Thread: 30-06

I'm thinking of going for one rifle does all and want to tilt towards a bit more overall grunt than my current 7mm08.
With carbon stocks and suppressors, the need for a heavy set up with medium/heavy hitters might be less than it was 20 years ago.

Can the 30-06 be brought up to similar performance to short fat cases or is the shape just obsolete ?

I see that Sako make factory ammo and Lapua do brass so reloading supplies should be OK and there's a possibility of buying top notch factory ammo if I'm ever reduced to that.

First question is pressure.
Are there recognised loads for modern actions or are all reload data and factory offerings scaled back for 1906 aged rifles ?

Second question is accuracy.
What's the best accuracy anyone's got with it in recent years ?

the mighty 30/06 is what everything wanted to be when it grew up.
consider this...folks say with modern powders the 308 can now do what the 30/06 did......so with modern powders the dirty06 is better still....and the projectile choice around now makes it even more so.
how accurate do you need= how far do you want to shoot...with the mighty 06 you dont need to neck shoot,it has grunt in spades

and finally if I didnt own a .270 I would own a 30/06 a fella cant give higher praise than that!!!

Mine shoots 165grain psp at 2900'/s easy and well sub moa. They shoot a 180 grain really well too.

30-06 and hornady 178gn projectiles either eldm or eldx over adi 2209 powder and be forever happy with your hammer of Thor
Easy to load for and get stupid accuracy and reasonable velocity if I had to go down to 1 rifle 30 06 would be the one

The '06 is a great all round cartridge, can certainly be loaded up safely, heaps of different choices for projectiles, and its just as accurate as any other calibre with similar weight projectiles. Buy with confidence, have some fun, work up some good load data and have at it, animals will go bang flop.

The .30/06 is loaded to modern pressures as it is still one of the most popular of modern cartridges. It's also probably had more development done on its bullets and powers than any cartridge ever. It's still one of the top used cartridges world wide along with the .308. Its only in NZ that its seems not as popular.

I have had four .30/06's over the years and handloaded for all of them and they all shot to an inch or less. I took no especial trouble to get them shoot that well and did not consider trying to get them better than that once it happened; it may have been possible.

With a 22 inch barrel for my purposes I make a .30-06 shoot a 150 grain bullet at 2950 - 3000 fps or 180 bullets to 2800 fps. (I have a loaded 220 grain bullets at 2450 fps but have not shot anything with them.) I suppose that in NZ you dont need anymore than a 150 grain bullet for any animal we have, except for a 180 grain bullet for a big stag during the roar, if it makes you feel comfortable.

I have a Winchester Model 70 from the 1980's in .30/06 and is the foundation of my hunting battery and it will never be sold.



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My old Husqvarna .30 '06 with a 150 bullet at 3,000+ fps will do everything you want it to and then some. My long-range target rifle is good to 1,000+ metres running a 168 grain at 2950 with 2213SC through a 26" barrel, well within pressure limits. I have been hunting with the calibre since 1967.

Short answer is yes.
2209 is your friend. 165 gn BT and AB at 2930 fps. You can build them pretty light and manners are ok. those old cases feed beautifully.




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Had one for a while and liked it. Then me being me and wanting something a little bit odd ball turned it into a 6.5 06. Happy with that as well

All of the national chain gun retail shop salespeople will tell you you've bought the wrong thing.
At least thats what they all tell me. Especially the blokes at gun city.

Originally Posted by Brad S

All of the national chain gun retail shop salespeople will tell you you've bought the wrong thing.
At least thats what they all tell me. Especially the blokes at gun city.

How many gun retail shop salespeople really know anything about guns?

All the above plus if you don't reload and only use factory ammo you can get it anywhere, try that with a wssm.

The .308 will do everything the 30-06 will do but about 200 fps slower. Having said that I covered my bases by having one of each 😎 (Disclaimer I have two 308s) Powder wise H414 is the bees knees, in fact one would think it was produced specifically for the 30-06.

I can see the wisdom in this thread and guess the 30-06 is pretty close to perfect for the task

But I just have to ask ?
Why only one rifle ??
That is tragic !!
More rifles please. Not less

Greetings to you all,
The .30-06 is loaded to slightly lower pressure (50,000 CUP and 59,000 PSI listed in the Hodgdon Data) than the new short fat and even the old belted magnums but in handloads Superformance has given it a new dose of goat glands. Scrolling through the latest H&F wish book I did note that it was not listed as often as some other cartridges but it is still one of the standard chamberings. The latest Handloader had the first pet loads article on the .30-06 that I have seen for some time so it is still all go in the US. Components should never be a problem or factory ammo for that matter.
To be honest I have never owned a .30-06 but did play with the .30-06 AI for a bit. Those that own them love them and they are permanent residents in their gun safes. For a one rifle to do everything there may be ever so slightly better choices but the .30-06 will do the job just as it has for the last 100 plus years.
Regards Grandpamac.