Is the 30-06 getting phased out?

I enjoy listening to Ron. I subbed his channel last year and actually listened to one of his podcasts while driving to work this morning.

I think just about all long action cartridges will wane in the future, will 30-06 go away entirely? I doubt it. Due to urbanization, population growth, stricter munitions laws like straight-wall cartridge hunting states, and it being harder to access larger big game hunting, 30-06 or other long action cartridges aren't as necessary anymore IMO. I think the popularity of the AR platform and the intermediate sized cartridges it shoots, combined with the efficiency of newer, smaller cartridges, has caused people to shy away from long action cartridges. Small cases and long, skinny bullets have been the craze for 10+ years now.

When the largest animal I may routinely hunt is a 200lb+/- deer or hog at under 200 yards, I don't need a long action cartridge to do that work. Most of that can be accomplished with cartridges even smaller than .308. I think that applies to a LOT of deer hunting states. Open western prairie and Rocky Mt hunting are some of the only exceptions where having some extra powder would be advantageous.

1. A lot of Ron's "cartridge comparison" load data is over pressure. Case in point: Nosler, Vhitavouri, and Hodgdon max out with the 190gr bullets at about 2,700 FPS...and are knocking on 60K PSI to get there too. Most powders are well under ~100 FPS less at max than what Ron is always showing.

Can it be done? Sure. If you don't mind junking brass after 3 firings...and hopefully you're using a modern action and barrel.

^ And that's assuming your barrel likes the 65K + PSI node. I've only had one barrel that shot best up there...

Ron should add some disclaimers when he posts that stuff.

2. Is the '06 getting phased out? Absolutely. Will there always be a .30-06 (and .270)? Yes...there will always be nostalgic shooters.

It is a very effective round with a lot of versatility and a long track record. However, for 0-400 yard hunting (99% of us) there are a dozen+ more cartridges that are just as effective while being more efficient...and those cartridges are going to be more popular with writers who are getting paid to promote them.

I'll never give up my 30-06. It's taken 10 one shot elk over 12 hunts. Most of those results as we all know is bullet performance. The Barnes 165 grain TTSX has done it all. The 30-06 was the darling of the Camp Perry 1000 yard matches for many years after WWII.
Could it have been done with the .308? I'm sure it could as the velocity difference is only a couple hundred FPS slower which means little in the big scheme of things.
The Browning Stainless Stalker with synthetic stock is very light making it the perfect mountain rifle. The recoil can be somewhat brutal, but the suppressor has certainly mitigated that issue.
Bullet technology has advanced way beyond the old cup and core bullets. New alloys, New ballistic tips that don't melt at high speed, and designs that fly better on their path downrange while retaining speed at long range are the norm now which is allowing smaller diameter and lighter bullets to match the performance of the older legacy calibers.
Haven't killed a deer in many years now with anything but .223 or .243 using 55 grain bullet weights. Never had one run over 30 yards, with most making much less distance.
Will the 30-06 be forgotten? Nope, way too many that are in circulation currently, no more than the 30-30 will fade away. Newer shooters will likely not go that route unless they just want to shoot a legacy caliber as part of the hunting experience
What has really surprised me is that during this latest ammunition shortage, the 30-30 was almost non-existent on store shelves while .223 and .308 and other obscure calibers were all over the shelves.
I inherited one, and had to go months without shooting it as loaded ammo didn't exist, so went for dies, powder and the reload.
It's on the shelves now, a year later so these legacy cartridges aren't going away.