Does anyone else have a caliber or rifle they really like (or think they do) but just can't seem to make it work?

Mine seems to be the 243 Winchester. My head says it should be the perfect caliber, I have had a number of rifles chambered for it and never seem to have the success I have had with anything else. Handloading I never seem satisfied and in the field it seems jynxed.

I have had a lot of fun and success with everything else, i.e. 204 to 358 but can't seem to catch a break with the 243.

Anyone else frustated with a caliber or rifle.

Gotta laff... .243 is the chambering that I have had the MOST luck with in the past, both accuracy and hunting results.

The bugger for me is the good ole .30-06. The perfect "all around" chambering ... right ? Have had several (two in the gun case right now as I type). Good rifles, acceptable accuracy. Just never had one that I really "warmed up" to...

All of mine "work".

I've had some that didn't, though. One was an Interarms Whitworth Mauser in .300 Winchester Magnum that had feeding problems. Another was a c.1985 Remington Model 700 Mountain Rifle in .280 Remington that was an utterly craptastic pos. Another was a Marlin 1894 in .218 Bee whose memory has me laughing out loud when I read on the Intermess about how crappy "Remlins" are. I guess I should throw in the Mini-14 for good measure. That was perhaps the most heartbreaking of the lot, shooting patterns rather than groups. Actually, the most heartbreaking was my first Ruger No.1 -a "B" version in .270. It had a barrel with a very rough internal finish, was prone to copper fouling because of it, and a son-of-a-***** to clean. Ruger wasn't much help over that turd for the longest time, either. It took two years of back and forth to get them to straighten it out.

These were all rifle problems, really, and not cartridge problems.

Everything in the gun room now, whether mine or some other member of the household's, works great.

Yep. .243 Winchester. I've never gotten anything while hunting with one. It's the cartridge I'd really love to switch to but its so unlucky for me. Two different hunting seasons I swore off all other chamberings and devoted entirely to the .243 and I didn't fill a single tag. I carried the cartridge a couple times last year but not as much as I would've liked to but I just feel unlucky with it. On the other hand the .30-30 and .30-06 have been my luckiest cartridges.

.270 has been my 'problem child'. Watched my Dad shoot one out and wanted one. I've now had 3 different rifles and none of them were ever something I warmed up to. I'll stick with all the other firearms. Love the 25-06's I have. Even like the 243's and the 30-06. All shoot well, better than I can some days.

One of, if not my luckiest shots was with a .243 on a coyote running on the other side of a tree line. But hadn't had any before or since.

I have a Tikka Hunter in .243 now and it shoots good and will keep working at changing the luck factor, if there really is any such thing. Maybe I should say it just hasn't been as magical as the 25-06 for me.

If the success factor was the same for me as the 22-250 or 25-06 I would not even give it a thought.

Never read much of Jack O'Conner but I would guess the love for the 270 came as much from his success using it as how the 270 actually performs.

The 243 and the 308....I "love" to "hate" them both.

Nothing makes me drop a rifle faster than seeing those stamps on the barrel....I don't care who made them.

I read a lot of JOC growing up and into shooting and hunting.But the first time I used a 270 on a game animal was on an antelope that looked like a dot across a Montana prairie. After the shot,the others ran off in a cloud of dust and when the dust cleared,the dot was in the same place....on the ground. Done the same thing so many times since it's just gotten boring.

I love the 264 Win Mag;have brass and dies hanging around but may never own another. Hard to justify if you have a 7mm magnum of some sort.

I love the 7 Rem mag...but have to admit it's performance in some rifles has been a bit perplexing.After maybe 20 or more of them, I figured out that if you treat them like a wildcat,feed them the right powders, and toss a lot of the manual data,give them some throat instead of jamming bullets way down in the case,they work like they are supposed to.

I always figured the case could use more neck for seating bullets "out",and a bit more volume(not a bunch). So I built a 7mm Mashburn Super with Dober's help. That worked mo' betta!

Oddly enough, for as much as I have hunted, the one 30-06 I've owned for years seems to be the one with the least amount of blood on it, for the time I have owned it. Started life as a 700 BDL SS (synthetic stock). Couldn't make it shoot groups. Stuck it in a HSP and it got a little better. Took a few head of game with it. But I still lacked confidence. Every time I carried one of my 270s afield, stuff died. Started to hand-load for it and finally got it shooting little groups. It now lives in a Mickey Edge with trigger work and weighs just over 7lbs. I've taken game with it, but I seem to reach for something else most of the time. Might see if I can change that this Fall.

