Tell us about your favorite 30-06

Billyram · Nov 6, 2016

I've hunted with quite a few great and fun to shoot calibers but haven't found one to fit my needs better than the 30-06.

The Steyr doesn't like anything fancy and prefers 53grs. of Rx15 behind a Hornady 150gr. Spire point. It also likes HyperSonic 150gr. Bonded Core-Lokts.
The other rifle built by Gre-Tan rifles has a 11" twist Broughton 5C barrel that's not too particular about what it shoots and is quite accurate with most 150-180gr bullets. My favorite load is 57grs. H-4350 behind a 165gr Ballistic Tip. I've never shot anything with a bonded bullet but the next deer I shoot will be with a bonded bullet. It's either going to be the Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded or the AccuBond. If the AccuBond does well it may be my new favorite.
Have any of you tried Rx16 in your 30-06s? It looks to be a versatile powder in the 30-06.
Billy

Polaris · Nov 7, 2016

Mine is a M1917 that was professionally sported some time a long time ago. They quit making the model of recoil pad on it before WWII, so it is likely that old. At some point, it had traditional modern scope bases put on it, and still bears the shadow and drilling where a Lyman Receiver sight used to sit. It is well worn, has a cracked stock (now stabilized with a maple dowel and epoxy), missing most of it's blueing and accurate as hell. It is the one rifle I count on no matter what the conditions to function and get the job done. It is one of those rare birds that shoots everything I run through it accurately and for some reason to the same POI at 100 yards. It lives at my hunting camp for a loaner rifle should anybody need one, and I am now hunting with it due to the tight cover, the low mag optic and the somewhat compact nature of this beast. I think I payed a whopping $125 for it at a pawn shop planning on using it as a donor until I shot it. Don't have a picture, but I love the thing.

Currently running the old standard IMR4350/180 RN load, slightly reduced to somewhere around .308 speed due to some younger hunters who may use it, but it's run well with everything from 150 to 180 that I've tried, even 168BTHPs and M25 tracers on the steel plates way out there.

Muldoon · Nov 7, 2016

It's totally 'boring' to shoot!

Beanland06 by Sharps Man, on Flickr

BretN · Nov 7, 2016

My new to me Tikka T3 Hunter is my current favorite '06. It's just a good solid rifle and I thoroughly enjoy shooting it. So far I have worked up loads in 125, 150, and 165 grains and all will shoot under an inch at 100 yards. They were all developed without much fuss or elaborate trial and error. I finally harvested my first deer with it and despite bad shot placement on my part, the mild 165 gr Sierra HPBT load brought the small buck down. What more could you ask for in a deer rifle?

Guy Miner · Nov 8, 2016

My FAVORITE .30-06 is a Model of 1917 that I've been shooting most of my life. For some reason my youngest son thinks it is his. Kids! :grin:

It was sporterized long ago, in the 1950's, so has no collector's value, and I brought it up to date about 10 years ago. Maybe a little more.

Four generations of my family have used it, over the past 60+ years.

These days it is bedded in a Bell & Carlson stock, has a 6x Leupold atop it, and the barrel is bobbed to 21" - making it much more handy for hunting. Favorite load is a 165 Nosler at a mild 2750 fps. Young John has killed two bear and three bucks with it in the past few years. Dad and I are all proud that he's doing so well with the old rifle, originally built for WWI.

Regards, Guy

Guy Miner · Nov 8, 2016

On the other hand, I'm pretty pleased with my much newer .30-06 Remington 700 CDL which has worked out so well for me this year:

The 700 CDL has been pillar bedded & free floated, and has an old 2-7x Redfield. It's sighted in at 200 yards with handloaded 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. I have to admit, it's a pretty doggone nice rifle which has worked out real well.

Regards, Guy

truck driver · Nov 8, 2016

Mine is a tang safety Ruger M77 that I bought new. I've lost count how many deer I've killed with it since I used it for crop damage work for several farmers. I had the factory stock fully bedded right after I got it because the forearm warped but it hasn't lost point of impact since.

JD338 · Nov 8, 2016

My first rifle was a Remington M700 BDL in 30-06. With it I took my first WT deer, Black Bear and Antelope.
I sold that rifle and have kicked myself ever since.

JD338

Guy Miner · Nov 8, 2016

JD - back in the 1970's the only rifle I had was my 6mm Rem 700, the .30-06 Model of 1917 was still firmly in Dad's possession...

A friend showed up with a nice, new .30-06 Rem 700 BDL, with a 2-7x Redfield. We shot it at 100, 200 & 300 yards with excellent results. I told him (at my ripe age of 20 or so) that it was all the rifle he'd ever need. I was echoing my father's statement on that cartridge...

Really hard to argue that a good .30-06 isn't "enough gun" for most of us... I came full circle, shooting my father's .30-06 rifles in the 1960's and 1970's, then playing around with all sorts of other cartridges before coming back to the .30-06...

Regards, Guy

FOTIS · Nov 8, 2016

My TC Venture '06

filmjunkie4ever · Nov 8, 2016

I have two to brag about because without the one, there wouldn't have been the other. Its kinda long and there are regrettably no pictures...

My grandfathers Remington 721 still wears the same Weaver K4 that he bought for it new in the 1960s. He won it when he was 18 years old in a raffle, the year was 1958. Sometime over the years he got rid of the rear sight and got a stock blank from Richards Microfit and did all of the finish work himself. He personally tuned the trigger down to a nice 3 pounds. It has zero creep. On a bench with his pet handloads featuring Sierra 165 grain Gamekings and either 4064 or 4350 powder it still puts 5 shots right around an inch at 100 yards. Winchester Power-Point 180 grain factory loads also shoot extremely well in this old gun. God only knows the game that has fallen to this rifle in Oregon, Alaska, and Wyoming. Just this year he took a 2x2 Mule Deer buck with it at about 80 yards. Just like always, it was a one shot job. It was him who influenced me to buy my own .30-06 when I was 19 years old.

