The Old .30-06: How many still have it as a MAIN Rifle?

[Beetle Bailey]

Well, my main hunting rifle is an old Sako in .30-06 and of course I have a couple of M1 Garands. But since I rarely hunt medium or big game, the Sako mostly sits in the safe. When I do get to hunt, it's mostly varmint/predator so the .223 rem Savage 10FP gets lugged around.

So I mostly plink with milsurps or rimfire, and started shooting Hi Power (.223 rem) and precision bolt rifles (.308 win). I do handload, but don't see a need for anything over 180 grains so I would be fine with replacing my .30-06 with .308 except for the fact that I don't want to mess with my Garands.

 

[Ship_engineer]

I've got a Remington 742 in -'06. And i be dammed i have not seen a better shooting 742 out there. Its now my back up rifle and it has not been fired in over a year.

My new go to is a Savage 111 in .270. .270 was born from the old .30-06.

There is only 4 firearms a man needs. A good .22LR, 12Gauge, .45acp, and a .30-06.

 

[splattergun]

My Mossberg (Howa)1500 in -06 has been putting venison in my freezer for a long time. I am confident with 165 gr to 500 yards on a calm mule deer. I know the gun shoots better than me.

 

[Legionnaire]

Although my "go to" hunting rifle is a .308, I took my first deer ever with my FIL's Remington 760 in .30-06. That gun is now in my safe, along with a 1994 Remington 700 BDL, also in .30-06. The former shoots just under two inches with 150 grain Core-Lokts, but the 700 shoots .75" groups with 165 grainers. Interestingly, I rarely shoot the 700 BDL except at the range, favoring a Model Seven in .308 in the PA woods. Nevertheless, I have no plans to part with either aught six.

 

[morcey2]

30-06, 7x57, and 8x57. Kinda rotate depending on the mood and what ammunition I have.

 

[GuysModel94]

Bolt action 30-06 and a lever action 30-30, all a man ever needs!

 

[BigSteve57]

My 30-06's - hard to say MAIN as I have 30-06's for different purposes:

1. Browning Lightning Bolt - MAIN hunting rifle
2. 1917 Eddystone - MAIN competition rifle
3. M1 Garand - Competition

 

[jnoble87]

My baby....Might only be a Mossberg ATR100, but it's mine and I love it. .30-06 and a Nikon Buckmaster 3x9 on top. Shes a beaut.

And the Twins....The Mossy and the Savage MKll .22LR (it's dead nuts accurate)....

 

[kev778]

Never owned a 30-06. I have a Win Model 94 30-30 and a Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag. The 30-30 is my go to

 

[rszwieg]

I own several centerfire rifles in several chamberings but if I could only have one, .30/06 gets the nod.

 

[foghornl]

I have a small sampling of various .30's; for serious long range work, I'll take my Mossberg ATR-100 in .30-06.

US Rifle Cal .30 M1 Popularly Known As "The Garand"
Mossberg ATR-100
Yugo SKS
Romainian M-44 Mosin-Nagant
Marlin Mdl 30AW in .30-30

 

[madcratebuilder]

.06 isn't my "main" round but I do have 3K rounds stashed away. The Garand, 1917 and 03-03A3's keep eating away at it.

 

[USSR]

Let's see, 11 rifles, 7 of which are .30-06's - Yeah, I guess you could call one of them my "MAIN rifle".

Don

 

[Zeke/PA]

I own a couple of vintage Model 70's in .30-'06, a custom built on a 1909 Argentine action, an 03-A3 and a Savage Edge that is my current go to '06.
I like the cartridge for target in the Springfield and in the other rifles, it fills the bill in the PA Deer woods.

 

[heeler]

My late mother bought me my first deer rifle back in 1973 as a birthday gift so I would no longer have to borrow a rifle to go deer hunting.
Believe or not borrowing a rifle back then was not at all unheard of.
Still have it.
It was a Mossberg 810 bolt action 30-06.
Why did she buy me that caliber?
Because the sales guy was a WWII veteran and told her there was no better cartridge in the world.
I stopped using it around 12 years ago as I truely considered it way too much gun for Texas deer and so it has been languishing in the safe much too long now.
Time to put another scope on it and bring back online.

 

[sls4ak]

When living on the farm in Arkansas I kept a 30 carbine in the truck, carried a .22 when walking around the farm and used an '06 when hunting deer, black bear and the occasional feral pig. The '06 was definately my main large game gun the .22 my primary hunting gun, though several deer, coyotes, wild dogs, feral cats, bobcats fell to the 30 carbine since it was the gun at hand in my truck. I rarely went bird hunting when I would break out the 20 gauge. Here in Alaska, the '06 is considered a minimum gun by all but the natives in villages who still like the 30-30. I carry a .454 casull on my hip and a sako trg 338 lapua mag in my hand when hunting moose or brown bear. THe lapua is louder and harder kicking than I really need at my age but it is impressive in the hitting and range department. For caribou I like the .243 lever guns. And am seriously considering a .460 s&w lever as a brush popper. All that said I still am happy to walk out the door with one of my '06s if I could carry only one rifle. The 12 gauge would be my second gun.

To answer the ongoing 220 gr bullet question, Yes I have 500 rounds that my model 70 likes very much and I can place them nicely on target at 300 yds a great moose stopper, out to 500yds though I rarely get a shot that I want to take that far since there is usually a ravine or other obstruction between me and the moose I want to carry home. Do your ballistics chart work and practice distance estimation with mil-dot the '06 will not fail in all but the toughest bear targets.

 

[mdauben]

Bolt action 30-06 and a lever action 30-30, all a man ever needs!

A man after my own heart.

 

[OpelBlitz]

My only .30-06 rifles at the moment are two M1 Garands. I'd have no problem getting a .30-06 for hunting, but I'd prefer 6.5x55 or .270 Winchester.

 

[dmazur]

Let's see -

Ruger #1 for "open country" in eastern Washington
Winchester 1895 for the brush common on the west side of the state
MRC 1999 heavy barrel for target
M1 Garand for plinking

all in .30-06

 

[Dr.Rob]

As much as I like my AR, it's not my hunting rifle.

.30-06 remains my favorite to his day.

 

[MuleRyder]

4 Firearms a man needs

There is only 4 firearms a man needs. A good .22LR, 12Gauge, .45acp, and a .30-06.

Not bad I could live with that...

The only thing I don't like about my M77 .30-06 is the tang safety that locks the bolt when it's on.

 

[H2oPumper]

There's a reason the 30-06 is referenced back to vs almost every other caliber of rifle. For a newbie to centerfire rifles, it should be your first and build around it.

 

[sls4ak]

Never buy a 30-06 as your first rifle if you want any others. My wife is always asking what the new gun will do that the others will not. 30-06 is so versatile that it is hard to find something that it can't do.

45-70 truck gun now a days. With .454 casull on my hip.

 

[d2wing]

30-06 main gun, shoot .223 more and like 7 mm mag and others but if I only had one. it would be a 30-06.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

My separation anxiety after selling one of my Winchester 54 beauties caused me to scoop up a Browning High Power in 30-06 just to calm myself down after noticing I now owned only one civilian -06.

So - if I'm thinking - iron sights, bolt action and full bore then -06 is still my "go to" rifle. Of course, getting older and lazier I still reach first for a scoped .308.