30.06 Anyone ?

Question

It seems that the 30.06 is indeed America's favorite caliber for hunting. I must admitt that its an excellent round that has stood the test of time. What I cant agree on is why anyone thinks that its a great gun for hunting the world. I have heard some say they would use a 30.06 for small game hunting all the way up to recently, the 30.06 will take elephant and even a T-Rex if ofcourse we could find one.

The .30-06 is not perfect. For specialized long-range work, the 7mm magnums are slightly better - and the .300 magnums significantly better. For me, the .30-06 makes a sensible minimum for elk, but I prefer cartridges on the order of .338 Winchester Magnum for such work. The .30-06 is not a dangerous-game cartridge. It is fine for leopard, and okay in a pinch on undisturbed lion, grizzly and brown bear - but it is not a charge-stopper. And it is certainly not suitable for buffalo, rhino or elephant, despite the fact that it has been used for such.

Do you agree ? Give your reason

Papa,

Do you have the ability to read ? My question is do you agree or not and give reasons for either. It is in the form of a question. I gave my opinion as a question and asked if you agree ?

To stop any futher answers about one shot one kill tactics with the smallest calibers out there, I would like to bring up that a perfect placed shot on a Elephant with a 375 H&H will not drop, stop or kill it in under five minutes. This is a heart shot !

This is exactly what im taking about BTW ! Continuing to stress that a caliber like a 30.06 could be used on a dangerous animal will only get people to think its will be ok to do such. This will not end well. Lets just assume that someone is looking at these forums and sees these post. Oh I can use my 30.06 for that buffalo in Africa next week. Guess what, if you have a guide, he wont even take you out ! If you somehow have access and means to do it on your own or with friends, you will end up dead !

Ohari1

Nice answer. I respect that.

Points well made guys. Thank you for your responses reguardless if you agree with me or not. I respect everyones opinion.

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

The .30-06 Springfield, when it comes to game in the Western Hemisphere, is a great round and has only one limitation ... a poor marksman that does not shoot wisely.

While the .30-06 is a great cartridge, it is not a cartridge intended for global hunting. On the target ranges, it can hold its own on any rifle range out to 1000 yards. On game, a competent rifleman could take any game in North America with few exceptions.

While the '06 could be used on small game ... it is over-kill. On thin-skinned game, the '06 is perfect. On thick-skinned game ... I would get something much bigger.

Sadly, there are too many people out here, and in the field, that will stretch the capabilities of not just the '06, but all cartridges. Too many people think that if the cartridge can go bang and leave the muzzle, their pet cartridge and rifle can drop anything on earth. Sadly, it is those people that will make the future of hunting and gun-ownership questionable.

Personally, I like the '06 ... I have 3 M1903s (a 1915 M1903, an M1903A3NM, and my service grade M1903A3) and 3 M1s (1 rack grade M1 and 2 match-tuned M1NM rifles) chambered for the round. I would trust my life and the life of my family with the round and the rifles designed for it. I know I can drop any game in North America if I make a good shot.

Yes, the 7mm magnums are very good, but they do burn up barrels (particularly the throats) very fast. A well cared for .30-06 barrel has an accuracy life of about 3000 rounds, a 7mm magnum's barrel life is significantly less.

I will not hypothesize about the '06 on African game. I will never use it on African game because I have no desire to hunt that game. I hunt to put food on the table ... going to Africa to hunt is not putting food on my family's table. For me, and my type of shooting, the '06 is perfect.

Answer 2

I agree, the '06 is great for all North American game. It is NOT an elephant gun, although with the right ammo it would eventually even drop a T-Rex. Not my first choice, though.

H

Just a quick comment on what Jack O'Connor allegedly 'said,'

If he stated that all one needed was a .30-06, he spoke in prejudiced ignorance. So many people become so enamored of a certain caliber, the .45 acp is another good example, that they elevate the same to a super lengendary status. I am not putting the .30-06 down (nor the .45 acp), they are excellent calibers but others have elevated them far beyond their true, practical applications. The .30-06 is NOT even legal for dangerous game in some African countries. The .375 Holland and Holland is the minimum big/dangerous game rifle there. The .30-06 is fine for any North American big game, though, but don't pit it against an angry Rhino or bull elephant. No one will win. Both will die.

H

Answer 3

Well I tend to think with the right weight round and EXCELLENT shot placement the 30.06 will kill any game animal in the world.

I know its small for elephant but I still think it will do the job if your an accurate shot. The poachers over there in africa kill elephants rhinos etc. with far less than a 30.06

I doesnt matter if you have a 338 caliber or larger if you cant hit a vital area no amount of lead will stop a charge of an animal.

