The .30-06 cartridge is now 106 years old, and yet today it's still one of the most popular rifle cartridges in the U.S. That's for good reason. Invented to deal with human beings, it's powerful enough for any game on the North American continent when properly used. I thought it would be fun to trace its history through the rifles using it in our armed forces.

This first one is now over 100 years old. It is a Model 1903, made at Springfield Armory in January, 1906, chambered for the old .30-03, which used a 220-grain bullet. It was recalled and re-barreled to the newer spitzer-bulleted .30-06 cartridge in August, 1908. It was apparently parkerized in the WWII period. In spite of it being a "low number" rifle and therefore supposedly being unsafe to shoot, this one has seen considerable use. Apparently it was used for target shooting, because it had a cardboard shim in the stock near the muzzle that was rather charred from barrel heat. Note the straight-down rather than swept-back bolt handle.



This next one is the quintessential World War I-era Model 1903 Springfield, with later arsenal rework. The receiver was made in September or October of 1918. In 1946, it was re-barreled and parkerized. This is typical of most of the '03s from the WWI period.



Strangely, most of our troops in France in WWI used the 1917 "Enfield" rifle. This was a modification of the Pattern 14 British rifle, changed to fire the .30-06. It used a cock-on-closing action, had a bridge-mounted peep sight, and had a capacity of six rounds rather than the 5 rounds of the '03. I once worked with a WWI vet who used one and swore by it. They were made by Remington, Winchester, and Eddystone Arsenal. This Winchester example was produced in September, 1918.



John D. Pedersen, a talented inventor, came up with what is today called the Pedersen Device; a semiautomatic bolt that reciprocated within the '03 receiver. This formerly top secret device fired a pistol-size cartridge, fed from a magazine that slanted away from the top of the breech area. The rifles that were made for it were designated as the Mark I, and featured a small ejection port in the left side of the receiver, plus modified parts to enable use of the Pedersen magazine and semiautomatic triggering. This scheme came too late for use in WWI, and most of the devices were later scrapped. The rifles can still be found here and there. Here are two views of a Mark I made in 1919. It carries the acceptance mark of Elmer Keith at the Ogden, Utah arsenal. All the Pedersen-modifed parts are still intact as is the original finish. This has the very rare Model 1927 web sling. It's the only one I've ever seen, and I bought it immediately when I saw it and recognized what it was.




Rock Island Arsenal also made Model 1903 rifles that were almost identical to those made at Springfield. This one left RIA in 1919.



Between WWI and WWII, the Model 1903A1 appeared and became standard. The main change was that it used a pistol-grip stock without finger grooves. This particular rifle came out of Springfield in 1934. It was one of many that were re-stocked, re-barreled and re-finished during the WWII period. Note the early straight bolt handle used on this one.



It was "the greatest battle implement ever designed" according to General George Patton. This was the incomparable M1 rifle, the design of John Cantius Garand. Adopted in 1936, it gave our soldiers a reliable semiauto rifle when most of the participants in WWII had few or none. This example was made at Springfield Armory in 1941; it was lend-leased to the British during the war and bears British markings.



A talented Marine Corps captain, Melvin Johnson, designed and produced a unique recoil-operated semiautomatic rifle. It unsuccessfully competed for an Army contract, but the Marine Corps bought a number to equip their para-Marines and raiders. The Model of 1941 Johnson rifle is a rare one to find today, and it's become a very valuable and sought-after collectible. This one left Johnson Automatics in 1941.



At the beginning of WWII, the government dusted off the retired Rock Island Model 1903 machinery and donated it to Remington so that they could begin to produce the '03. The first Remington '03s were similar to the earlier RIA guns, but soon production shortcuts were instituted to allow better volume. This was known as the M1903 (modified). The visual tipoff is the use of a non-grooved rear sight base, a "no finger groove" stock and non-grooved sight adjustment knobs. This one was made in 1942.



Almost immediately, Remington recognized that to fulfill production quotas, they would have to modify the '03 still further to speed things along. Their solution, approved by the Army Ordnance Department, was the Model 1903A3. (The Model 1903A2 was a subcaliber accessory for artillery). The '03A3 featured many stamped parts and a receiver-mounted adjustable rear sight similar to that used on the .30 caliber M1 carbine in later production. Here is a Remington example, made in 1943.



The Model 1903A3 was also produced by the Smith-Corona typewriter factory. It also saw wide use in WWII. This one was also made in 1943. Note the use of pins rather than stock bolts in the stock - another wartime expedient measure.



Our standard sniper rifle during WWII was known as the Model 1903A4. It was basically a modifed 'A3 and most were equipped with scopes made by the W.R. Weaver Company in El Paso, Texas. They sure weren't the best sniper weapons in the war, but they gave service in both the European and Pacific theaters of operation. All were made by Remington; this one in August of 1943.



After the war, many '03A3s were chromed and used for parade and ceremonial uses. I remember using them in both high school and college as a member of ROTC drill teams. This rifle was originally made by Remington in 1943. It remained fully functional, although many of these "parade rifles" were made inoperable, as they were mostly just for show.



