tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5557913977913148366.post4883403826440916248..comments2023-07-21T02:26:42.817-07:00Comments on 196,800 Revolutions Per Minute: .30-06: The Infantry MagnumNathaniel Fitchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15011387972300996469noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5557913977913148366.post-50748358384215010922014-04-13T10:07:10.268-07:002014-04-13T10:07:10.268-07:00I don't recall saying that .30-06 was dead. Ce...I don't recall saying that .30-06 was dead. Certainly, it's a mainstay caliber for long-action guns. However, .308 rifles seem to be more common, at least where I'm from.Nathaniel Fitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15011387972300996469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5557913977913148366.post-59056980851023047652014-04-13T02:49:08.678-07:002014-04-13T02:49:08.678-07:00.30-06 is by no means dead in new rifles.
In an av....30-06 is by no means dead in new rifles.<br />In an average gunstore in Sweden, .30-06 is by far the most common calibre in new rifles,<br />with even break action rifles and combination guns using .30-06.<br />.308 is today about as common as 9,3x62 and 6,5x55 about as common as .375 and larger bores.<br /><br />10 or 20 years ago, new .308's were more common,<br />but since then the access of cheap 7,62x51 from the army has dried up,<br />and we have seen a shift in hunting in the south from virtually no animals <br />larger then 40 to 60 pound dears to seing 200 pound wild boars being more common<br />for every year and a drastic increase in bear hunting in the north<br />has led to hunters opting for larger calibers and higher sectional density.<br /><br />So if .30-06 is dead on the civilian market, then every caliber exept 12 gauge is also dead.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01367574388495495361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5557913977913148366.post-12216785565491403852014-02-07T22:19:57.188-08:002014-02-07T22:19:57.188-08:00Yes, the 8mm Lebel (and a couple others that exist...Yes, the 8mm Lebel (and a couple others that existed before) come close to the performance of the .30-03, but what's remarkable about the Springfield cartridge is that it does so from a carbine length barrel.<br /><br />You and I both agree, I think that the .30-06 has, as a result of what was maybe a bit of an overreaction to 7mm Mauser (or maybe just the insistence on a .30 caliber bore), proven to be a bit more than is necessary not only for military use but for civilian use as well. This explains to me why most .30-06 rifles in use in the civilian market today are legacy deals, with the slightly weaker .308 Winchester taking its market share almost whole hog. It's reasonable to assume that the .308 Winchester achieved such success in large part because of its lower recoil, as it's difficult for me to imagine that a mere half inch overall length difference would so thoroughly convert sportsmen over to its side. But maybe something else was going on, who knows?<br /><br />Further evidence of .30-06 being too big is given by the development of the .276 Pedersen. By the mid twenties, it was pretty obvious that the .30-06 was "too much" cartridge.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />-NathanielNathaniel Fitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15011387972300996469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5557913977913148366.post-4988630516665008502014-02-07T17:05:18.202-08:002014-02-07T17:05:18.202-08:00The 8mm Lebel Balle D was introduced in 1898, so 1...The 8mm Lebel Balle D was introduced in 1898, so 198grains at 2,400 fps for 3,364 J of energy is within spitting distance of the 30-03. <br /><br />The relative performance gap between the 7x57 and 30-40 US in the Spanish American War was the major impetus behind the development of the 30-03. To equal the ballistics of the slimmer round a bump in velocity was required. Was it smart? Not really, and that recoil issue would come back to haunt the 30-06 in WWII. The poor long distance machine gun results in WWI led to the development of the M1 Ball loading, which would be comparable to M72 match (except with cannelure and crimp), but the excessive range fan and recoil pushed the National Guard units to request M2 ball, which the Army then standardized forgetting about the lessons for machine gun performance in the previous big war.<br /><br />Would have been smarter from the get go to adopt the 6.5x55 along with the Krag rifle. Logistically it uses less material per cartridge in every aspect save the primer, and recoil is greatly reduced.SordidPandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657526230826604643noreply@blogger.com