The Best .30-06 Rifles of 2023

Below is my list of the best .30-06 rifles. I list the best choices in terms of value, performance, design, and cost.

Click on the name to head to the product page, read reviews and check prices or skip ahead to the list of rifles.

1. Name Recognition

With a cartridge that has been around for so long, you want to look towards mature designs that, like the venerable 30-06, have passed the test of time.

It is not a surprise to anyone that the best rifles in this caliber have been around for almost as long, if not longer than, the round.

Experienced hunters and long-gun fans know to steer clear of those brands you haven’t heard of and choose to go with those who have long been closely associated with the big Aught Six.

2. Barrel Length

The rifle that the 30-06 was designed for, the M1903 Springfield, used a 24-inch steel barrel, and, literally, millions were made.

Doubling down on that, the infantry arm that replaced the M1903, the famed M1 Garand, also ran a 24-inch barrel length. It was so accurate, reliable, and effective that Gen. George S. Patton  wrote the Army’s Ordnance Department to tell them the M1 “is the greatest battle implement ever devised.”

Today, National Match competitions still use these same rifles.

Meanwhile, the almost de facto length seen on hunting rifles chambered in .30-06 run 22-inches. With that in mind, it is advisable to remain in that 22-24 inch “sweet spot” with 26-inchers an option for target shooting and precision marksmanship guns.

Running shorter risks losing velocity and sacrificing performance, so eschew so-called  “Tanker” or “Bushmaster” length .30-06 builds.

When it comes to twist rates, both the M1903 and M1 used a 4-groove, 1:10 right-hand twist and this same rate has become common on the market for the caliber.

Be advised, however, that this was for 150-grain military ball rounds which is a good middle-ground, and some companies that make specialty barrels such as Krieger produce pipes with slower twists such as 1:11, 1:12, and 1:14 for use with lighter/shorter bullets.

3. Action

Ever since the Mauser 98 style turn-bolt action was introduced, which cocked on opening via a camming effect and produced a rock-solid lockup when closed, variants and improvements of the action have abounded.

The first production rifle that used the .30-06, the M1903 Springfield, was an unlicensed clone Mauser bolt action rifles.

Most of your popular bolt action rifles today– the Winchester 70s, Ruger 77s, Remington 700s, and so forth– are direct descendants of the same, with a strong lockup and cock-on-open design. There is a reason for this as such actions are reliable and tend towards great accuracy. We’ve picked out the best of these below.

When it comes to semi-auto 30.06s, the field narrows. The best-known of these is John Garand’s M1 Rifle, first introduced in 1936 and still much sought after these days. Lesser-known would be semi-auto 1918A3 BAR-style guns such as those made by Ohio Ordnance.

Other than that, there is Noreen, the only practical maker of an AR-style Aught Six.

1. Best Overall: Bergara B-14 Hunter

World-renowned for their barrels, European-based rifle maker Bergara makes some of the finest hunting and competition guns on the planet.

When it comes to .30-06, their B-14 Hunter model rifle weighs just over 7 pounds, comes standard with a 22-inch 4140 CrMo steel barrel with a 1:10 twist, and is mounted in a molded synthetic stock.

The B-14 are high-quality rifles that include an accuracy guarantee to produce sub-MOA groups (1.0 MOA or less at 100 yards) with premium factory match-grade ammunition, so a rifle with better mechanical accuracy you are unlikely to find anywhere near this price point.

If you are interested in enhancing your hunting experience with a Bergara, take a look at our deep dive into these Italian barrel specialists.

2. Best Semi-Auto: Browning BAR Mark III

Browning’s current Autoloading Rifle (not to be confused with the “M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle”) the BAR Mark II, has been around since the 1960s.

Other than the M1 Garand, it is possibly the best semi-auto .30-06 ever made in terms of reliability and the rifle features a steel detachable box magazine, something the Garand doesn’t, which makes it considerably easier to load than the M1.

Further, the BAR surpasses the utilitarian M1 in terms of looks, with the Safari models being particularly beautiful.

