buckmastr229

30.06 is it a good deer gun i plan on goin to the range a little later an tryin the 30.06 i got an sighting it in i mite use it on deer this year comein up i really have know idea cause ive been using the 243 thats been good but when i shoot it feels like a sissy gun so i really dont know wat ammo do you recommend for whitetail too

cherokee_outfitters

The 30-06 is probally one of the best versatile cartridges ever made. And next to the 30-30 has taken as much game as any other caliber. Its a really good caliber. But it all boils down to what you plan to do with the rifle and spending the time tuning the accuracy of loads and yourself. The 243 is smaller and has less energy but it's all about shot placement. You can't go wrong buying the 30-06. Make sure you pick the right set up for your intended usage of the rifle.

Vapodog

The .30-06 is serious overkill for deer. Will it work?...Yes Is it big enough?.....yes Is it necessary?....absolutely not!

IMO the best calibers for deer (and deer alone) are the 25, 26, and 27 calibers.

The .243 you currently have is as good for deer as the .30-06 you're thinking of.

The .30-06 can handle any animal on the planet with the proper bullets and proper placement and that's been proven.

To me the best deer cartridge is the .260 Remington......take it from there.

James B

Could not say it better than Vapodog. I find myself top heavy with the middle calibers now adays. I shoot a 257 Roberts, 250 Savage , a 260, 7mm-08 and a 280 is my big boy. Except for the 45-70. Opps, forgot about my A-Bolt hunter 308. If the deer are skidish and wild I break out the 280 NEF with the 26 inch barrel. That will reach as far as I can see.

Aught Six

Yes, it's overkill for whitetail. But what's wrong with that? Hit them hard and drop them fast. I prefer the .30-06 not only because it shreds a deer's lungs, but because it can also take any other game animal in the country as well. Power and versatility are very good things.

8mm/06

I have a .243 built on a Mauser 98. It is one of my sweetest guns...my pet rifle. BUT.....I consider it marginal when trying to drop very large deer....deer that dress out at 200 lbs and over. I have taken deer that big with my 243 but have been lucky that my shots were near perfect. As we all know this is not ALWAYS the case. We strive for perfect shots and sometimes get good shots, near perfect shots...occaisionaly though things don't always go well. I'm not suggesting that a bigger bullet can overcome bad shooting...but a bigger bullet can sometimes hold together better on bigger game. For most deer 30/06 is more than enough. For some big bruisers though it is not overkill.
A 30/06 would be a great rifle to have in your cabinet to compliment your .243

DM

8mm/06, i'm with you!!!

I've shot a lot of game animials with a .243, and if everything is perfect, it works VERY well! BUT, that's NOT always the case, so i prefer the better penitration of something a bit bigger!!! In the .243, it became a lot better big game cartridge when i started hand loading 100 grain Nosler partitions, as i like good penitration, in "less than perfect" shots!!!

I've killed a LOT of big game with the 30/06 as well, and with 150 or 165 grain bullets it works very well on deer sized game! I'm convinced from experience, if you want one gun for everything up to and includeing moose, the 30/06 out shines all the others based on this case. You just have to be sure to match the bullet weight and design to the game your hunting!! I would have no problem faceing big bears with my 30/06, with 200 grain Noslers loaded in it!!!! AND, yes i have hunted and shot big bears before!

The bullet weight and design is a lot more important that what cal. is used for big game. Most posters keep asking what cal is best for ???, but actually they should be worrying more about bullet design and weight, than the cal.!!!

I've seen many times on here where a poster complains about a cal. not working right, when it was the wrong bullet for the job that was used, and not the cal's fault!!!! I call that "operator error!!!

Drilling Man

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

121553

Yea, what DJ said. If your just hunting deer, 165 grain corelokts or noslers will do the job just great. Shoot them both and find out what groups the best, good luck, Bobby

bentbarrel

The 30.06 has probably killed more deer than natural selection!

I'm probably the only one in my deer camp that doesn't shoot a .06 all the time. One of the most versatile cartidges ever devised.

I personally like the .270 Win and a 7mm. Rem Mag because I'm usually sitting in a box stand over looking a looooong beanfield but the .06 would do the job too. I plan on hunting black bear for the fist time this fall and I'll probably be toting a model 70 classic 30.06.....not sure if it gets any better than that!