The folks at Sierra Bullets asked a few staff bulletsmiths a classic question about guns: “If you could own only one firearm which one would you choose?” There were many interesting answers including a “cheater” response — the drilling — which is really two guns in one. The most-often mentioned chambering was the venerable .30-06. Respondents cited its versatility, hunting prowess, and ready availability of ammo. The popular .308 Winchester, as expected, got mentions as did its cousins the .243 Win and 7mm-08. There were quite a few votes for classic lever guns, as well as 12-gauge shotguns. Two bulletsmiths cited the .22 LR, and we can certainly see the logic in that answer. The little rimfire cartridge is versatile, quiet, and inexpensive. SEE All Answers.
We ask our readers the same question — if you could only have one long gun, what type of firearm would it be? List the gun type and chambering in the comments section.
If You Could Have Just One Long-Gun — ANSWERS:
Media Relations Manager Carroll Pilant answered: “I would NEVER own only one gun. If I HAD to pick one, it would be a drilling in 12 gauge over .30-06.”
Ballistic Technician Rich Machholz answered: “The early tang safety Ruger M77s pretty much have all you could want in a bolt gun, but I do like the Winchester lever guns and the combination guns, particularly the drillings. Since I have the first two, I’m going for a Doug Turnbull 1886 or a side by side 20 gauge over .223 drilling.”
Ballistic Technician Philip Mahin answered: “More than likely it would have to be a bolt action .30-06. The reliability is legendary on a wide range of game animals and factory ammunition has still been available at my local stores even in these tough times.”
Ballistic Technician Duane Siercks answered: “If I had to boil it all down to one gun, it would probably be a .30-06. I have a Remington 700C (custom shop gun) that has worked very well for anything and everything I have ever wanted to do with it.”
Ballistic Technician Paul Box answered: “A .22 Rimfire.”
Chief Ballistician Tommy Todd answered: “Remington 700 in .308 Winchester.”
VP – Sales & Marketing Matt Reams answered: “A light weight Kimber in 25-06.”
Production Toolsetter Brad Vansell answered: “Savage weather warrior 7mm-08 is my rifle of choice.”
Production Toolsetter Dan Mahnken answered: “The .308 Winchester rifle — [based on the] wide range of bullets made and the wide range of things that one can hunt with it.”
Process Engineer David Palm answered: “Savage action 243 Winchester.”
Ballistic Technician Gary Prisendorf answered: “Probably a .22 LR. It may not be the best choice, but you could use it for about anything if you really had to.”
Production Manager Chris Hatfield answered: “Beretta A300 Outlander 12 gauge.”
Report based on story by Ashley Dugan, CMP Writer
This summer the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the John C. Garand Match at the annual National Matches at Camp Perry. The event has been one of the CMP’s most popular competitive shooting events, attracting hundreds of competitors from around the country each year. The John C. Garand match runs July 27-30, 2023, at the Viale Range and Rodriguez Range (Saturday only) at Camp Perry. CLICK HERE for CMP National Games Matches information and full 2023 schedule.
The roots of the John C. Garand Match date back to 1998 when the CMP introduced the competition into its target competition schedule. The Garand Match is a unique event where participants use vintage “as-issued” M1 Garand rifles over a course of fire with 10 shots prone slow-fire, 10 shots prone from standing rapid-fire, and 10 shots standing, all at 200 yards.
In response to the growing popularity of the Garand Match, the CMP went on to establish other rifle events of the same type, including the Springfield, Vintage Military, Rimfire Sporter, M1 Carbine, Vintage Sniper Team, and Modern Military matches. Collectively, these have come to be known as “CMP Games Matches”.
Camp Perry M1 Garand Competition — Vintage Military Rifle
The John C. Garand match is a Camp Perry classic. Note the signature Garand clip in the air.
The unique “Ping” of the ejected en-bloc clip is music to the ears of Garand fans. Some folks own an M1 Garand for the history, while others enjoy competing with this old war-horse. The CMP’s John C. Garand Match is one of the most popular events at Camp Perry every year.
Approximately 40% of each year’s Garand Match competitors receive coveted gold, silver, or bronze Achievement Medals with neck ribbons. Medal presentations are decided by competitors scores. In 2023, competitors who fire 279 x 300 or higher will receive gold medals, scores of 272 to 278 will receive silver medals; 260 to 271 will receive bronze medals. Medal presentations typically take place on the range immediately after competitors finish.
The John C. Garand Trophy, awarded to the top competitor at the John C. Garand Match at Camp Perry, was donated to the National Trophy collection by the Garand Collectors Association in 2001. Nick Till is the latest winner of the trophy (2022). Brad Diehl is the current national record holder of the match with a score of 294-9X (set in 2018), while Steven Skowronek is the only individual to win the National John C. Garand Match as a junior, back in 2005. Skowronek returned to win the match again over a decade later in 2017.
DCM Emeritus Gary Anderson, who served as the DCM from 1999 through 2009, played a major role in getting the Garand Match established and in growing the CMP’s as-issued military rifle program into one of the CMP’s largest shooting sports disciplines. He recalled, “The Garand Match had 325 competitors in 1998, but it quickly grew to over 1,300 competitors in the years that followed. It succeeded because M1 rifles were affordable and readily available and because we adopted a simple 30-shot as-issued military rifle course of fire. Plus, there was a special appeal to being able to shoot rifles in competitions that had already served in the national defense of our country.”
