I got curious about what cartridges might “rate” that I’ve either personally used, or have been used by companions I’ve been standing next to. The most frequent companion has been my wife Eileen, where I’ve had not only a personal interest because of our relationship but because the meat would end up in our freezers, and I’d have to help haul the animal home. (She’s the one who uses the 9.3x72R, in a nifty little German combination gun.) Oh, and usually—but not always—I handloaded her ammo. I handloaded some of the other ammo as well, one example the .22 Savage High Power, loaded for a friend who owned one but didn’t handload.
The animals are arbitrarily divided into two weight classes, which is roughly along the deer/caribou divide. I’ve only killed a dozen caribou, but have probably seen at least that many more taken, and they don’t appear to be harder to kill than deer, and probably not as tough as a rutting whitetail buck. But I did feel there should be some weight division.
The cartridges I haven’t used personally but have seen in action are denoted by an asterisk. If the cartridge is followed by an X, that means extended experience, enough to get a real feel for what the cartridge does, and perhaps by observing others use it as well. I might also note that some of the cartridges are so close to each other in ballistics that even though my experience with each individual round isn’t extensive, add them all together and it is. A good example might be the 6.5x57R, 6.5 Creedmoor and .260 Remington, which all have very similar ballistics to the 6.5x55. The same could probably be said of the .250 Savage and .257 Roberts, or the .300 Magnums. I would also congratulate anybody who can perceive any difference in field performance between the .30-40 Krag, .300 Savage, .303 British and .308 Winchester.
The most consistent observations have been that any cartridge works pretty darn well if its bullets are put in the right place, and bullet “failure” hasn’t been nearly as frequent as many hunters report.
All these cartridges “rate” just where they should in terms of popularity, at least to me.
Deer-sized animals (up to 350 pounds):
.22 Rimfire Magnum*
.22 Hornet
.223 Remington
.22-250 (X)
.220 Swift (X)
.22 Savage High Power*
.243 Winchester (X)
.240 Weatherby (X)
.250-3000 Savage
.257 Roberts (X)
.257 Roberts Ackley Improved (X)
.25-06 (X)
.257 Weatherby Magnum (X)
6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer
6.5x57R
6.5 Creedmoor
.260 Remington
6.5x55 (X)
6.5/.284*
6.5-06
.264 Winchester Magnum (X)
6.8 SPC
.270 Winchester (X)
.270 Weatherby Magnum
7mm-08
7x57 (X)
.280 Remington (X)
.280 Remington Ackley Improved
7mm SAUM (X)
7mm Remington Magnum (X)
7mm STW
.30-30 WCF (X)
.30-40 Krag
.300 Savage
.308 Winchester (X)
.30-06 (X)
.300 WSM (X)
.300 H&H Magnum
.300 Winchester Magnum (X)
.303 British
8x57 Mauser
.325 WSM*
.338 Federal
.338-06
.338 WSM*
.338 Winchester Magnum (X)
.35 Remington
.358 Winchester (X)
.35 Whelen
9.3x72R*
9.3 B-S (X)
9.3x62 Mauser (X)
.375 H&H (X)
.416 WSM
.45-70 (X)
.458 Lott
.50-110 WCF
20 gauge
12 gauge
Animals from 350-1500 pounds:
.22-250*
.257 Roberts*
.257 Weatherby Magnum
.270 Winchester (X)
.270 WSM (X)
7x57 (X)
7mm Remington SAUM (X)
7mm Weatherby Magnum
.308 Winchester (X)
.30-06 (X)
.300 Winchester Magnum (X)
.300 Weatherby Magnum
.300 Remington Ultra Magnum
.325 WSM*
.338 Winchester Magnum
.358 Winchester*
9.3 B-S (X)
9.3x62 Mauser (X)
9.3 Sisk (8mm Rem. Magnum necked up)*
.375 H&H (X)
.375 Ruger*
.416 Rigby (X)
.416 Remington Magnum*
.458 Lott*
.50-110 WCF*
12 gauge
