U.S. Military .30-06s

A Half-Century of Experience

- Mike Venturino

For more than 50 years, the .30-06 served as the primary small arms round of the U.S. Armed Forces in two world wars, the Korean War and numerous smaller conflicts. No fewer than five rifles chambered for the .30-06 were adopted by one or all of America’s service branches. These were several versions of ’03 Springfields, U.S. Model 1917s, M1 Garands, Model 1941 Johnsons and Model 1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifles (BAR). Besides rifles, serving alongside American troops were several types of .30-06 crew served machine guns. Most prominent among infantry troops were variations of water-cooled Browning Model 1917s and air-cooled Model 1919s. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard even bought a number of .30-06 Lewis Machine Guns that are instantly recognizable by their top mounted rotary magazines. (The only U. S. Coast Guardsman to win the Medal of Honor in World War II was fighting with a .30-06 Lewis Gun.)

When introduced, the official name was “Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model of 1906.” That lengthy title makes it obvious why .30-06 became its shortened, albeit unofficial, moniker. As introduced, military ammunition carried 150-grain flatbase FMJ spitzers. Velocity was 2,700 fps from the 24-inch barrels of Springfield Model 1903 rifles. During the interwar years, the standard load was changed to a 174-grain FMJ boat-tail bullet at 2,640 fps. This was the M1 Ball and was developed to increase the cartridge’s range when used in unaimed machine gun barrages. (Exact velocities given for .30-06 military loads differ by source.)