30-06 for everything????

[Macintosh]

my go-to rifle is a 30-06. It's also wood stocked, and blued. It works well for what I use it for. It is also THE quintessential rifle in my area, and its the gun I lusted after for a few years when I started hunting and finally bought, so in large part 30+ years later its an emotional thing. I dont think there is any big game critter in north america that this isnt perfectly effective and appropriate for, and I happily continue to use it and will do so for as long as I can still get out and hunt. Personally I've killed many deer, plus antelope and elk with it.
That said, if I didnt have sentimentalism and history with it, I would not recommend it.
1) it's more than I need for any of the above critters. I use copper monos specifically to reduce the size of the wound, becasue regular ammo was destroying a significant amount of the meat on the deer I shot.
2) the recoil isnt "too much", its not about pain. BUT while hunting even if I'm pretty certain to only need one shot, it recoils enough that its very hard to keep the animal in the scope to see the reaction and direction of travel at the shot. Perhaps not an issue at longer ranges and in open terrain where you can look up and see it, but for the bayonet-range hunting in thick brush where I use this gun, the deer is gone in an instant--the recoil makes seeing the animals reaction and where it went extremely difficult, if not impossible, a significant % of the time. Also, recoil is cumulative so a harder recoiling gun is unpleasant to practice with (ask any trap or sporting clays shooter, especially the old guy who uses a release trigger due to decades of recoil-induced nerve damage), and consequently I dont practice nearly as much with this rifle as I do with others...and consequently I shoot the other rifles better.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I love my 30-06, in the past year, I killed 2 caribou, a 70+" bull moose and an Aoudad. 180g accubond handholds for everything.

 

[CMP70306]

my go-to rifle is a 30-06. It's also wood stocked, and blued. It works well for what I use it for. It is also THE quintessential rifle in my area, and its the gun I lusted after for a few years when I started hunting and finally bought, so in large part 30+ years later its an emotional thing. I dont think there is any big game critter in north america that this isnt perfectly effective and appropriate for, and I happily continue to use it and will do so for as long as I can still get out and hunt. Personally I've killed many deer, plus antelope and elk with it.
That said, if I didnt have sentimentalism and history with it, I would not recommend it.
1) it's more than I need for any of the above critters. I use copper monos specifically to reduce the size of the wound, becasue regular ammo was destroying a significant amount of the meat on the deer I shot.
2) the recoil isnt "too much", its not about pain. BUT while hunting even if I'm pretty certain to only need one shot, it recoils enough that its very hard to keep the animal in the scope to see the reaction and direction of travel at the shot. Perhaps not an issue at longer ranges and in open terrain where you can look up and see it, but for the bayonet-range hunting in thick brush where I use this gun, the deer is gone in an instant--the recoil makes seeing the animals reaction and where it went extremely difficult, if not impossible, a significant % of the time. Also, recoil is cumulative so a harder recoiling gun is unpleasant to practice with (ask any trap or sporting clays shooter, especially the old guy who uses a release trigger due to decades of recoil-induced nerve damage), and consequently I dont practice nearly as much with this rifle as I do with others...and consequently I shoot the other rifles better.View attachment 858776

As a Pennsylvanian the 7600 was ubiquitous growing up, everyone at camp used one in 30-06 except one guy who’s was a .270 Win. I killed my first buck with my Grandfathers 760 in 30-06 and used it for years until I bought a Pre-War Model 70 in 30-06 when I graduated college and my Brother took his turn with our Grandfathers rifle.

Once I got into long range shooting we diversified going to long barreled long range rifles in .300 Win Mag then 6.5 PRC. Once we started hunting suppressed the barrels got shorter and we picked up the 7 PRC. Now a decade later my Dad and Brother will be hunting with a pair 7600’s in 30-06 rebarreled with 18” fluted match barrels threaded for a suppressor.

A classic workhorse that worked for our camp for decades updated to our modern standards.

 

[Choupique]

The 7600 was also super popular in louisiana. Some were far more accurate than they had any business being. I have one in .270 that is probably my most accurate rifle as much as I hate admiting it. Its a fantastic rifle.

 

[CMP70306]

The 7600 was also super popular in louisiana. Some were far more accurate than they had any business being. I have one in .270 that is probably my most accurate rifle as much as I hate admiting it. Its a fantastic rifle.

Their biggest flaw is the god awful lawyer trigger that is super creepy and set to what feels like 7 pounds.

 

[Macintosh]

I havent ever run into an accurate one, most are 3-ish moa guns that Ive seen (1.5” 3round groups, about 3” 10 round groups) Timney makes a kit for the 7600 trigger that gets the weight down to a very acceptable level, but it doesnt really help with the creep. I dont mind for where I use this gun, but it doesnt help any, thats for sure. I ran into a smith who says he can make the triggers “legitimately good”, but I’ve never felt one that was anything but normal. I’d consider having some work done on mine if I could get it significantly better, but am a bit skeptical how good it can be. Ive never shot a deer around here farther than about 100 yards and have never even had a legit opportunity farther, so not sure its needed.

