Where does the 30-06 fit in?

[ATLDave]

Not having read the whole article, you do not understand the context of what was said. Suffice it to say only having one rifle, its own er has learned to use it in whatever situation.

The point is that the far, far, far, far more common scenario today is that the shooter who has one rifle has not learned to use it especially well at all. Most people today who own only one gun are casual shooters. Lots of families have an old shotgun or rifle that just sits in a closet until it is drug out thrice a decade to plink a few cans or flail away in a friend's field at some pretty-safe doves.

Were things different for a generation that grew up during the depression or in a rural, cash-poor/manufactured-goods-scarce environment? Sure, although I doubt having multiple guns has ever been correlated overall with a lack of skill (certainly it was and is possible for unskilled individuals to acquire multiple guns - but having more than one gun is not a good indicator that a person doesn't know much about guns or how to use them). But today? Nah, the saying is upside down.

Not being a motorcycle rider myself, I express no opinion on the "biker" question. But I would venture that most competitive motorcycle racers probably have more than one bike, whereas a solid majority of the more incompetent riders own only one - probably their first.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

This is true but you have to realize a lot of 1000 yard rifles are built by people that only have access to 100 yard ranges...

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Long_Distance_Ranges_in_Michigan_344921_7.pdf

Looks like that list needs updating. For the Iosco Sportsmans Club, it lists the East Tawas range at 300 yards, when in fact 100 yards is all the further you can shoot in East Tawas. However the same club owns a range in Oscoda, where you can shoot 600 yards.

 

[Officers'Wife]

By the same token, we have a retired employee that has one firearm rifle, just one. End of sentence. A slight action 22 but saw his better days about the time that Truman was trying to decide whether or not to bomb Japan. The man feeds himself with that rifle. I have personally witnessed him take the head off a squirrel at seventy-five yards with that rifle. The list of his edible animals would turn the stomach of just about anybody except one that was raised in the mountains of West Virginia during the Great Depression. But most of those edible animals were taken with that ancient 22. He has told me on several occasions that when he was growing up his father would give him two bullets and send him out. If he missed, the family went hungry that night. He

Perhaps that writer simply wasn't precise in his language. Perhaps the language should be, beware of the man that depends on one rifle. He definitely knows how to use it.

 

[ATLDave]

Beware the man who actually depends, in a demanding, measurable way, on any number of firearms... he evidently knows how to use them!

 

[Bushpilot]

"An interesting survey of the most popular hunting cartridges in use in south/central Alaska was published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game back in 2000. Very large animals, such as moose and the great bears are hunted here, as well as deer, goats, black bear and caribou, and the Alaskan list reflects this.

The number in parenthesis is the percentage of hunters using each caliber. Note the abrupt fall off in popularity after the .30-06, .300 Win. Mag. and .338 Win. Mag."

ALASKA TOP TEN CARTRIDGES (Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game survey, 2000)

1. .30-06 (20.9%)
2. .300 Win. Mag. (18.5%)
3. .338 Win. Mag. (18.4%)
4. 7mm Rem. Mag. (8.5%)
5. .375 H&H Mag. (6.3%)
6. .270 Win. (5.8%)
7. .308 Win. (3.5%)
8. .300 Wby. Mag. (3.5%)
9. .45-70 Gov. (1.4%)
10. .280 Rem. (1.1%)

https://www.chuckhawks.com/best_selling_rifle_cartridges.htm

 

[Officers'Wife]

Beware the man who actually depends, in a demanding, measurable way, on any number of firearms... he evidently knows how to use them!

First joker doesn't have a chance here. When in doubt, go back to basics... It ain't the machine it's the operator,

 

[Varminterror]

I’ve never met a professional guitarist who only owned one guitar. Never met a professional fighter who only had one pair of gloves. Never a professional bull rider who only has one set of spurs. Never met a professional marksman who only had one firearm.

Masters of craft surround themselves with their craft, and far surpass the lore of “grandpappy was an amazing shot.”

The gulf between the average person and the true masters of any craft is typically much wider than folks expect.

 

[sage5907]

I’ve know many men with but one rifle, and many, many men with many rifles.

I have NEVER met a man with one rifle who knew how to use it as well as the men with many rifles. Riflemen tend to surround ourselves with our craft..

