Why does the 30-06 caliber need so many varieties in sizes and power loads?

Question

And why can't other calibers such as the .308 and .303(my personal fav.) both be loaded with such a range?

Answer 1

It isn't that it "needs" all those loads. It's that it's such a versatile cartridge it can be used in a huge variety of situations, and different loads are custom-made for those different uses. The 308 can do almost as well, but it's short, and really heavy bullets go fairly far back behind the shoulder, taking up space. You can't put powder and bullet in the same space, so there's a drop-off in performance with the bullets in the 200 grain range. If you look hard enough, you can find 303 rounds with bullet weights from about 125-220 grains, but it's not as large a case as the '06, and the SMLE can't handle the pressures of the more modern competitors, so it isn't quite as flexible, but it is close.

Answer 2

The rounds been around since 1906 it was based on a round that came out in 1903 all they did was shorten the neck the reason there are sooooo many bluet weights and sizes the round can do anything from prairie doggs to moose reliably it probably has taken every type of game animal on earth 303 doesn't have the bullet selection the actual diameter of the 303 is .311 the 30-06 is.308 hence the reason .308 caliber (30-06,308 win, 300 win. weatherby and rem mag, 300 savage) rounds are more common here is the simple fact that due to the military adopting the 30-40 krag as its standard round in 1892,then the 30-06 in1906 and the 308 win/7.62 nato in the mid 50s the .308/military thing finally came to an end in 1964 when the 223 remington was adopted the reason the 30-06 caught on so good it served ww1 ww2 korea and in limited quantities in vietnam it was faster than the krag had been established long before the 308 and was more popular in america than the british round hence more bullet weights (from 55gr. remington accelerators to 240gr match bullets) surplus brass bullets powder and guns helped the 30-06 become as popular as it is also there's time the 30-06 doesn't need all of the weights the 150gr sierra load i shoot will kill anything in north america and is acurate enough to shoot rifle matchs with but the lighter bullets don't kick as much for varmints and the heavy bullets buck wind better

Answer 3

The .30'06 is used for so many different things. High power rifle contests, accuracy contests, hunting anything big in America, long range shooting, varmint eradication, and many other reasons. It's the most popular caliber for 100 years and still going strong. It's powerful and accurate and can be found everywhere.
The .308 is very close in ballistics and power and is a favored round. It's getting a new lease on life in Iraq and Afghanistan since a larger more powerful rd. is needed. M-14s are being refurbished and sent there as fast as possible.
The .303 was a favorite of the British but just falls a little short of being comparable to the other two. It's still in use though.

Answer 4

The answer is it doesnt at all need so many. Its one of the oldest calibers around for hunting. Ever so often someone wants to bring out something new for an old icon if you will. This is the result, a caliber that has so many combos that only 50% of them are even useful. In 50 years there will be others who join the 30.06 with its many loads. What many people dont know is there are also many wildcat rounds off of the 30.06. This is a round that startedf as a 30.06 and was cut down or made longer with more power and or the caliber dropped or increased. People just like tring to improve something, thus we have some good improvements and alot of failures !

Hope this helps, if you want more info on this you can simply do a search on 30.06 wilcat rounds and you will see plenty of this talk.

Happy shooting.

Answer 5

The 7mm rem mag as it far superior to any of the other ones you listed. Also it does kick as hard as the 300 win mag. Its performance is excellent for the distances you listed and delivers a lot of energy to the target as well. The 7mm rem mag in Tikka T3 hunter would be an excellent choice for accuracy and hunting performance. If you want an amazing hunting rifle consider the saurer range as they are well built accurate and just amazingly smooth for hunting. loaded with 150 grain projectiles the 7mm flies at well above 3000fps and will have a lot of energy. Were as the 308 does not. Read the chuck hawks article on the 7mm. and the remington website has the ballistics However if you want something that has kick either the 30-378 weatherby magnum or the 300 wby mag as they are hugely superior to any 30 cal and have the flattets trajectories. I hope ive helped!

