My buddy asked me about semi auto 30-06s and the only two I know of are Browning's BAR and whatever Remington calls their current model. I know Benelli made semi autos at one time but are they still in production?

His daughter shot his 308 and likes it. Now he wants to get her a 30-06 (for ammo availability) and he will only buy new. He does not want anything but semi auto.

Anyone own or have recent experience with any semi auto 30-06?

Thanks in advance.

I have a Browning BAR Safari in 06. Also have a Remington 742 ( I think, hardly ever shoot it). If he must have aSemi auto, by far in my opinion hte Browning is the way to go. The remingtons arent bad, but hey arent really intended to do much shooting and as a result will inevitably have chamber issues. I work on guns as well, and have seen quite a few of them come through. Almost always the same issue, jamming, and in some cases it will eject the round but you can see obvious damage to the case.
Good luck bud.

Benelli still makes the R1, Remington and Browning Bar and there is an AR style rifle in 30-06

I'd say go with the BAR, it's the pick of the litter.

Get that AR!!

Once upon a time my family went through two Remington 742s. Today I've got a Browning Short-trac if that tells you something. If you're in Dallas, the Allen Cabelas had two used Benelli R1 rifles on the rack, one synthetic, one wood, as of yesterday. FWIW, I wouldn't even consider a Remington autoloader.

Isn't an M-1 Garand a semi-auto .30-06?

Good luck finding one new.

I almost forgot, Noreen makes an 06 in an AR platform. If you can find one of the Garajds mentioned earlier, that would be a good choice though.

We all make compromises.

The CMP Special is a new barrel and new stock on an original receiver. Might be as close as you can get to new.
http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/m1-garand/#Special

My dad has a CMP Service grade. Great rifle, and hard to beat for $700.

I don't think much more of the Garands (as a sporting rifle) than I do of the Remingtons.

And you can make it go bang as long as you like.. As heavy as it is, it's a pleasure to shoot..

Why not??

Exactly!!! I have worked on several of the remingtons, always the same thing. tear them down polish the chamber good for a while then it starts again. They may go for years with no issues, but it seems once they start it happens over and over.

Browning would be my my choice. Had a bar light in 30-06 for a while, teeth rattler!! would stat away from the light.

My Garand is one heck of a shooter! It would make a great blind gun but a little big for stalking.

Thanks for the information. I have no experience with BARs but my dad owned a Rem 742 in 30-06 and I grew up shooting it. I know recent Remington QC has been questionable to say the least and honestly I think the Benelli is just too weird looking to even mention to my friend.

My buddy's daughter had never shot any gun before this past weekend. The .308 was her first and according to him she shot it quite well and had no complaints. She is 17 and slightly built (cross country runner) so I was surprised she did not say anything at all about recoil.

Right now he is set on a new 30-06 semi auto but I will try to get him to let her see and possibly shoot some other calibers and actions. He is not a gun aficionado and only shooting he does is hunting so he is a one rifle for deer/hogs and one shotgun for ducks,dove,pheasant kind of guy.

Again thanks for the information and advice.

That 25-06 AR just seems cool to me.

There's a bit of difference between a 308 recoil and 30-06 recoil. If it's her first gun, I wouldn't suggest a big recoil gun. Don't want her recoil shy to start with.