Survey: Your Favorite .30 Caliber

[D-Orcutt]

Dear Fellow Forum Members ,
As part of my latest upcoming article on African Hunting Forums ... I wish to conduct a survey amongst you gentle men ( And ladies ) .

What is your favorite .30 calibre hunting cartridge ? For the purposes of my survey ... You must limit your choice to 1 . You may add the reason for your choice ... If you wish. In fact , I highly encourage it .

I am going to start with my personal favorite : The .30-06 Springfield .
My favorite factory loaded cartridge for this calibre ... Is the 220 grain Winchester Silver Tip soft point cartridge .
Why ? Because it is the original , and still as versatile today ... as it was 114 years ago .

I look forward to analyzing what the results of this survey shall yield .

Yours sincerely ,
Major Poton Khan ( Retired )

 

[D-Orcutt]

.300 win mag
The lords caliber
.200 grain terminal ascent

 

[Graham Hunter]

300 H&H hands down winner!

 

[zephyr]

Another for the 300H&H

 

[Tundra Tiger]

.300 Savage...

 

[WAB]

The only .30 I have is a specialist rifle in .308. I’m not sure how it happened, but my investments are much more in 7mm, 8mm, 9.3mm and .375. I must have some German blood in me.

 

[Lungshot202]

125 Nosler ballistic tip. Keep impact velocity under 3000 fps and it kills like lightening struck a deer. I have been using it in rifles in 308 Win 3000 fps and 30X47 HBR 2850 fps and a 14" barrel T.C Contender pistol in 30-30AI at 2670 fps. I have killed in excess of 50 deer we will say with this bullet. Lost count actually of how many but it is in excess of 50. I can only think of 3 or 4 that have even taken a step after receiving one and they did not go over 3 jumps. This is a GAME bullet not a VARMINT bullet. I have also used in the past 150 Sierras with good success.

 

[C.W. Richter]

The one i'm taking the photo with. I'm fond of 300 Win Mag-06s. Both magical with 200 gr bullets.

 

[Pole Pole]

300 H&H just because I appreciate what it means too still be around

 

[mdbrowne]

30-06 with 180 gr. Swift A-frames. Hunted multiple continents with nearly all 1 shot stops.
My go to rifle is a remington 700 loaded with a-frames!!

 

[Tgood1]

It's been a learning curve, I took my first big game animal 36 years ago. Started with 3006, then jump to 300 wm, now with premium bullets very happy with .308

 

[mdbrowne]

In addition to my 30-06 , I used for plains game. For dangerous game, my go to rifle is the 375 H& H loaded also with 300 gr. SWift A-frames and solids as needed.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

30-06. I have killed more big game with a 30-06 than all other cartridges I have owned combined.

I was a huge 300 win mag fan at one time and shot thousands of rounds through various rifles in that caliber. After carrying a heavy 300 win mag “long range death ray” all over Eastern Montana several years ago, I reevaluted my needs. Since I have zero interest in shooting big game at long ranges, the the lighter and less recoiling 30-06 works best for me.

 

[Mike B. 216]

30/06

 

[BloodyKnuckles]

.30-06 with 180 grain nosler partitions.
it just works.

 

[BryceM]

.300 Win Mag. Tried. True. Proven. Versatile. Besides, I have one that shoots like a dream.

 

[CBH Australia]

@rdog
Apart from my old 303 I have no great need for a 30 cal. The old three O is just for nostalgia. I jump from 25 to 35 nothing in the middle.
My son really loves the 308 and is impressed with its capabilities in both Australian and Namibia.
Bob

Bob,
Take a note from your son's book.

.30 is a happy medium between 25 and 35.

He had great success in Namibia.

And, the common as muck .308 is widely available and well used across Australia. It's kind of logical to always keep one around on hand as it's the tool that gets it done.

I will be picking up an old Nielsen .308 target rifle this afternoon. One more reason to shoot this is I have brass, components and it's got a good barrel life.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob,
Take a note from your son's book.

.30 is a happy medium between 25 and 35.

He had great success in Namibia.

And, the common as muck .308 is widely available and well used across Australia. It's kind of logical to always keep one around on hand as it's the tool that gets it done.

I will be picking up an old Nielsen .308 target rifle this afternoon. One more reason to shoot this is I have brass, components and it's got a good barrel life.

@CBH Australia
Mate consider me a tool. If the 25 won't handle it the 35 will don't need anything in-between

 

[Hunter-Habib]

.30-06 Springfield

 

[marksman]

l would pick the 30-06 as my favourite 30cal although l dont know how anyone could sleep without a 300wm in the gun safe LOL they do have a place but the reason l pick the 30-06 over the 300wm is that being a meat hunter l want to preserve as much meat that l can and the 300wm ruins way too much meat because of kinetic shock l have found, even at longer distance you will loose a good amount of meat, l tried all sorts of different projectiles at all different velocities for many years thinking l could find something but never did if l wanted to use the 300wm at its best
so although l have a thing for the 300wm l rate the 30-06 shooting 150gr to 165gr projectiles higher and have not yet found anything l hunt that will not go down with one shot and l can take the whole animal home to eat