Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Magnum calibers loosing favor?

Are the magnum calibers like the 300 and 338 loosing favor?
It seems to me they are and am curious what others think. Seems like new bullets are making the big magnums not as necessary.

I personally don't use a magnum however nearly all of my friends do. In my neck of the woods I would say magnums are the fad still.

Shod

Ken,

I think as a lot of folks finally grow up and start getting old and losing that macho attitude... they find that a 24, 25 or 26 caliber on a short action case, sort of kills just as well as something in the 30, 33 or 35 Caliber rounds that have a big case and need an automatic tranny funnel for a drop tube to get all the powder one needs for 'maximum' performance...

..........Imo, any opinion as to losing favor would depend on one`s individual circle of friends and influences, any written articles which have indicated lack of favor with the magnums and individual hunting experiences where many feel the larger mags weren`t needed to get the job done.

As people get older some are unable or don`t want to deal with the heavier recoil. And many choose not to incur the additional expense of the bigger mags to begin with and stay away from them all together.

Imho the bottom line is this. Nothing wrong with any of the larger magnum cartridges as long as the individual is very capable of handling them and/or enjoys shooting them and who does not mind the added expense.

I`m reasonably sure that a few shooters/hunters have decided to add a big magnum or even buy one as a first rifle to later regret their decision.

Losing favor? Well imo, that is not the fault of the cartridge.

I don't think they are falling out of favor. They still occupy an important niche for lots of hunters who have use for the advantages they offer.

Modern bullet technology might have made 24 and 25 caliber cartridges more effective,give deeper penetration and more consistent bullet behavior than in years past....but they are still 6mm's and 25's,and are not the equivalent of a 30 or 338 magnum on game of elk sized and up,no matter how desperately some may wish it.

30 and 338 magnums have the same benefits of modern bullet technology as the little cartridges,making them more effective than they used to be, as well.

I shot a 308 Norma Mag for a good while, then for many years just medium power rounds like 308, 243, 270 303 Brit and 30-06. The Norma is long gone now.

Then in the last couple of months I got into my first ever 338 Win Mag. Really loving shooting this thing even though I am having to rethink my technique for load development at the bench.

Truth is there's no way I really need the magnum, but I am learning stuff about shooting and handloading and rifle tuning I perhaps wouldn't with just a standard cartridge.

Can't wait to try it on pigs!

bobnob the 338 is a great BG cartridge.

There's a common and persistent myth perpetuated here,and elsewhere, that no one can shoot 300 and 338 magnums well,and that the users are testosterone over-loaded egocentrics. This is mostly baloney.

Like anything else, if someone take an intelligent approach to managing recoil from these cartridges,they can be shot accurately,and well, by anyone who puts his mind to it,barring some physical impairment.

Our group back here had lots of 300 and 338 magnum shooters;they were all hand loaders,shot lots of cartridges extensively, and "lived" at the range We shot a LOT at a local range that allowed us to shoot to 600 yards,hand loaded to keep the cost of magnum ammunition down,and used those and other calibers on lots of hunts....I can't recall a single animal lost to wounding or poor marksmanship.

The "secret" to becoming proficient with these cartridges(if there is one),is familiarity obtained through frequent shooting but in small doses.....these aren't cartridges for running 100 rounds in an afternoon. I always found my "limit" to be about 20 rounds in a day.You need to stop when it ceases being "fun" to avoid developing bad habits.

When you sense fatigue,just stop shooting for the day,and pick up the smaller stuff to reinforce good shooting habits.

I noticed in a fair amount of hopping around and hunting and shooting, that the guys for whom the 300's and 338 magnums presented the biggest challenges were factory load shooters who shot very little of ANYTHING during the off season.

I recall one elk hunt where I had to sight in 2 300 magnums and a 338 for group from the midwest....these guys were all so terrified of their rifles,that they had not even checked zero before leaving home.No one is going to be any good, with anything, with that approach and leads to the myths stated above.

Expensive factory ammo precluded enough practice. The recoil was bothersome and they lacked the exposure and recoil tolerance to ever become any "good".It takes some work and dedication...the best, by far, were the hand loaders who spent a lot of time with all kinds of rifles,and whose annual round counts numbered in the thousands with all kinds of rifles and calibers.

