Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Are we gravitating toward smaller calibers/cartridges?

Hunters have been graduating to smaller and faster rounds for well over a century. Folks used to use half inch round balls, which were supplanted by the big bore black powder cartridge rifles. On to 30-06s and the like, which are considered way large for deer these days. Steadily smaller and faster. Less recoil is never a bad thing.

Not all of us are gravitating toward smaller cartridges. I don't find the recoil of a .30-06 or even a magnum to be a big deal. I actually enjoy shooting the bigger stuff.

We're gravitating towards technology. I'm not specifically referring to components. Sure we have better powders and projectiles, but that's not what drives "us".

The "us" I'm referring to are the guys on this site, Sniper's Hide, etc. "Us" come here to learn and experiment through others, then ourselves. "Us" shoot more than most, more than the typical hunter.

The Internet has driven our desire to shoot and experiment. Smaller cartridges are easier on the shooter, therefore we shoot those cartridges more and gain confidence.

The game hasn't changed for the typical hunter, but it's changed for "us". Without technology, specifically the internet, the trend towards smaller cartridges for "us" would have been much slower.

Not seeing that at all in the circles I move in.

I never would have even considered using a 223 on deer before I discovered this forum. I think there is plenty of evidence that the smaller bores with good bullets get the job done. I'll be giving it a go myself. That said, I don't find 30-06/7 Mag recoil to be a problem so if it works well for you, why change a good thing other than just to try something different. I also believe that the AR platform being the hottest seller along with the less powerful chamberings has had a major impact on what is the cartridge hunters use.

Cartridge selection and recoil tolerance are not necessarily correlated. I can shoot a 300 WM without any issues, and have for many years, but I eventually expanded my rifle collection and wanted to try some new things. None of the cartridges I'm working with these days (.260, 6.5 Swede, .308, .270 etc) are more effective than my tried and true .300 WM, but they aren't necessarily lacking, either. I'm going to run the smaller cartridges this year to see how they perform and take it from there. Whitetails and antelope are the targeted game species, for what it's worth.

I've gone both directions from the centre -- the centre being the 30-06/303 British. I stepped up to a 300 Magnum first, and then a 45-70, and then a 405Win. Loved the way they shot. Then I returned to a 6.5 Swede, and I really like that one. I like the way it shoots, and I love the way that it kills regardless of the smaller numbers it generates. I find myself shooting the 45-70 lots with small charges of faster burning powders like AA5744 and Trail Boss for "plinking" (don't knock it till you try it )

My 300 Mag is a heavy weight at 11+ pounds, but easy to shoot. Tougher to carry as I get older. Most times, the 30-06 (standard weight) gets the nod for moose, and the 6.5 Swede gets the nod for deer. (T3 Tikka)

I like the monometal bullets (TSX) as they work well for me in the '06 and 300. Just working up a load for 120 and 130 TSX in the Swede. Expecting great things.

Even though I am not overly sensitive to recoil, I find I shoot the lighter recoiling rifles more the older I get. The 405 has pretty stout recoil even in a 9 pound rifle with my typical nose bleed rounds, so I have even backed them down a bit as well. I hope to try that one on moose this season.

Recent trend? I don't think so...been around for years.

The 7x57 and the 30-30 were around before the turn of the 20th Century.The 6.5 Swede not long after that,along with the 256 Newton,250 Savage,the 270 Winchester(killing everything from brown bear down since its inception)...the 257 Roberts in the 30's.The 6mm's were wildcatted in the (what,50's?) and gave us the 243 and the 6mm Remington,the 6.5 Rem Mag.The list goes on.

A guy named Sheldon was killing sheep and grizzlies with 6.5's in the early part of the 20th century;others named Caldwell and Corbett were killing tigers in Asia with the 250 Savage and the 7x57, to say nothing of the tons of African game up to elephant size killed with the 6.5's and 7x57.

