Recommend me a 30-06 hunting rifle?

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Garand;

Since you mentioned scopes & asked for suggestions, I'll give you my read. First, you have some mutually exclusive desires it would seem to me. For a hunting gun, I don't want a scope with A/O. Far too much chance of not having the glass focused correctly for the distance the game appears at. And they usually don't give you the time to make corrections either. Therefore, most of my hunting glass is something like a 3.5-10X, and with a mil-dot reticle.

However, if you want those tight groups at 600 yards, you're going to want a much higher X factor than 10. You'll find most of the people who regularly shoot at those kinds of distances are using 20 to 36X glass. It's great for paper work, but not so good for hunting.

So, two scopes, or pick one? Will that one be dedicated to single purpose, or a compromise? If it's two scopes, then the Picatinny rail on the receiver will make a couple of sets of Q.D. mounts & changing glass for the day's purpose much easier.

900F
 
I went on a similar quest last year. I looked at my reloading manuals and figured the '06 was adding 50 fps for a lot more powder compared to the .308, so I went for the .308. I ended up with a Ruger Hawkeye stainless laminated from CDNN for $605 including shipping and FFL fees, then added a $200 Redfield Revolution scope. It makes for a very nice hunting rig. My best load so far is right at 1 MOA.
 
For more than thirty years I have used a savage 110 in 30-06 to put meat on the table from deer to elk. The other rifle I use is the tikka t3 lite in 30-06 also. I use the tikka in wet conditions since it is stainless steel and fiberglass stock and my 35 yr old savage with a wood stock and blued barrel in dry conditions. Both rifles are MOA shooters out of the box.
I have no experience with other manufacturers,so I won't comment.
 
Reloadron said:
I have an M1A, I do not hunt with my M1A or anything like it simply because I have better rifles more suited for hunting.

You don't mention semi-automatic, bolt, lever, slide action?

There is no shortage of fine bolt guns out there like the Ruger American, any of the older Ruger Model 77 guns, Tika and Sako guns and even a fine older slightly used Remington 700. Stainless or blued? Any of the Browning bolt guns. The Remington 760 guns were a nice slide action and the list goes on not to forget the Savage guns. I suggest you visit a good well stocked Gander Mountain or Cabela's and see what fits you and what feels good to you but you really need to mention the action type. Everyone here will suggest what they have and it will be the best rifle made. :)

Next you mention 30-06 Springfield which is fine but you aren't giving up much going with a 308 Winchester. However, if 30-06 Springfield trips your trigger than get a 30-06 Springfield. What do you plan on hunting? You want a LASER beam? Then I suggest a good cross between a hunting and target rifle. Target rifles are for very accurate precision target shooting and hunting rifles are for ... well hunting. Hunting and Target rifles do not generally share the same accuracy bed. :)

Start with action type, would used be OK or must the rifle be new?

Ron
Click to expand...


Used or new is fine. $1200 budget. Bolt action.


I don't plan on taking animals at 600, that would be interesting though. I'd just like to be able to shoot at targets that far.


Thank you for response! :)
 
P.B.Walsh said:
A cheap laser beam? That's tough.... I hope you are just shooting targets at 600 and not animals. Taking 600 yards shots of live animals would be incredibly challenging and would take a lot of practice to have the skill level to even think about it.

As of now, there is only one heavy barreled production rifle that is chambered in 30-06; a Remington 700 Long Range (or something like that). It comes with a good "M40" style B&C stock and a 1-10" twist.

That will be your cheapest option at ~$650. Add a good base ($100), rings ($75+), and a quality optic you you are talking $1200+ for the rifle. This doesn't include reloading components and match grade dies.

I am assuming you're going to hand load as there are not many (if any) match grade factory offerings for the 30-06.

Optics? Well, the SWFA classic fixed power line is a great value. I currently have their 10x42mm and it is a great buy at $300. Look at them, Burris XTR II, and the Vortex PST line for quality options under $1k.

As for the ammunition, get 100 peices of Lapua/Hornady/Winchester/Federal brass, some LR primers, a pound or two of RL17, RL22, or IMR4350, and some 180+ grain bullets and really take advantage of a long barreled, fast-twist 30-06.

Read up on German Slazzar (spelling?) as he is a top competitior in the Palma world and successfully competes with a 30-06 rifle.

