.30-06 Springfield
If rifle, cartridge, and reloading die sales,
along with hunter opinion mean anything, the .30-06 is still the most popular
big game cartridge in the world. Which is saying a lot when we consider that
even after close to a century of trying, we still haven't come up with a
cartridge that comes close to threatening it popularity.
Developed and introduced by Springfield Armory in 1906, the .30-06 is a slightly
shorter version of the earlier .30-03 cartridge. Its development as a U.S.
military cartridge was inspired by Germany's development of the
7 x 57mm and
8 x 57mm Mauser
cartridges. In addition to serving as the primary U.S. battle cartridge until
1952, the .30-06 has established a track record on target ranges and in the
game fields that has yet to be equaled by any other cartridge. Other cartridges
have now set more accuracy records and many hunters now choose more powerful
cartridges for big game, but no cartridge has served both roles better than
the .30-06.
When one takes a close look at the .30-06, the reasons behind its success
become quite clear. To begin with, the .30-06 is about the most powerful
cartridge the average shooter can handle without suffering discomfort. To
end with, the .30-06 shoots flat enough for long range shooting of deer and
pronghorn and it hits hard enough for most of the world's big game. As a
bonus, a good bolt action rifle in .30-06 is accurate enough for varmint
shooting even though it is far too much cartridge for such a task.
Hunter opinion on the best bullet weights for the .30-06 differ, but the
150 grain for deer size game and the 180 grain for everything else still
makes a lot of sense. When all is said and done, the handloader with
IMR-4350,
IMR-4064, H4350,
H414, and
W-760 sitting on
his powder shelf needs to look no farther.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
Historical Notes:
In 1903 the United States government adopted a new military loading to replace
the 30 Army (30-40
Krag), which had been adopted in 1892. Like the
30-40 Krag,
this new (30-Caliber, Model of 1903) cartridge featured a 220 grain round
nosed full metal jacket bullet. However, the '03 increased muzzle velocity
by about 100 fps, even though the M1903 rifle featured a significantly shorter
barrel. The rimless cartridge design, generously borrowed from Mauser, was
also an improvement as it featured superior feeding from a box magazine.
Nevertheless, as seems to have been typical of that era, the U.S. Army was
slow to the task of modernizing. As the 30-03 was standardized, all other
world powers were in the process of adopting spitzer bulleted military loadings.
The brand new 30-03 became instantly obsolescent. A crash program was instituted
and in 1906 a modified version of this basic cartridge was adopted as the
30 Caliber, Model of 1906. That loading featured a lighter spitzer bullet
and a shorter case neck. The spitzer bullets had a much shorter bearing surface
so the existing rifles were modified by turning back the barrels two threads
and recutting the chambers.
General Comments:
The 30-06 Springfield is a United States military cartridge adopted in 1906
for the Model 1903 Springfield service rifle, which was based on the Mauser
bolt action system. The 30-06 is actually a slightly modified version of
the original 1903 cartridge, which was loaded with a 220-grain round noseded
bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2300fps. Because of cartridge developments
in Europe, it was considered advisable to change to a lighter weight, pointed
150-grain bullet at an increased velocity of 2700 fps. At the same time the
case neck was shortened by .07". This improved round was designated the "Ball
Cartridge, caliber 30, Model of 1906," but in practice, the nomenclature
was shortened to 30-06. The 30-06 version can be chambered and fired in any
rifle made for the original 1903 round, but the reverse is not true because
of the difference in case length. For many years both the 1903 and 1906
configurations were loaded by sporting ammunition manufacturers. Shooting
the '06 in the '03 chamber reportedly gave poor accuracy. Old catalogs list
both rounds. Occasionally the 1903 version is called the 30-45 because original
loading used 45 grains of smokeless powder.
Again, because of military developments in Europe, the Army switched to a
172-grain bullet with a 9-degree boattail in 1926, the new round being designated
the "Ball, caliber 30,M1." Muzzle velocity, originally the same as the 150-grain
load of 2700 fps, was later reduced to 2640 fps because of difficulty maintaining
pressure specifications at the higher velocity. In 1940, the 150-grain flat
base bullet was re-adopted as the "Cartridge, Ball, caliber 30, M2" and that
was the load used in WWII. The return to the lighter bullet came about, at
least in part, because of difficulties adapting the new Garand semi-automatic
rifle to handle the 172-grain load. The heavier boattail bullet was superior
for machine gun use because of its greater maximum range of nearly 6000 yards,
compared to about 3500 yards for the 150-grain loading.
The rimless 30-03 and 30-06 replaced the older rimmed
30-40 Krag
as the official U.S. military round. The 30-06 has, in turn, been superseded
by the 7.62x51mm, also known as the 7.62mm NATO or, in its commercial version,
the .308
Winchester. In Europe, the 30-06 is known as the 7.62x63mm.
During WWII, the U.S. government supplied arms and ammunition in 30-06 caliber
to many Allied nations including Great Britain, Netherlands, France, China,
Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. To maintain their inventory of weapons,
many countries undertook manufacture of 30-06 ammunition after the war.
In the 1950's and 1960's, vast quantities of surplus 30-06 ammunition was
sold on the U.S. market. Shooters will often encounter Ball, armor piercing
and tracer types. Ammunition loaded before and during WWII is corrosively
primed. Practically all U.S. military ammunition loaded after 1952 has
non-corrosive primers. The principal exception is Frankford Arsenal Match
ammunition marked FA53, 54, or 56, which has the old style corrosive
priming.
Source: Cartridges of the World
| 30-06 Springfield Reloading Components & Accessories | |
New Unprimed PMC Brass
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RCBS
Trim Pro 3-Way Cutter .30 Caliber
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Hornady Shell Holder #1
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RCBS Ammo Box (#86903) |
| 30 Caliber (.308) Bullets | |
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