It is a Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless though it was the first stainless finish rifle that I ever saw come from the factory with a walnut stock. I had it glass bedded and a Decelerator kick pad fitted as the Winchester one was starting to separate some years ago. Like Grampa's Remington, it has a 24" tube and is partial to 165 grain Gamekings. My model 70 has tried literally dozens of different bullet weights and styles with various powder combos over the years, and I have yet to find one (factory or handload) that doesn't shoot at least acceptably in it. I always find myself coming back to the 165 grain bullet just like Grampa has used for many years. My sweet wife bought me a box of the new Hornady 178 grain ELD-X factory loads to try in this gun only a few days ago. I have had several different scopes on it over the years but currently a Leupold VX-2 3x9x40 resides on top.

I've got nothing but good to say for this cartridge, it has truly been the father of a great many good cartridges while still maintaining a foothold at or near the #1 spot for over 100 years. The few detractors I meet usually tell stories of using the wrong bullets for the job and they end up blaming a good gun for bad bullet performance. Its a gun nearly anyone can learn to shoot quite well and packs more than enough wallop for most game animals anywhere in the world. If you need ammo somewhere in the back 40 chances are if they have any it will be .30-06 Springfield. In a world where so much has changed, often for the worst, its good to see an old original only getting better with time doing the job it has been doing for so long.

Thanks for sharing, this is MY kind of thread!!!

Dale

gerry · Nov 8, 2016

I currently don't have a 30-06 but could be swayed if I could get a bullet like the 190 gr ABLR around 2750 fps or a 200 gr AccuBond over 2700 fps. Could take me away completely from owning a "magnum" round again. In the past I topped out at 2600 fps with 200's but some of the newer powders are very interesting.

Guns from the past include in order:
1 - Remington Sportsman 78 - the only right handed 30-06 I have had, kind of wish I still had it.
2 - Remington 700 BDL LH - should never had sold it, enough said

3 - Browning A Bolt Stainless Stalker LH - nice gun and accurate, stock fit was a bit off for me.
4 - Savage 116 LH - super accurate, nice gun especially for the money.
5 - Rugger 77 MK II Stainless Laminate LH - accurate, dependable, looked great. Sold it to fund our wedding

Between the 700 BDL and Ruger 77 I would give the edge to the Remington so that is my favourite. Just a different slant on a great thread.

I'll be gone for the next 2 weeks talk to you then.

6mm Remington · Nov 9, 2016

Mine is simple. How do you top a Ruger 1B in 30-06 with a 4x Leupold!! Classy rifle, classic scope, and awesome cartridge!

Guy Miner · Nov 9, 2016

6mm Remington":1hhy5jor said:
Mine is simple. How do you top a Ruger 1B in 30-06 with a 4x Leupold!! Classy rifle, classic scope, and awesome cartridge!

Nice...

DeerTracker · Nov 9, 2016

I don't have a 30-06 at the moment but it's on my short list. The only one I had was a Winchester Featherweight 2008 limited edition. The wood was gorgeous!!! Unfortunately, the guy I bought it from, "touched up" the factory bedding and glued the stock to the action. I ended up getting rid of it on partial trade on a pickup after I shot a few whitetail does with it one day.

I have since replaced it with a stainless featherweight 270win but I'm really itching for an -06! Still deciding whether or not I should trade this one on a stainless featherweight 30-06 or just keep it as is. Only downside is that I have 5 other 270s and would love to shoot 165-200gr'ers

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DrMike · Nov 9, 2016

I had a CZ 550 FS in 30-06 which I allowed to leave my grasp in order to buy a Featherweight in 300 WSM. I said if I ever got a chance, I might buy another 30-06. In 2008 when FN again produced the Winchester line, I picked up one of the models for that year in 30-06. I still have the rifle, though I don't shoot it nearly as much as I should. It is a delight to shoot and it produces fine accuracy with a variety of loads. I picked up three rifle from that first lot of 2008 rifles. The 30-06 is in the rear, the other two are a 270 WSM and a 300 WSM.

DrMike · Nov 9, 2016

I realized that I have a better picture of this particular firearm. Here is it.

Guy Miner · Nov 9, 2016

Classy...

bdbrown66 · Nov 9, 2016

Here are my 2 06's. The first one is a custom sporter on an Oberndorf Mauser action, with a Weaver V10 scope and Timney trigger. I've killed a fair number of deer with it over the last 13 years or so. The second is a Mannlicher Schoenauer MCA, with double set triggers and a Pecar Berlin 4-10x scope. I've only killed one deer with this rifle so far, but it will be joining me on the stand this coming weekend.

preacher · Nov 10, 2016

Well, I have had several through the years that were "my favorite". First one was a stock 1917 Enfield. Very accurate but heavy as a truck axel! Second was a post-64 (1975) that shot super well. Past that I have had several, some good, some not so good. My last "2" were a 2006 Rem 700 CDL that I had tricked out...very accurate/ My latest is a super nice mid 90's push feed Mod 70 Classic FWT. I am looking forward to wringing it out...if it does not perform like I want, I will have it rebarreled with a slightly heavier Shilen. I find that I "prefer" a Mod 70 Classic FWT in a 30-06 as it is super nice for carry, yet responds super well to fast, off-hand shots at game.