The .30-06 Springfield cartridge is the U.S. .30 caliber rifle and machine-gun round rooted in the Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1906 and recognized by SAAMI with equivalent names including 30-06 SPRG, 30 GOV'T -06, and 7.62x63mm. It links the M1903 rifle, M1 Garand, Browning Automatic Rifle, and Browning M1919-family machine guns, with major U.S. service loadings including M1906 Ball, M1 Ball, M2 Ball, M2 Armor Piercing, tracer, blank, dummy, grenade, frangible, and armor-piercing incendiary cartridges.
SAAMI and C.I.P. identify the cartridge under closely related commercial and metric names, while Army ammunition data separates the service family into ball, armor-piercing, tracer, blank, dummy, grenade, frangible, and armor-piercing incendiary loads.
SAAMI lists 30-06 Springfield with 30-06 SPRG as the abbreviated name and 7.62x63mm among historical names; C.I.P. lists 30-06 Spring. with alternative names including 30-06 Springfield and 7,62 x 63.
SAAMI Z299.4-2025 lists 30-06 Springfield with a 60,000 psi transducer maximum average pressure and a 24-inch velocity-and-pressure test barrel.
TM 43-0001-27 lists M2 Ball and M2 Armor Piercing as caliber .30 cartridges for M1919-family machine guns and the Rifle, Caliber .30, M1.
U.S. .30-06 military designations include ball, armor-piercing, tracer, blank, dummy, grenade, frangible, and armor-piercing incendiary loads; these entries focus on the core ball and armor-piercing lineage most useful for identifying service ammunition.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| M1906 Ball | Original .30-06 ball cartridge | International Ammunition Association describes the Model of 1906 as a .30-03-derived case with a shortened neck and pointed bullet, with early U.S. ball ammunition using a 150-grain cupronickel-jacketed M1906 bullet. |
| M1 Ball | Long-range ball loading | IAA links the 172-grain boat-tail M1 bullet to post-World War I machine-gun range requirements before later shoulder-rifle handling concerns pushed the Army back toward an M1906-style bullet. |
| M2 Ball | Standard ball loading for the M1 rifle and .30 caliber machine guns | TM 43-0001-27 lists M2 Ball for M37, M1919A4, and M1919A6 machine guns and the Rifle, Caliber .30, M1; IAA states M2 Ball was adopted in 1938. Sources: TM 43-0001-27 Small Caliber Ammunition, An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges |
| M2 Armor Piercing | Armor-piercing service loading | TM 43-0001-27 identifies M2 Armor Piercing by a black bullet tip and gives a 100-yard armor-plate penetration requirement; IAA dates U.S. adoption to 1939. Sources: TM 43-0001-27 Small Caliber Ammunition, An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges |
| M14 Armor Piercing Incendiary | Armor-piercing incendiary loading | TM 43-0001-27 lists M14 API for the same .30 caliber machine guns and the M1 rifle, with aluminum bullet-tip identification and incendiary composition. |
The cartridge is documented as ammunition for the M1 Garand, Browning M1919 family, and Browning Automatic Rifle. Other historically important .30-06 weapons, including the M1903 Springfield and M1917 rifle, are not linked here because the catalog does not currently have matching public records.
| Firing weapon | Weapon type | Firing evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Semi-automatic service rifle | Winchester identifies its M1 Garand ammunition as a 30-06 cartridge loaded to original M2 Ball specifications for legacy M1 Garand rifles. Sources: Winchester M1 Garand |
 | Browning M1919-family medium machine gun | Weaponsystems.net states that the M1919 fires .30-06 rounds from cloth or linked belts and lists the M1919A4 caliber as .30-06 Springfield. Sources: Browning M1919 | Weaponsystems.net |
 | Automatic rifle / light machine gun | The Army Historical Foundation describes the BAR firing .30-06 ammunition, and Steinel Ammo lists the Browning BAR among rifles chambered for .30-06 Springfield. Sources: Browning Automatic Rifle - The Army Historical Foundation, 30-06 Springfield Ammo | Hunting & M1 Garand Rounds |
IAA dates the birth of the .30 Cal. Model of 1906, or .30-06, to October 15, 1906 after the .30-03 case was adapted for a pointed bullet.
Sources: An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges
IAA links the 172-grain boat-tail M1 bullet to post-World War I experimentation driven by long-range machine-gun use.
Sources: An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges
IAA states the United States returned to an M1906-style bullet with a gilding-metal jacket and adopted it as M2 Ball in 1938.
Sources: An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges
IAA states the United States adopted M2 Armor Piercing in 1939, with a black bullet tip and a flat-based 163-168 grain bullet.
Sources: An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 Cartridges
National Park Service history says the Secretary of the Army approved the T44E4 as the M14 on May 1, 1957 after T65-cartridge development and planned it as a replacement for M1-family service weapons.
Sources: NPS Post WWII Rifle Development