Just goes to show how much emotion goes into this stuff rather than objectivity. My favorite centerfire rifle has a catstrophically bad trigger, terrible precision, uncomfortable recoil, and downright unpleasant concussion. Yeah, gimme more of that!

Thank God my hoo-ha is so well heated.

 

[Choupique]

havent ever run into an accurate one.

Ive probably shot a dozen different 760s and 7600s and two that I can recall were awful. One was a legitimate 6 moa all day if you do your part rifle.

But hey, it's the only "traditional" rifle that I'm aware of with a dust cover for a completely sealed action and a shotgun style trigger. Probably would do ok in the freeze test!

 

[KenLee]

my go-to rifle is a 30-06. It's also wood stocked, and blued. It works well for what I use it for. It is also THE quintessential rifle in my area, and its the gun I lusted after for a few years when I started hunting and finally bought, so in large part 30+ years later its an emotional thing. I dont think there is any big game critter in north america that this isnt perfectly effective and appropriate for, and I happily continue to use it and will do so for as long as I can still get out and hunt. Personally I've killed many deer, plus antelope and elk with it.
That said, if I didnt have sentimentalism and history with it, I would not recommend it.
1) it's more than I need for any of the above critters. I use copper monos specifically to reduce the size of the wound, becasue regular ammo was destroying a significant amount of the meat on the deer I shot.
2) the recoil isnt "too much", its not about pain. BUT while hunting even if I'm pretty certain to only need one shot, it recoils enough that its very hard to keep the animal in the scope to see the reaction and direction of travel at the shot. Perhaps not an issue at longer ranges and in open terrain where you can look up and see it, but for the bayonet-range hunting in thick brush where I use this gun, the deer is gone in an instant--the recoil makes seeing the animals reaction and where it went extremely difficult, if not impossible, a significant % of the time. Also, recoil is cumulative so a harder recoiling gun is unpleasant to practice with (ask any trap or sporting clays shooter, especially the old guy who uses a release trigger due to decades of recoil-induced nerve damage), and consequently I dont practice nearly as much with this rifle as I do with others...and consequently I shoot the other rifles better.View attachment 858776

Bandsaw and a limbsaver will cut felt recoil in half

 

[Macintosh]

Bandsaw?
The shoulder is fine, it’s the field of view that is the biggest problem. But yeah, you can still beat someone silly with padded boxing gloves on.

 

[KenLee]

Bandsaw?
The shoulder is fine, it’s the field of view that is the biggest problem. But yeah, you can still beat someone silly with padded boxing gloves on.

View attachment 859531

I see now that she already met the bandsaw.
Recoil from my Remington pumps don't seem to bother me, but the 308 with pad is definitely a kitten compared to the 270 and 06 without.

 

[Macintosh]

No saw, I was able to bend the pad to the curved butt.

I think recoil on these is very normal, its a +\- 8.5lb rifle scoped so very normal size, and its your standard 3006 cartridge, so about 23ftlb of recoil. The butt is a little low so there is some noticeable muzzle flip, but most stocks are similar so nothing out of the ordinary. Recoil is not excessive that way, I think most people can do it fine, its just unnecessary and makes any kind of a practice session (50+ rounds) a bit of a beat-down, as well as makes it really tough to keep eyes on a deer after the shot. Thats my overall feedback for a 30-06 as a do-all rifle…it works extremely well for all things terminally, so on the one hand strictly from a “can it do it” perspective, its an unquestionably capable choice. The other side of that coin is that I personally shoot a lot better when I practice, and an 8lb 3006 with an 18” un-supressed barrel (family hunting camp is in a suppressor no-fly zone) is not going to make practice sessions pleasant. Can I do it? Sure. But I dont even need to think about it with other cartridges that are also plenty capable terminally. If I wasnt used to being able to spot hits even at 30 yards I probably wouldnt notice it…but once you notice its hard not to find fault with it.

 

[CMP70306]

I havent ever run into an accurate one, most are 3-ish moa guns that Ive seen (1.5” 3round groups, about 3” 10 round groups) Timney makes a kit for the 7600 trigger that gets the weight down to a very acceptable level, but it doesnt really help with the creep. I dont mind for where I use this gun, but it doesnt help any, thats for sure. I ran into a smith who says he can make the triggers “legitimately good”, but I’ve never felt one that was anything but normal. I’d consider having some work done on mine if I could get it significantly better, but am a bit skeptical how good it can be. Ive never shot a deer around here farther than about 100 yards and have never even had a legit opportunity farther, so not sure its needed.

Just goes to show how much emotion goes into this stuff rather than objectivity. My favorite centerfire rifle has a catstrophically bad trigger, terrible precision, uncomfortable recoil, and downright unpleasant concussion. Yeah, gimme more of that!

Thank God my hoo-ha is so well heated.

We had one that we bought off gunbroker that had the trigger worked, it was crisp but super light with almost no sear engagement. My Dad was concerned about its safety and ended up swapping it out with a factory trigger.