None that I hate, many I have no use for.

Hate- I had a Marlin 94 in .44 Mag, back in the early 80's, that was the worst brand-name POS I ever owned. Wouldn't hold 6MOA with any factory load then available and it taught me what the 'Marlin jam' was all about. Totally put me off their pistol caliber lever actions and I've never owned another one.

Love- my remodeled Winchester 670 in 30-06



http://www.thesixgunjournal.net/the-winchester-670-short-rifle-project/

280Rem. I don't hate it, I've just never had any luck with it. It's a RMEF Ruger M77 I won in a raffle many years ago. I've owned it longer than any other CF rifle in my safe and it's the only rifle I own that I've never loaded for because it is so accurate with Winchester Supreme factory ammo. I've just never had the opportunity to take a shot at a game animal with it. The only animal I have ever seen with this rifle in my hand was a running coyote and I almost blew it in half with those 140s.

I can't stand the Winchester 100. I can't stand the 88 because its looks remind me of a 100.

Remington Jam-masters get no love either.

243wssm in a Browning A-Bolt, it shoots great with a lot of the groups going into 3/4 in with any reasonable load. It feeds pretty rough to not at all if the c.o.l is not just right and I missed a very nice buck with it last fall.

The 270 has been my bug-a-boo. I have owned three from various makers and could not make them shoot well. I tried different bullets, powder, shocks and optics. I finally got rid of them and use other stuff.

The 270 is a pretty tractable cartridge. There are well known loads that perform nicely in most rifles tried. Given that you tried several rifles, powders, bullets, and optics and still couldn't get a 270 to shoot, I'm getting the idea you had a bum die set that was inducing bad runout. Could this have been the case?

/06 for me. Have one built by Charley Robertson that shoots very well and probably the best handeling rifle I have, but seem to always grab the 243 or 308 anymore.

It will become a 6.5x55 or 270 this year.

Men buy a Savage No more problems .My 270 put 15 rounds in 1 1/2 group with Winchester Remington an Federals 130 gr.

A 6.5x55 sounds interesting.

I had a 270 that really didn't jive.
it would put three shots touching,then open up to 12 inches with the next two,as well as having other "issues".
For instance,you could barely open the bolt after firing it ,factory loads or mild handloads.
It pissed me off so much,I sold it for $125,about half what I paid for it.
I was happy as hell for days.

Never have had one that did not work, but have had a few that did not work well. MOdel 70 243 that shoots 3" at best, but took many deer. Interarms Mark X with a headspace issue. 9.3X62 CZ that I love.

I've never been completely beat trying to get a rifle to shoot accurately, but I've bruised up a couple of times. A Model Seven in .260 Rem was the worst.

A close second was the wife's other rifle, A Remington Model 7. Found a couple of loads it shot well after a lot of work. The Winchester Model 70 in 243 still has me flummoxed. Got a 308 barrel for it. It's last chance..

Ruger #1 in 243. I like 243's, hated that gun though. Shot horrible.

I harbor vast contempt for the 7.62 x 39. May all my enemies be so armed.

I will never own a 7 Rem Mag or 35 Whelen again, unless it is to flip them, or use them as a donor.

Met an arrogant hunter once carrying a 7 mag who talked down the 270. He went on a wound a deer that we tried to help track. Never found it. While our crew did just fine with our 270's and a 6.5-06.

Had a Whelen in a Rem classic that absolutely beat the snot out of me.

Love to hate on 308 Winchester and the new model 70's made in Portugal. Love the 30-06 and 9.3x62mm and 338 win mag. Love to pick on the puzzys that shoot 243's.... . They seem to cry about everything..

338-06, what a POS. I shot over 300 rounds thru it, and couldn't get it to group under 2". My 35 Whelen shoots into .5, so this had to go.

Ruger tang safety 338WM. Kicked the snot outta me.

Beautiful dense grained stock, but it had to go.

Probably wrecked the 338 for me.

I never could warm up to a .270 Win. I know lot's of people love them but I just can't like'm.

Sanchez

308 Winchester! Ive bought several rifles and tried to like it but just will always prefer the 30-06 it seems.

That was my experience as well with the Ruger tanger 338WM, some 40 odd years ago. Still remember the day

For me it's the 7-08. Oh I've tried to warm up to it. I've had 3 or 4 of them in years past. I've read all the stories,data,and praise of the round. It all works out on paper. I just can't fall in love with it as hard as I try. Makes good sense. Just doesn't fit well with me.

