…well, in the opinion of this bloke at NRAHunting, anyway:
No matter what happens tomorrow, next year or even a decade from now, the .30-06 Springfield will be regarded as one of the best centerfire rifle cartridges of all time. Adopted by the U.S. military in 1906, it was originally loaded with a 150-grain bullet, with a muzzle velocity of 2700 fps. With a 100-yard zero it would drop less than 16 inches at 300 yards and deliver 1,435 ft.-lbs. of energy on target.
These were impressive ballistics for 113 years ago, and in reality, they still are. Jeff Cooper thought it adequate for general-purpose rifle work, and it proved more than capable for Stewart Edward White and Theodore Roosevelt in Africa. Since then, it has admirably served soldiers and hunters all over the world.
Even so, the .30-06 is dying. In fact, it has been dying for almost 100 years.
And Richard Mann then fingers the cartridges which are responsible.
I confess myself to be agnostic on the .30-06 cartridge, having grown up instead with its Euro-equivalent, the 8x57mm Mauser. And I’ve seen the 8×57 likewise eclipsed, but not by newer cartridges which outperform the Kaiser’s cartridge ballistically. Instead, as for the .30-06, it was replaced by shooters who preferred other, lighter-recoiling cartridges like the 6.5x55mm Swede as well as the “newcomers” like the .308 Win and so on.
And for the record, it may be a while before I shoot the 6.5 Creedmoor: not because I dislike new cartridges (although I often do), but because the 6.5 Swede still does it all for me and I see little reason to change.
Which, come to think about it, may well be why many of my Readers (who are often as curmudgeonly and conservative as I) will cling bitterly to their trusted .30-06 Springfield rifles. And I see nothing at all wrong with that.
My .30-’06 is a 1903A3 that I inherited from my grandfather. It was sporterized/Bubba’d long before I was born, but I’m slowly gathering the pieces to restore it to it’s original condition. It will be gorgeous when I’m done with it.
However… If I needed a “medium” caliber rifle RIGHT NOW to go kill things with, I’m grabbing one of my AR-10’s, either the .308 or the 6.5 CM. Not because the -’06 is inadequate in any way, shape, or form, but because the ARs are lighter, more accurate, and semiautomatic, neverminding the fact that they have 25 round detachable mags available vs. the five round internal capacity of the ’03A3.
All that said, I think my preferences are heavily influenced by my location. We’re drowning in hogs, and if I get the chance to kill them, I’m going to kill as many as I can. Bastards.
Got my first M1 Garand through DCM in 1980. $168.00. Yes, it was DCM then, not CMP. Thank you Teddy Kennedy–hack, spit.
I shot NRA Highpower at several local clubs, some of which had M-1’s on “permanent loan” for match shooters to use. The also drew allotments of surplus 30-06 ammo to support these same rifles. You could purchase this ammo (cheap) for a match, but were not required to shoot it at that match. You could shoot handloads (in YOUR M-1) if you wished. You could also purchase the (now empty) ammo cans and bandoleers for cheap as well.
Over the years, I accumulated roughly 1100 rounds of LC 30-06 ammo, now stored in the clips, in the bandoleers, in the cans. At my age, the weight of an M1 and the iron sights become more of a challenge with each passing year. Many of these issues are solved with my AR build. The M1(s) and ammo aren’t going anywhere except to my descendants.
“At my age, the weight of an M1 and the iron sights become more of a challenge with each passing year. ”
I hear ya!! My service rifle in the 60’s was an M-14; I shot very, very well with it and loved it. I felt like I could hit anything I could see and threw it around like a toothpick in a manual of arms. Come forward to about a year ago – ammo prices had come back to earth and I went seriously looking for an M-1A. I found a couple and shouldered them.
I was surprised and disappointed to find that over more than 50 years, that 10 lb. rifle had grown to more than 32 lbs.
Sorry, Kim, gotta stick with my 7 lb. poodle shooter.
About
It seems to me that quite a few of the “modern” cartridges just equal or barely exceed most of their older equivalents. For example the plethora of .300 magnums all with velocities within 200 fps of each other, and some of said “magnums” factory loadings can be beaten quite handily by a hot handload in the venerable .30-06.
Jeff Cooper was fond of pointing out just how little things had really changed in ammunition.
Meh. All those suppository guns are just a passing fancy anyway. Real shooting irons load from the front end, and use advanced caseless ammunition.
Isn’t the .308 Winchester/7.62×51 just the .30-06 Short&Weak?
The Garand obviously had the advantage of capacity over the 06’s, and could reach out and touch you just fine.
I have read that Marines Veterans that had been fighting with the 06’s prior to WWII were at hesitant to give them up for the Garands until they actually saw how much better they were in battle.
Unfortunately, going from the M14 to the M16 was not as smooth a transition.
I have read that Marines Veterans that had been fighting with the 03 Springfields prior to WWII were at hesitant to give them up for the Garands until they actually saw how much better they were in battle.
Unfortunately, going from the M14 to the M16 was not as smooth a transition.