For those who prefer a more modern aesthetic, you can opt for the MK 3 series which uses alloy receivers and ergonomic synthetic stocks in a variety of flavors. All .30-06 BARs use a 22-inch barrel with a 1:10 twist rate.

3. Historic Pick: Springfield M1 Garand

Specs

• Caliber: 30.06 Springfield
• Barrel Length: 24 inches
• Overall Length: 43.5 inches
• Weight: 9.5 pounds, unloaded
• Magazine Capacity: 8 round en-bloc clips while other competition and hunting-sized clips are available.

The Good

The M1 Garand is a thrilling rifle to shoot, and really helps channel the GIs of “The Greatest Generation.”

The Bad

Once affordable back in the 1960s and 70s, the market for the limited number of Garands in circulation has become voracious following “Call of Duty” and “Saving Private Ryan,” which has led to many who want an M1 being priced out of the market. That, and its unique issues such as learning to load an en bloc clip and being mindful of the furniture fit and gas plug/op rod, scare lots of folks away from this all-American classic.

Delivering a distinctive “ping” when it ejects its unique en bloc clip and is ready to inflict the dreaded “Garand thumb” on those who do not load it properly, the rifle is iconic and for any of the Greatest Generation the best 30-6 rifle that will ever be produced.

Over 5.4 million Garands were made for the U.S. military from 1936 through the 1950s, and the rifle remained in at least second-line service with the National Guard and others into the 1980s.

Adopted as U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, in 1936, this 8-shot .30-06 Springfield designed by John C. Garand was one of the first semi-auto rifles issued to rank and file infantrymen in the world.

Ahead of its time, General George Patton famously called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised,” and it proved superior when stacked against the bolt-action five-shot German 98K Mauser, Japanese Arisaka, and Soviet/Chinese Mosin Nagant M.91/Type 53 rifles in World War II and Korea.

While most of that number has long ago been melted down, donated to overseas allies, sold via Guns.com or as surplus, there are decent numbers of these famed rifles coming back from overseas, and the Civilian Marksmanship Program has stocks of these historic rifles on hand that they sell to the public.

Although there is a bit of red tape involved, the CMP remains the best way to get one of these veteran guns in good condition, which is how I got my hands on this one.

The standard Garand, produced by Springfield Armory, Winchester, H&R, International Harvester, and Beretta, was made in figures that approach 5.5 million between 1936 and 1957. While it hasn’t been in factory production in almost seven decades, there are decent numbers of these famed rifles that are coming back from overseas.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program has a sales program that includes rebuilding worn rifles with new barrels and furniture while James River Armory is also rebuilding guns for Classic Firearms and RTI.

Shooting the Garand is thrilling, and an amazing way to channel the GIs that used the famed rifle across the globe, but it has its quirks.

Firing the commanding .30-06 Springfield cartridge, the M1 uses a long piston and operating rod to accomplish cycling its action. This means that charging the Garand is a chore– and why the default way to rack it is to load the en bloc clip and tap that the rod handle back in place to cam a round forward.

It is in this loading process that you need to be careful not to close any digits in the chamber.

My favorite example of loading an M1 on film is Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) in Grand Torino. The rifle also has a manual safety lever at the front of the trigger guard.

The trigger breaks at about 4.5-5.5 pounds and has significant creep to it compared to today’s rifles, and the trigger guard is decidedly spartan. Keep in mind this is due largely to the fact that it is a mil-spec design that was introduced in the 1930s.

With its chunky milled steel receiver and all-encompassing walnut furniture, the Garand feels a bit like a 2×4 piece of lumber– only heavier. However, when properly supported, it can be a joy to shoot.

The platform is capable of serious accuracy out to 500 yards and beyond provided the sights are zeroed in and the barrel isn’t “shot out” and is bedded to the stock correctly. I found this M1 used, and owing to the brand new match/near-match-grade barrel, it’s a remarkably accurate shooting piece of history.

Newer guns are also around, as Springfield Armory, Inc. produced assorted commemorative and shortened “Tanker” models that incorporated GI surplus parts with new furniture (both walnut and fiberglass camo), new barrels, and new receivers between 1979 and 2007.

