Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles My "Top 10 Sexiest Cartridges" for North American Hunting

I've been thinking about a new rifle lately, and have been doing the appropriate agonizing over which cartridge it will be chambered for. As I was debating that great question with my cousin one day, he asked, "What have you always wanted? Which cartridge did you always dream about?"

This made me pause and think. As I did, I somehow formed a list in my head about cartridges which had always held a special allure for me�"sexy" cartridges. Ones that got my blood boiling. Glamour rounds.

This is just my list, and not intended to slight anybody else's. I don't consider these the "best" or the be-all, end-all of rifle cartridges. They may not even be the most useful. They're just "sexy" and alluring and I lust after them....think Kate Beckinsale and Megan Fox. These are my opinions only about North American hunting, however uniformed they may be.

10. 7mm Remington Magnum - It may not seems sexy anymore, but this cartridge did what no other ever could: It made "metric" or "European" calibers popular in this country. Previously, anything associated with the word "millimeter" essentially failed here. Remington's Big 7 changed all that. It is still a terrific performer and is a top pick as an all-around hunting cartridge.

9. 6.5x.284 Norma - When Norma standardized this cartridge, it brought the allure of long range target competition to hunters like you and me. This round is a darling among 1000 yard shooters, and it makes up into about as perfect of a long-range plains rifle as one could hope to get. It is a really versatile number, as well. The single greatest elk kill I've ever witnesses was made by a hunting buddy of mine with his custom 6.5x.284. The 140gr NP put the big bull down like a lightning bolt � at 435 yards.

8. .340 Weatherby Magnum - Who hasn't had visions of taking a trophy brown bear at 300 yards with a .340 Weatherby? When big cartridges for big (and dangerous) North American game are discussed, the .340 Wby is always near the top of the list. Fast, flat and throwing heavy bullets, it combines the "light & fast" and "use enough gun" schools of thought perhaps better than any other cartridge.

7. .243 Winchester - Maybe the ultimate example of "light & fast," the .243 was the Cat's Meow when it was introduced. And while its performance has been eclipsed by many similar cartridges, it still remains by far the most popular of its ilk. As a "crossover" cartridge for varmints and smaller medium-size game, it is near perfect. Coyotes beware!

6. .416 Rigby - While this round has almost no place in North American hunting history and lore, it is the essence of the "African dream" and perhaps the most romantic cartridge associated with hunting on the Dark Continent. Truth be told, it doesn't even have the history and lore in Africa of other greats such as the .375 H&H and .404 Jeffery�but something about the name "Rigby" gets New World folks itching to hunt Lion and Cape Buffalo.

5. .270 Weatherby Magnum - Roy Weatherby's first commercial effort. The one that started it all. The one that dared to beat the mighty .270 Winchester. Blazing fast and deadly, this may still be Roy's greatest effort. It will kill absolutely anything that walks and will do so with manageable recoil. With a maximum PBR in excess of 320 yards, it is one of the truly great long range rounds.

4. .300 Weatherby Magnum - This is the big .308 cal cartridge. It is the standard by which all .300 mags are measured. No other cartridge conjures up such images of beastly power, wild killing ability and wicked speed like the .300 Weatherby. Proven from North America to Africa to Australia to Asia, talk hunting anywhere in the world and a mention of the .300 Weatherby will bring knowing glances, nods and smiles.

3. .25-'06 Remington - This quarter bore is the champion for being a speed demon in a standard case. It delivers belted magnum performance in the old .30-'06 package, and makes some of the very best "prairie rifles" for North American game. Fast, flat and accurate, this beauty pushes its normal hunting bullets out at 3100 - 3300 fps�all with about 12 ft lbs of recoil. No pronghorn or mule deer is safe when a .25-'06 is around.

2. .270 Winchester - This grand old cartridge probably should have been number one on the list. However, too many people seem to hate it for what it is: faster, flatter and just as effective at killing animals as the .30-'06. When introduced, nothing compared to the mighty .270. Still today, almost all long range cartridges are compared to it, and make claims against it. Of course, having Jack O'Connor, America's greatest gun writer, as its champion surely didn't hurt. But the bottom line is there really isn't much out there that outperforms it on game. A true classic that took its parent's case and made it better. Love it or hate it, chasing the .270 has probably been directly responsible for more cartridge development over the last few generations than any other round.

