Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Most underrated cartridge?

I am a bit late to this one, but I wouldn't know how to define "underrated" as it would usually be a claim made from someone with limited experience whereas someone with a longer trial period may have explored the possibilities and competencies further, using varying bullets over a range of game.

Having said that, I think every cartridge is good for a range of uses abut again with more experience, you may "prefer" the competencies displayed by an alternate cartridge.

A comparison within my experience would be the 7.62x39 Vs the .30/06. A more obvious comparison perhaps and a lesser difference would be, the 6.5x55 Vs .270 or the .375 H&H vs the .416 Remington. Bias one way or the other would still result in similar field performance and capability.

Underrated, I'd tend to side with BobinNH on the .30/06 as appropriate to my own thinking. The interesting thing is that I avoided it for about 20 years as it was slow and boring compared to the magnums I preferred.

Maybe, just maybe, they are overrated compared to the .30/06?

John

I'm 64 years old, and I have been shooting stuff with a 30-06 in one configuration or another since I was 15 and dropped a bull moose -- my first. Since then several more have fallen prey to the same cartridge. Never found it to be less than plenty on the big game animals of Northwestern Ontario - bears, deer, and moose. Even have used it on rabbits and grouse when needed. (head shots only)

222 Rem.
220 Swift
7x64
404 Jeffery

Don't see much ink these days.

SC

I could definitely see the .350 rem mag joining this list. We had one at a hatchery I worked at and it was an awesome round. It was on an old model 600 without the vent rib :-) Accurate as all get out too. Hitting gallon jugs of water at 100yds with open sights is no easy task. If I were to build a lightweight bear rifle it would be a .350 rem mag

Interesting replies.

I probably should have been more specific in what I was thinking. With absolutely NO disrespect intended to some posters but I don't see how anyone would call cartridges like e .30-30, .270, .30-06, 6.5-55mm, etc. underrated. They are so popular and I rarely, if ever, hear them poo-pooed.

Now, as true loonies (who actually shoot and hunt) know, just about any cartridge and modern bullet will work if someone knows how to shoot, but I wasn't referencing us nut jobs! Yes, we love to good naturedly argue about our favorites, hurl sexual pejoratives (I'm looking at you .270!), and split hairs but it's (usually) all in fun.

Perhaps a better title would've been the Rodney Dangerfield of cartridges. I've overheard, or talked directly with numerous people at the range, in the sporting goods store and, sadly, even behind the counter who will dis a cartridge--usually with no experience involving said carteidge.

When I mentioned the .243 it's kind of a paradox in that I've talked to people (or overheard) them saying it's 'adequate' for deer but not for elk and really 'overkill' for varmints. They also completely dismiss it out of hand for any LR work. More proof of ignorance. And, yet, this hunting season you could not find a .243 rifle in stock or a single box of factory ammo anywhere in town--that is NOT an exaggeration! So maybe the .243 isn't so 'underrated' (or disrespected, if you will) as I thought.

After reading these posts I probably have to agree with the guys who said 8x57 Mauser or the .358 Win, cuz' everyone knows those two are just too slow and antiqued aged! Right?

Hank,

I've got an early production 600 in .35 Rem (serial,number in the 2000's). Thought a couple of times about having that thing opened up but decided it probably wasn't a wise decision (for that rifle).

Mojo, please keep it as it is. You have an underrated gem, not too many people have seen a 600 without the vent rib. Keep it original and hunt with it. :-)

.22LR

I can not believe I just read 17 pages of this. I think I need to go watch some TV news for clarity in my T Day morning.

I vote 43 Egyptian and now want one. Thanks a LOT.

357 in a rifle, nears thutty thutty territory 1582050 and quite deadly while very mild blast n nil recoil.

6.5BR is the most Uber under appreciated

Guy over on the Grendel forum dumped his nice buck at 500 yds
Using a 6.5 Grendel. A BR gives about 150fps over - and both have no more recoil than a 243. That the avg Joe would be shocked how deadly a BR class round is - kills as well as a Mag a Numb

357 Mag. out of a 16"+ barrel.

.43 Spanish......well maybe not right after lunch!

The most underrated cartridge might be the one some ignorant one rifle and single box of shells per decade non-loony living in Montana would choose. Where he lives he's likely to encounter any size animal worth shooting in NA, and probably choose a single .270 Win or .30-06 wood stocked bolt gun and never know he was over- or under-gunned for what he might encounter. He would sleep blissfully at night not worrying about whether or not to punch out a perfectly good 223 Rem, or whether his 105 grain Amax would stabilize in his "marginally-fast-enough-twist" 6mm-06.

So I cast my vote for the most underrated cartridge as the one you would take out if you knew you would see anything from prairie dogs to grizzly bears, but still felt the need to supplement with multiple, overlapping cartidges back home in the gun safe.

another vote for the .300 Savage. It's a modest, reliable cartridge, that is a reliable killer. The guns chambered in it (usually Savage 99's) don't commend a premium, as people get all excited about the .250, but the .300 hits hard and can take anything in NA.

8x57 - underated, but not obscure.........

Pretty much agree. Or maybe the .22WMR.

I'm going to say 308 Win. I seem to see a lot of comments here about it being questionable for this or that.

223 AI.

If not underrated, the .300 Savage at least seems to suffer greatly from amnesia. At its introduction, it was a super hot-schidt, powerful moose & elk killer. 94 years later, it's commonly dismissed as being on the light side for whitetails, and not even in the same league as the vastly more powerful .308 Win.

How many threads are out there about, "Is the .270 enough for elk�"? OK, far too many. But finding a, "Is the .300 Savage adequate for elk?" thread is damned near impossible - people don't even bother to ask so silly a question.

FC

7x57

Add .357 Maximum to the list. In a Contender format (either handgun or rifle configuration) it is more capable than you can imagine...and crazy accurate, too.