Here's to the .30 Caliber!

[Bob Wright]

I was musing recently on the Army's .30 caliber round of old, what we often call the .30-06, and especially its impact on shooting, so far as riflemen are concerned.

The Army adopted the Springfield bolt action rifle, the M-1903, in 1903, and the cartridge that was introduced for it, the .30 M1903 Springfield cartridge. After being in service for a brief period, the Army modified the cartridge slightly, though did not alter the chamber dimensions. The re-designed cartridge became known as the .30 M1906. The ".30-06" lasted only a short time with the Army, being replaced by the .30 M-1 and later by the .30 M-2. But the cartridge became know among civilian shooters as the .30-06, regardless of the bullet weight or type. So popular was the round that it was immediately set upon by wildcatters. Necking up or necking down the basic case gave us the .270 Winchester, the 7mm-06, and the .35 Whelan. Less known, it also spawned the .50 Caliber Browning Machine Gun (.50 BMG) round.

Sa What? I hear many of you exclaim.

The Army Ordnance thought the .30 M-2 cartridge so near to perfect, that the Ordnance simply drew up that round on a scale of 5:3 to develop the .50 round. So the same proportions are used for both rounds.


Bob Wright

 

[Salmoneye]

I also have a lot of love for the venerable .30-06...

 

[wwb]

I was musing recently on the Army's .30 caliber round of old.........

For a brief moment there, I thought you were going to discuss the .30 US (sometimes called the .30 gov't)...... better known to civilians as the .30-40 Krag.
As to the .30-06.... if you had to have one rifle to do it all, that would be the one.

 

[Bob Wright]

I was musing recently on the Army's .30 caliber round of old.........

For a brief moment there, I thought you were going to discuss the .30 US (sometimes called the .30 gov't)...... better known to civilians as the .30-40 Krag.
As to the .30-06.... if you had to have one rifle to do it all, that would be the one.

Because it is a rimmed case, the .30-40 works well in single shot pistols. I had the pleasure of using a borrowed .30-40 to do some groundhog hunting. Couldn't get used to a 'scoped pistol, but it was a very fine shooter. Considerable blast, but moderate rocoil. And very flat shooting!


Bob Wright

 

[Paul B]

The 30-06 is never a mistake.
Col. T. Whelen

Paul B.

 

[gunman42782]

I really can't see they have ever really improved on the 06. Sure, there are rounds that are more powerful, and rounds that have higher velocity. I doubt if any deer would notice the difference between a .308, 30/06, or .300 Win Mag. Same bullet, different velocities. I always considered most anything smaller as a varmint round, and anything much bigger as a African safari round. Of course there are better rounds for extreme long range shooting. But, as a general, all purpose, kill anything in North America round, the 06 is hard to beat!

 

[olcop]

Love that 30.06!
olcop

 

[blume357]

One of the items on my long gun wish list is an '03 Springfield..... seems these days everyone is hip on the 308 or what ever that NATO nannzy equivalent is.... for my fathers 80th birthday I bought him a M1 Garrand that of course shoots the Army's version of 30-06... what I learned was the men that fought the 2nd World War and carried and used that rifle were MEN! I can't even imagine what is was like to shoot one of those 50 or 100 times in combat..... few years later I bought a Savage bolt action from one of you guys in 30-06... this one has a light composite stock.... I found out there is a harder kick from a 30-06 than that heavy M1.
I know I tend to brag on my late father and his service... but it seems some short time after landing at Inchon his leaders decided he really did not need to be the BAR man ... he weighed about 142 lbs then and so they issued him a '03 springfield with a scope and put him in on a recon team..... somebody must have looked at his record and saw that during rifle qualification at Paris Island in '48 he shot a perfect score.

 

[jollymon]

I have hunted everything in the lower 48 and Everything in Alaska expect the White Bear with it and mostly
with a Ruger#1 and a Rem700 , Never felt under gunned , 220gr. to 165gr.and 110gr. it did it all for me .

 

[blackhawknj]

The 30-03 had a short service life, 1903-1906 but the 30-06-in its various official designations- was the official round from 1906 to 1957 and was in service for years afterwards. In one of my books on the M-1 Garand one of the authors says his Basic Training Company had M-1s in 1964.

 

[Heliman]

What can I say. The '06 was my big game rifle for my first 30 years of hunting. Still in my arsenal today. The 35 Whelen "wildcat" served me well in the field hunting Elk.

Dave

 

[Mus408]

Let me throw a cheer in for the .30 Carbine....love my M1 Carbine!

 

[Bob Wright]

Let me throw a cheer in for the .30 Carbine....love my M1 Carbine!

While interesting, not in the same family! The .30 Carbine has proven to be a better revolver round than rifle/carbine.

I know I'm in a minority, maybe only one, but I contend that the M-1 Carbine falls into the category of light rifle rather than carbine.

(Said and ducking incoming!)

Bob Wright

 

[wwb]

Let me throw a cheer in for the .30 Carbine....love my M1 Carbine!

Fun to play with, but..... it was primarily issued to the paratroopers because of its size and weight, as well as the weight of the ammunition. It was also issued to troops who were not expected to be in combat; everybody else got the Garand. Even the paratroopers, once they hooked up with the Infantry, tried to scrounge a Garand.

I had an uncle who was a Marine and landed at Guadalcanal. Most of the Marines still had bolt-action rifles. Later, when the Army landed, they were all equipped with Garands - If a GI died or was wounded, his Garand shortly ended up in the hands of a Marine.

On the subject of the Garand..... how many of you knew that it had a competitor that actually had some advantages over the Garand?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1941_Johnson_rifle

 

[Bob Wright]

Let me throw a cheer in for the .30 Carbine....love my M1 Carbine!

Fun to play with, but..... it was primarily issued to the paratroopers because of its size and weight, as well as the weight of the ammunition. It was also issued to troops who were not expected to be in combat; everybody else got the Garand. Even the paratroopers, once they hooked up with the Infantry, tried to scrounge a Garand.

I had an uncle who was a Marine and landed at Guadalcanal. Most of the Marines still had bolt-action rifles. Later, when the Army landed, they were all equipped with Garands - If a GI died or was wounded, his Garand shortly ended up in the hands of a Marine.

On the subject of the Garand..... how many of you knew that it had a competitor that actually had some advantages over the Garand?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1941_Johnson_rifle

The Johnson rifle had NO advantages over the M-1 Garand, no matter how imagined. A recoil operated rifle does not serve well as a battle rifle, nor was the Johnson as robust as the M-1. As anyone who claims the M-1 could not be "topped off" is full of sheep dip. I've upped the magazine on my M-1 many times. And reloading from stripper clips is never as rapid as reloading with the en bloc eight round clip. And tales of the ping are grossly exaggerated! With so much firing going on around you, the ping is barely heard, if at all. And it just adds to the already ringing in the ears!

(With a partially full magazine on the M-1, pull the bolt back and activate the clip release. Leaving the partially full clip in the rifle, insert single rounds to fill the clip, push the clip down to close the bolt.)

Bob Wright

 

[Jeepnik]

Among my several rifles are a Remy 700 lefty and a Garand. Both in '06. With these and a .22lr bolt action I could do anything I need to do.

Still, I have many other calibers and action types and am darned happy about it.

 

[Pistolero]

I treasure my old Remington 700 BDL left hand 30-06.

 

[Mus408]

Well,M-1 Carbine, it's still a .30 cal. bullet traveling 2000 FPS and it WILL kill you if you get in it's way.
The round was designed for the then new light carbine. I don't believe the revolver use came around until Ruger made them in the 60's.

 

[blume357]

I also have a M1-carbine.. nice little fun plinker rifle... but according to my father the rounds bounced off the Chinese during the winter because of all the layers they were wearing or at least didn't penetrate worth a hoot.... of course those 30-06 rounds went right on through and hit a few more behind.

 

[loaded round]

The 30-06 is till my favorite cartridge and I have 6 rifles for it including two Garands and a custom built 03-A3 on a Springfield action by Paul Jaeger.