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The various threads on over or underrated cartridges got me to thinking about how people choose their various cartridge choices. I have come to think of cartridge suitability in terms of the game availability. I view game pretty much in four categories

Under 5 ilbs.

5 lbs- 150 lbs

150- 750 lbs.

Over 750 lbs

Using this criteria its pretty easy to see that most any of the medium capacity cartridges available will cover the two middle categories quite well it's only when approaching the hairy edge of the categories that fodder for 90% of the cartridge suitability discussion is generated. This also shows how most North American hunters can easily get by with two or three rifle in their battery.

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270 for under 5 pounds unless using premium bullets, then 5 to 150 pounds.

Of course I'm still using 250 grain Noslers in a 338 for elk.

Last edited by Bugger; 05/09/16.

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bangeye,
another influence on selecting a cartridge is the expected distance you plan on taking said game.
You might get by with a lighter cartridge at shorter ranges on larger game but that same cartridge is nearly a guaranteed loser at much longer ranges.
ie a 22-250 on a Texas hill country whitetail at 250 yards may work just fine. Take it out to a 700 yard shot and you should probably choose another cartridge.


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Mmm.....gotta be careful here as i want to try make sense which isn't always easy for me.... smile

For me and for quite a long time now I started with the bullet,decided what cartridge gave the desired velocity level,and then backed into the cartridge, always with an eye for compatibility to the animal and where/how hunted, rifle design for recoil tolerance,portability and all round user satisfaction.

In other words I had favorite cartridges but they were a secondary consideration as part of a delivery system for the bullets.

I am older school so first priority based on how I learned shooting animals, was "penetration first and expansion second";shots past 500-600 yards were never in play, so I leaned toward tougher bullets that I know would dandle shorter distance penetration as well as expand adequately ( yet still penetrate)as distance increased.

I liked velocities in the 2800-3200 fps range,depending on bullet weight.I learned to estimate ranges without an LRF and using rangetime varmint shooting reticles of known values,and dry aiming at lots of animals, and these velocities helped in the field to mitigate errors in range estimation. Like it or not that's what we had.

Velocities under 2800 or so did not do me much good and much over 3200 had drawbacks too.

For anything up to elk/moose size (including deer where ever they were found continent wide and no matter how big) liked the 270,30/06, 280, 7x57,7/08,7 Rem mag,the 300 magnums,even if i did use smaller cartridges like the 257, 26/06 etc.

I liked the 7mm mags and 300's particularly for elk sized stuff. From there if more was needed I jumped clear to the 375 H&H.

I noted years back the 300's and 338's started staying home more and eventually the only rifles that went hunting were the 270 or 7 mags loaded with bullets like Nosler partitions and Bitterroot Bonded cores driven from cartridges like a 270 or 7mm magnum. or 30/06. I dote on these bullets because I have had nothing but superb results, never a failure, in anything up to brown bear in size.they are my "money" bullets.

I am inordinately fond of the 7mm Mashburn Super today,and the 270 is an old standby when i just need to kill animals but am just as happy with a a 280 or 7 Rem mag.

So...today...for me.... 7mm Mashburn loaded with 162 Amax, 160 NPT or 160 Bitterroot is just too good by my standards and reliable to 600 yards if needed. That, a 270, a 30/06 along with a 375 H&H covers anything I want to do when combined the right bullet. Life is not long enough to try them all. There are no animals I know of that I would hesitate to tackle with these cartridges.




Last edited by BobinNH; 05/09/16.



The 280 Remington is overbore.

The 7 Rem Mag is over bore.
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Originally Posted by Bbear
bangeye,
another influence on selecting a cartridge is the expected distance you plan on taking said game.
You might get by with a lighter cartridge at shorter ranges on larger game but that same cartridge is nearly a guaranteed loser at much longer ranges.
ie a 22-250 on a Texas hill country whitetail at 250 yards may work just fine. Take it out to a 700 yard shot and you should probably choose another cartridge.
fast twist 22-250 and right bullets would be bad medicien at 700. Never ran mine quite that far, but just over 600. Worked just fine. Of course I"ve shot deer almost that far with a 223 and the right bullet.

Doesn't really take much if you pick the right bullet and the right shot.

The only reason I ever bought bigger rounds was to be able to make tougher angled shots if I felt the need. Or for overall larger carnivore/herbivore protection.


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I choose bullet diameter and weight first, because its the hole in the animal that kills it, so work out how wide and deep the hole needs to be.

Then work out how far away the game is likely to be, and decide how much case capacity is needed to deliver enough energy at that range to do the work of penetrating and expanding.

There always seems at least a dozen choices within those parameters.

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For a general purpose hunting rifle my thoughts look like this.
A 150 grain bullet at 3000 fps. This gives 3000 ft lbs of energy.
With today's bullets that combination covers even more situations than when I first started critically thinking about hunting rifles over 40 years ago.
It is a good mix of velocity, trajectory, energy, recoil, rifle weight, rifle length, and so on.
Diameter .277-.308.