Answer 6

Bound's hubby here:

Sorry, but some people will not be happy with this answer, since it will shatter some of their myths!

First, the .303 British is not a popular round in the US. Very few rifles manufactured here have been chambered for it. The .303 British actually fires a bullet that is .312" in diameter. Because the .303 fires a larger diameter bullet than other .30 calibers and since it is not that popular of a cartridge in the U.S., U.S. bullet manufacturers have not expended the resources to develop a wider range of bullets. The .303 British's popularity actually surged in the U.S. in the late 80s and early 90s with the importation of retired British Empire service rifles.

The .30-06 (bullet diameter of .308 inches) enjoys a wide range of bullets because for a time, perhaps the first half of the 20th century, few Americans owned more than one or two rifles. Chances were very good that an American shooter owned at least a .30-06. The 220 grain bullet was actually the bullet that started the life of the .30-06 when it was the .30-03. When the .30-06 was developed as a military round, the initial loading [M1] was a 150 grain boat-tail bullet at about 2800 fps. By the 1930s the M1 round was replaced by the M2 round (150 grain flat-base bullet) loaded at about 2800 fps, which actually increased the bullet's range. The military adopted a target load [M72] which fired a 173 grain bullet at 2650 fps.

The M1 rifle, contrary to another contributor, does not need a lower powered cartridge but a lower pressured cartridge. Because of the design of the gas system on the Garand, care must be taken to ensure that the op rod piston does not bend due to excessive gas pressure. What the military does, though, is assign an "M" number for each mission specific round: such as anti-personnel (M2), Match (M72), armor piercing, incindiary, and tracer (sorry, I don't remember all the '06 designations). The 7.62 fires: anti-personnel [M80], machinegun (4 anti-personnel, 1 tracer) [M60], tracer, 173 gr Match [M118], 168 gr Match [M852], 175 gr Match [M118LR], etc.

Because of the .30-06's popularity, ammunition makers developed a variety of bullets for a variety of missions. Bullets weighing 110-130 grains would be used for varmints. Bullets weighing 150-165 grains would be used for medium sized game such as deer. Bullets weighing 180-220 grains would be used for larger or more dangerous game such as moose, elk, caribou and the larger species of bear. Specialty match bullets running from 168 grains to 200 grains would be used for target shooting.

Many of the bullets available for the .30-06 can be used in the .308. When bullets exceed 180 grains in the .308, extreme care must be taken to make certain that the chamber pressures do not exceed the maximum standard set by SAAMI and that the cartridge remains within acceptable overall length standards. In practicality this cannot be done with the .308 so you do not generally see commercially loaded .308 ammo loaded with bullets heavier than 180 grains.

Answer 7

Any bullet that can be loaded for a .30/06 can also be loaded in a .308, and can be loaded to produce whatever velocity desires within the limits of the pressure the guns can handle.
It is not a matter of needing variety, it is a matter of having that variety available.
I have been reloading center fire rounds for almost 30 years and have about 25,000 in my personal arsenal.

Answer 8

I think the question has already been answered, but thought I would throw this in.
Not knocking so many variations in grains and loads, but unless you load your own ammo and/or are careful with round storage, you could get yourself a bit mixed up.
A friend of mine who shoots some through out the year but mainly before hunting season, has a tendency to grab up a lot of his 30-06 ammo and is not always careful with placing the correct type round back into the correct box. Changes in grain and load may not be a total miss at <150yds, but past that.... Even without a miss, I wouldn't feel confident with a 4-6 inch spread with my shots.

Answer 9

Competition. Every manufacturer makes a range of loads for different game and purposed. Multiply that times many manufacturers.

The .30-06 is truly a "universal" round. It has been adapted to many firearms and needs, military, target and hunting....from paper target to small game to big game, long distances, armor piercing, anti-personnel, etc. etc.

For example: The M1 Garand needs a lower powered .30-06, commonly called "M2". High powered 06 ammo can damage the gas operating system.

Answer 10

The .30-06 is just versatile enough to perform great with a wide variety of bullet weights and loadings.