Not asking for your favorite, not asking which one is best, what cartridge have you taken the most game(medium game and up) with?

Let's see how they stack up. We'll come up with a list and add it up Wednesday night.

8x57js

You asked two different questions. Which one do you want answered.

Fixed it.

30/06

Where did you find two questions?

.270 Winchester

Jim

30/30 no question

270 Winchester with 375H&H being a very close 2nd, or maybe even tied. I don't know for sure.

But if they are tied in 1st place with me, the one in 2nd place would be the 30-06, and it's probably at 25% of what I have killed with either the 270 or the 375.

25/06...I think a few more with it than the 270

7 STW, back in the day I did depredation work for a Wal-Mart watermelon and pumpkin farmer, oh how I miss that.

.270

.270

270 Win



7 RM close second

257 Roberts

25-06 Remington

308 win

6BR...but I shot kangaroos for a living for fifteen years, so technically they were product.

And the cartridge used by the vast majority of kangaroo shooters (Professional Trappers) in Australia is the 223 Remington topped with a 55 gr projectile, with Nosler bt being very popular.

280 Remington

308 Win

Probably a .35 Whelen, but possibly a 25/06 or .270.

.270

You know, before he edited it and after he posted 'Fixed it'


Tough to follow a thread for Canucks, eh...

Probably the .264 Win Mag.

280 rem.

308 win, more than all my other cartridges combined I believe.

30.06

7mm rem mag

Do tell. ?????

270 or 243 but it's a push I bet.

.375 H&H

.243

.30-06

338 WM

8x57js

8x57js

12 gauge

Ruger Mini 30 7.62x39

Ken

.308

308 Winchester

308 Winchester

30/06.

.243 Win

260 Rem

12 ga slug for deer being from south eastern Minnesota
Rifle 7mm mag

7 mm Rem mag for sure

270 Win

.30/06 & .270

.30-06

.270

7mm08 and most of that after I had it re-barreled and improved. miles

Why the good old 30-06. From whitetail deer, blacktail deer, black bear, brown bear, mountain goat and ground hogs, its never left me feeling I needed anything else. Im a sucker for swiss army knife, do-it-all type kind of stuff. The 30-06 is the ultimate in this regard.

284 win

260 Remington

Started with 30-06 probably took 5 deer with that
Moved to 358 win took a half dozen with that
25-06 half dozen with that
338 Federal - 3 deer
260 Remington only for 5 years and I lost count 12+

.270 WCF

Ask again in a couple years, and the answer might be .308.

7MM RM

257 roberts

.30-06 followed closely by the .30-30

270

Another 243 guy here Only for me it has been the 6mm Rem

.30-06

270 win

270 Winner

30-06

6mm Rem

Looks like more 270's than anything else.

30-06 by a long shot.

30-06

30/06 although I don't own one anymore.

308 Norma mag and 270 it's pretty much a tie

30/06----I still use factory ammo.

30-30

.257 Weatherby

270 Win

25-06 Rem

7mm-08

300 Win Mag by a lot but second would be a Remington 788 in 22-250 that shot a lot of caribou and moose in the vill.

7mm-08

I must add that the little 7mm-08 has never disappointed me in any way. It just flat out has always worked on deer!

30-06

7mm Remington mag, followed by 7mm-08

30-06 for Me


308 Win 2nd


.300 Win is 3rd but still My favorite........Hb

+1!

.22 Hornet.

.260 for me and never shot a deer with one. Antelope and pigs mostly.
Funny thing is I have never killed anything with a .308, .270 or a .30-30 and have owned them all.
Second most killed was with a 7mm br.

.22 hornit

.350 Rem Mag, but .308 is catching up fast.

.308 hands down.

.30-30 with the .30-06 a close second.

6mm Rem. 742 and factory corelokts believe it or not.

.30-30

I have currently killed deer with 48 different cartridges and haven’t killed a “lot” with any one cartridge, but have killed more with the .243 Win and 6.5mm Rem Mag than any others to date.

CowboyTim, A .375 AI! Almost all kills with Barnes X,TSX, or TTSX!

270 WCF....

7X57

30-30

250-3000

250-3000 for me also

Not sure it's one of four, .223, .22-250, .243 or .250 Savage.

243 win

Yep, me too. Primarily with a 115 NPT.

As well with me. I have probably taken half the deer I've killed with a '70 model M94.

Nothing special, but it works.

30-06

270

270

By far, the great .30-06 Springfield

7mm Rem Mag back in the day....

