Hey guys, this is not my cartridge is better than yours, its what is the worlds best all around cartridge? I mean really, who defeated whom as not based on a cartridge, the Brits used the obsolete 303 until the 60s for gods sake.
So lets get it back on the basis of reality.
Yes the Model T was the basis of my pickup truck so was the wagon. Neither one is my pickup truck (and giving that the effectiveness of both the 7/8x57 is equal to the 30-06)
With its twist rate and bullet availability, nothing is more broadly capable than a 30-06.
If cartridge availability was a factor I would find out what is available. I am never going hunting in Zambia, there is might be 303 or the 7 or 8 x 57 and I would take that.
All those calibers designed in that era were capable, for crying out loud the Brits used the 303 in the Spits, Hurricanes for machine guns (helped if they were shooting downhill of course)
Due to a lot of factors, I believe the 30-06 is the go to cartridge and all the rest are shades of window dressing. Bullet choice alone due to the popularity of all 30 calibers is stunning.
It can do what the Magnums do, it can to what the RUMs do, it can be a varmint round.
And out at 600 yds, does it really matter if the 300 WM only drops 32 inches vs 40 inches for an 06? You still have to hold high and calculate a huge drop, 8 inches (or whatever it works to to be) is going to make you miss?
Yes we bow to the 7/8 x 57 as the Mother of all these, but the changes to the 30-06 were well done, worked well and while the 1903 was not the poster child of well designed rifles (vs accurate, ie the gas blow out issue) the cartridge lives on into immortality and modern rifles deal with the gas issue.