30-06 - "Life Beyond It" Article

[Mosin9130]

Interesting article about the 30-06. Though it's not recent, I sure did enjoy the history lesson...I'm beginning to really like that 9.3x62 cartridge!

http://lifebeyondthegoodol30-06.blo...ical-american-shooter-comes.html#comment-form

 

[ZG47]

@Mosin9130 Interesting article. Another good point about those lightweight prone stocks that the big companies call 'American Classic' is that they can be made from smaller blanks and their simpler geometry makes setup and correction quicker and easier. That translates to smaller injection dies and mounds for synthetic stocks.

I agree that a 90 degree stock pitch causes the top the butt plate or pad to slam against the majority of shooters' shoulders when shooting from a standing or kneeling position.

 

[Nyati]

Good article, and yes, the 9,3x62 is an excellent cartridge for large game.

 

[Jfet]

Good for thinking and pondering

 

[CAustin]

Good article if the facts are straight. I have a 308 , a 300 win mag, and a 45-70 that I wouldn't hesitate to take plains game with. The 45-70 while slow packs a punch with a 325 grain bullet that I would use on cats with no worry. Buff would be another story but doable as with all game with good shot placement. The 416 Ruger I have will take them all down as will the 458 Lott mentioned in the article.

 

[Viti]

Interesting article, can't say I entirely agree with it, but I like where he goes. 9.3X62 and 375H&H are two great cartridges, lots of fun and work well.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

I fully agree there is a world beyond the 30-06. Thats why I own a 404. And a 50BMG for that matter. A firearm should be proportional to the task at hand. However, when one talks of a gazelle failing to fall to 6 or 14(!) shots from a 30-06 the problem isn't the 30-06. Barring a spectacularly inappropriate choice of bullet, the only way any gazelle is walking away from 6 shots from a 30-06 is poor shot placement. Let's call it what it is.

Talking about the inadequacy of a 30-06 for gazelle is one step away from talking about the "legendary toughness" of African game. Both are nothing more than an excuse for poor shooting.

 

[Shootist43]

Take a good look at the 35 Whelen. It is a ballistic twin of the 9.3 X 62 and available in the U.S.

My sons and I are each taking a 35 Whelen to Africa for a plains game hunt in August. Like I mentioned to you before, you can have a WW I Springfield - 03 or a WW II Remington 03-A3 re-barreled at a reasonable cost.

Even though I own a Mauser 375 H&H I will not be using it for our Plains Game hunt.

 

[Just Passing Through]

R. H. Boatman was (may he R.I.P) quite a character. He wrote books, columns, and blogs on subjects such as Kung Fu and firearms and was never short of either words and personal opinions.

I do not agree with some of his opinions, and would never take any of his writings to heart without a grain of salt. Some of what he writes is well reasoned but occasionally he misses by a wide margin. In general I think he knew what he was talking about most of the time but not always.

 

[Pheroze]

Interesting article. I have often wondered about the military calibers we use to hunt. I can't help but think that very bright people developed these cartridges to incapacitate human sized targets. But, if the enemy of the day was made up of 600 - 800 lbs soldiers would the 30 cal still have been the military choice of the times? What if the enemy soldier was 1000lbs in average size? I suspect that a larger caliber would have been considered to be more effective and efficient.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

In 1906 I think the intended targets probably included horses.

 

[ZG47]

In 1906 I think the intended targets probably included horses.

Sufficient, with all due respect, to wound the horse, thereby dismounting a cavalryman or a dragoon (mounted infantryman) or reducing the effectiveness of a team harnessed to a wagon or gun.

 

[Pheroze]

Does anyone know whether the archives of Mauser or Holland & Holland etc have documents about the development of their cartridges. Maybe design memos or correspondence?

 

[Red Leg]

The 180 gr '06 has and will kill anything in Africa - most things quite handily. As our writer notes, the literature is full of American sportsmen, among them, indeed, Hemingway and Ruark, using the round on everything from dik-dik to buffalo and rhino. And while some of the failures could be laid at the doorstep of the caliber, the real culprits were bad shooting over open sights and abysmal bullet construction. An issue which plagued every non-Woodliegh firing rifle until well past WWII. Would it be my choice for heavy game today? Of course not. Is it a charge stopper? Nope - not that either. But it can, with the right bullet, do almost anything if it must. And as a plains game, deer, or sheep rifle it is really operating in its performance zone.