308 Winchester

270 Win.

Dale

.300 Win Mag.

30-06 by a long shot (no pun intended).

.308

270Win.

7mm RM by far.

257 Roberts Ackley improved.

Really ?

Don't you know that...
With 1/2 the powder...

With 1/3 less bullet wt..

With much less RECOIL... and

With a Short Action...

you can kill the same game ? sheesh!!




BTW, you are my kind of guy!!



Jerry

243

.243. Far and away...

30-06 with the 7X57 second.

Toss up
7mm RemMag
338 WM

44 Mag since we generally aren't allowed rifles for deer in my home state.
Rifles: a tie between 243 Win and 25-06 Rem.

30-06 followed by 223 or 22-250

Toss up between the 30-06 and the 338WM.

An old buddy of mine was married to the farmers daughter, they were talking one day, the farmer ask my buddy, is there a sombitch that can shoot across this field and hit a deer?, my buddy said, I know one.

I met the farmer and two G&F Wardens and was handed 150 depredation permits to get started, Good Times!

Did a quick tally, to-date. Where two or more were mentioned, picked the first one mentioned. Might be off by one or two, but no surprises. .30-06 and .270 collect not quite half the votes...

1st: .30-06 @ 21
2nd: .270 @ 19
3rd: .308 @ 9
4th: 7 RM @ 7
5th: .30/30 & .243 tied @ 6 each

CowboyTim, My wife has used,243 Win,.264 Win. Mag.,.270 Win., and .338 WM. She's used the .338 exclusively since '94. With it she's taken a far amount of game, almost all were one shot kills! memtb

30-06 by a wide margin

30/30

308 Win.

308 Win

270 Win

No surprises at all on the top two being way out ahead of all the rest, a bit surprised that the .308 showed up third, but the 7 RM and .30-30/.243 in the top 5 continue the no surprises list.

Hard to make definitive conclusions but it's easy to see that while we like to play with the current front runner in the ballistic gack races (or the oldest and "coolest" depending on one's preferences), when it comes to hunting the tried and true gets the nod most often. That or all of us responding are a bunch of old pharts who shot the .30-06/.270 a lot 'cause that's all there was when we were growing up.

Interesting post, thanks for starting it.

Cowboy Tim;
Thanks for the interesting thread, it's turned out the way I figured it would - but it's nice to have hunched verified now and again.

For me it's .30-06 by a fair bit I'd think.

I've got to drag out my hunting diary now and see by how much.

Thanks again and have a good weekend.

Dwayne

Jim in Idaho,

I was not surprised to see .30-06 and .270 at the top. However, given the 30+ chamberings mentioned, I was surprised that it was .30-06 and .270 versus "everything else"...

Interesting to see a little empirical data regarding why firearm manufacturers tend to be reluctant to tool up for the "cartridge du jour"...

7x57

It always has been and it always will be. Pretty much the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry of hunting cartridges.

Nicely said.

30-06 by far.

243 in distant second.

The -06 is so good to me over the years, that the wife usually yells at me and says to "Get out Ol' Reliable and go kill something instead of wasting all of our time."

Amazingly, I have never missed an animal that I've shot at with the 30-06, and have never lost one wounded either.

I'm tied between the 7mm/08 and the 6mm according to my book.

.308 Win

.30 wcf

By far and away 30-06.

Total tally is easy. 1 deer. My second deer, back in '86 up in pikes co PA.


Every other deer taken has been via 12 g, 50 cal, 54 cal, and 45 cal muzzleloaders.

mybe 1/3 to 1/2 using the 45 cal ml.

'06.

30 in first place, 25 close behind. Then .338WM

7-08

Interesting thread. I honestly didn't know until I checked my notes. 30-06 came out on top.

You got me to thinking, but I would say the 30-06. Then maybe a 300 WM and 30338. I have also used 243, 257 Roberts, 250-3000, 6.5x55, 308, 22-250, 223, 45-70 and 44 mag.

308 Win

30-06

.308

Closely followed by .270 and .243

.223

30-06 for me

It's a toss up between the 7x57 and the 270 WSM and lately the 358 Win has been catching up.

Dan

Over 40 years, the 30-06, cause I wasn't yet educated to all the stuff I should have ignored.

.338 Win Mag because of two trips to Africa.

