30-06 ? Dad was right!

[Guy Miner]

More than 50 years ago, when I was a kid Dad told me I only needed a .22 rimfire and a .30-06 for hunting. Last year I selected my 30-06 Rem 700 CDL for all my hunting. Umm... It worked... So, do I really need any of the others? Why not sell 'em all except the 30-06, and fund another hunt or two?

Well? I dunno. I do LIKE the heck out of several other rifles, but dang... Only tag I didn't fill was cougar, because I didn't see one. Pretty sure the 30-06 could have handled that as well.

Guy

 

[FOTIS]

It would get boring no?

 

[Thankful Otter]

I am just the opposite of Fotis

You could plan, prepare and hunt Africa, New Zealand, Europe, and Alaska, again--maybe even Canada.

However the 22 and 30-06 is one more rifle than you need in my humble opinion. I was happy for many years with only a 30-06.

However in your case Guy, I would keep those two plus your 375 ( for Africa ) and start planning your next trip

 

[DrMike]

It will work, no doubt. However, there is the excitement of trying different things. Still, it's hard to argue with success, and the '06 has been stacking 'em up for a century plus.

 

[c. schutte]

Guy,

Only you can answer this this one.......?

If you have any good memories of hunts with other rifles then you are parting with some of that too. Like most of us I come from a family that were made of hunters and remember the stories from family members that go with certain rifles. Each time I grab that old model 99 my grandfather is part of that rifle. So many stories from a number of rifles & shot guns.

Over time I have had several adventures or hunts from different rifles and I would not want to part with any of them. Yeah, I know they are just wood & steel for the most part however, there is a great satisfaction knowing a certain rifle was hunted with family members from 4 generations and the story keeps going on that rifle.............................. Or that first elk was with this rifle, the double with my friend was with that rifle...........

Eventually rifle represents something greater than the sum of it's parts.

Maybe it's just me, I would sell something else to fund hunts..............maybe you MIL????????? :shock: :lol:

 

[Europe]

I am surprised you have only received three responses. The fellows must either think your crazy or they agree with you but dont want to admit it.

I agree with both Charles and Cheyenne. Any rifles with sentimental value attached should stay home but after that you have to decide what you enjoy the most, throwing money, oops I mean bullets downrange day after day after day with 15 different rifles at the range or going on another hunt like the one in Alaska. I do agree with the lady from the north that you should keep the 375 to go along with your 30-06 and 22 and you also need a shotgun and a handgun.

 

[jmm]

I have sold/given away everything except my trusty 30-06, a left hand .416 Rigby, a left hand Beretta .410/28 gauge, a left hand .223 bolt action and my 1974 Winchester 9422 .22 Magnum that I got for my 12th birthday. The 06 gets by far the most action. I shoot the .416 rarely and have taken it to Africa a few times. I have been on a couple of rampaging elephant stalks with it, but not too much use. The .223 gets called into action when culling at night. The .22 magnum stays in my truck and I use it when tracking wounded deer for clients in the thick cedars.

But mostly I just use the .30-06. I have not encountered any game animal that I could not safely take with it with the exception of an elephant. I think I could brain an elephant pretty easy with it, but that is frowned on with park rangers, phs, etc.. I have hunted with an 85 year old ph that was born in Southern Rhodesia and hunted there all his life. He has killed hundreds of lions, buffalo, hippo, giraffes, leopards, elephants, etc... Most of them with his iron sighted .30-06 with heavy slugs. He does not reload, just has bought whatever 200, 220, 250 slug he could get his hands on in the day. He will tell you that a moderately paced, heavy cup/core slug will kill everything if shot placement is correct.

I, on the other hand, log the performance of each of the animals I shoot and keep track of the results and refer to my notes each year when getting ready to hunt. I keep a steady supply of 110 grain thru 240 grain bullets on hand as well as all of the relevant powders. I keep playing with loads and bullet/powder combinations. Maybe one day I will settle on one load, but for now I keep changing loads with what I am after.

 

[Polaris]

There is a lot of wisdom in shooting ballistically identical loads for anything that may involve distance, IE... one caliber and basic load. Your 30-06 with the right bullet will fill this bill, allowing you to become very intimate with the wind calls and points of impact at various distances.

There is no need to suffer from boredom selecting only a 30-06 for everything. This round has been chambered in every conceivable type and price point of centerfire rifle around the world, including some downright cool custom rifles built on military springfield or mauser actions that are quite affordable because they are not chambered in the latest loudenboomer caliber. Getting bored with the old Remington? Try a Winchester 95, BLR, Ruger No1 for the eclectic, Tikka T3 or Blaser if you're feeling modernistic, Mannlicher Schoenaur if you want a touch of Hemmingway in your hunt, or grab that M17 Sporter for some nostalgia, or track down a Husqvarna or pick up a Savage from the local big box store for a no-frills game killer. Whichever way you go, a Nosler 180 AB, BT or Partition will do the job at the business end. Will definitely simplify your reloading bench.

In my case, my 30-06 is the .280 rem. I could hunt anything in NA short of grizzly bears with it. An 06 would fill the same role, I just found the 280 first.

 

[Polaris]

As for the boredom factor personally, I alleviate mine by collecting and shooting various obsolete military bolt action rifles. Reloading, shooting and sometimes competing with (CMP vintage military class) 6.5x50, 6.5x55, 7x57, 7.5x55, 7.62x54R, and 7.92x57 keeps my loading bench thoroughly cluttered and always leaves something to tinker with. Want a real challenge? Shoot a stock military mauser in a High Power match as a match rifle! Just a couple weeks ago, I found exploding match bullets in my 6.5x55. Now back to the drawing board with that one. As for hunting, I just grab the .280 and take game. Occasionally Grandpa's .300 Savage goes for a walk in the woods though.

