[Mariner]

I've gone through several rifle calibers over the years. I think I liked them all in one way or another.

But nowadays I shoot only 30.06 in my hunting rifles.

The ability to purchase off-the-shelf ammo in the widest spectrum of bullet weight and sectional density has made me a believer.

From 125gr at over 3,000fps to 220gr with a ballistic coefficient of over .5.

No matter how cheap your rifle, there's a 30.06 bullet on the shelf that it will shoot sub MOA.

And I've loaded a 165gr Nosler that my chrony says left the barrel at 3,032fps.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I was lucky. The first load I tried in my .30-’06 was factory ammunition, Remington 150-grain Core-Lokt, and it gives 3-shot groups of about 1 1/4” at 100 yards. It works fine on mule deer, so I haven’t experimented with other loadings. Both deer I have shot at since I got the rifle were killed on the spot, without taking a step.

I thought about other calibers when I was going to buy a hunting rifle, but, as you say, .30-’06 is everywhere, and I can always find variations if I want.

[Hugin]

The guy took one of every big game animal in North America with his 30-06 and wrote a book about it.

http://www.safaripress.com/One-Man-One-Rifle-One-Land/productinfo/JONES99Z/

[MileHi]

And I've loaded a 165gr Nosler that my chrony says left the barrel at 3,032fps

I love the 165 Partition. That said, the 6.5x55 with 140 Partitions punches above its weight class.