In Praise of the .30-06 — ‘The Old Warhorse Ain’t Dead Yet’
This article first appeared in 2014. We are reprising it at the request of many readers who are fans of the .30-06 cartridge.
The “Old Warhorse” .30-06 Springfield cartridge is not dead. That’s the conclusion of Forum member Rick M., who has compared the 1000-yard performance of his .30-06 rifle with that of a rig chambered for the more modern, mid-sized 6.4×47 Lapua cartridge. In 12-16 mph full-value winds, the “inefficient and antiquated” .30-06 ruled. Rick reports:
“I was shooting my .30-06 this past Sunday afternoon from 1000 yards. The wind was hitting 12-16 mph with a steady 9 O’clock (full value) wind direction. My shooting buddy Jeff was shooting his 6.5×47 Lapua with 123gr Scenar bullets pushed by Varget. Jeff needed 13 MOA left windage to keep his 6.5x47L rounds inside the Palma 10 Ring. By contrast I only needed 11.5 MOA left windage with my .30-06. I was shooting my ’06 using the 185gr Berger VLD target bullet with H4350. I managed the same POI yet the .30-caliber bullet only needed 11.5 MOA windage. That’s significant. From this experience I’ve concluded that the Old Warhorse ain’t quite dead yet!”
Rick likes his “outdated” .30-06 rifle. He says it can deliver surprisingly good performance at long range:
“To many of the younger generation, the Old Warhorse .30-06 is ‘outdated’ but I can guarantee that the .30-06 Springfield is a VERY ACCURATE cartridge for 1000-yard shooting (and even out further if need be). With some of the advanced powders that we have today, the .30-06 will surprise many shooters with what it’s capable of doing in a good rifle with the right rate of twist. My rifle has a 1:10″ twist rate and I had it short-throated so that, as the throat erodes with time, I could just seat the bullets out further and keep right on shooting. My recent load is Berger 185gr Target VLDs pushed by IMR 4350. This is a very accurate load that moves this bullet along at 2825 fps.”
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Tags: .30-06, .30-06 Springfield, 6.5x47 Lapua, Berger Bullets, Warhorse, Windage
Two of my favorite cartridges. In this small comparison, both are using middle of the road bc bullets for caliber. Fred, the .264 will never win a bc contest against a 30 cal. The 30-06 could launch any number of hornady, sierra, or bergers hybrids to counter a 140 hybrid or vld.
Not many flies in the 30-06 ointment. Except, of course……recoil.
@Pat,
The .30-06 does recoil more than the 6.5. That rifle looks like it weighs in excess of twelve lbs. Even a .30-06 wouldn’t hurt too bad in a heavy rifle.
Funny how people shoot .338 Lapuas and .300 Win Mags out of rifles like that and don’t complain about too much kick.
Jim22 – look at the muzzle brakes that rifles in 338 LM and 300 WM sport and you have your answer. No funny, just prudent.
Besides for being a historical icon and an admittedly emotional favorite, the 30-60 still wears the crown of the “one rifle” do it all cartridge. I don’t own an ’06 and may never own one. But if I were limited to a single centerfire the old warhorse would be my first choice.
If this cartridge is VERY ACCURATE @1000 yards, wouldn’t it show up at some matches?
Well Pat, you’re wrong, all you need to do is run a ballistic calculator for 140 VLD at 6.5×47 speeds and a 210 VLD at 30-06 speeds and you’ll see that the 30-06 loses.
If it weren’t the case then 1000k shooters would be using the 30-06 but they don’t.
No worries for you though, the moderator will probably delete this post to and you 2 can both go on believing the ’06 is the greatest cartridge to ever grace a rifle….
To add a bit of info here`s a older artical on the 06 as a match rifle.
http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek091.html
The comparison was of two trajectories, and now people are comparing calibers. The articles just said that, within these parameters the 06 had less wind drift. Rifle calibers like the fame and glory of the moment, lets see if the 6.5×47 will still be alive in 100 years. Remember the 25 wssm? But to be honest competition shooter would tell you that he will select the caliber that cost the least to reload, kick the least, gives him the most round count on one barrel. Isn’t it what we are seeing on the range? mostly smaller caliber that do the same job as the bigger and giving all of the mentioned advantage and more. What I am saying is the the 6.5 is doing all that the 06 can do with more advantage to competition shooter. That does not mean one would not be competitive with a 06. And we can’t really compare a new born caliber …. with the 06 ..
I sold my Savage 110 in o6 that had a heavy barrel, that was a gret shooter, I miss it, I have a 300 wsm a 300 WM and 3 6.5 as well as two 308’s and 3 223’s I might as well build another in 06 now.
“That does not mean one would not be competitive with a 06.”
yes it does….there’s a thing called math that proves that….
Problem with the 6.5×47 is it just doesn’t have enough case capacity to do the job with the 142. If your not shooting the 140 or 142 there no reason to leave the 6mm for the 6.5.