All these cartridges and more were in widespread use(world wide) by the late 1960's. Most of the modern numbers hawked on the Internet today do nothing ballistically, than many of these older cartridges,and are nothing more than redesigns of these and other cartridges that were in widespread use and existence before the Internet was invented.


What has changed are better bullets, propellants,and much better and more advanced scopes....more abundant and cheaply made (affordable) rifles and actions to house the shorter rounds.

But people running around dusting grizzlies and elk with 243's and the ilk, is really nothing new.If you like to experiment along these lines, you're covering really old ground.People have been doing it for decades before.

If that is true somebody needs to tell my LGS. Most of the new guns they get in are .308, .30-06, and .300 Win mag. I had to have them special order a .270 Hawkeye for me because they don't carry Hawkeye 's in less than .30 cal. You can't find a new 7mm mag on the shelf there but they always have a 700 in .300 RUM on hand. The trend seems to be heading bigger to me.

Not so much in general but for deer I think there are a number of hunters that have for several reasons .

There are so many folks out there with AR type rifles that want to actually shoot them at something and lobbied until many of the minimum caliber laws have been repealed making it legal to use 22centerfires


It turned out that they worked fairly well and manufacturers began to notice and addressed some of the concerns by producing more robust bullets than the previous available varmint rounds

The ensuing results from the two elements above and the easy exchange of information via the internet have shown that it works and has convinced other to try.

The current preponderance of deer hunting opportunities have given hunters many more opportunities to collect many more deer in their lifetime than in past generations in much of the country. Hence they have more guns to try and with the multiple results it has become much more clear that we have in the past been using much more powerful weapons than really required to take deer.

Lots of kids get started with a .243 or a .223. Taking countless critters all over the world. Then when they reach 16 years old, an adult says "Now its time to step up to something bigger". Kinda like the "Leetle .243" doesn't kill as good as it once did.
Its nice to have a Killer Guard Dog and a variety of toys� Big and Small�.

Way off the mark. The proponents of smaller cartridges that I know wouldn't even consider these methods.

I think Shortaction nailed it.

When I show up in hunting camp with a 270 I am generally packing the smallest caliber there. In every hunting circle I have ever run in magnimitus has always been the current disease.

Shod

Look at the pussy pads sold on most rifles now, also soft recoil turkey,and magnum metallic rounds. A lot of people are pussies, simple as that

I've mentioned this before but my M99R 250 Savage came out of Wyoming where it's previous owner used it to feed his family. Quite a few elk fell to that rifle over the years, ol' Pete said he liked to get in close and shoot them in the neck with 117s. A partial box of those 117 Sierras came with the rifle. I loaded them up and found that at 100 yards this old 1-14" twist barrel keyholed them. No wonder he liked to get close. Lot's of those old timers weren't real gun savvy, but they managed to feed their families.

Funny thing is, for years I never really gave it much thought. Had my .270 bolt action and when I bought that I really wasn't all that fussy. Just got the rifle I liked best in a cartridge between .243 and 30-06. Then I got to thinking that a nice lever action would be handy in the thick stuff so I bought a Savage 99 in .308. I found this site just trying to figure out when my Savage was made. The more time I spend here the more I realize that maybe I should have just stayed with that .270, but what fun would that be?

I don't know if we should judge the rest of the world by the preferences posted here on the campfire...

Except for those guys who might have been injured in combat or during an athletic career...
You were painting with a pretty broad brush.

Nah, it's true OSU, you can judge a guy by the size of the cartridge he shoots. For many, it's called "compensation."

That's what I was getting at in my earlier post. Go to any hunting camp in my locale and you won't see many smaller cartridges. It's been that way for 30 years...

You'll see 7mags, 300 mags, 338's and 30-06's. The 270 is about the smallest thing you'll see and those guys get jazzed about it being marginal for whitetail deer.

Those guys don't shoot much, if any, during the year either. They fling a few at a paper plate a couple of days before season and call it good.