I'm seeing a lot of hogwash online about the .30-06 cartridge being obsolete. Hogwash. The old Thirty Aught Six is an old cartridge, no doubt about that, but obsolete? Not likely.
It can still take all the game on the North American continent. There may be other cartridges that are better for a specific task, or more suited to specific game, but that doesn't make the old warhorse obsolete. It's proven itself over and over, and it is the cartridge that everyone compares against. It is a benchmark cartridge.
If I knew that I was going on a medium-to-large game hunt somewhere in North America, with no other inclination of where I would be, the old Savage 110 in .30-06 would go along, and I'd be neither under gunned nor second-guessing my choice. From deer in the thickets to moose in Alberta, the .30-06 would be just fine.
Obsolete, indeed.
8 comments:
It also proved itself in WWII and Korea as a reliable , effective rifle.
I concur.
The target cannot know anything about the cartridge, the powder capacity, the angle of the shoulders. All it knows is where it is hit and if the bullet penetrates to the vitals. Everything else random noise.
With today's bullets, it is even more capable than in the 1950s when it reigned supreme. Even a commodity cup-and-core, 180 grain bullet that impacts the target animal at a "pedestrian" 2000fps-to-2600fps is going to put meat in the freezer if the hunter took an ethical shot.
And all that being said, there are no flies on the 6.5 Creedmoor which can fling a long skinny bullet long distances with less recoil or the .308 Winchester which matches 1950 30-06 velocities due to modern smokeless powders.
It's Obsolete when it stops being desirable. It will be undesirable when it won't drop a bad guy or a freezer load of meat.
Glad to see you haven’t caught a case of magnumitis. That’s a worse disease than flyweight syndrome and short barrel madness, and many people have all 3 in one rifle. The gun shops are full of “fired twice” boomers that kick too hard. All they really need is a more solid stock and a heavier profile longer barrel. Look up how much a Springfield 06 or a Garand weighs, and recall that military .30-06 ammo is actually mild compared to the hot hunting stuff you can buy or reload.
"There may be other cartridges that are better for a specific task, or more suited to specific game"
That's true of any cartridge. I don't peruse many gun forums or gun magazines so I'm unaware of this "controversy". I'd like to see what evidence they're providing that the .30-06 is outmoded.
Are they comparing it to other loads in the .30 caliber range, or with completely different classes of loadings?
What's the criteria?
Only considering available factory loads or custom hand-loads?
Many times I think these "controversies" are ginned up by people who really, really want to be noticed...in other words, click bait.
I used to see it among young gun bloggers who really, really wanted to become the next Mas Ayoob: They'd take some well-established principle that's been around for a long time and make up some silly argument about why it's all wrong and we should be looking at it [this] way...just to stir up controversy, get attention and hopefully be noticed by someone who could give their career a leg up.
Not buying it.
When I gave counsel to my Brother in his first deer rifle purchase, he asked which round - .270 Winchester or 30.06 Govt. I told him the 'aught-six' would be more versatile, so he purchased the Ruger #1 Standard with little hesitation. Its served him well. It's a great round.
I prefer to stick with well established cartridges that have lots of options (and are reasonably priced) instead of the latest fad.
I consider 06, .308, and 8mm Mauser great cartridges.
Jonathan
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