The .30-06…the king of cartridges is it fading to the sidelines?

The .30-06…the king of cartridges is it fading to the sidelines?

Click to expand...

NOT at my house!

DM

Never, say it ain’t so. Love shooting the 06. Have four rifles in that caliber. Big loads , small loads, it loads them all.

One could argue it has been doing so for at least my whole lifetime (to date, 58 years), but it was my first deer rifle, and my oldest son's also. (742 Carbine for me, and his Great-grandpa's '03-A3 service rifle for my son. The younger one's was an AK, but he's always been a little off.....

His first centerfire rifle was an SKS....


That's my friend Ron, who's SKS Paratrooper that is.

The 30-06 is an outstanding round. Lots of taper, feeds and extracts well from double stack magazines. Still capable of excellent accuracy, but it is not a desired target round anymore. The target shooting community carved out a tactical class and the 308 Win is in that, but not the 30-06. As a target round, the 30-06 kicked more for the same velocity than a 308 Win, and then all the 30 caliber rounds were buried when good, high ballistic 6.5 caliber target bullets came on the market. The difference in trajectory at 1000 yards between a 190 grain in a 308 Win, and a 6.5 bullet was startling. My 190's would appear (when the bullet trace was visible) several target heights above the target as they plunged towards the bull. Lets assume the bullet became visible 30 feet above the target. The 6.5 shooter I was scoring, his bullet crested to the top of the black, before going in the middle. Very flat trajectory, and much less movement due to wind changes. I am sure some humongous 30 caliber round. using a bullet somewhat lighter than a ships anchor, could meet the ballistics of a 6.5 grain bullet, but it would be brutal to shoot.

But target shooting is not the alpha and omega of everything. The real F Class shooters I know, their rifles are single shot, without ejectors!. The things have a flat forend, about the width of a canoe paddle. Many are very heavy. Sure they are accurate, but they are also extremely limited. Of the existing cartridges, 30-06 recoil is not horrible, it shoots well, and has, and will, kill everything that walked or crawled on this continent. All the ancillary equipment, like dies, brass, trimmers, etc, are readily available for the cartridge. And you don't run the risk of finding out ten years from now, that brass for your thunderstick in that new and hip cartridge, has not been made for 9 years.

What we read in print are infomericals designed to expand the market. The market wants growth, not same old, same old. So what we read are things being thrown against the wall, in the hope they will stick. Old established rounds, such as the 30-06 and 270 Win, are always mocked for being old fashioned and so yesterday. But they shoot well and the they work well. And the new stuff is not 100% better. Hard to say, how much better, but the increases are far less than the hype.

The 30-06 has been in decline for several years. As has the 270. The 308 in the 1950's matched 30-06 performance in the 1950's. Today's 308 loads far exceed 30-06 from the 1950's. Of course, handloaders will always be able to beat 308 performance. But most shooters today wanting more than 308, 7-08 or 6.5CM are skipping right over 30-06 and 270 and going for one of the 26 caliber, 7mm or 30 caliber magnums.

Just a few years ago any new bolt rifle was going to be chambered in 30-06 and 270. There are several companies now that don't even offer that option. I hunted with 30-06 almost exclusively for almost 40 years and I'll never say anything bad about the cartridge. But for a lot of reasons have been using 308 for the last decade.

I don't anticipate a day when factory rounds are not available for it. But I can see a day in the next 20 years where it isn't a common option offered by all manufacturers. It will become much like the 7X57. You can still find new rifles in the cartridge, but manufacturers only make limited runs once every few years to meet demand.

I recall a member here saying that 30-06 hasn't been in the top ten for sales of new rifles for the last decade or so. I don't see that trend reversing. The fact is that most of the new people entering the shooting sports and buying the equipment are not buying them to hunt. Most new shooters are shooting for recreation. The 30-06 is a fine hunting round but its pretty hard to envision any other use for the ole war horse in the year 2022 where it is actually a sensible choice compared to the other options.

Ammunition trends trail behind rifle sales because there are still 100 years worth of 30-06 rifles out there being used to good affect, so the ammo will continue to be a strong seller for many decades, at least in the fall of the year. Last time I checked at my local sporting goods place pre pandemic, 30-06 occupied the most spots on the shelf for ammo with like 32 different varieties present. 223 was 2nd and 6.5 creedmoor was 3rd.

Yes and no. .30 cal is in decline as the 6-7mm class cartridges gain more and more favor. In the longer term, .308 Win is likely to suffer more than 30-06 as the 308 delivers bullets of the same weight as the 6-7mm class with lower BC and SD, while the 30-06 at 180 grs and more exceeds 308 performance. The 308 will certainly decline faster since its role as paper puncher is superseded by other “short action” 6-7mm cartridges, while the 30-06 is already more of a hunting round than a paper puncher. Will the 30 PRC take the place of the 30-06 in this role? Possibly, but the 300 Win Mag hasn’t. Essentially, the 308 is completely obsolete and was never as good as it’s subordinates the 7mm-08 is or as good as the 260 Rem should have been. 30-06 will remain an effective hunting round even as the 308 Win goes into a long slow decline.

jmr40 said:

The 30-06 has been in decline for several years....

Click to expand...

If not decades.
I've been an FFL since 2008. In that time I don't think I've transferred more than a two or three .30-06 rifles a year vs hundreds of .308 rifles.

Roverguy said:

....Essentially, the 308 is completely obsolete .....

Click to expand...

Said no manufacturer ever.