I agree with this statement although I'm sure there are many exceptions. When it comes to hunting I also think it's true that 20% of the hunters take 80% of the game, and that same 20% are apt to have many rifles. I also think 1000 yard shooting with a 30-06 is for targets and not for animals.

 

[sage5907]

ALASKA TOP TEN CARTRIDGES (Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game survey, 2000)

1. .30-06 (20.9%)
2. .300 Win. Mag. (18.5%)
3. .338 Win. Mag. (18.4%)
4. 7mm Rem. Mag. (8.5%)
5. .375 H&H Mag. (6.3%)
6. .270 Win. (5.8%)
7. .308 Win. (3.5%)
8. .300 Wby. Mag. (3.5%)
9. .45-70 Gov. (1.4%)
10. .280 Rem. (1.1%)

https://www.chuckhawks.com/best_selling_rifle_cartridges.htm

I like this survey. If you add the totals for 30 caliber rifles it totals up to 46.4%. The 30 caliber added to 338 equals 64.8 percent. It doesn't take long to figure out what works.

 

[Varminterror]

Alaskan stats from almost 20yrs ago. I’d be interested if the data were current, or represented a more common cross section of American hunters. And of course, hunting in Alaska isn’t akin to 1,000yrd shooting.

 

[Bushpilot]

Alaskan stats from almost 20yrs ago. I’d be interested if the data were current, or represented a more common cross section of American hunters. And of course, hunting in Alaska isn’t akin to 1,000yrd shooting.

Alaska has the greatest variety of big game that the US has to offer... If a cartridge can do the job in Alaska it can certainly do it on similar game in the rest of the USA......

Here are the Alaska Department of Fish and Game cartridge recommendations for 2015:

"we’ve arrived at the following consensus for the department’s Top Five Big Game Calibers"

1. 30.06
2. .300 Winchester magnum
3. .338 Winchester magnum
4. .375 H&H magnum
5. 7mm Remington magnum

Not much has changed. What made a good choice in 2000 is still viable.... You can read the whole article at:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=734

 

[CraigC]

I’ve know many men with but one rifle, and many, many men with many rifles.

I have NEVER met a man with one rifle who knew how to use it as well as the men with many rifles. Riflemen tend to surround ourselves with our craft. Guys who would rather be golfing on a Saturday afternoon than shooting are much more typically the “one rifle” kind of guys.

So after a few decades in shooting sports, I’d say the contrary is more true - the man with one rifle typically has no clue how to use it.

100%!

 

[Varminterror]

@Bushpilot - wanna pull together a list of the couple dozen states in the US in which the largest big game is a whitetail buck, then convince me the cartridges used and recommended for use in the single American State which is home to most of the LARGEST GAME SPECIES IN AMERICA is relevant for the larger list?

There are more game species in Africa than Alaska, but the most commonly recommended cartridge I have ever been told by PH’s and outfitters is a minimum of 375 H&H... not relevant information for American hunters either...

 

[ACES&8S]

I'm lost in all this.
What was the question again?

 

[LoonWulf]

I'm lost in all this.
What was the question again?

do you like croquet, wasnt it?

 

[adcoch1]

I'm lost in all this.
What was the question again?

I thought it was if a 22 could stop an elephant...

 

[brewer12345]

@Bushpilot - wanna pull together a list of the couple dozen states in the US in which the largest big game is a whitetail buck, then convince me the cartridges used and recommended for use in the single American State which is home to most of the LARGEST GAME SPECIES IN AMERICA is relevant for the larger list?

There are more game species in Africa than Alaska, but the most commonly recommended cartridge I have ever been told by PH’s and outfitters is a minimum of 375 H&H... not relevant information for American hunters either...

Yeah, guides tend to want you to use a howitzer.

In places where the biggest thing you will see is a south of the Mason-Dixon line white tail, 30-06 is clearly overkill. Ditto most places east of the Mississippi where the timber tends to be thick and a 100 yard shot is a rarity. If I lived in Pennsylvania or Alabama I would be trotting out my 35 Rem or 44 mag rifle. Both would put the thump on deer and hogs inside 100 yards with authority. You could easily download a 30-06 to do the job, but why bother?

 

[ontarget]

I'm lost in all this.
What was the question again?[/QUOTE

 

[Art Eatman]

I don't care how much you beat on that poor old dead horse, his morale ain't gonna improve.

Sayonara...