Picking a hunting gun

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it. There's nothing wrong with an '06 under 100 yards. It will go through a 3" tree and kill a deer on the other side. That doesn't happen with many lesser rifle rounds, nor 12 gauge slugs! Nobody gets wound up about one shot "beating you up" when shooting at game. When shooting from the bench, wear a recoil shield, or put a sandbag between the rifle and shoulder.
 
At 100 yards an under I’d worry about too much expansion possibly but not under expansion. I’d never choose a slug gun for deer if I could use a rifle. 30-30 would be great but unless you just want one it won’t kill deer quicker or better. It might kill them deader though.
 
There's nothing "wrong" with 30-06. Its probably the most versatile round available.
That's the legend but in truth, there are dozens of cartridges that do the exact same thing on the same exact game.


Nobody gets wound up about one shot "beating you up" when shooting at game.
Sorry, I like to practice from field positions with the rifles I hunt with. You can do a lot more shooting in a session with a .357 or .44 levergun than a .30-06. Does the `06 work <100yds? Yes. Is it more than is necessary? Absolutely.
 
bullet designs have come a long ways recently. it is hard to realize how much that has impacted cartridge suitability. just saying, dc.
 
I've been hunting the same type of woods for years with the very occasional long shot such as fields. I've carried a Winchester model 70 featherweight in 270 most of those years. My go to bullet is the 130 grain Nosler ballistic tip at around 3000 fps. I have it topped with a 2 x 7 power scope as most shots are well under 100 yards. I've never had to shoot a deer more than once with this bullet.
I've had one bullet come completely apart. Some would call that bullet failure but the deer still dropped on the spot. The buck was walking straight towards me at approximately 30 yards. I shot center of chest. The heart, liver and lungs were heavily damaged. I found the jacket just under the skin on the back of the neck.
I personally wouldn't lose one nights sleep over your 06/ballistic tip combo.
 
You can do a lot more shooting in a session with a .357 or .44 levergun than a .30-06. Does the `06 work <100yds? Yes. Is it more than is necessary? Absolutely.

More than necessary, unless it's not. The '06 will kill a deer after passing through a 3" tree. Some of the other cartridges mentioned won't.

Nobody I know thinks that the '06 is too much for deer. It puts them down, but through the lungs doesn't result in excessive meat destruction.

My buddy and I hunted woodchucks with our .30-06s for several years and thought nothing about it. We were getting experience with the rifles for deer hunting and it worked well. We had several one-shot kills on deer because the kill zone was so much bigger than a woodchuck it was easy. My first deer was a running shot at over 100 yards, offhand. No problem. The second one was 200 yards running away from me...also no problem.

You can practice holds and trigger work with a .22LR and still be right on with a .30-06 for game. It's the offhand practice and trigger control that help the most. Recoil isn't as noticeable when shooting at game. One shot, one kill.

If recoil sensitive, there are .30-06 "Reduced Recoil" ammo available for practice. POI may be a bit of, but it will gain a person experience with the rifle that is invaluable when hunting.
 
We need to shoot through 3" trees before we hit our deer now? Sorry but the ballistic tips the OP referenced I doubt will make it through a 3" hardwood. A good cast bullet out of a .44Mag will outpenetrate any deer bullet you can launch out of the `06. Especially those ballistic tips.

Never said the `06 doesn't work because it obviously does but milder cartridges will do just as well with a lot less recoil. Just as the .30-06 does it with less recoil than the .300Mag's. Deer don't take a lot of killin'. Queue the diehard .243 fans.

Why is it that `06 fans can't handle the least bit of criticism about their favorite cartridge???


If recoil sensitive, there are .30-06 "Reduced Recoil" ammo available for practice. POI may be a bit of, but it will gain a person experience with the rifle that is invaluable when hunting.
Nobody said anything about recoil sensitivity. If I were sensitive, I wouldn't be hunting with big bore revolvers, wouldn't own a .416Rigby and wouldn't have had a .500JRH Ruger built. That ain't the point. The point is why deal with any more than you have to? If you're gonna shoot reduced loads, you might as well be hunting with a .30-30. Or you can have one moderate load out of a pistol cartridge carbine that is used for plinking, practice and game getting. You can reload it dirt cheap, use carbide dies and it does double duty in your sixguns. Sorry but the .30-06 isn't the answer to every question and there is absolutely nothing it has over other options out to 100yds :confused:
 
"I've been using a 30-06 with nosler ballistic tips and getting good results."