 

[35 Whelen]

Guy,
Bad as I hate to say it......... looks like your Dad was right! I know I could easily do all my hunting with one.
About the ONLY situation I can think of is coyote hunting here unless I could come up with a bullet that would be good in the wind and still expand rapidly enough to give me instant kills ( almost impossible?) I know I would have mostly "pass through's" and then "run offs"
But failing that one situation, it would cover everything else.....

 

[truck driver]

I am surprised you have only received three responses. The fellows must either think your crazy or they agree with you but dont want to admit it.

I agree with both Charles and Cheyenne. Any rifles with sentimental value attached should stay home but after that you have to decide what you enjoy the most, throwing money, oops I mean bullets downrange day after day after day with 15 different rifles at the range or going on another hunt like the one in Alaska. I do agree with the lady from the north that you should keep the 375 to go along with your 30-06 and 22 and you also need a shotgun and a handgun.

Well I'm sort of with Guy's father on this one since for the longest time I only owned 2 rifles, a Rem 510 Target master .22( first rifle ) and a Remington 725 30-06. I shot the 30-06 so much for everything I wore the barrel throat out and the accuracy went south so I rebarreled it but to a different caliber which I thought I had always wanted, a 257Roberts. After determining it wasn't enough caliber for what I wanted to do I purchased a new M77 in 30-06 for big game and the 257 was regulated to varmint hunting which had wore out my first 30-06.
Won a 300Bee in a raffle and found I didn't care for it and sold it.
Used the money to buy another 30-06 from GB and a 35Whelen plus a 7mmRm.
Turned the new to me 30-06 into a 35Whelen/AI sold the 35Whelen and bought a 338Wm. Mind you before I won the 300Bee I was a 3 gun owner and this has all been done since I retired and boredom caught up with me along with joining this forum.
I love my 30-06 and my wife one time threatened to put a nighty on it so I could sleep with it instead of her :shock: but that didn't happen.
The 338Wm came to me by accident since I couldn't make up my mind if I want to rebarrel the 35Whelen/AI or get another rifle when I found a chip out of the barrel about 1/2" from the muzzle. I had been looking on GB to see what was available in the 35cal range and saw the 338Wm for a good price though not really wanting it I placed a bid of $1 over minimum and dang if I didn't win it. That rifle has been another adventure getting it to shoot and have almost sold it several times but being hard headed I refused to give up on it and I think I have it whipped and it is going to Montana with me and maybe the 35Whelen/AI as back up.
The 30-06 will stay home in the safe unless something happens between now and October.

 

[Anonymous]

I guess if it came down to it...I'd sell off whatever I needed to in order to fund more hunting, including the bulk of my guns.

As shooters we tend to think of hunting like golf- we need a bag full of clubs for the full range of the game.

In reality, we can hunt nearly anything with just a .30-06, a .22 and a 12 gauge.

 

[DrMike]

I guess if it came down to it...I'd sell off whatever I needed to in order to fund more hunting, including the bulk of my guns.

As shooters we tend to think of hunting like golf- we need a bag full of clubs for the full range of the game.

In reality, we can hunt nearly anything with just a .30-06, a .22 and a 12 gauge.

Way too practical. True, but way too practical. :lol:

 

[preacher]

I've sold guns to pay bills, fund other hunts, to buy something different...and other various reasons. They are easily replaced in the good times and easily passed on in the lean times, for me, ha. When we are older, it starts to make even more sense to make our hobbies begin to pay for themselves, and to focus on less as "more". I say "sell, go hunt while you are in good physical shape" Marine!

 

[mjcmichigan]

I think for me, it's a mix. There are some things that there is no price, grandpa's shotgun, took more pheasant rabbit and squirrel than I'll see in my lifetime, he helped feed a poor family of 9 with it during the depression. It will go to my oldest, who killed his first pheasant with it... that gun is a $19 shotgun from 1929 and it will stay in the family. Then I can think of a couple that just don't get the love, and they will be bartered traded or sold....


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[preacher]

Exactly right! The ones I want passed down are earmarked, inviolate and protected, ha. I only keep a few handy, the rest are already given to my SIL,etc. I like to keep a few that 9a) have yet to earn that spot and/or (b) I know will never be more than 'spares"....they are all up for sell/trade, etc at the right time and place.

 

[Rigbymauser]

It´s very difficult to argue against .30-06. Lovely caliber. Thanks for sharing Guy!.

 

[SJB358]

I guess if it came down to it...I'd sell off whatever I needed to in order to fund more hunting, including the bulk of my guns.

As shooters we tend to think of hunting like golf- we need a bag full of clubs for the full range of the game.

In reality, we can hunt nearly anything with just a .30-06, a .22 and a 12 gauge.

Way too practical. True, but way too practical. :lol:

For sure. Not a 30-06 guy really, but I could make do with it just fine.

You had an excellent year with that rifle and did a lot of great hunting.

 

[brikwhitt]

Guy, nice assortment of critters. All with a 30-06 no less. Your father was a smart man. I've killed game with an assortment of calibers through the years, and not a one of them were more dead than a 30-06 would have made them.

I love mine, and its my go to big game rifle. I'm the only person in our hunting club of 28 people using a 30-06. The 300 winny and 7mm magnum probably make up the majority of the rifles carried along with one 270 and one 25-06.

I feel out numbered yes, but not under gunned.

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[cloverleaf]

Sentiment has filled my safe to overflowing. I don't need anything other than my 250 Savage. However, Dads 7Mag is there and Mom's 6.5 Jap, and Grandpas 22.... eventually I will part with them or die...but when, how, and why. Incidentally I know I will not be letting the three mentioned above go until I have shot them! That's the plan any way :grin: CL