1. .257 Weatherby Magnum - This is the one. The screamer that Roy Weatherby used to prove once and for all that light and fast could cleanly take any game animal on Earth. Wickedly fast yet gentle on the shoulder, this is "everyman's Weatherby" � the one we all have wanted at one time or another. If a hunter is looking for a 400 yard + rifle for medium size game, the .257 Weatherby would be on the short list of almost everybody. We've all dreamed about having one...I'm not sure I can say that about any other cartridge. That alone places the .257 Roy at the top of my list.

So, what are your choices. What is "sexy" for you? What gets your heart stirring? What have you always admired and dreamed about?

My list would include every Mauser cartridge, their offspring and Savage's proprietary cartridges and children. If I had a spot left I might throw in the Hornet.

my list is short - 270 win or 30-06.

lazzeroni something

To me the 300 H&H is about as sexy as you can get, closely followed by the 375 H&H in a bolt action. On a double, the 500/465 and the 475#2 get my vote. In levers, the 45-60. jorge

Since you're talkin' about sexy cartridges-

The .257 WeatherBOOBy does it for me.........

7x57 and 9.3x74R do it for me.

Well yeah...


(grin)

30/06, sent millions of Rising Sun's and Nazis to hell.

Nah, 6.5 Best Bob

But then the -06 is kinda sexy, in a painted on a bomber 40's vintage kind of way

The only cart. that you list that would interest me is the .270 Win. and it would be far down the line..

I think skit hit it with these:

7x57 and 9.3x74R do it for me.

My list of sexiest (in no particular order)

- 280 Rem.
- 25/06
- 7x57
- 375 H&H
- 257 Roberts
- 35 Whelen
- 30/06 (it's almost retro in some circles)
- 338/06

If I ever decided to dump everything though to build just one sexy rifle, it would probably be chambered for the .270 Winchester.

being a NE guy,the 270 always turns heads in camp,everyone else is toting a 35 rem,30-30,30-06,my buddy pulls out the 270 and it's like he brought a girl with him,everyone wants to hold it and fawns all over it.

you don't see too many 270's in NYS or Vermont so "sexy" might be a geographic thing.

I think the all time coolest/baddest looking is the 300 WM. It plain looks cool.

I kinda dig the looks of the AI crowd, but ain't enormored with the performance "gain".

250AI oozes sexy.

What a thread... "Sexiest Cartridges"?

Good grief...

My list is a bit different � I won�t attempt to sort them 1-10 other than by caliber and case capacity, smallest to largest. Also, I�m considering the hunting I do, which does not include Africa or Alaska � just Colorado�s antelope, mule deer and elk:


.257 Roberts - My favorite cartridge.
.25-06 - Perhaps the best dual-purpose varmint/deer cartridge available for the hunter that doesn�t handload.
6.5mm-06AI - A wildcat and a heck of a flat shooter with little recoil. Top loads are adequate for elk out to 700 yards, antelope to 900 or 1000.
.270 Win - Perhaps the best cartridge for a dedicated deer rifle.
7mm Remington Magnum - Mine hasn�t let me down since I got it in 1982.
.30-30 - No battery is complete without one of these in a levergun. Mucho fun.
.30-06 - No battery is complete without one of these in a bolt gun.
.300 Win Mag - Wanted one ever since I got the 7mm RM. Love it.
.338-06 - Don�t have one but they are mild in recoil and pack a wallop.
.338 Win Mag - More wallop and recoil.
.45-70 - For pesky backyard rhino�s, engine blocks, a dozen or more water jugs, and anything that walks � anywhere. Hardcast or jacketed, loaded light or heavy. In a levergun, of course. Much�simos fun.

OK, for those of you keeping track, that�s 11 cartridges. I told you my list was different�

Agree with the 30-30 sexy and works.

9. 6.5x.284 Norma - When Norma standardized this cartridge, it brought the allure of long range target competition to hunters like you and me. This round is a darling among 1000 yard shooters, and it makes up into about as perfect of a long-range plains rifle as one could hope to get. It is a really versatile number, as well. The single greatest elk kill I've ever witnesses was made by a hunting buddy of mine with his custom 6.5x.284. The 140gr NP put the big bull down like a lightning bolt � at 435 yards.

435 isn't even warming up for that round and certainly isn't far enough to impress at all.

That being said, and its IMHO, I don't have a top 10, pick what I"m hunting this particular time and what is expected distances etc.... and pick from a realm of them. I'm not tied to anything in particular.

The one I have some kind of fondness for, for no known reason is 7x57 Mauser but I doubt I'll ever own one....

It cracks me up that the WSMs aren't mentioned in "Sexiest" threads.

You mean you guys don't dig short and fat??? Fat girls try harder... Really they do