My first centrefire was a .222 Remington. At the time the most popular centrefire in Australia.

My second was a .30-06. At the time the most popular hunting cartridge in the USA. But nowhere near the popularity here in Australia of course. The .243 and .270 was the standard at the time for deer and medium game.

I shot many feral goats with my .222. But after a trip with too many wounded goats needing follow up to finish off, and also shot my "largest horned billy" ever, several times in the chest, but it ran off into the bush. A search could not find its body. I am sure it was dead.

So I bought my .30-06 and never lost another wounded goat, and also don't believe I had anymore goat follow ups. I remember one nanny came running out a few dozen yards away from me, above it on the mountain slope, looking down hill for what disturbed it. A Nosler Solid Base HP at the base of the skull completely exploded its head, bits falling all over including behind me! I also had my longest ever shoots on medium game, 400 yards or more. A herd of feral goats fleeing me on from another mountain slope, fleeing along a ledge above a cliff. I managed to snipe each goat in line in turn. Until I wounded one, gut shot, and it fell down the cliff. And bleated in the rocks below. Try as I could I couldn't hit it to finish it off down there. Several shots until I hit it properly and it died.

Most deer I have shot has been with my .30-06, my two red stags, most fallow, my sambar, I have carried it on every sambar hunt. Even my small hog deer trophy stag! Not my chital. A .308 was used there. I have shot a lot of meat deer with a some other rifles, starting with my .222s and also 6.5x55 but most trophies with the .30-06.

Feral pigs, I have used all sorts of my rifles.

Not a water buffalo. But I did carry my .30-06 on my first Top End trip with 220 gr Norma RNSPs loaded up by the previous owner of the rifle for that purpose. Ah yes, that was another reason for buying the .30-06, trying to take a buffalo with it. Did not find any on that trip. At the time the buffalo were not as far South as where we hunted then. St Vigeon Station South of the Roper River. An abandoned cattle station, the owners had just walked off it, unable to make it work. Every man and his dog in the NT was hunting there. Later it was given to the Aborigines as another reserve. I reckon I still have that box of ammo somewhere ... but did shoot a Volkswagen combivan with it.

We tried all sorts of ammo on it. A burned out VW van lost and stuck in the bush forever.

BTW on the same trip found a whole diesel fuel tanker abandoned in the bush. Fuel of diesel. What had evidently happened, was the trailer got stuck in the mud at the beginning of the wet. The prime mover detached and got out of there. And the large diesel tanker trailer stayed there for the entire wet, the river crossing flooded and the roads underwater. The owners had not yet recovered it as the Wet was only just over when we were there. We did sample a few jerry cans of diesel from it ... no doubt locals would pass it with empty tanks, and leave with full ones ... ?

Shot a lot of donkeys with my .30-06. A few camels. Scrub bulls? I can't remember?

Most of my African plains game have been taken with my .30-06. I did have some troubles with the 180 gr Nosler Partitions acting like FMJs on that first trip. 200 gr Semi Pointed Nosler Partitions I also had along worked fine. They don't make those since then. Took warthog, impala, duiker, zebra, wildebeest, kudu and also an eland. Another (dickhead) PH said it couldn't be done. A shot and a finisher to speed it along. the eland was a very enjoyable hunt.

And my one and only NZ feral sheep/ram.

A few rabbits even, and some foxes. Some skips.

I remember trying Remington accelerator sabot ammo in it. A .224 55gr SP at 4000 fps. I remember it shoot about a foot higher than my usual 150 gr loads. From memory was not that accurate, maybe one and a half inches at a 100 yards. Did flatten a skip at close range with one.

I really wish saboted ammo was researched more and created more. Imagine being able to use a .375 with good bullets to hunt medium game with. Loading up say 180 gr .30 calibre or 140 gr 6.5mm etc. Magnum performance plus. A new thread I think.

My restocked Parker Hale 1200 Delux Mauser 98 in .30-06 remains my first reached for rifle for any medium game and deer hunt. I need to find the open sights for it, and put those back on. Or new ones fitted.

It now ears a different scope. I started with a Weaver steel 4x scope with a tapered post and fine cross hair reticle. Now it has a second hand S&B 4x scope in QD mounts with a German post and cross hairs reticle. Whatever it is called? I find a 4x scope adequate for medium game, out to 300 metres to even 400 metres. If one knows the rifle one is shooting.

[image]http://nitroexpress.info/ubbthreads/photos_info/200706/PH30_06_STOCK_IMG_0021_WEB.jpgg[/image]

My one and only sambar stag, taken with thanks to Gryphon. If he ever visits here still.

A good afternoon's work?

My first trophy deer.

No rifle in the photo, but my South Aust Red Stag taken with the .30-06.

I would like to try 250 gr RNSPs in it oneday. Maybe I don't need a .318 Westley Richards?

O)

And before I forget. I at one time planned to replace my Parker Hale M98 .30-06 (God Forbid) with a M70 Featherweight Winchester in .30-06. That rifle could not be made to shoot better than six inches at a one yards .... so was one of few rifle I have ever disposed of.

AND I have TWO other .30-06s, one a barreled action of a Colombian FN M98 Mauser rebarreled to .30-06 by the Colombians I assume. Kept it for a custom project, however esteemed members here said it is too pitted.

And the other is a double rifle barrel set for my Tikka/Valmet. Since it had final fitting for my double action, I have not used it. In the last month or so, have been thinking of giving it a real try. I have been thinking of attempting to return to go to being a "double rifle purist". I think the .30-06 will be able to do ANYTHING the M98 can do, including shooting at range. At least with one of the barrels.