History of the M1 Garand Rifle
Jean Cantius Garand, also known as John C. Garand, was a Canadian designer of firearms who created the M1 Garand, a semi-automatic rifle that was widely used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. The U.S. government employed Garand as an engineer with the Springfield Armory from 1919 until he retired in 1953. At Springfield Armory Garand was tasked with designing a basic gas-actuated self-loading infantry rifle and carbine that would eject the spent cartridge and reload a new round. It took fifteen years to perfect the M1 prototype model to meet all the U.S. Army specifications. The resulting Semiautomatic, Caliber .30, M1 Rifle was patented by Garand in 1932, approved by the U.S. Army on January 9, 1936, and went into mass production in 1940. It replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield and became the standard infantry rifle known as the Garand Rifle. During the World War II, over four million M1 rifles were manufactured.
After World War II ended, thousands of M1 Garand rifles were put into storage while others were loaned to allies during the Cold War. Production resumed in 1950 when North Korea attacked South Korea, making the rifle the main infantry firearm used during the Korean War. Nearly 1.5 million new M1 rifles were produced between 1952 to 1957.
How to Order an M1 Garand from the CMP
In 1996, a federal law established the Civilian Marksmanship Program and authorized the CMP to sell surplus .30 and .22 caliber military rifles, parts, and ammunition to qualified U.S. citizens. The CMP currently sells the famous M1 Garand and other vintage rifles through mail order and through its stores in Alabama and Ohio. To purchase an M1 Garand through the CMP, you must be an adult U.S. citizen, who is a member of an affiliated organization, and who has participated in Marksmanship Activity. This basically means you need to join a gun club and participate in a clinic or match. Proof of club membership and citizenship is mandatory for all ages. The CMP does not accept telephone, fax, or online orders for firearms — you must order by mail or in person. CLICK HERE for ordering information.
M1 Garands at CMP Retail Store in Anniston, Alabama.
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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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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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The .308 Winchester, a shortened version of the .30-06, has almost completely replaced the .30-06 in NRA competition. The .308 is required for Palma shooting, so it is also used by many Palma competitors in other long-range and mid-range prone matches. However, with the exception of M1 Garand matches, you won’t see many .30-06 rifles on the firing lines. Does that mean the .30-06 is obsolete? Is the .308 Win really much more accurate? Or does it just offer the advantages of reduced recoil and reduced powder consumption?
Cartridge photos courtesy Deuce45s.com, a leading source of specialized military cartridges.
In his Sibling Rivalry: .308 vs. .30-06 article on the Rifleman’s Journal site, German Salazar argues that the .30-06 remains a viable competition cartridge, particularly for the long-range game. This isn’t just a subjective opinion. German has data to back up the argument that the .30-06 can still do the job.
German compares the actual scores produced by his .308 Win rifles with the scores from his .30-06 rifles. German analyzes scores, over a two-year period, shot by “matched pair” rifles (one in each caliber) with similar actions, stocks, sights, and barrels. For comparison purposes, German also includes score data from his 6XC, a modern low-recoil chambering.
RESULTS: .308 Has Small Edge at Middle Distance, But .30-06 Is Better at Long Range
Surprisingly, the .30-06 performed nearly as well as the .308 at middle distances. The .30-06 delivered 99.2% of max possible scores vs. 99.5% for the .308 Win. Notably, at 1000 yards, the .30-06 racked up 97.7% of max scores vs. 97.3% for the .308 Win. So, at 1000 yards, the .30-06 actually proved superior to the .308 Win. German explains: “This isn’t too surprising when one considers [the .308’s] limited case capacity for the bullet weights typically used in Long-Range shooting. They just run out of steam and dip perilously close to the transonic range as they approach 1000 yards of flight. The extra 150 fps or so that can be safely obtained from the .30-06 case really pays off at 1000 yards.”
Mid-Range Comparison
In NRA Mid-Range matches (500 and 600 yards), the average score and percentage of possible score for each cartridge was as follows:
If we look at the score averages, the .308 comes out on top at the Mid-Range distances… by 0.3% of the possible score. By the way, notice that the 6XC, as good as it is, simply straddles the .30 caliber cartridges; it is not the winner.
Long-Range Comparison
German rarely shoots the .308 in matches that are only 1000 yards; most of his 1000-yard .308 shooting is done in Palma matches which include 800, 900 and 1000 yards. To make the comparison useful, the Long-Range results are presented only as a percentage of the possible score and the 800- and 900-yard stages of Palma matches were NOT included.
In NRA Long-Range and Palma matches, the average percentage of possible score for each cartridge at 1000 yards was as follows:
Editor’s Note: Among the three cartridges German studied, the 6XC actually proved best at 1000 yards, delivering 98.9% of the maximum possible scores. The .30-06 was second-best with 97.7%, slightly better than the .308 Win at 97.3%.
You’ll want to read German’s full Sibling Rivalry article, which includes an interesting history of the .30-06 and .308 in High Power shooting, along with tables showing German’s actual scores with his .30-06, .308 Win, and 6XC rifles.
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