I think the shot placement is more critical then the bore size.

I am also a proud owner of a 30.06 and have faith in my rifle

Answer 4

That .30-06 is such a fabulous hunting cartridge is really pure luck, and the reason why it's pure luck is the same reason why there's always something just a little bit better for anything you'll use it for.

.30-06 is a military cartridge (it's an improvement of the now defunct .30-03, the original round designed for the M1903 Springfield rifle, which saw service in WWI and WWII, Pre-Garand), designed for military use. Humans, for all our other strengths, are often surprisingly easy to kill. Shots that cause a game animal to run two miles until it bleeds to death cause us to fall down and whimper until we do, and we do it pretty fast (bleed to death, that is), relatively.

What this means is that .30-06 is going to be effective to kill anything in the same approximate torso body-mass range as adult humans, with approximately the same circumference of rib cage, "by design", and some larger creatures up to perhaps double the size and mass of torso, with perfect shot placement and a little luck. It'll make successful head shot kills to anything up to 1.5 to 2x the skull mass as an adult human as well, though when you get into creatures with a half inch of bone in their frontal plate, you're out of luck.

So.....

When you compare .30-06 to cartridges designed for hunting, especially those designed for specific types of hunting, it's never going to place better than second, but try this example on for size: In the Olympic Decathalon, if you can place second or third in every event, and all the other competitors have even one event where they place in the bottom half, you will win the overall every time.

It's not that the .30-06 is the greatest HUNTING round of ever, it's that it's one of the greatest ALL AROUND rounds of ever, and hunting just happens to fall in there.

And I don't even own one.

Answer 5

i agree.
the .30-06 is one of the things i like best of all the states..
i'm italian and i'm a shooter, reloader. some years ago i bought a CZ550 for hunting ideas and of course i bought a .30-06.
unfotrunately i did'nt had the chance to use it on hunting, but i used it a lot at the firing range. i reloaded with Vihtavuori N160 mostry, or N-135 sometimes; with 125. 150, 168, 180 grs bullets. i know there are other caliber that show higher precision: .308, 6mmPPC, and others... but i remember very well that, with 150grs bullets, and a good load of N160, at 200 mt i hit e-v-e-r-y time the 2,5cm (1") bullseye, or worse the 2" ten points target. at 200 meters with a standard czech carbine!
i thought a lot of your GI's in the mud of french trenches. a lot of times ago.

Answer 6

its a good cartridge but I'm more of a 308 man myself
but for hunting elephant I'd only take a 50 BMG with a shot under 500 yards being the closest I'd ever get 30.06 will take an elephant down in under 30 seconds if that is if you hit the brain stem
the only really big advantage of the 30.06 in my opinion is its ability to push a 220grainer at 2750fps making it more deadly at a farther range than the other cartridges of similar sizes

Answer 7

The 30.06 is not the round regardless of the size of the bullet, for all animals. It is too large for small game, and not large enough for really big game. Plus the trajectory is not good for long shots. I agree that the 7 mm is a hotter round and I like its flatter trajectory. I would never use the 30.06 for very large or dangerous animals. Unless I had a guide backing me up who was carrying something that could stop it if necessary.

Answer 8

I hate to admit to heresy, but I don't own a 30-06. For deer, I use a 348 Win. for brush work, and usually a 7x57 Mauser for the rest. I think 338 Mag is a bit more than you really need for elk, but not a bad choice. Mine in that power range is 8x68. I like the old 9.3x62, but I wouldn't want to rely on it for dangerous game, except leopard and bear. Lots of elephant went down to small-bores like the 6.5 Mannlicher and 7mm Mauser, but lots of hunters also died trying to use small- or medium-bores, and I like my hide. Despite the warnings from people like John Taylor, it seems there will always be people who love to pick out anecdotes and people who pay too much attention to ballistics tables.

Answer 9

To kill something that can kill me easier than I can it ,I would use the largest caliber that I can handle! If it between me or it, I prefer me. A smaller caliber would do the job, but the anti's would say we are making the animal suffer more than neccessary. I agree that it is one of the most versitile calibers available. From the 55gr accelerater to the 220gr bullet. Given time a 22 will kill a bear.

Answer 10

According to Jack O'Connor the outdoor life writer and hunter shot everything with the 30-06 including all African big game...... He said that was all any hunter ever needed in a hunting rifle..... I have no reason to doubt his credibility and experience on this subject..........