Again, please don't go sling lead at deer 600+ yards until you are AT LEAST on your second barrel. Seriously, go through a barrel or so for practice, which would be about 4k-5k rounds plus hours of dry-fire practice.

The 30-06 is a wonderful chambering overlooked these days by larger magnums and 6mm recoilesslazerbeams.
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600 would be targets only, for fun. Although interesting, at this moment I have no desire to engage living things at 600 yards, lol.


The Remington 700 LR looks really appealing, and you hit my $1200 budget on the head.


I knew I'd catch a little slack over the laser beam reference. I just want something accurate.

Thank you for your response :)
 
Bobson said:
You said you want a cheap rifle, and mentioned an M1A. It sounds like a run-of-the-mill M1A would be okay, but a match M1A is too expensive...

Does that mean you're willing to spend up to $1400 on this cheap rifle (since that's what a run-of-the-mill M1A would cost)? You're going to need to clarify your budget with actual dollars. A Kimber Montana will break my bank, but maybe it won't break yours...
Click to expand...


I'm looking at about $1200 for the budget.
 
TwoEyedJack said:
I went on a similar quest last year. I looked at my reloading manuals and figured the '06 was adding 50 fps for a lot more powder compared to the .308, so I went for the .308. I ended up with a Ruger Hawkeye stainless laminated from CDNN for $605 including shipping and FFL fees, then added a $200 Redfield Revolution scope. It makes for a very nice hunting rig. My best load so far is right at 1 MOA.
Click to expand...

This topic has been beat to death on here before, but in actual top loads,. 30-06 is usually 150fps to 200fps faster than .308, especially in the heavier bullet weights. I have loaded for multiple rifles in each, and have never gotten my .308 loads within 100fps of my '06 loads.

As for the OP, i don't think you could go wrong with most of the suggestions already made. I've had really good luck with my Browning X-Bolt, it is ergonomic, light and shoots very well with 165's and 180's. I also really like FN Win M70's (take a look at the extreme weather version) and Tikka T3's. It's a personal decision, but I strongly prefer stainless and synthetic rifles for hunting.
 
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I love 30-06, but for me it's a 300-350 yard hunting rifle. I do shoot steel plates up to 450 yards several times per year, so I know for a fact that I'm not ready for these distances yet.

I'd second the Savage advice. My savage in .243 is an easy 0.75" rifle with almost every bullet I've loaded for it. I have Ruger and Remington rifles they are both more picky on ammo. With those rifles I'm good with 1.5" groups. Overall the Remington is more accurate than the Ruger.

For elk I'll trade a bit of accuracy for more power.


For a 600 yard gun I'd look at 300WM or 7mm Magnum or the new 26 Nosler.
 
Garand;

Once you know the gun and the load (practice, practice, practice) there's no need to regard the .30-06 caliber as a limitation. I've got a pronghorn head on my wall that's nice enough, and taken at 470 yards. One shot, bullet went in about 2" from my ideal POI. When I recovered from recoil he was on his back & all four legs in the air.

Then again, being an old phart, I now hunt elk with my 6.5 Swede. Shoulder thumping cannons are not necessary to successfully take game.

900F
 
Howa 1500 would also be a good option. My heavy barreled Howa .308 is very accurate (as in half MOA or better with good ammo). I need to build another one of those in .300 or .338.
 
There are to many 30-06 bolt actions on the market to say, this is the best.
The only difference is how they look. They all shot the same cal.

I doubt all posters have tried each and every one available. No knock, just a
statement. I know I haven`t.

One thing for sure. The weapon is only as good as the shooter!

From My experience over the years, I`d say ..........Savage.
 
Once upon a time I wanted a rifle that could do everything: precision long-distance work, multiple targets at close range, and deer hunting. With some time and experience, I realized that was impractical.

Most semi-automatics are heavier, more expensive, and less accurate than most bolt-actions. Military and military-based semi-autos are too cumbersome to be enjoyable hunting rifles, unless shot from off a rest.

The M1A is not only heavier than optimal for most types of hunting, it is especially hard on scopes. There are been an industry in the last few years centered around building very stiff chassis to drop the M1A/M14 action into for precision work, but in that case, someone starting from scratch would be better advised to just buy a modern rifle instead.

Fortunately, there are many good bolt-actions available at excellent prices these days. Some of these very good rifles rifles with excellent prices can be found from
>Savage
>Ruger
>T/C
>Howa

If I had $1000 for a good hunting rifle, I'd probably either get a Howa or a T/C. T/C have a MOA guarantee.