The M1 Garand has excellent sights, with a micro-adjustable rear ghost ring and a protected front post.

Going past the learning curve of loading and unloading the M1, it is typically an exceptionally reliable rifle. I used two different specimens in testing. One was an Ethiopian-imported James River Arms rebuild and the other a Philippine-returned CMP rebuild, both featuring new Criterion barrels and new American walnut wood stocks on WWII/Korean War era receivers. Both functioned through 200 rounds of military surplus ammo admirably.

Keep in mind that the newest of these guns floating around was still made more than 75 years ago and they need a bit of TLC to keep in operation. Speaking of this, these guns were designed to use 150-grain ammo, so do not go with heavier bullets which can break the op rod unless used with an adjustable gas plug such as a Schuster.

Maryland-based Fulton Armory currently makes similar rebuilds with USGI surplus receivers coupled with new furniture and parts. However, as such receivers have dried up, Fulton recommends picking up a high-mileage CMP gun and sending it to them for restoration.

Provided you have a working intact GI surplus receiver, you can find everything else made for the M1 from multiple sources to build/rebuild a Garand to original, Tanker, or National Match specifications.

4. Collectors Pick: M1903 Springfield

Upwards of 3 million M1903 variants were made from the 1900s into World War I and through World War II. While some models were still in use as sniper rifles into the Korean war and others were kept around for use with honor guards and as line-throwing guns with the Coast Guard and Navy, much like the M1 Garand, stocks of these have long ago been liquidated.

The CMP doesn’t even have anymore, having sold the bulk of these old bolt-guns for around $349 in the 1990s.

As the days of this classic, reliable rifle have come and gone, leaving most of the survivors in the hands of collectors, a few companies still market refinished models of the M1903. This includes James River Armory and Fulton Armory, both of which make guns largely using all new parts except for the actions, which are vintage USGI.

Gibbs even made a chopped-down M1903 they called the “Pig Buster,” complete with a flash hider and camo-finished synthetic stock, which was sadly discontinued a couple of years ago. In the end, the M1903 in any format may be more of a safe queen than a usable rifle these days.

5. Also Great: Mauser M18

While most of the bolt-action centerfire rifles on the market these days owe some sort of influence to the Mauser 98, the German-based gunmaker is still around and offers an affordable update to sportsmen around the world– the M18.

Featuring a cold-hammered barrel and an ultra-robust synthetic stock for big game hunting in extreme places, Mauser bills it as “The People’s Rifle” (Volksrepetierer) so it is only right that they have it available in .30-06, which by and large in the U.S. is the people’s champ.

6. Best AR Format: Noreen Firearms BN36

Light and maneuverable for the most extreme tasks, Montana-based Noreen Firearms makes a modern .30-06-chambered AR-style battle rifle that weighs 8-pounds– coming in lighter than the famed M1 Garand.

Featuring a 1:10 twist 16-inch barrel in its carbine format (20-inch on rifle models), this direct gas impingement, side charging semi-automatic is also much more familiar to users born after 1945 than the old Garand, not to mention lighter on the thumb.

Finally, as Noreen offers a 20-round mag with the BN36, they are ready to rock with the same capacity as the old M1918 BAR.

7. Also Great: Remington 700

With a legacy of Remmies like the M1917, Model 30, and others in the rearview the company’s evolution of the bolt action rifle eventually led them to the Model 700 by 1962 and, since then, something on the order of 8 million of these guns have been made– with .30-06 being one of the primary chambering running across all those guns.

Although Remington Outdoors went belly up last year, a respawned RemArms has arisen from the ashes, and “Big Green” in its latest format has six different .30-06 Model 700s in their pared-down catalog. These include the 700 CDL and CDL SF, the 700 SPS and SPS Stainless, 700 BDL, and 700 Long Range with the latter being our pick.

The Long Range comes standard with a 26-inch heavy-contour barrel, X-Mark Pro adjustable trigger system, and a Bell and Carlson M40 tactical stock.

If you’re in the market for a Rem 700 check out our list of the best of the bunch.