There are very few situations where some thing else is really warranted.

I have used such a combination on many animals from 40 to 1500 pounds. Hit in the center of the heart lung area and the results are uniform...critter within 30 yards or so. Hit outside and they all can go a long ways. The heart and lungs of the largest weigh maybe 20-25 pounds.

Last edited by RinB; 05/10/16.


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Bobnob -

That's a good synopsis of BoninNH post <G>

I 'used to' approach rifle/cart. selection somewhat similar to the OP's question. Varmint rigs, Deer-medium game, & Big game. Next the appearance of the cartridge eg. 300 WM ( I liked the looks of the round long before I owned 1).

Having hung around the 'fire a few yrs and it 'seems' that a lot smaller cartridges are 'great' Elk & Moose medicine--using premium bullets. Having rifles from 8 RM down to 22 RFM, I will not hunt anything needing a bigger cartridge.

So---now I simply get what I like/want/ or want to Xperiment. Even the 30-06 is plenty Brown Bear medicine. The dividing line only needs to be between varmints / big game. (For N America)

Jerry


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Jerry I would be quite flattered if my thinking were compared to that of Bob in NH's!

😀

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Originally Posted by bobnob17
Jerry I would be quite flattered if my thinking were compared to that of Bob in NH's!

😀


Bobnob: Flattered but unworthy.... blush

Pay much attention to RinB. Worlds of experience there. wink




The 280 Remington is overbore.

The 7 Rem Mag is over bore.
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If I drive south or east of my house to go hunting I take either my .243 or .260. If I drive west I take my .300win. otherwise I rate cartridges by local available components!!!!!

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6.5X55 for all of it


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Except for a ten year lever action period I've largely stuck with the .270, .280, and .30-06.

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If I can't buy ammo at Wal-Mart, Dicks and every hole in the wall hardware and general store that sells it, I don't want a rifle chambered for it. I don't always have the time or desire to handload and I don't want to have to search all over hells half acre for ammo when I want to go hunting.

Last edited by Blackheart; 05/10/16.
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bob -

I found a lot of similarity between his & your posts.

Maybe I jumped to a conclusion. Don't think so.

I appreciate BOTH of you guys.


Jerry


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Originally Posted by Blackheart
If I can't buy ammo at Wal-Mart, Dicks and every hole in the wall hardware and general store that sells it, I don't want a rifle chambered for it. I don't always have the time or desire to handload and I don't want to have to search all over hells half acre for ammo when I want to go hunting.


I don't mean to be critical....

but somehow I'm not surprised.


Jerry


ps: I don't own nor will I own a hunting rifle and buy factory ammo to hunt.

Last edited by jwall; 05/10/16.

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Originally Posted by jwall
Originally Posted by Blackheart
If I can't buy ammo at Wal-Mart, Dicks and every hole in the wall hardware and general store that sells it, I don't want a rifle chambered for it. I don't always have the time or desire to handload and I don't want to have to search all over hells half acre for ammo when I want to go hunting.


I don't mean to be critical....

but somehow I'm not surprised.


Jerry


ps: I don't own nor will I own a hunting rifle and buy factory ammo to hunt.
I've killed an awful lot of deer and other game with factory ammo. I have a very complete reloading bench with a turret press, a single stage and a Mec 600 all set up with dies for every cartridge I own. I work on/build guns all week for a living. It ain't "fun" for me to putz around with guns/ammo anymore on my days off. Most of my rifles will shoot sub MOA with one or more factory loads and I have no need for more. I did shoot three woodchucks last Saturday with my .223 and handloads consisting of a 53 grain Hornady V-Max over 26.5 grains of H 4895. I shot another 3 the same day with my .30-30 and 170 grain Federal factory loads. The .30-30'd ones were every bit as dead.

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bangeye,

Townsend Whelen wrote, "The .30-06 is never a mistake."

He was writing about North American big game, because he never hunted big game anywhere else. Bullet construction wasn't nearly as advanced in his day as it is now, but even then the .30-06 worked with bullet weights from 150 to 220 grains.

Today we can standardize bullet weight down to RinB's 150 grains and the .30-06 will work fine on any of the big game most of us will ever hunt. We also have endless variations on either side of the .30-06 theme, but the same could be said of spitzer bullets of approximately the same weight in any other cartridge, regardless of bullet diameter. Some would have advantages in trajectory and wind drift, and some in bullet diameter, but a bullet of around 150 grains will do the job. I've seen it happen over and over again, on a wide variety of big game around the world.



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Blackheart -

Now I understand much better, thnx. I understand about "not fun" too.

In that situation I might very well be/feel the VERY same.

Man, whatever floats your boat. smile


Jerry



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Rin B

I like your bracket ! ! 277-308, yup that'll geterdone. Grin

Jerry


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