Military applications drive design in a lot of interesting ways. And as you might imagine, there is as much debate as there is consensus. Our writer forgets that as important as terminal effects, from the military perspective, are amounts of ammunition which can be carried by the individual soldier and the effect of X number of rounds on the supply system. Also worked into the equation are training and tactics. For instance the 30-06 was born into a world of bolt actions and general purpose machine guns. It was accurate and tactics called for real marksmanship and aimed rifle fire. The developers based their understanding of the dominance of the rifle on the American Civil and Franko Prussian Wars where most casualties were inflicted by rifles and where the 30-06 (and 8mm mauser, etc) seemed very transportable compared to the traditional late 19th century basic load of 60 rounds. And of course every country followed and evaluated trends of its allies and potential enemies. By not doing so, we managed to send infantry up Kettle and San Juan Hills largely armed with trapdoor Springfields against Spaniards armed with mausers. By the end of WWII, fire dominance and fire suppression had become the primary tactics of the day. This was driven by the proliferation of auto and semi-automatic weapons manned by barely trained conscript armies on battlefields where artillery fire had become the primary killer. Caliber per-se began to slip in importance. Hence, volume of fire to achieve fire superiority, became the overriding tactical goal. Small arms fire volume would fix the enemy in place so he could be destroyed by artillery and/or air strikes. Therefore numbers of rounds in the basic load became gradually more important than terminal effects. That munitions downsizing process went through the .308 to the eventual 5.65. Certainly terminal effects would never create a requirement for a .223 caliber infantry weapon (and don't believe the urban myth about tumbling .223's tearing off arms and legs) - but volume of fire did. Hopefully, that pendulum has begun to swing back. Afghanistan has again proven the value of aimed rifle fire with a need for adequate down-range effect. Were the Army not so hamstrung for funding (since Donald Rumsfeld and his cadre of "shock and awe" smart munition advocates arrived on the scene through the current administration), I am confident we would have by now already moved back up the caliber ladder to a 6.5mm or something similar.

Sigh, sorry about the lecture. The writer struck a cord. Nothing worse than someone writing down their nose to whom he believes are the ignorant and unwashed without laying out a complete or accurate foundation for his thesis. Particularly, when I personally believe that thesis is nonsense. Long live the 30-06.

 

[Shootist43]

Right on Red Leg. Regardless of its' origin the 30-06 is a very effective hunting rifle when used on African Plains Game and similarly sized animals throughout the world. Like you I do not believe the 30-06 is up to every task nor would it be my go-to rifle for dangerous game. That being said, with good bullets and proper shot placement the venerable 30-06 will continue to serve as one of the premier hunting calibers for many years to come.

I recall reading another thread in AH that asked PH(s) what caliber rifles they preferred their clients to use on Plains Game. As I recall the 300 Win. Mag barely beat out the 30-06 for the top spot.

 

[TallGrassHunter]

I confess to buying in to the press of the day and usually either carried a 300 (WM or H&H) or 7M (Wea or RM). In hindsight I do not think I've taken a shot that couldn't have been made just as effectively with the 06. I now have the 06 as my dedicated go to gun for most situations. I'd just like to add my experience is that the 06 is just as accurate as the 308 when feed it's preferred load. I don't think the 06 gets enough credit for it's inherent accuracy.

 

[Red Leg]

I confess to buying in to the press of the day and usually either carried a 300 (WM or H&H) or 7M (Wea or RM). In hindsight I do not think I've taken a shot that couldn't have been made just as effectively with the 06. I now have the 06 as my dedicated go to gun for most situations. I'd just like to add my experience is that the 06 is just as accurate as the 308 when feed it's preferred load. I don't think the 06 gets enough credit for it's inherent accuracy.

I suspect we all have to some degree. For instance, I love my .300 H&H. But last trip to Mozambique, I took .375 and 30/06 barrels for my S2 Blaser. The .375 accounted for a fine buffalo and a reedbuck while the 'o6 handled everything else to include a longish frontal shot on a sable. And just a few weeks ago my Sako '06 dropped a big Aoudad ram at around 225 yards as cleanly as he possibly could be killed. The H&H is in a lovely SS package and is a joy to shoot, but no medium game on the planet could differentiate between being hit by it or my trusty Sako or Blaser '06.

 

[Poz]

I agree on the point of a bigger hole kills better, my 338 06 just smokes pigs but since I started using 180gn bullets in my 30 06 the gap seems to have narrowed. But most of these articles labelling the 30 06 as inadequate are done (imo) to light a fire under someone. I have shot water buffalo here in Australia with a 168gn tsx from a 30 06 down in 1 shot dead with 2 more, the placement was good but the animal was aware and cautious of me. I felt very undergunned and most probably wouldn't do it again but I have no doubts about taking my 30 06 to Africa for my plains game hunt in July.

 

[Clayton]

Pretty is as pretty does. And being well over 100 years old now, I'm sure if the '06 wasn't a good round it would have long since went by the wayside. Sure there's bigger & some better but it still works.

Just my 2cents.