Survey: Your Favorite .30 Caliber

[Joker12]

Hands down its a 30'06 for me!

 

[Alaska Luke]

I really like my 308. If I lived in the lower 48 I'd probably use it for everything.

I do wonder. Have you seen much difference in killing speed as velocity goes up? As in 30-06 to 300 Mag? I've thought a few times about a 300 WSM but if I'm not shooting super far it offers little over my new 30-06... except maybe for big bears.

 

[marksman]

I really like my 308. If I lived in the lower 48 I'd probably use it for everything.

I do wonder. Have you seen much difference in killing speed as velocity goes up? As in 30-06 to 300 Mag? I've thought a few times about a 300 WSM but if I'm not shooting super far it offers little over my new 30-06... except maybe for big bears.

l have seen quite a difference in killing speed from a 30-06 to a 300wm
why l stopped using the 300wm for meat animals was the large bruising and blood spoilt meat caused by kinetic shock that would spoil a fair hunk of meat but that said although the 300wm does damage meat l do not know how anyone could sleep at night without one in the cupboard

 

[Newboomer]

l have seen quite a difference in killing speed from a 30-06 to a 300wm
why l stopped using the 300wm for meat animals was the large bruising and blood spoilt meat caused by kinetic shock that would spoil a fair hunk of meat but that said although the 300wm does damage meat l do not know how anyone could sleep at night without one in the cupboard

I do just fine with my 06.I can load it light enough(110gr) for plinking and small game or heavy enough(220gr) for everything up to buffalo. I used to rave 7RM until I resurrected my 06 and saw how versatile it is. The one man show so to speak.

 

[Flewis]

l have seen quite a difference in killing speed from a 30-06 to a 300wm
why l stopped using the 300wm for meat animals was the large bruising and blood spoilt meat caused by kinetic shock that would spoil a fair hunk of meat but that said although the 300wm does damage meat l do not know how anyone could sleep at night without one in the cupboard

One, I have 6!!

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I really like my 308. If I lived in the lower 48 I'd probably use it for everything.

I do wonder. Have you seen much difference in killing speed as velocity goes up? As in 30-06 to 300 Mag? I've thought a few times about a 300 WSM but if I'm not shooting super far it offers little over my new 30-06... except maybe for big bears.

The killing speed of a .300 Win Mag with 200 gr Accubonds over a .30-06 with 180 gr Partitions was evident on two safaris. Everything I shot with the .300 this year died in its tracks. I have never lost anything with the '06, but I like to see them drop where I can see them. Deer sized animals don't really notice the difference, but it becomes more obvious as the game gets bigger.

 

[Safari Dave]

Everyone needs a .30/06!

 

[Safari Dave]

I know I posted this before, but I was around a camp fire with 6 PH's in 2007 and ask "what cartridge would you want your clients to bring?"

(We were PG hunting in RSA)

All 6 of them said "a .30/06"

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Everyone needs a .30/06!

Yes, I believe that. I have two of them. That doesn't mean that the '06 is always the best rifle for a specific job.

 

[Safari Dave]

Yes, I believe that. I have two of them. That doesn't mean that the '06 is always the best rifle for a specific job.

You are correct.

I was carrying a .300 Win Mag & a .375 H&H on that trip.

The .300 was probably a little too much gun for the duiker. My PH wanted me to shoot kudu and gemsbok with the .375 H&H.


The 1.5-5X on the .375 would not have been my pick for the for the 300 yard shot I made on the kudu, but I didn't want to tick off my PH.


I wonder if they were all trying to tell me something.....

 

[CO_mtnman]

I have alot of favorite 30 cals but the one I use the most is my 30-378 weatherby for long range I have a great load using 230gr bergers but for closer range work I use 180gr ttsx. I have used this caliber for 50 yard texas whitetail doe, 405 yard pronghorn and oryx and elk

 

[BourbonTrail]

For me it’s a toss up between 30-06 and the 300 Weatherby. Have both & Love ‘em both for different applications.

 

[Graham Hunter]

300 H&H 180gr Partitions. It's the only 30 cal I shoot.

 

[Manny R]

If anyone knows anyone wanted to part with a Mauser LH Mo3 375 or 416 Rigby please contact me.
Since beggars can't be choosers I would love one in very very good to excellent condition. Wood stocks would be graded as a 5 or better.
Thanks

 

[Neil Molendyk]

The only 30 calibre I have ever shot was a 300 Win Mag, so I guess that's it.

