Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada What's the perferred deer cartridge for guys in Canada?

US cartridges weren't as popular in Canada because we simply did not have them up here in as great a number as the 303.

The 303 was in service from before WWI until the 1950s as our primary military cartridge. Surplus and commercial 1895 levers, Rosses, Lee Enfield No 1s and No 4s were everywhere. The cartridge killed every critter roaming our part of the continent. Then there was a disturbance in the Force. Sometime in the 1960s, US ad men noticed that there were 20 million potential buyers living north of the border.

We started seeing more ads telling us that 30-30s and 303s weren't powerful enough for bear, moose and deer. The generation born in Canada in the 1960s was programmed by the boob tube to reject these lesser cartridges in favour of better cartridges like Lazzeronis, Weatherbys, and magnums of any type.

Canada started using a lot more US designed cartridges in the late 60s/early 70s. With the advent of cable television, satellite technology, etc, we got more of your programming. As a result, the US had more of an influence on what happened up here.

It's hard for most Canadians under 40 to understand, but the US had less impact on our lives before then. It's not that 308s or 270s weren't good cartridges, it's just that we didn't need them.

Put another way, how many Chevy's do you need in your driveway? The 308 for example, is just an updated rimless version of the 303. It manages about 200 fps more MV than a std 303 load. Handloads fired from a Ross or P14, match the 308 foot pound for foot pound.

When technology brought the US into our living rooms in the 1960s, our way of life changed for good here.