8. Walnut Stock Pick: Remington Model 783 Walnut

An update of the Model 700 that Remington had developed in the 1980s to become the next evolution in their bolt gun lineup, the 783 is back in production and the American Walnut variant includes a 22-inch magnum contour barrel, a CrossFire user-adjustable trigger, and a detachable 3-round magazine.

9. Budget Pick: Ruger American

Introduced a decade ago to offer an excellent modern bolt-action rifle design that comes standard with a two-stage Marksman adjustable trigger that is user adjustable between 3 and 5 pounds, a 4140 chrome-moly cold hammer-forged barrel, and a one-piece three-lug bolt with a 70-degree throw, the Ruger American series are also affordable if adding a budget rifle is in the cards.

The standard .30-06 model includes an ergonomic synthetic stock that keeps the weight down to 7.1-pounds, a one-piece Picatinny rail for optics, and a 22-inch 1:10 twist barrel. Ruger offers it with an included factory-installed Vortex Crossfire II scope as well.

10. Best Factory Build: Ruger Hawkeye Hunter

It doesn’t get much better in a factory .30-06 rifle than Ruger’s Hawkeye Hunter.

Standard with an American walnut stock, stainless steel receiver with a hinged solid-steel floorplate and 20 MOA Picatinny rail; and a 22-inch 1:10 twist free-floated, cold hammer-forged stainless steel barrel with 5R Rifling, there’s not much left to ask for here. One to earmark come hunting season.

11. Savage Axis II

One of the best values when it comes to a .30-06 that can deliver, the Savage Axis II is a superb entry-level rifle that brings a 22-inch button-rifled barrel with a 1:10 twist to the field and a rugged composite stock, adjustable cheek and recoil pad and user-adjustable AccuTrigger.

Known for their tack-driving accuracy despite an asking price in the $500 range, the Axis II also has “nice to have” features like a detachable box magazine, easy bolt removal for maintenance, and a light 7.3-pound weight — making for a superb hunting rifle that helps keep the felt recoil of the .30-06 cartridge under control.

12. Also Great: Winchester Model 70

First introduced in 1936, the Winchester Model 70 has been in near-continuous production almost as long as the .30-06 itself and is considered by many to be one on the best hunting rifles ever made.

So accurate that the Marines used it as a sniper rifle in Vietnam before the M40 was fielded, today’s Model 70 is “considered by many the superlative bolt action rifle of all time” thanks in part to its integral recoil lug, which stiffens up the rifle and adds to its long-range accuracy.

Current production long-action models chambered in 30.-06 include the Alaskan, the beautiful Super Grade, the Featherweight — a lightweight rifle designed for hunting — and the rugged Extreme.

The latter includes a Bell and Carlson synthetic stock, a Pre-64 action, and a Tungsten Cerakote finished free-floating 22-inch 1:10 twist barrel, making for a quality rifle that you’ll likely hand down to kids (and possibly grandkids.)

The 30-06 Springfield (aka 7.62x63mm) is consistently one of the top-selling cartridges, and it has been used as the basis for more factory and wildcat cartridges than any other standard case.

Developed by the U.S. Army’s Springfield Arsenal as its first smokeless cartridge with a spitzer-type bullet for use with its then-new Mauser-style M1903 bolt-action rifle, the .30-06 actually got its start in 1903 (30-03) when the United States introduced the most powerful military cartridge in the world at the time.

This new Springfield rifle and associated cartridge infringed on Mauser patents, which led to the U.S. recalling the M1903 and .30-03 cartridge, shortening the neck and refitting the rifle to accept the new .30-06, officially dubbed “cartridge, ball, caliber .30, Model of 1906” when adopted.

This was soon shortened in use to the more lyric .30-06 Springfield, or just commonly the “Aught Six.”

Wrapped in gilding metal, it remained Uncle Sam’s primary small arms cartridge for infantry rifles and light machine guns until the 7.62 NATO started to come online in the late 1950s.

