Good for you.

It doesn't make you more of a man than anyone else.

And it's not about years. It's about rounds fired. Just like there's young men and women half my age that would way out shoot me with a shotgun or a bow. Because they have shot them both for more shells and more arrows than I have. And intentionally worked to get better at it, year after year.

Not seeing anywhere i stated it makes me more of a man, please show me.
Absolutely contradicting your statement that shooters who are also hunters have no use for it.

This has become ludicrous.

Lol.
I had to re-read the original post to remember what is was actually about.

I went and looked in my safe, yep, the old 30-06 is still in there, no scope and oiled for storage, been that way for the last 25 years at least.

Yeah the original post was meant to shame everyone who doesn’t own one. (jokingly)

It’s like saying you hate baseball and apple pie.

I’d bet that all the PRC and gaymoor cartridges will be long forgotten in 100 years.

…but there will still be guys shooting the ‘06

It’s the most versatile cartridge if you judge by compatible bullet weights and powders.

So, if you own one and never shoot it, are you even a man? Asking for the OP…….

I sold guns in from the 1966 to 1971 at a large discount chain sporting goods. I will say that bolt action sales were mostly .30-06, but I sold 20 times as many lever action 30-30's, mainly Marlins with a Win 94 every once in a while. All those guys looked like men to me. LOL BTW I never sold sell a single "deer rifle" to a woman all the time I was there.

Would not own a 30-06 or 270 or 6.5 Creed….even if they were given to me.

Forum caliber debates are silly.

No explanation as to why, just leaves us wondering.

A 1/2 dozen .22 rifles!

I've owned three 30-06 rifles and killed my first several deer with them. I've never been bothered by recoil, but one of my '06 rifles (Winchester mdl. 70 Featherweight) did earn the nickname "Thumper". I loved that rifle but it was not one to shoot a ton of practice with. I haven't had one in years because I've bought, sold, and traded for many other rifles in different cartridges to try out. Come to think of it, right after I sold my last '06 I started sitting down to pee...

Grizz, that’s a classic.

I own a lot of different calibers but rarely hunt with anything but my ancient, but rebarreled and butchered(scoped) Win 1917 Eddystone 30-06. I hand load so I have options.

If sitting close I use my re 64 Win 30 30.

Either of them will make meat anywhere I go.

What I don’t have are any evil looking black guns.

This is the key right here intentionally working towards getting better no matter what your favorite caliber is, I personally enjoy hunting with a 45/70 its an absolute hammer. I have never had any animal take a single step after getting hit by it, the cartridge is a classic for sure. The 30’06 for its time was leading edge for early 1900’s, but there is so many more efficient cases out there its kinda a fudd in many ways. Reasons like inconsistent brass, long and inconsistent neck has to be in a long action, uses a medium to faster burn powder so it has a sharper quick puchy kick.

Wanna test your man hood come shoot 5 groups of 5 with a 45/70 or a 375 H&H mag or better yet get into something bigger like a 460 wby or 500 t-rex

45/70 vs 30-06 on most scales…really??

My daughter-in-law is a preschool teacher. Maybe she should moderate this thread.

provide photos

Its beginning to compete with The Longhorn Lounge

You're the creepy uncle no one wants to be alone with, aren't you?

Duck!! This has ran its course. The 30-06 is an iconic mainstay, that sucks [censored] and something other can outperform it. But yet it preservers.

The 30-06 got a head start over the newer calibers. Lots of guys came back from Europe with experience using them. They were sold as war surplus with every gun shop and pawn shop selling them. Ammo wasn’t hard to come by. Everybody either used them or the 30-30. Other calibers were around but I don’t recall anybody talking about efficiency. You could get them from every gun store, pawn shop, and department store.

Next big push for guns came about in the 60’s due to the mess in Vietnam. That necessitated a new type of weapon to suit the jungle terrain. Thus the 223. The first ones were reported to jam and got a lot of American boys hurt or worse. Accuracy wasn’t all that important when you were in the jungle and couldn’t see very far. I was on the USAF pistol/rifle team during the 60’s. We, and the other branches, used the old standby 30-06. The little pew-pews were considered more short range guns and not built for accuracy. They also jammed a lot. At the All Service meets, the armorers for the different services weren’t too impressed with the AR’s.

My safe now has 9 different calibers and hand loading gear for all of them. And yet, when November comes, I reach for my butchered 1917 Eddystone or my ancient 30-30 Win saddle gun. I haven’t fired one of the evil looking black guns since 1968.

Post WWII the .30-06 and the Garand were making today's .308 Win ballistics.

My son has a Garand made by Winchester, and it is near flawless. He had to replace the operating rod, to handle more pressure. And I had to investigate hand loading for a Garand. H-4895 was the powder, and I started as low as I could. 168 gr HPBT was what was seated. Mid way up, it shot a 1" 3 shot group at 100 yards, with battle sights. I told him we need to stop. That's a great load, and let's not hurt the rifle. Recoil was not memorable.

But an 8 pound, modern bolt action, and 59.0+ of H-4350 and its terrible to shoot. Each side of it is better in all ways. .308 Win and .300 Win Mag.

Macknamera (sp?) and the "Whiz Kids" F-ed up Stoners rifle, cartridge and powder type. Failure to fire, and failure to eject did get lots of Soldiers and Marines killed. Over 60 years later, the AR-15 has been the number one selling rifle in America, and for a long time. The 5.56 NATO, and the .223 Rem have been experimented with at extreme length. Now days, it is reliable, fast, and is literally a +1000 yard cartridge.

If I could go back in time, it would be so fun to show up 50 years ago, and display a .223 Rem hitting 1000 yard targets, with today's hand loads, and lessons learned.

That is what it is all about. Pay attention to the learning that came before us, and use it to our advantage.

The average intelligence person learns from their mistakes. The truly brilliant learns from someone else's.

The same mantra applies to experimentation that lead to successes.

I've three:
1) M1 Garand
2) M1903A3
3) Winchester pre-64 Model 70

H-4831sc and a Sierra 168 HPBT in a 30-06 bolt might be more agreeable to you. Like beer and ice.