Happy 100th Birthday, 30-06!

[82Rigger]

On October 15th 1906 the U.S. Armed Forces adopted the .30 caliber Model of 1906 cartridge, replacing the short-lived 30-03 cartridge and the 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen cartridge.

[DMZ-LT]

Love my 30-06. Good to see you posting again !

[Jerry D]

Great cartridge and rifle action, Good to see ya' on here also

[82Rigger]

The cartridge that was originally designed for the 1903 Springfield rifle was the .30 Model of 1903...or the "30-03".

It was a little different than our well-known 30-06.

From the shoulder down they were pretty much identical; the 30-03 had a slightly longer neck and was loaded with a 220 grain round-nose cupro-nickel bullet. Muzzle velocity was about 2300 fps.

That slow, round-nosed bullet lost velocity rapidly, resulting in a very curved trajectory.

The cartridge was modified to use a 150 grain spitzer (pointed) bullet and a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps. The case neck was shortened slightly to accomodate the new bullet design.

The new cartridge proved much more efficient, had a flatter trajectory, and was adopted as the .30 Model of 1906...our present day 30-06.

Almost all of the original 30-03 chambered Springfield rifles were modified for the new cartridge; a few (around 50 to 100 rifles) escaped the modification and today are highly prized collectors weapons. The 30-03 cartridges...both military and commercial soft point...are also scarce and valued by collectors.

In the comparison photo below:

Top - 30-06

Bottom - 30-03

[39mto39g]

30.06 is the most vestal ammo made. From 55 grain to 220 grain bullets. A prairie dog at 1500 yards or a Griz at 10 yards.