With all those Great War Doughboys and WWII/Korea GIs quickly falling in love with the powerful cartridge, and military surplus M1903s and M1917s then common on the market, game ranging from varmints to bear as well as targets out to 400 yards and beyond were soon being harvested by sportsmen freshly out of uniform.

Likewise, when Remington started selling consumer versions of the M1917, the Model 30, through their catalog and via local hardware stores in the 1920s, competitors soon jumped on the .30-06 bandwagon and the rest is history. Despite its age– over 115 years young at this point– the Aught Six remains one of the most popular sporting rounds in the country today.

The great thing about the 30-06 is that just about every ammunition maker in the world makes loads for the caliber.

These range down to 100-grain light varmint style bullets to 220-grain solids meant for dangerous game. This effectively puts everything on the table, provided you have the right load.

The standard commercial loads, using 150-grain and 180-grain bullets in assorted hunting profiles, hit a velocity of 3,000 fps and 2,800 fps respectively.

While each load is different, the basic ballistics of those two most common ones, fired from 22-to-24-inch barrels, provide that the round shoots roughly flat to about 200 yards, then drops a foot by 300 and almost three feet by 400.

Accordingly, the military long considered the 450-yard mark as the practical envelope for accurate and effective hits using off-the-rack rifles and bulk pack ammo. There is a reason that the Garand Matches held across the country typically use a 200-yard maximum.

Skilled shooters who know their “dope” can run 600 yards or better in a chip shot, especially with match rounds, while 1,000-yard shots (that push almost two seconds to impact) are possible with practice, a talented marksman (ideally with a spotter) and dialed-in optics.

The 30-06 also has a lot of power, especially when compared to .308 Winchester/7.62 NATO, the round that replaced it in military use. With 150-180 grain bullets the Aught Six typically offers 100 fps more velocity than the .308 Winchester and only 200-250 fps less than the .300 Winchester Magnum.

Black-tipped .30-06 armor-piercing rounds penetrate 0.42 inches into 7/8 inch homogeneous armor at 100 yards, a standard that is still used for military plates today. At 300 yards, common bullet sizes still carry about 1,800 ft./lbs. of energy, comparable to most 5.56 NATO loads at the muzzle. That’s big medicine.

The .30-06 cartridge and the rifles that fire it are renowned as being one of the most versatile in the world when it comes to hunting applications.

Dialed down with lightweight bullets, it is capable of being a varmint gun or pest-control tool (think: feral hogs) while at the same time, with heavy loads, it can harvest any large game in North America.

Some, such as esteemed firearms writer and expert Colonel Jim Crossman, vouched for the Aught Six as a safari rifle back in the day. In military service, the cartridge was the standard rifle and light machine gun round for Uncle Same throughout both World Wars and the Korean War, proving itself three-fold.

While its days as the preferred cartridge at DCM and Service Rifle matches are waning, it is still popular.

Come to think of it, there is probably a shorter list of things the .30-06 can’t be used for.

The .30-06 may be popular and widespread, both in terms of ammo and rifles, but it is dated.

A lot of things have happened in terms of bullet theory since Teddy Roosevelt was President. Lots of light, unbelted magnum cartridges produce better energy transfer in a smaller package.

At the same time, the 6.5 Creedmoor and similar rounds have a much better ballistic coefficient than the downright chunky by comparison .30-06, which translates to exceptional, almost laser-like accuracy at distance.

Whereas you must work for a 1,000 yard shot with an Aught Six, you can pull down the same 1K standard with a generic $300 6.5CM running a $200 optic package right out of the box.

To many, the .30-06 is seen as an old man’s round whose day has come and gone, despite its ability to rival many magnum cartridges’ performance without the same levels of noise and recoil.

With over a century behind it, the .30-06 may seem dated but it only seems that way. Since 1906, the evolutionary nature of bullet technology has kept the loads for the caliber competitive, and rifles chambered in it have never been out of production. It is still very relevant and can deliver, especially at ranges under 400 yards where it brings a lot of energy to the fight.

In conclusion, the famed hunter, soldier, and rifleman Townsend Whelen, who said, “Only accurate rifles are interesting,” also observed that, “The .30-06 is never a mistake.”