text: Many European militaries at the beginning of the 20th century were adopting lighter-weight (roughly ), higher velocity, service rounds with pointed (spitzer) bullets: France in 1898 (8×50mmR Lebel Balle D spitzer  with boat-tail), Germany in 1903 (7.92×57mm Mauser  S Patrone), Russia in 1908 (7.62×54mmR Lyokhkaya pulya [light bullet]), and Britain in 1910 (.303 British Mark VII ). Consequently, the round-nosed U.S. .30-03 service cartridge was falling behind.
  Cartridge, ball, caliber .30, Model of 1906 (M1906)
  For these reasons, the U.S. military developed a new, lighter cartridge in 1906, the .30-06 Springfield, "cartridge, ball, caliber .30, Model of 1906", or just M1906. The .30-03 case was modified to have a slightly shorter neck to fire a spitzer flat-based  bullet that had a ballistic coefficient (G1 BC) of approximately 0.405, a muzzle velocity of , and a muzzle energy of . The cartridge was loaded with military rifle (MR) 21 propellant, and its maximum range was claimed (falsely) to be . The M1903 Springfield rifle, which had been introduced alongside the .30-03 cartridge, was modified to accept the new .30-06 Springfield cartridge. Modifications to the rifle included shortening the barrel at its breech and resizing the chamber, so that the more tapered bullet would not have to jump too far to reach the rifling. Other changes to the rifle included the elimination of the troublesome "rod bayonet" of the earlier Springfield rifles.