I had one of those "Tanger" 338s as well. Loved that rifle. Right up to the point of lighting one up. That was the worst felt recoil by far of any rifle I've owned or operated. And I've shot some pretty big stuff. (458 Win and 375 H&H). It was a beauty too. Back in the day their bluing was on par with Weatherby,and the wood was pretty darn good walnut. Before everything went all tactical up in here. Matte and plastic. Just kidding. I like my synthetics as well as the next guy. I'm just glad I'm old enough to remember the days of deep high gloss bluing,and good walnut. We killed stuff with them too. Go figure?

The wing safety Ruger 77 mk. II .338 is no better take my word for it!

7.62x54R Russian bolt guns for hunting. I remember one guy telling me he kept the safety off while sitting on his deer stand. I had a nicely sporterized 30-40 Krag when I was younger. It shot great, but it was like carrying a '57 Pontiac axle around all day. I saw a guy pass me during deer season with a MAS 36 slung on his shoulder and the bolt was closed. Maybe there was no round in the chamber?

In this area? 300 Win-Mag. In our hunt club we have two guys that shoot it and one of my coworkers that hunts almost every day of rifle season in SC (Oct.10 to Jan1) uses it too, and while it is a great caliber in some situations, I cannot see where shooting 150-180lb deer at about 100 to 200 yards, and the 200 is stretching it. More lost meat than anything, but I guess some people thing power trumps accuracy

I & my FIL have used an M44 with an LER scope on it, we walk to and from chamber unloaded, we both sit with it with the bolt handle lifted, but neither hunt with it now, as we consider that unsafe. Most of the foreign ammo for this thing sucks, that which shoots well in both cases have had the jacket separate from the core, but good shooting on our part meant it really did not matter.

As for guns, hands down the Remington 742 series guns. What a POS. I could have and have waxed poetic about what a pathetic piece of garbage it is, and time has done it no favors

Tried several different rifles but never got one to shoot very well w/o a lot of fussing at the bench so I would have to say the 22 hornet. I ve had much better luck with the 218 bee

What percentage of 300 mag users for deer have any business shooting at a distance where it would have a real advantage over a 308?

Started with the .270 Win, and tried the 7-08, .280 Rem, and 7mm RM. Keep going back to the .270 Win. I don't hate the 7mm's just they don't do anything better than my .270 in the long run for hunting.

.308 Win is another I can't warm up to, but I have and shoot 2 .300 Savage rifles as well as a .30-06, and .300 H&H. I've shot a ton of 7.62X51 in the military and .308 on the civilian side, but I keep selling off the .308. Luckily far more people are enamored with it than I and I get the majority of my money back.

Started out hunting with a 7X57 and a box of 140 gr Core Lokts. The combination was effective with the furthest run of a critter being 20 ft or less.

After a few years someone introduced me to the 45/70 and explained how a 400 gr slug would readily dispatch of any game on the planet. Hence the 45/70 marlin lever action replaced my trusty 7X57 and the 7X57 was sold.

Unfortunately the 45/70 soon introduced me to my first ever lost animal. It wasn't because of recoil as I routinely printed under an inch at 100 yds with ease. Soon after I lost another near trophy buck at a mere 50 yds. The rifle had double the recoil and was extremely disappointing when used to take lung shots I had been accustomed to taking. The last animal I shot with my 45/70 was a lung shot at about 30 yds. Sure as hell the animal just up and run off. It ran about 50 yds and stopped and looked straight at me. I knew I never missed because I was friggen accurate as hell when practicing with this rifle. At 80 yds I put the open sights right between the eyes and sure enouph put a hole right between the eyes. I'm a hunter who appreciates the lung shot so to me the 45/70 was nothing more than the biggest hunk of crap I'd ever encountered.

Now I'm using a 270 winchester and the first thing I noticed was my affection for my hunting companions had dramatically increased. No worries though because the increased affection was nothing more than me being more sentimental in my older years and was nothing more than completely natural!

Folks just don't understand 270 luv!

Shod

mathman I do not know, but sometimes wonder. I mean I guess on a LARGE game like a bear or elk or something like that it is useful, beats me. But not here. Again, I think power trumps accuracy here, or at least that is how some seem to view it

I have a hard time liking the .308.




Travis

.270 and .223. Just can't warm up to either - even though I load them for several guys that have them.