For these folks, managing magnum chamberings presented little problem.

Hmm thanks for the advice. I am trying to get the rifle to the range a couple times a week and shoot about 12-15 rounds a time in it. Then about the same amount with at least one other calibre.

I am getting there!

A box of 30-06 cartridges can still be found for under $25.00 in places try finding a box of 300WSM or 300 WM etc for that money. When the economy is doing well, $40+ for a box of cartridges is not so bad, maybe people are making decisions based on their wallets these days, hence the Ruger American etc.

I can load a .300 WM for aboutvthe same $$ as an 06

kend: IMO - it depends. I really like 7mm bullets i.e. BC and SD are huge for their diameter (as are the 6.5mm's) but choices are slim in factory fodder. Prefer a .280 Rem over the 7mm RM but which one do you think you'll find in your LGS? Same with .338 Federal or .338-06. Great round's but I had a .338WM in the safe so I could use .338 bullets. Certainly don't need the .338WM's power but needed something. Local Wally World has six (6) WW brand boxes of .338WM on shelf - when was the last time you saw .338 Federal or .338-06 there? Homesteader

There is nothing I've done with a rifle that I couldn't have done with a .308 Win, including my longest shot ever, a cow elk last year at nearly 500 yards.

While I don't plan to give up my 7mm RM, .300WM or .338WM, this year I'll be hunting with a a .30-06 Ruger American Dad gave me last August, for no other reason than it is still a virgin.

The older I get the more I think something like this, at a light, handy 5.75 pounds, is all I need:

http://www.ruger.com/products/HawkeyeCompact/specSheets/37139.html

OP
Not likely at this address. BobinNH hit it pretty good but didn't say all that should have been said because he is polite. Using the price of factory ammo as a reason to not shoot much is a fairly retarded concept in my playbook. Those who buy magnums as an extension of their egos need to just stay home and quarterback from the couch in frt of their $1000+ flat screen. Reloading your own is a necessary part of becoming a proficient rifleman as well as seeing too your marksmanship abilities. Over the last few years I've become somewhat insensitive to all these butthurt posters that can't find the ammo they want at the price they want to pay a week before their season opens. If you don't shoot enuf to learn your rifle and the load it likes, it simply doesn't make a difference if it's a std cartridge or a magnum one. Anybody says elsewise is full of crap or they read that on the internet believing it. Shooting skills are learned and earned on the firing line not guaranteed by a std cartridge or magnum label on them period. A pretty basic loading outfit that will get the job done need not be expensive or take up a lot of room. Costing a lot less than the next wonder scope your drooling about. Reloading lessens the cost of your ammo or just lets you shoot more and develop whatever loads you need. I sure get tired of reading crap about how much more magnum ammo costs when no one forced you to buy a magnum in the first place. If hunting and shooting are important to you in the first place, man up and buy the components or ammo you need long before you really need them so you can develop the ability to use them at full advantage. Magnum Man

Or new bullets make "magnums" even better, depending how you look at it. I say if you're schlepping an 8# LA, might as well fill it up....

The manufacturers magnum sales production numbers would answer this question and they are not likely share them with the public.

The alternative in any ranking changes among the reloading die manufacturers for WSM calibers and belted cases.

Doc

Well this is another way of asking the same question.

"are we gravitating to smaller cartridges?" That thread is ALSO in this forum.

PS -- the answer is the same. No, except for a small % who participate on the 'fire'.

edited - I was thinking backward and it dawned on me that this was NOT reverse ?, just another way of asking the ?

For me, they're not.

It's all a matter of personal preference, just like cars. Economy cars (308's in comparison) today benefit immensely performance-wise compared to where they were 20 years ago, and in turn so do the high performance cars (300 Win). That being said, you'll never catch my ass in a Prius.

That's funny!!

The older you get the more you realize you don't need magnum cal's for most big game, especially Whitetail Deer. Magnums give younger people more confidence and bragging rights in the deer camps. If i could have only one rifle for my Big Game Hunting the rest of my life it would be chambered in the 270 Win

I bet people have been calling magnums a useless fad for a hundred years or so now...