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
 
I have used dozens of cartridges killing deer but 30-06 is the best at nearly any range. 150 gr soft point bullets preform well and at close range are better than 180's because they are designed more for deer than bigger game and expand faster. The closer you are the better they expand. That said I now prefer the 7-08 for lower recoil. But any high velocity centerfire will do. Slow centerfires do well also but some like pistol bullets have drop to contend with. A 30-30 carbine is real nice under 100 yarder. Even .223 and 7.62x39 work up close. Last choice would be slug for me.
 
My favorites have always been a .357mag or .41mag revolver and a Ruger M77 .250/3000 for distances of up to 100 yards for the revolvers and an easy 250 yards + with the .250 Sav. Sure, I've used lots of others including a 30/06. While a 30/30 lever gun is certainly not "better" than the 06, I like it simply because it is truly effective, a delight to carry and so very handy.

Or, possibly, a .357mag in a RUGER M77...?

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GR
 
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The venerable 30-06 is a versatile and classic hunting cartridge for heavy game. Hemingway considered it his “light rifle” for large African plains game, but for me, it is way overkill for whitetails or even black bear, and is unpleasant to shoot, especially for extended firing from field positions. I’ve shot 30-06 rifles and don’t care for them. Even the Army recognized that the cartridge was overkill as a battle cartridge and was not an efficient design; hence, the postwar development that resulted in the 7.62 x 51 NATO.

The Winchester 30-30 is an excellent deer / black bear cartridge in close timber out to around 100 yards. Around me, the brush and timber is so dense that your typical hunting range is 40-65 yards. This cartridge is chambered in light and handy carbines like the Winchester 1894...I’ve shot those. Have one stuck back in the safe. Pistol caliber carbines chambered in .357 and .44 Magnum also really shine in this application.

But for me, my favorite hunting cartridges are 6.5mm. My main goto hunting cartridges are the .260 Remington and the 6.5 Creedmoor. I have made meat with both. My .260 Remington is a 16” Ruger M77 Compact with Burris Fixed 4x Scope that I use inside a tower blind. It’s easy to swing the muzzle inside the confined space. I use handloads with 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips over Varget...a deer grenade. My second hunting rifle is a Ruger GSR Scout Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. It is sighted in to use 140 grain Federal Fusion ammo. This is also deadly whitetail and black bear medicine. It has a Leatherwood HiLux 2-7x variable EER mounted forward. It is an excellent stalking rifle. Both of these are fairly light and easier to take up and down the ridges that surround me.

Both of these rifles are chambered for cartridges that shoot flat, hit hard and penetrate deeply, out performing many 30 caliber cartridges, and with nearly 1/2 the recoil. They are also very accurate and capable of “threading the needle” through holes through the brush. You can shoot these for extended periods from field positions and get familiar with both the rifles and cartridges.

Not hating the 30-06, I just believe that there are better options for the specified job. I finally got smarter and learned that I don’t like getting beat up by my guns...also shelved the 12 gauges and went to 20 gauge. Great turkey gun...just sayin...
 
If you can shoot your 30-06 well the only reason to change is you want another gun. 30-30 has a very mild report and recoil when compared to the 30-06 and will do fine at your stated ranges.
I would never resort to a slug gun unless it was the only option.
 
I don’t hunt deer with my 30-06, in fact I almost never use it. For deer I use my 6.5x55 most of the time and occasionally my oldest rifle, a .270. But if I could only have one rifle for everything it would probably be my 30-06.

“The Winchester 30-30 is an excellent deer / black bear cartridge in close timber out to around 100 yards.” I read statements like that all the time and it’s pure baloney. The 30-30 is just dandy out to two hundred yards on deer. I hunt hogs with my 30-30 but have taken a number of Axis deer at or around two hundred yards with a 30-30 when hog hunting. Many people shoot deer humanely at 200 yards with a 30-30. If a 30-30 is only good out to 100 yards on deer and black bear then a 30-06 or .308 is only good out to 200-250 yards.
 
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I don’t hunt deer with my 30-06, in fact I almost never use it. For deer I use my 6.5x55 most of the time and occasionally my oldest rifle, a .270. But if I could only have one rifle for everything it would probably be my 30-06.

“The Winchester 30-30 is an excellent deer / black bear cartridge in close timber out to around 100 yards.” I read statements like that all the time and it’s pure baloney. The 30-30 is just dandy out to two hundred yards on deer. I hunt hogs with my 30-30 but have taken a number of Axis deer at or around two hundred yards with a 30-30 when hog hunting. Many people shoot deer humanely at 200 yards with a 30-30. If a 30-30 is only good out to 100 yards on deer and black bear then a 30-06 or .308 is only good out to 200-250 yards.