I've shot a fair number of caribou with a 30-06, three nice bulls one day, including this one,



DM

The 30/06 Springfield is at the top of any serious big game hunters list for a cartridge that can do the job. Let’s not forget the /06 had a gigantic head start on gaining legions of fans who trusted it. There are something around 40 legal center fire cartridges a hunter could use for North American plains game —— the /06 is one of them, and pretty much the oldest. Of course there will be newer ones that can do the job but it has to be compared to the best known of the bunch.
If you don’t want an /06, or one of its offspring, fine. This is the Land of Choices.

Me thinks as long as they keep making rifles, they'll always offer em in 30-06

It does more things well than most any other cartridge out there, period.
118 yrs worth of evidence of that

.30-06 has largely faded out of favor and hasn’t been “king,” if it ever was such, long before now.

Meh, I would take a 30-06 or 308 win over a 6.5 manbun for hunting any day. But I was never a 270 win guy either.

I’m a 308 Win or 280ai guy. I would’ve been completely happy if the 308 Win would have been developed as the 7mm08. But given the circumstances (the great number of 308 loads, bullets, mil-surplus and military rifles that shoot it, etc.) my guns consist of 308win instead of 7mm08.

But getting back to the op’s question. The 30-06 isn’t going anywhere it does all a hunter could ask for and does it well. It may not have new loads being developed for it with new powders and bullets like the 6.5 manbuns of the world, but a reloader can work out those benefits easy enough.

I dont see 30-06s very often anymore, I know one guy who still hunts with one, and thats his only centerfire rifle. I feel kind of weird not owning one, but when I DO have them I never use them....maybe I need to pony up for a realy pretty 06, then I can sit around and admire it, even if I rarely if ever shoot it.

What old folks which defend the .30-06 or any other older cartridge in this type of threads insist on ignoring…

Shooters and firearms owners are not predominantly hunters any longer, and have not been already for two generations, and their daddy or granddaddy didn’t carry an ‘06 in “the war.” The allure of cartridges which kick too hard and eat too much powder to throw a bullet after game has long since faded.

I’m sitting a few feet above two blued with walnut .30-06’s in my safes, and have taken more big game with .30-06 than any other cartridge in my life; hundreds of animals in over 2 dozen states, but were it not for misguided mythology shared by an older generation when I was young and active hunting of varied species, I wouldn’t have use for them… and don’t find them ideal for any of the hunting I do today - so they stay in the safe.

NOPE!

When I have put .30-06 rifles on consignment at the LGS, they have lasted less than a week before selling at full asking price.

The millions of .30-06 rifles in circulation will ensure ammo stockage for decades into the future. Sure, maybe the style of usage doesn't equate to .223/5.56, 6.5 Manbun, or .308/7.62 consumption levels, but it's gonna be a long time before somebody asking for .30-06 ammo in a LGS gets a pinchy-face response from the proprietor.

While I feel cursed using the 3006 for hunting, it's a great round and I like loading for it. The only 06 I own at the moment is a reamed out 7.65 Argentine,so not true 06 but I still wouldn't mind getting another 06 some day.

Funny thread, I just watched this last night.

Not sure what I think of this guy yet.



My two bits, people get emotional when talking about cartridges, easy I get it. 3006, is a hard hitting cartridge both down range and in your shoulder. If you just want to poke a hole in paper there are other things that will do it better, If you want to kill this that or the other there are also "better" choices out there. Will it do it, sure. But if starting out fresh I don't think it is the thing people are going for, and this is why you see it in decline.

As to 308, same deal, other things do it better, it has current military use behind it however, and that makes a big difference to a specific group of people.

The .30-06 was popular in an era when it was the US military cartridge. Nothing wrong with it, but there are many other less powerful, read less recoil, cartridges out there that will do the job for hunting or long distance shooting.

It requires a long action, thus heavier gun. Weight is also required to soak up the recoil. More powder and bullet weight, read more cost, is required to purchase or reload.

The military has changed its cartridge, and so have the majority of shooters. Again, nothing wrong with the .30-06, but there are many other options better suited to individual tastes.

I don't burden myself with things like logic and reason, so it will continue being one of my favorites, but I'm not going to waste energy trying to convince anyone that it is something its not.

I think it will be gone from the face of the earth, only to be found in a few museums around the world, somewhere around 100 years after we stop using gun powder to propel projectiles.

I like Ron Spomer, I once got to eat lunch with him and Joseph von Benedikt. I just sat back and ate brisket and listen to the stories roll out of those two.

I own a 30-06 only because I have an old CMP bought M1 Garand that needs a new barrel and some other work but have not been moved to get that done yet. I do not own a 308 Win although I have shot one more than many. The two 30 calibers cartridge I do own and use are 300 AAC Blackout and 30 Remington AR but I am on an AR kick at present. My brother's brother-in-law is the only hunter I know that is currently using 30-06 to hunt with, in an old Remington 7400, he is very much a fair weather hunter but it works well for him.

I like Spoomer too, he comes across as pretty level headed.

As for the 30-06 falling by the wayside, honestly who gives a chit? There's a boatload of them (very large boat). They're still effective at killing animals. Ammo will be produced for a long, long, time. Rifles are still being produced, because some guys don't subscribe to forums, nor read gun mags. They just shoot a deer or two a year.

Now, I wouldn't buy a new one, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to get rid of one either. But, what do I know, I'm still hunting with .260Rem, .270 Win, .300 Win Mag, and a 350RM, all of which are losing favor. I figure as long as I can find components, form brass, and the game doesn't figure out my cartridges are obsolete, I'm ok.