The 'ole aught six.....

Only 1 cartridge/rifle to own? Depressing thought. 30-06 would be hard to beat. Down load it near 30-30, up nipping at the heels of the 300win mag, and anything in between. So many diff flavors of ammo to choose from on the shelf and if you roll your own theres any kind of bullet you could want.

Im a 270win man and in my neck of the woods its more power than ill ever need. Ive shot crows up to deer with it and its anchored em all. It may be just as versatile in the southeast as the '06.

The 6.5's will do anything ill ever need, small to big, close to far cause i wont hunt anything any larger than a 200lb deer, if im lucky. For an "anything in North America" type gun though, CZ 550 300win mag UHR.
 
Never been a big fan of the 30-06 but fully realize it ability's. If I could only have one I'd make it either my 6.5x55 or my 6.5x06. If it didn't handload the choice would be different.
 
375 Holland and Holland or a .270 for me. That being said I don't really see a ton of difference in the 270 vs 30-06. I suppose one could just as easily throw the .308 and within range limitations the 30-30 in there. And the 7MM mag. And... wow there are a lot
 
Old School...............
1939 Winchester/Cloward Model 70 ...labeled.....30-06 sprg
WSaRW2J.jpg
 
What are you missing, Big John?


If you only got one gun, and you don't shoot cast boolits; you're missing ALL The FUN!

Want to errode that throat? Shoot lots of 110gr spitzers at velocity. Lots of ways to screw up a good thing... .30-06 will take .32cal handgun bullets... If can validate a handgun, a .32 mag would be a great sidekick, but not for self-defense.

If you got only one rifle and it's a .30-06 you're missing NOTHING. If you go .30-06 AI you got effectively a .30 magnum and the gain is very good with 200gr and up weight bullets. In Alaska, you want an AI or maybe even a .30 Gibbs.

If you already have a .357mag then prolly can rationalize stepping up to the .35 Whelen. Lots easier to shoot the bigger bores with cast bullets, and you got interchangeability and defense potential too with .357 handgun...

Then , theres the .30/284 which can be a short-action round; but best to do it in a LA. This is a better option for precision shooting, but is identical to .30-06 for load data and performance. Better options for bullet seating, case already has a 35 deg shoulder and powder stays more compacted than the longer case. Can also go with a .35/284 wildcat and it is pretty popular...

What are you missing? Best not to ask...
 
Yelp what's not to like about the 30-06? I own four of them and have taken several deer with them. Some reason the 7MM Magnum bug bit me a few years ago and I have been using it for the last 5 or 6 years. You know when it all boils down to it the 7MM Magnum has done nothing extra for me than the 30-06 would have. All my deer shooting with the 7MM Magnum has been 100 yards and less so the 30-06 would have done just as good a job. Probably at some point I will lay down the 7MM Magnum and go back to the ought six.
 
Thanks be to God I don't have to own only one gun for what a boring life that would be. 30/06 was what everyone else had growing up in Wisconsin. I was exotic with a .270 and told way to often that it was too much gun for deer. Need a 30-30 lever action they said. Well let me just say that the last deer I killed with my 7mm RUM died quickly and cleanly as did the first I killed with my .270 and the many more in between with a number of other guns. I'm in the camp that there's no such thing as too much gun but I also respect that the shot regardless of caliber needs to be accurate. Friend of mine holds the #7 B&C grizzly. Killed it with a .243. True story.
 
If I were getting a new gun, a 280 Ackley.

Mag capacity of a 30'06. Great bullets in its sweet spot. 3000 fps.

300 WSM is a great alternative, but kicks harder for not much more performance. Also, typically holds 2 in the mag.

30'06....great, but gives up some performance due to body and shoulder. Also slightly under 3000 fps with it's favorite 180 gr loads.

308....another darn good choice, but give up a fair amount of velocity...100-200fps under the '06.
 
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