Currently shooting a borrowed Winchester 30-06 bolt action from my brother-in-law. Was given to me last year to use, was told it was collecting dust. Was told no hurry in returning it as he has another 06 that he shoots.

Well don't like shooting a borrowed gun and its time to get my own. Really don't like the recoil in the 06 bolt, but love the caliber.

So now I'm undecided as to whether I want to stick with the 06 bolt and deal with the recoil, drop down to a 270 in bolt action, or perhaps look at a 30-06 in semi auto.

Currently looking at a Browning Bar in 30-06. Anyone on here shoots this rifle? If so what kind of accuracy do you see at 200 yards? The reviews I've read seem to say this gun is extremely finicky towards ammo, how much truth is there to this?

Haven't shot A BAR in .30/96, but I have put a lot of rounds through a BAR in .308. At first I was not a fan o the gun due to its mushy trigger, but overtime and piles of hogs and coyotes it has proven itself to be a reliable, accurate, and all around great hunting gun. Some may love their Remington semi autos, the one I have shot and couote hunted with in 6mm Remington was pretty poor in all aspects of handling, reliability, and accuracy. If you're set on getting a new rifle and recoil is a consideration, you probably would enjoy a .270 a little more.

You can add a better recoil pad to an '06 and tame her down a bit. If that doesn't do the trick then you can have a muzzle break installed. Or you can use reduced recoil rounds, or lighter bullets.

Or you can just get a .270 Win. Great round and you won't regret it.

A good recoil pad and some 150gr ammo and the 06 is fairly tame.

A good friend bought a Winchester 1895 in 30-06 with the steel butplate. He loved the nastolga of the gun but not the recoil. Gave him a slipon Limbsavers recoil pad and even though it did not look as good the carbine saw a lot more use, and I do admit it made it a lot more fun to shoot.

Get a Kick-ezz, Pachymer Decelerator or Limbsavers recoil pad and like Dee said the 06 becomes fairly tame

"A good recoil pad and some 150gr ammo and the 06 is fairly tame."

This and do you really remember recoil shooting at a deer? I bought a weighed gun rest and use it to sight in guns at the lease, funny how most people only talk about "kick" on the bench and that fixed that.

Surely the recoil is not noticeable when shooting game. Thats nearly always the case.

Problem is I'm a shotgun hunter. I grew up duck hunting, did very little deer hunting. I've killed 5 deer in my life. Now that I'm in West Texas if I want to go hunting pretty much gotta sit in a deer stand.

Right now I can pick up the 06 and I'm confident out to 100-150 yards. Thats it. Haven't shot a rifle much in my life. I just can't see myself spending the time at the range that I need to with the 06. Right now my range limit is 150 yards. I'd like to be able to reach out to 200 - 250 yards, but right now I won't take that shot.

I do have a 30/30 lever action in the closet. Thinking about putting a scope on it and trying out some of the lever revolution ammo. Has anyone gotten decent groups at 200 yards with this ammo? I think any further than that is really pushing the ammo. I might take this route initially just to see what the gun/ammo/myself are capable of. Its really a fun gun to shoot.

I've shot 30-06 in BAR but I don't have any opinions on it. My uncle loves it though

If you're shooting 150 grain bullets theres not much of a drop in terms of recoil btwn a 270 & 30-06. If you love the caliber then consider a 308, same bullet as the 30-06 with a different case.

The 7mm-08 would prolly fill the bill with about a 25% reduction in recoil compared to a 30-06. Its basically a short action 270 and its a pleasure to shoot in standard sized rifles and barrels. I've heard it kicks pretty good in a Model 7 but have never shot one.

Hope this helps and good luck this season.

You got 30-30? go with that.

I spend a lot of time shooting the '06 and the thing that helped me the most was shooting with a shoulder pad in warm weather. Does two things, most importantly I think is it keeps your length of pull near the same as when you are hunting in cold weather with layers and a coat, this keeps your cheek weld consistent and you don't have to play bobble head to see through your scope, and second it tames recoil tremendously by spreading the recoil over a much larger area than even a nice cushy limbsaver pad covers. The pad I use most for range and pig hunting in summer is just an old BDU blouse with the sleeves cut off and an old soccer knee pad sewn in to the shoulder.

-ww

When I started deer hunting my father gave me a few 30-06 rifles to check out. One was a bolt action with a steel but plate. Man was it a pain sighting it in the first time out. I bought a pachmyer slip on and it made the rifle manageable with 150gr.

Shot the browning and remington semi-autos (in 30-06). Kinda cool guns that were accurate enough, but not as accurate as the bolt gun. They would not be my first choice for 200-250yds.

So, I went into the gun shop and asked what he had in short action, greater the .25 and wouldn't make my eyes water when I shot it. Walked out with a Rem 700 CDL in 7-08mm. Been loving it for the past 8 or 9 years.

i have an -06 and a .308....and i would choose the .308 everyday!

Put the scope on the 'tirty and get some LeveRevolution. And put some deer down out to 200 yds. Why? Because you can, when others say you can't. No, seriously. I love my inherited Marlin and every mammal larger than a squirrel I've killed was hit with that rifle. Yes, waaaay fun to shoot.

This is the plan!!

Is it worth buying the Scopes designed for the LeverEvolution ammo?

As far as using the 30-30 for 200yd shots instead of using a 30-06 for that kind of distance, in my humble opinion you need to rethink that. I'm a fan of the leverevolution ammo, but there is a significant drop between 150yds and 200yds. You can do 300yds with your 30-06 easier than 200yds with your 30-30. I have them both and really like the lever action, but I prefer not to use it for anything over 150yds. The 30-06 will reach on out there. Get a lead sled and 50lbs of weight and have fun with your 30-06...

Well already own the 30/30. So I'm just going to at least shoot it first and see what happens. I will not take a shot at an animal unless I'm confident the first shot will be a lethal one.

So I wont be taking the 30/30 to the stand with intentions of shooting 200 yards, without first testing the gun/ammo and more importantly my capability with that equipment.

Do you see that much drop with the Leverevolution ammo?

Hornady is showing 3" high at 100 yards is about dead on at 200 yards? I may be mistaken there, but regardless won't take their info for granted, only use it as a starting point. Will shoot everything from 25 - 200 yards and see hitting points.

Sprigsss,

I want to recommend that you take a look at 6.5X55 Swede. It is simply the best deer cartridge I have ever used! I've owned and hunted with a 30-06, it was a rem 742 auto. Saying it was inaccurate is an understatement. I then went with a 7 Mag and a 300 Mag. This was back in my younger dumber days. I still own them and love them...to look at and if I ever go elk hunting etc I will use them. I've hunted with 270, 7mm-08, 243, 308, and 280. And for deer hunting I think the 6.5X55 is the best of them all! It hits incredibly hard and is very accurate. The ammo is actually easier to get than some think so that should not be a problem. I actually reload mine but have seen these even at Walmart.

Good luck with your choice.

I appreciate all the feedback guys!

I'm sure hornady is right about the balistics. They do use a longer barrel than you are I. I based my opinions on my .35 Remington. Your 30-30 may shoot a little faster (farther before it drops significantly) than my .35 200gr. bullets. I don't much like the 3" high setting, just personl preference, but I like to only be 1 1/2" high at 100yds. That puts me about on at 50yds and back on again about 150yds. After that I'm about 5" low at 200yds. It's fun to shoot and experiment and I hope you enjoy deciding what to use in a given situation.

What brand is Deerhunter61's 6.5x55 Swede?