Yeah, that was mine...The operator here is “close timber”. You are lucky to even see out to 100 yards, at least around here...typical shooting range is 40-60 yards. The 1894’s sing with iron sights. I don’t put scopes on lever guns...ruins the aesthetics and handling. Use ghost rings on mine, instead, so that cuts down on the “effective range” rather than the cartridge’s potential. Gotta see it before ya hit it. Yeah, in the open a 30-30 or .35 Remington can be stretched out...if ya have a clear shot, and young eyes, just sayin...
 
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30-06 is an excellent caliber for a hunting rifle at any range.

If you're happy with your 30-06, my suggestion would be to keep what you have, take the money you would spend on a lever-action rifle or a shotgun, put it in the bank and wait until something comes along you really can't resist.
 
'06 for deer is like using a 3 lb. sledge to drive nails. Sure it does the job alright, but so would a 16 oz. hammer.
 
Here's something I don't think anyone brought up sorry if I missed it. Hornady alone offers 57 bullets in 30 caliber from 100gr to 225 gr that can be fired in 30-06. Thats pretty dang versatile. If you're in the woods shooting 100 yards there's a ton of calibers that will do just fine, those probably not so well on an elk at 400.

Any belted magnum great for elk or bear at 400 or more though over kill would do fine on a whitetail at 40 yds, your shoulder not so much. I guess my point is if you really just had to choose one, I can't think of something more versatile than the 30-06, especially if you hand load, if for no other reason the 30 caliber bullet selection.
 
Here's something I don't think anyone brought up sorry if I missed it. Hornady alone offers 57 bullets in 30 caliber from 100gr to 225 gr that can be fired in 30-06. Thats pretty dang versatile. If you're in the woods shooting 100 yards there's a ton of calibers that will do just fine, those probably not so well on an elk at 400.

Any belted magnum great for elk or bear at 400 or more though over kill would do fine on a whitetail at 40 yds, your shoulder not so much. I guess my point is if you really just had to choose one, I can't think of something more versatile than the 30-06, especially if you hand load, if for no other reason the 30 caliber bullet selection.
That's a very good point. I like my 7mm-08 for the same reason - great bullet selection and 7mm bullets - to me - are the perfect compromise between weight and ballistic efficiency for just about everything we commonly hunt. It takes a 180 grain bullet to retain the same downrange energy from an '06 or .308 that a 7mm 160 grain bullet does, and the 7mm does it with a lot less recoil. Any less than 7mm and you are handicapped at the upper weight range for elk, moose, caribou and similar sized critters.
 
Here's something I don't think anyone brought up sorry if I missed it. Hornady alone offers 57 bullets in 30 caliber from 100gr to 225 gr that can be fired in 30-06. Thats pretty dang versatile. If you're in the woods shooting 100 yards there's a ton of calibers that will do just fine, those probably not so well on an elk at 400.

Any belted magnum great for elk or bear at 400 or more though over kill would do fine on a whitetail at 40 yds, your shoulder not so much. I guess my point is if you really just had to choose one, I can't think of something more versatile than the 30-06, especially if you hand load, if for no other reason the 30 caliber bullet selection.
How many bullets do you need? Sorry but the idea that the `06 is just sooooo much more versatile than any other cartridge is just nonsense. There are literally dozens of cartridges that will serve the same purpose.
 
The 30-06 is a great, versatile cartridge. I no longer own one, however, because I prefer short-action cartridges out of carbine-length rifles--especially in the hills and woods or the northeast. I do like .30 calibers, so my go-to woods hunting rifle is a .308. I'd be just as happy with a 7mm-08 or a .260 Remington. You certainly won't be poorly served by your 30-06, but there's no shame in trading it for something else better suited to your application. Were I starting out with a clean slate, I'd look for a Ruger American in 6.5 Creedmoor and mount a compact 2-7X scope on it. That would be a dandy combination for WV; excellent for the regular sub-150 yard shots most likely to present themselves, but also perfectly adequate for a cross-field 400 yard shot assuming you know your holdovers (is it still called "Kentucky windage" in WV?).

So in answer to your original question, I don't think you'll be "better served" by a .30-30 or a slug gun. The deer won't know the difference. Shoot what you're comfortable with.
 
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