I recall when I was a teen I was in a gun shop just looking around and I picked up a bolt action rifle off the shelf it was chambered in 30-06. A few feet away there was an old timer watching me he asked me what caliber the rifle was and I said 30-06 and I can still recall his words like it was yesterday "Son 30-06 is not the perfect caliber for hunting anything in the USA but it's never the wrong choice for hunting anything in the USA either." Is he correct? What say you?
30-06 your opinion
- Thread starter Camprunner
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I Agree. 
It is without question one of the best calibers ever.
I have a Sako Finnbear 30-06 and it will take care of just about anything.
Well, my 30.06 just took a nice 5x5 elk a few weeks ago. Used 178gr Hornady ELDx ammo and I couldn't have been more pleased. The round mushroomed perfectly, and I found it almost fully intact sitting against the hide on the elk's other side. The elk barely made it 10 feet from point of impact (he was moving already). My biggest fear was making this majestic animal suffer for any length of time. For me, the 30.06 was perfect and I will be forever grateful to this animal for feeding my family for some time to come. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of this caliber.
if hand loading the 30-06 can be an amazing round. even factory loads are well suited for deer, elk, well, anything on North America.
i've knocked down a dozen ELK and deer with mine. even a coyote or two. it'll reach out for Antelope and still enough grunt for big bears.
it's a good round. use it with confidence.
Be sure to switch to 25-06 in the winter time so the bullet won't travel as slow and miss the deer. And as the gun ages you'll need either high mileage 30-06 rounds or just load your rifle with 375 H&H to compensate the lost compression.
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Originally Posted By: Camprunner
I recall when I was a teen I was in a gun shop just looking around and I picked up a bolt action rifle off the shelf it was chambered in 30-06. A few feet away there was an old timer watching me he asked me what caliber the rifle was and I said 30-06 and I can still recall his words like it was yesterday "Son 30-06 is not the perfect caliber for hunting anything in the USA but it's never the wrong choice for hunting anything in the USA either." Is he correct? What say you?
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
I Agree.
Originally Posted By: billt460
It is without question one of the best calibers ever.
Originally Posted By: 28oz
Well, my 30.06 just took a nice 5x5 elk a few weeks ago. Used 178gr Hornady ELDx ammo and I couldn't have been more pleased. The round mushroomed perfectly, and I found it almost fully intact sitting against the hide on the elk's other side. The elk barely made it 10 feet from point of impact (he was moving already). My biggest fear was making this majestic animal suffer for any length of time. For me, the 30.06 was perfect and I will be forever grateful to this animal for feeding my family for some time to come. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of this caliber.
Originally Posted By: Killer223
if hand loading the 30-06 can be an amazing round. even factory loads are well suited for deer, elk, well, anything on North America.
i've knocked down a dozen ELK and deer with mine. even a coyote or two. it'll reach out for Antelope and still enough grunt for big bears.
it's a good round. use it with confidence.
Yeah, he was correct in the sense that if you're only going to buy one rifle and ask it to do everything, then that is the one to get. For deer and smaller though, I prefer my 25-06.
Originally Posted By: Wurlitzer
Be sure to switch to 25-06 in the winter time so the bullet won't travel as slow and miss the deer. And as the gun ages you'll need either high mileage 30-06 rounds or just load your rifle with 375 H&H to compensate the lost compression.
30-06 and 308 Winchester are the jack of all trade chamberings in America for hunters.
Yes you will probably always be able to find something else that does a particular job better than the 30-06, but you will not find yourself lacking enough gun to get the job done effectively.
Personally I have always been a sucker for 6.5 Swede or 7mm Mauser.
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30-06 is big enough for all kinds of hunting. These days there's so many loads you can get or do up
yourself for a specific application!
As a lad, I spent time reading dad's Speer reloading book while depriming and cleaning all the brass
he blew thru! He seldom helped, he had a beer in hand!
Now I have dad's 30-06 since he's passed on. Up here 30-06 is a moose round.
My go-to round is .308 and a rifle with a target barrel.
I only hunt with 2 rounds... 150gr .30-06 and 180gr .30-06.
No need for anything else
A 30-06 and even the less powerfull 30-30 is too much gun for shooting a turkey. Years ago an uncle of mine had his picture taken while holding the remains (about 1/2) of a turkey he shot with a 30-30. The picture was in the local newspaper and underneath it were the words hunter says it was too much gun.
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
A 30-06 and even the less powerfull 30-30 is too much gun for shooting a turkey. Years ago an uncle of mine had his picture taken while holding the remains (about 1/2) of a turkey he shot with a 30-30. The picture was in the local newspaper and underneath it were the words hunter says it was too much gun.
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
A 30-06 and even the less powerfull 30-30 is too much gun for shooting a turkey. Years ago an uncle of mine had his picture taken while holding the remains (about 1/2) of a turkey he shot with a 30-30. The picture was in the local newspaper and underneath it were the words hunter says it was too much gun.
If it’s good enough for Patton it’s good enough for me.
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