's funny when people say that they've graduated from their 30-06 to some super magnum, I just graduated this year from mine to a Marlin 336SS in 30-30.

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?

It's the cartridge unto which all bolt actions are compared. Like the 30-30 is the cartridge which all lever actions are compared.

Now your really admitting your age ole man. :s4: Like I say, ya gotta have a 30-30 in the back of the truck too. Thats just the way it is. It too, is a good all around rifle and sometime in your life you'll get one. Might as well get one now.

Bobby

I could see some of the married guys hating the 06,.especially if the wife has knowlege of firearms. Honey, you don't need that short mag, you allready have a 30-06.

Who says everyone hates the 30/06 !!! I've killed a railroad car full of deer with mine..the first I owned was a 760 pump..about the late 1950's..my dad bought it in the parking lot of a bar for $50!! Great rifle, shot great groups and never had a single problem ever with it.. the 30/06 with the proper bullet will kill anything it hits with one shot.. it's only a couple of hundred feet slower than the fastest magnums in .30, I hardly think an animals lungs or heart will know the difference!! If you only had to own just one gun, it would be a hard cartridge to beat..period!!

Field & Stream nominated the 30-06 as the best non mag. cartridge ever. If your .30 cal. "go to" gun is to be fed by factory loaded ammo I would go 30-06 over all others simply because of the cost. Its been around since ww1, since then its been selling strong at #1 most of that time. Their is no chance its going the way of the dodo unlike some of my cousins & uncles Super Duper Magnums.
With reloading ammo I really like the Winchester Super Short Magnums. They take slightly less powder than newer "efficient" non mags and produce Magnum performance. Whats not to like about that? :shrug: