Vern found the bed early on opening day, in fresh snow. The dung was steaming. He took the track, wisely keeping his eyes on the timber ahead, letting his peripheral vision follow the trail. In short order he was rewarded with a glimpse of elk hide. Largely hidden by brush, the animal had no help from the wind. Vern couldn’t see antlers through the scope, but inspection with the binocular revealed a tine. He eased the rifle back up, found a patch of shoulder with the crosswire and triggered a shot.
The bull sped away, denying him another chance. Calmly he chambered a second cartridge, one he knew he would not need. Vern found the bull dead only a few yards farther on.
Some hunters say the .30-06 lacks the muscle for sure kills on elk. My friend disagrees. Me too. The .30-06 is not only a versatile round; it goes elk hunting more often than any other. Though more powerful cartridges are increasingly popular, they seem to me no more effective on elk. Having seen more than 80 elk shot with rounds ranging from the .250 Savage to the .375 H&H, I’m still a fan of the .30-06. It is deadly, even at extreme yardage.
The .30-06 was conceived in 1900, when U.S. Ordnance engineers at Springfield Armory also began work on a battle rifle to shoot it. The .30-40 Krag was then our official military round and had served ably in the Spanish-American War. But Paul Mauser’s new bolt rifles were upstaging the Krag-Jorgensen, which was also a costly rifle to build. And rimless cartridges were proving superior to the rimmed .30-40.
Springfield Armory fielded a prototype rifle in 1901, and just two years later the Model 1903 Springfield was in production. Its 30-caliber rimless cartridge headspaced on the shoulder, like the 8x57 Mauser. The .30-03 was longer than both this German round and the .30-40 Krag. Powder capacity and operating pressure exceeded the Krag’s. The .30-03’s 220-grain bullet at 2300 fps was the ballistic equivalent of the 8x57’s 236-grain bullet at 2125.
Not to be upstaged, and keen to extend the reach of the 8mm, Germany came up with a new load about a year after the .30-03 appeared. A 154-grain spitzer at 2800 fps shot flatter than any other infantry bullet of the day. The Americans were obliged to catch up, and U.S. Army Ordnance was quick to introduce the “Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model 1906.” It launched a 150-grain bullet at 2700 fps, increasing probable-hit range. The case could have been left unchanged; however, someone decided to shorten it .07, to .494. Consequently all .30-03 chambers were a little long for the new round. Soon all .30-03 rifles were recalled and rechambered to .30-06.
Bullets for the .30-06 were initially jacketed with an alloy of 85 percent copper and 15 percent nickel. Satisfactory in the Krag, it did not hold up at .30-06 speeds, and severe bore fouling resulted. Tin plating didn’t work either; however, a bullet jacket comprising zinc and copper in 5-95 or 10-90 proportions substantially reduced fouling. These alloys became known as gilding metal, which would serve hunters as well as soldiers for many years.
The high velocity of the 150-grain bullet was supposed to give it a maximum range of 4700 yards. But troops in World War I found the real limit was nearer 3400. To increase reach, the Army again changed the load, incorporating a 173-grain spitzer with a 7-caliber ogive and 9-degree boattail. Muzzle velocity was trimmed to 2647 fps, a minor concession given the substantial boosts in sectional density and ballistic coefficient. Introduced in 1925, the new “M-1” round extended maximum range to an impressive 5500 yards. Even armchair ballisticians can spot this as an arbitrary figure, defensible only in theory and of limited utility in battle, where the vast majority of debilitating hits come at much shorter ranges. Still, development of a 30-caliber load with a three-mile reach had to affect morale on both sides of the trenches.
Oddly enough, the Army saw fit to change bullets once more. Apparently the 173-grain bullet gave soldiers a bit too much recoil, so in 1939 it yielded to a 152-grain replacement at 2805 fps. With the “M-2” .30-06 cartridge the U.S. fought World War II.
When I was young, you could buy surplus military ‘06 ammo by the bucket. But every other shooting column in outdoors magazines warned against using it. Corrosive primers deposited salts in the bore, causing rust. Though Remington developed non-corrosive “Kleanbore” priming in 1927 (and commercial rounds featured non-corrosive priming exclusively from about 1930), military cartridges were assembled with the corrosive FA 70 primers as late as 1952! Incidentally, corrosive priming does not weaken brass cartridge cases. Mercuric priming, abandoned by the U.S. Army at the turn of the century, leaves residues that can result in split cases. On the other hand, mercuric priming does not damage bores. Since the Korean War, the only domestic .30-06 ammunition with problematic priming was a run of Western Match cartridges with Western “8 1/2 G” caps. These were both corrosive and mercuric.
I used to scrounge all the .30-06 cases I could, swaging the crimped primer pockets of military hulls with an RCBS tool in my press. Over the years I’ve accumulated enough commercial cases to keep me handloading into the next millenium. It doesn’t matter which commercial cases you pick, but it’s best not to mix brands. Case capacity can vary enough to affect breech pressures.
Factory loads for the .30-06 include bullets weighing from 125 to 220 grains. Remington still offers a novel option with its sabot-style “Accelerator”— a 55-grain .224 bullet in a plastic sleeve. It clocks over 4000 fps, by Remington charts. Hornady offers “Light Magnum” loads with 150-, 165- and 180-grain bullets that fly about 180 fps faster than bullets from standard loads, without exceeding allowable pressures. Federal’s High Energy 180-grain loads give you equal advantage. Among myriad ‘06 loads available are several with bullets designed expressly for tough game—bullets like the Nosler Partition and AccuBond, Barnes Triple-Shock, Swift A-Frame and Trophy Bonded. You can buy .30-06 ammo in more out-of-the-way places, world-wide, than perhaps any other kind of sporting rifle ammunition.
By virtue of its service record and a wash of surplus rifles following the Great War, the .30-06 overtook the .30-30 as America’s big game cartridge. The ‘06 became the archetype bolt-rifle round for big game, earning more plaudits as it became available in the Winchester Model 54 and Remington 30S rifles. The .270, introduced in 1925, was really a smallbore offspring of the .30-06. It got lots of good press—and deserved the acclaim. On the other hand, it lacked the versatility of the Government .30 because it couldn’t handle bullets heavier than 150 grains. Nor did more potent numbers unseat the .30-06. Winchester’s chambering of its Model 70 for the .300 H&H in 1937 lured a few hunters away; still, many more M70s were bored for the .30-06 than for any other cartridge. Roy Weatherby’s reshaping of the Holland case during World War II didn’t swing the public to magnums either: His rifles and ammunition were too costly. But the development during the 1950s of Winchester short belted magnums, and the 1963 debut of Remington’s belted 7mm, convinced many hunters they could kill more game with cartridges bigger than the ‘06.
By the 1950s optical sights had earned common acceptance, and they were good enough that shooters found they could aim farther than they thought they could shoot with a .30-06. Magnum cartridges seemed a logical sequel to powerful glass. During the 1950s handloading also became popular; and wildcatting grew into something of a subculture. Shooters learned about ballistics. High-velocity bullets, minute-of-angle accuracy and quarter-mile kills dominated the headlines in gun and hunting magazines. Suddenly, the .30-06 looked small. If case size indicated performance, the veteran from Springfield Armory was no match for the new magnums.
But a glance can’t tell you much about an automobile, a new boss, or a big game cartridge. A lot of hunters who carry magnums can’t shoot accurately to the effective range of a .30-06 and would indeed be better off with a rifle that didn’t bark so loudly or kick so hard. Accurate delivery of a bullet is what ends most elk hunts. The performance of that bullet in ballistics charts is far less important. A rifle in .30-06 is all you need for most shots at elk. Here is how the ‘06 compares with a couple of highly-touted magnum cartridges, in terms of factory-listed velocity and energy (fps and ft-lbs). I used data for Winchester’s 160- and 165-grain Silvertip Boattails, and 180-grain Fail Safes.
The 7mm Remington Magnum boasts a 75-yard edge on the .30-06, and the .300 Winchester Magnum delivers at 400 yards the energy an ‘06 brings to 300. Differences in drop are less notable, however: Given a 200-yard zero, the 160-gain 7mm Magnum bullet sags 7.2 and 20.6 inches at 300 and 400 steps, compared to 8.2 and 23.4 inches for the 165-grain .30-06 bullet. At 300 yards a 180-grain bullet from Winchester’s .300 Magnum dips 7.l inches, while the same bullet from a .30-06 falls 8.7. At 400 paces the .300 dominates: 20.7 to 25.5 inches of drop. To at least 300 yards, you can hold the same with a .30-06 as with popular magnums. At 400 you’ll have to shade a trifle higher.
It’s useful to note that the .300 Winchester pushes 180-grain bullets about as fast as the 7mm Remington drives 160s. There’s a much wider performance gap between this .300 and the .30-06 than between the 7mm Magnum and the .30-06. With a 175-grain bullet, the 7mm actually generates less velocity and energy than Hornady’s Light Magnum or Federal’s High Energy 180-grain .30-06 load! While the bigger belted case lets handloaders super-charge the magnum to outdo the ‘06, I’m convinced there is no task in the hunting field that the 7mm Remington Magnum can do better than a .30-06.
Granted, full-length .30 magnums -- the .300 Weatherby.300 Remington Ultra Mag – leave .30-06 bullets behind. But before you dismiss the .30-06 as a choice for cross-canyon shooting, consider that a 400-yard shot is very long. Land sakes, it’s farther than I can hold bullets inside a milk jug from the steadiest of hunting positions, and I’ll wager you can’t do much better, especially when you don’t know the exact yardage and you have to contend with even light wind gusts. The ‘06 has more than enough energy to open bullets and drive them deep at 400 yards, and its performance on 1000-yard target ranges shows it capable of fine long-range accuracy.
The limiting factor on those far-away shots, friend, is us. We’re plagued with wobbly joints, pulsating hearts, quivering muscles and lungs that must have air too often. We get excited and jerk the trigger, or anticipate the shot and flinch. It seems laughable to me that shooters disparage the .30-06 as an elk killer when, in expert hands, any ‘06 that shoots inch-and-a-half groups would mow down elk all day long at 500 yards. That far out, it still has as much energy as a .30-30 bullet at 150 yards. Remember that for many years the .30-30 was considered a potent all-around big game cartridge!
In sum, the effective reach of a .30-06 bullet, even on game as big and tough as elk, is much farther than our ability to place bullets accurately under hunting conditions.
Most hunters who give the .30-06 a chance stay with it. I once guided a fellow who had served as a sniper in Viet Nam and was used to shooting at extreme range. He might have chosen a super-magnum for long shots at elk. His preference for a .30-06, zeroed at 100 yards, might have surprised some hunters. It didn’t surprise me. Like my pal Vern, this marksman had learned just how frightfully potent the old .30 Government can be. Why put up with more blast and kick?
Far and away the most popular bullet weight among elk hunters who favor this .30-bore is the 180-grain. It’s a logical choice, with enough speed for flat mid-range flight, enough sectional density to penetrate on oblique shots. Ballistic coefficients in the middle .400s give you high retained energy and minimal bullet drop at long range. The other practical choices would be 165-grain and 200-grain bullets. The 150-grain option, chosen by some hunters who value high velocity, is in my view over-rated. Here’s why.
Consider a .30-06 bolt rifle with a low-mounted scope zeroed at 200 yards. A factory-loaded 180-grain Remington Core-Lokt will strike one inch above sight-line at 50 yards. It will hit 2.4 inches high at 100 steps and 2 inches high at 150. At 250 yards it will drop 3.7 inches, at 300 9.3 inches and at 400 27 inches. Compare those numbers with these, from a factory-loaded 150-grain Core-Lokt: +.8 at 50, +2.1 at 100, +1.8 at 150, -3.3 at 250, -8.5 at 300 and -25 at 400. There’s no tangible difference in trajectory, though the 150-grain bullet leaves the muzzle at 2910 fps, rather than 2700. At 300 the 180-grain hits an inch lower, at 400 just 2 inches. At all yardages, however, the 180-grain bullet packs a 20-percent weight advantage. A minute-of-angle rifle spreads its bullets across 3 inches of target at 300 yards, 4 inches at 400. Thus, differences in point of impact between 150- and 180-grain .30-06 bullets at the longest practical hunting ranges and with very accurate rifles lie within half the extreme spread of a machine-rest group! Add wind, shooter wobbles and aiming error, and you get groups big enough to obliterate any difference in point of impact due to weight.
By the same logic, you can argue persuasively for a 200-grain spitzer. The 200-grain Nosler Partition can be driven at 2650 fps from the .30-06. Given that velocity and a ballistic coefficient of .481, it crosses the 200-yard line at nearly 2300 fps and reaches 300 yards still clocking over 2100. With 2330 ft-lbs of energy at 200 steps and an even ton at 300, it is a first-round draft pick among .30-bore elk bullets.
When you change nose shape, of course, trajectory changes in a hurry. Because of their blunt noses, 220-grain Remington Core-Lokts (and bullets of similar shape) deliver less velocity and energy at all ranges, and they drop like cantaloupes beyond 250 yards. At 300 yards they plummet about twice as far as 180-grain spitzers. But ballistics tables don’t give adequate credit to their great weight. Up close (say, to 150 yards) the 220 is superior for heavy game because it carries greater sectional density than lighter bullets and, assuming proper construction, drives deeper. Also, the calculation of ft-lbs of energy includes the velocity squared, which some riflemen say skews comparisons in favor of fast, light bullets that don’t perform as well on elk.
An advantage of round-nose bullets often overlooked by advocates of pointed bullets is their compact form. Blunt bullets give you more room for powder because you don’t have to seat the bullet as deep as a spitzer. In cases of modest capacity like the .30-06’s, this is important.
One of the biggest elk I’ve killed fell to an ‘06, as did a fine high-country mule deer with six points on a side. I recall once racing to cut off a huge bull elk headed for cover. My client missed his first shot, then made good with his second. I heard the hollow sound of a hit float back from 250 yards. The great animal backed up a step, then simply crumpled. It was the young man’s first elk. The tape gave the antlers almost 370 inches.
My rack holds six .30-06 rifles now, and I’ve sold several I’d like to buy back. Elk hunters who bring .30-06s to camp seem, on average, to fare better than those who bring magnums. I think that’s partly because they aren’t afraid to shoot the ‘06. They’ve practiced with it. They aim the rifle as they might a .22, not as if they were handling a prototype rocket-launcher. Also, they harbor no grand expectations, no illusions about shooting at long range. They aren’t out to “test” a cartridge or to prove a point. The .30-06 needs no more recommendations.
Depending on what you hunt most, the .30-06 may or may not be the best all-around big game cartridge. In my view, it is among the very best choices for elk hunting.