 

[Safari Dave]

In the US, you have to "issues" to use something other than a 30 Caliber, because we have been using that as a military caliber for 130 years.

In Georgia, every 30 caliber that you can obtain is legal for every big-game mammal that we have here.. (Actually anything centerfire that shoots a .22 caliber or larger).

So you can hunt 600+ pound black bears here or an elk that wanders down from North Carolina with a .25 ACP pistol and you are, legally, OK.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

In the US, you have to "issues" to use something other than a 30 Caliber, because we have been using that as a military caliber for 130 years.

In Georgia, every 30 caliber that you can obtain is legal for every big-game mammal that we have here.. (Actually anything centerfire that shoots a .22 caliber or larger).

So you can hunt 600+ pound black bears here or an elk that wanders down from North Carolina with a .25 ACP pistol and you are, legally, OK.

I'm sure someone is going to say that a .25 ACP is a perfectly good bear round. "Shot placement is the only thing that counts." After all, .25 is almost 6.5, and bigger than .243. Didn't Bob say he was using a .243 for scrub bulls?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'm sure someone is going to say that a .25 ACP is a perfectly good bear round. "Shot placement is the only thing that counts." After all, .25 is almost 6.5, and bigger than .243. Didn't Bob say he was using a .243 for scrub bulls?

@Doug Hamilton
Mate Bob would use a 243 on anything, even paper.
I was at the range yesterday and my mate @peter Who wanted to know if I wanted the last ever shot out of his 243 as he is selling it. ( He bought a real rifle in 25-06).
I politely declined and said NEVER WILL A USELESS 243 BE SEEN IN MY HANDS.
Bob

 

[Safari Dave]

I have shot several animals with a .243 and have had only one, one-shot kill, and it ran over 40 yards and dived into a beaver pond to the point that it was 100% submerged.

I had to swim in sub-40 degree (Fahrenheit) water to retrieve it.




My son had his first 3 DRT shots with his, but he made bad shots that just happened to server spines!

 

[Longwalker]

I think this debate depends quite a bit on where your base line assumptions have been formed and in what culture your hunting habits were developed in.
I grew up in Canada. Western Canada to be precise. I was born in the middle of the last century, when The most common, widely used, good for "anything" cartridge was the .303 British. It was the normal baseline of adequate performance for the average hunter in Saskatchewan who pursued whitetail deer and mule deer, elk, black bear and moose. Nobody in their right mind with any experience would say the .303 was inadequate or a poor choice for those game animals. I laugh when reading of people who think they "need" something bigger for moose. Millions of practical examples in the field attested to the effectiveness of the .303. All my hunting mentors started out with .303 "sporter" rifles, actually just cut down military Lee Enfield SMLE's. I shot my first game animal with one too.
About the time I started hunting, the "new" .308 Winchester replaced the .303 with the following benefits. Better accuracy, slightly improved power, the same 150-180 gr. bullet weights in common hunting use, while chambered in more modern, handier and overall better and more accurate rifles. And cheap military ammo was widely available for practise and varmint blasting.
There was nothing not to like, and everything to like about the .308.
I suspect that same fondness for the .308 in Canada translates at least in part to many hunters in Great Britain and Australia and New Zealand and South Africa.
Nearly the same sequence of events could be said about the USA, substituting the .30-40 Krag for the .303. Same-Same performance in the field. But the Krag dropped away much earlier, and then the USA replaced the Krag with the .30-06.
I like the .30-06 a lot, and have a couple .30-06 rifles that I enjoy hunting with. But "better" than the .308 is certainly debatable. I don't buy into the argument that bigger is always better. Sometimes, a cartridge is, as Goldilocks said while tasting porridge - "just right". I think the .308 is it. It's a Goldilocks cartridge.
Canada has a population only 10% of the USA, and with a much smaller manufacturing base and market share of North American firearms. So the USA has dominated the choices of Canadian hunters to a large extent. And international hunters too. As a result, many Canadians would choose the .30-06 as their favourite. I'm not sure that's based on merit, just markets and habit.
If I feel a need for more certain results while hunting very large animals at normal shot distances under 300 M, I choose something bigger than .30 caliber. That's what my .35 Whelen, 9.3x62, and .375 H&H rifles are for. I personally have no desire to turn hunting into a sniping competition, so .30 caliber magnums with their long range capabilities are of no particular interest to me.
There is nothing wrong with the .30-06. But I'd argue that for hunting mid-size animals appropriate for .30 calibers at reasonable ranges, the .308 is "Just right" and the .30-06 is "just as good" - but not better.