Lawnboy
Well-known member
Was sitting on a rock pile in the middle of nowhere Alaska while sheep hunting and found this cartridge. It's turned black I'm sure from the weather but I don't know much about firearms. What is it?
Anyone recognize this caliber and bullet?
- Thread starter Lawnboy
- Start date
shoots-straight
Well-known member
I"m thinking a 30-06 1906 springfield. I think that's when it was developed and that's what it was called.
No way any type of firearms expert.
No way any type of firearms expert.
Bambistew
Well-known member
yes... 30 cal Government 1906, or 30 '06 Springfield by today's standard as it was developed by Springfield to fire in their military rifles. The 30-06 is a shortened version of its predecessor the 30 government 1903. Pretty cool. Before the "war" 30 '06 rifles where stamped 30-Gov't or some such variation.
I've seen a few pre-war M70s and M-54s Winchesters with 30 Gov't 1906 stamped on the barrel. Wish I had one.
I don't think Western has made ammunition since the 60's, so its likely that old give or take, depending on how long it took the purchaser to shoot up the box.
Blacktailbc
Well-known member
Funny. I have experienced something very similar. I was sitting on a rock glassing about 8 miles in the wilderness one year. In a brutal place to get to.......I was sitting there thinking, "I bet I am the only person that has ever sat on this rock". Just then I look down, and here is an old, weathered, .264 win mag shell. Would be cool to be able to see the critter that that shell was aimed at.
Lawnboy
Well-known member
That's cool to know! I kind of thought it might be older based on the color of the brass and then the whole weird numbers thing. I also have found many things like this and wondered what was the intended target or what the whole story was. Thanks guys for the input.
The guys are correct--an old .30/06 cartridge. Backtailbc: I was hunting many years ago in the Arrow Creek Breaks in Montana and was way out on a rock ledge where I figured no one had ever been, except maybe Indians eons before. I too found a .264 Magnum casing, blackened with age.
I had the same experience down in deep S. E. Oregon. Hiked over a mountain and came to a sandy ledge that was being warmed by the morning sun. I sat down to enjoy the view, looked down in the sand and found one empty case stamped .30 US (.30-40 Krag). Always thought there was a hunting story attached to the case, but I just could only imagine someone sitting on that same ledge on some October morning as the mule deer made their way back into the brushy draw below to spend the day. Always figured one didn't make it.