The .30-06 cartridge was officially retired for rifles in 1957 as the new M14 rifles were phased in, replacing the M1 rifles which had been produced by a number of manufacturers after the war. It continued to be used in machine guns for quite a while after the war. It's still a powerful and effective round, although the military rifles which used it are quickly becoming relics and collector items.

I hope you enjoyed this brief summary!

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I was pleasantly surprised the first time I fired my 03A3 using M2 ammo. The recoil was quite manageable and certainly less sharp than shooting NATO surplus from any bolt action I have. I guess that is because the big case allows the use of a slower powder for the same or greater velocity.

However, there lies the Achilles' heel of the 30-06 round, its sheer size. It takes a lot of brass to make the case and its length makes it a little problematical in semi-auto and automatic weapons. I dislike 7.62 NATO as a replacement for 30-06 as I think the round is just too near the hairy limit, and it is nasty to shoot from a bolt gun. It's OK in MOST semis if the powder has the correct burn rate, otherwise it will quickly turned into a head ripping jam-o-matic. I remain unconvinced about 7.62 NATO to this day.

If you insist on .30 caliber bullet, and I don't, it is clear that case somewhere between the '06 and the 7.62 NATO is probably what is needed. The French and the Swiss got it right with the 7.5x54 and 7.5x55 rounds IMHO.

Thanks for the history reminder John. By my screen name you can easily tell I am a fan of the 30-06.

And as a side note, the Remington 720, which was bought by the Navy to use as trophy rifles.
Remington never produced them commercialy as the onset of WWII caused them to drop production.
My baby:

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Thanks John,............Now to the safe to get out my 1943 Remington 'O3-A3 two-groove..................

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Go big or stay home

I love the '06, it's an American institution!

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Hold my beer and watch this!

I've received cartons of 30-06 M2 ball ammo from the CMP with headstamps as late as LC 77.

I believe the 720s were offered to the Army for use as sniper rifles, but that offer was turned down in favor of modifying the '03s - this setup became the '03A4. Probably because standard '03 parts were already in the supply chain.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Will you please take the rifle out of the box, install the bolt, and open a new topic featuring additional photos? One almost never sees a Model 720!

Hopefully,

T-Star

And while technically not a rifle, it is .30-06 and US Military...the Browning 1919A4.

Thank you for this post. I have had a ongoing love affair with the .30-06 since I bought a Nat. Ord. 03-A3 while in seminary in N.O., LA. At the time I did not know Nat. Ord. was not a govt. arsenal. So, I shot the hound out of that rifle to the point that by the time I graduated, the barrel was in sad shape. Happily a new $19 2-groove G.I barrel and $15 gunsmith fee resulted in a rebarreled rifle that would hold ten shots under 2 inches at 100 yds. Nowadays I have a beautiful Rem. 03-A3 that once belonged to my identical-twin brother, a Smith-Corona 03-A3 that went through arsenal rebuild (RA-P) getting a new Rem. 44 barrel, a SA 03 (1918) that went through rebuild getting a Sedley 44 barrel and a (toot horn and say "Thank you Jesus!!!") Remington 03 that went through rebuild getting a new High Standard 44 barrel. That Remington is the all-time most accurate military rifle I've ever owned. It routinely averages 97 or better firing prone slowfire at a SR-1 at 100 yds.

As I believe Wheelen once said, the .30-06 is the "Queen of the battlefield." I am sure other nations had useful rounds for their services. I've always been impressed with the 7.92x57mm round used by Germany. I've been less impressed with the British .303 round. But day in and day out I look at the .30-06 and still say, "Wow." If it did not already exist, commercial rifle/ammunition producers would give their eye teeth to be able to put their headstamp on the round. It is just about ideal for any game animal in North America. Even for Africa, it is excellent and would do very well even on the "Big Five" with proper bullets.

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Some National Guard units still had M1 rifles at the dawn of the 1980s. The 30-06 contined to see 2 nd line and militia use in the Phillipines even longer and maybe still does. Some US state forces also had M1s longer. The Ohio state defense force had them into the early 1990s and possibly beyond. Up until the 1990s at least M1 rifles and ammo for them were in war reserve stocks. In case of the need for mass mobilization they would have been issued.

I have a 1903a3 that had the metal work nickel plated and not chromed. A bit of paint - Duracoat will come later - took care of the annoying glare.

Curiously the even older Russian 7.62x54R continues to see use as a first line military cartridge.

Technically the BAR and Automatic Rifle Model 1915 Chauchat were also "rifles ".

So was the Benét-Mercie Machine Rifle of 1909.

I still have a Nat. Ord. 03A3 and a Eddystone 1917 in the herd, had a re-imported by blue-sky, Winchester M1 Garand that had been parkerized after it was pitted badly in Korea. The M1 was OK, but the 1917 was a lot more accurate to shoot. Someone wanted it bad enough that I wholesaled it to the shop I bought it from for over double in around 9 or 10 months (in the 90's). The only commercial 06 I've had was an early Rem. 700 BDL. A friend from down under wanted it for 'roos. I agree that 30-06 is one, if not the best "All round" cartridges in the world. But as an American, I like having several guns to to several jobs. Ivan