John
 
I haven't read what everyone else has posted but to the OP. I noticed you have a $1200 budget. Go put your hands on a few diff rifles and see what feels good. Tikka, t/c, Remington, savage, weatherby, they all make rifles that are more than likely more accurate than us average joe shooters are. But at a $1200 budget. I would suggest spending at least half of that amount on good glass. I'd rather have a $300 rifle with a $900 optic than the other way around. Just my .02
 
I will say though there are many good offerings in the "budget" rifle market, I bought a tc venture and with hand loads it gives me under 1/2 moa to 250 yds. I haven't had the chance to shoot paper any further than this yet but I did cleanly kill two whitetail does at around the 400 yd mark with it this season. It's become my go to hunting rig. I was extremely impressed with it to be a $500 rifle!
 
I see the Howa 1500 has already been suggested, I agree. I also have mil surplus rifles I love to shoot but when I was looking for a bolt action hunting rifle I went with a pair of Howa 1500 rifles. One is in 30-06 and the other in .223. The money you save can be put to good glass.

If Howa isn't your thing look at the Savage rifles. You get a lot of gun for the money IMO.

I must admit though, even though both Howa rifles are great guns I usually find myself reaching for one of my leverguns.
 
JShirley - I'd agree. As an M1A Loaded owner, these rifles are not particularly light, however, I do think the 18" Scout Squad length is more than suitable for hunting and when dropped into a decent stock can be accurate enough for hunting work. If precision is your game, I'd suggest looking at other platforms if you want a semi-auto (AR10 is cheaper to make accurate and about the same price point for something that isn't a DPMS stripped AR10). That said, an M1A/M14 pattern rifle is an absolute riot to shoot and I would not hesitate to buy an M1 Garand and spend a little time to do basic modifications to accurize it. An M1A/M14 isn't too far off either (USGI Fiberglass stock, and a $40-$60 gas piston go a long way, as well as good ammo).

Thing is, the M1A Loaded is realistically a 1.5-2 MOA gun, the standards 2-3.5, the SOC16's are a solid 4 MOA gun without some attention. Biggest thing is to ditch the stock they came with it seems.

As for $1200 30-06 bolt actions? Ever looked into the 1903A4 reproductions? Gibbs, James River, Rock Ridge Machine (who makes the Gibbs rifles), Creedmore, etc all come with Critereon 4 groove match grade barrels. Their prices hover between $1000 and $1400 and come with a 2.5x scope that looks like the original M73 scope. Military Arms Channel on YouTube did a review and with M2 Ball was shooting around 1 MOA, with Federal Gold Medal Match 168gr's it shot a 3 shot quarter inch group at 100 yards.

It's a Mauser action, it has a 5 round capacity, new barrel, reparked 1903, safe to shoot, receivers (drill rifles with the welds cut and parts refinished), in new wood, new optics for right at your price point. Also, history! One of the best long range US Freedom Launchers in existence!

EDIT: MAC video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcc99z8PPQw
 
GarandBragger said:
Used or new is fine. $1200 budget. Bolt action.


I don't plan on taking animals at 600, that would be interesting though. I'd just like to be able to shoot at targets that far.


Thank you for response! :)
Click to expand...
That said I would be looking for a sweet lightly used Remington 700 BDL or any of the new Winchester rifles. Sako and Tika make some fine hunting rifles, The T3 Hunter from Tika is noted for accuracy in several circles. Just about all of the rifles out there today shoot well right out of the box and I forgot to include the new rifles from Savage.

Ron
 
I haven't read all the posts here and apologize if it's come up already... but... I was just plain stunned when I realized how accurate and nice shooting my Tikka T3 "Forest" .30-'06 is. It was sort of an impulse buy, as I got it for a stunning price from a shop going out of business. I stuck a Zeiss 3-9X Conquest on it, along with a LimbSaver recoil pad and never looked back.

It's a light rifle and the recoil pad is a huge improvement. The accuracy needs no improvement however. It is easily under 1" if I take my time. I can't recommend a Tikka enough, for the money.
 
Check out the Ruger American.
Shoot the Ruger American. You won't be disappointed, in fact most people are pretty impressed and surprised after shooting one. Uncommon accuracy right out of the box.
 
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