Here, I use and prefer a 7x57.

donsm70

This may surprise some but my 250ai would be 1st.follwed by my .270 and 280 ai

It would be either the 30-06 or 257Wby. They were the first 2 that I did a good bit of hunting with before I got into collecting. Since then I've been trying out new cartridges each year so rarely more than 1 kill per cartridge.

I'll add - I've killed exactly 1 each with the 270 and 7Mag, 0 with 308, 30-30, or 243.

7-08. I don't know how many hogs I have taken with it and it is double digit on deer.

30-06 and 260, dont have numbers, but those two are running a pretty close race.

7-08 by a large margin but I don't own one at the moment so the others will be catching up

By far an away the.270 Winchester followed fairly close by .338 Winchester magnum, then I got into "playing" with other stuff so neither has been out of vault much of late.

.270, .280, 7-08, and .308, taken a lot of game with all. Not sure in witch order.

300 H&H. I've had one longer than any other centerfire cartridge. For many years it was my only centerfire rifle for big game.

My Remington 243 heavy barrel varminter from the 80's.
Bought it in Germany, at the rod and gun club.
Shot a few roe deer with it.
Brought it back to the states, and have shot ground squirrels, ground hogs, a pheasant, turkeys, Fox, coyotes, badgers, whitetail deer, mule deer, a fallow deer in Belgium, and an few antelope.
I'm sure I may have missed some critter or 2, but a 243 has been with me a long time.
7x64, would be 2nd.
Many Roe deer, a bear in Maine, a coyote or 2, and a few whitetails.
My 280ai, a few cow elk, and 2 oryx.

.308, from one end of the spectrum to the other:

7-08

.30-30

30-06 AI for me.

Hey thanks for all the responses, I'll get this totaled up Wednesday after work. For the sake of fairness if someone lists more than 1, I will count the first one listed.

308 win

.30-06

Jack

280 Remington

very close.

It is either the 7-08 or the 300wsm.

Prior to 1996, it was the 270


all but one of my favorite animals were with the 300, though.

300WSM

280 Remington

270 followed closely by 30-06

.30-06

30-06 for me followed by a 300 Wby.

Of the 12 or 15 I've actually used to hunt with, 7mm RM, without a doubt.

Not even close, 7mmRM.

30-06

numbers 257 Weatherby
variety of species 300 Weatherby

270 by far the most deer kills then a 25-06

25-06 followed closely by a 243.

300 savage

30-30

with 300 Savage getting closer.

.308 followed closely by the 30-06

30/06 and 303 Brit.
A strange combo but back in my younger days when money was tight I made a lot of meat with my SMLE, when I got a little wealthier I built a semi-custom 30/06 and used it for a lot of years but I didn't hunt as much with it as I had the SMLE.

drover

30/06 here. It was all I used for 24 yrs......since then a bunch have fell to a few different cartridges....7X57, .350 Rem, 6.5 Rem, .223, .50 ML.....

I think it is amazing that with all of the rifle loonies on this site, that have every imaginal combination of manufacturer, caliber, stock, trigger, barrel and glass that the 30-06 gets the nod for most used. We are the children of the "greatest generation" who fought the great war and thus became enamored with the "odd-6". I get it, it's like the Ford F-150, the Plymouth slant six engine, boringly efficient. When I am long gone it would be interesting to see if the"new generation" of loonies will be shooting the same or if something else comes to the forefront?

6mm remington

Count me out on that one.

Prefer the 280.

Due to some African cull hunts and bait massacres, a 300 magnum.

Winchester, H&H or Weatherby. Not sure which would have the most kills logged, probably the Winny.

270 Win. I later went to other rounds, but am considering going back to the 270.

22-250 followed close by the 7mm Rem Mag.

OK here we go...TOP 3:

1. 30-06 39 votes
2. .270 WCF 25 votes
3. .308 Win 18 votes

With more than 5 votes:
4. TIE 30/30 & 7mm-08 10
6. 7mm Rem Mag 9
7. 243 Win 7
8. 280 Rem 5

Rounding out the Top 10:
9. TIE 6mm Rem & 25-06 4

5 with 3 votes
260 Rem, 257 Roberts, 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, 7mmx57

6 with 2 votes
8x57js, 12 ga, 257 Weatherby, 22 Hornet, 250-3000, .223 Rem

and 17 others with 1 vote.

Not sure if my numbers are 100% right, but it was fun. Thanks for playing!!!

CowboyTim

Yep; tho 257 Rob is gaining fast...

Another 270 here...

223: 350 hogs - 25 coyotes- 30 deer during deer season - 250+ deer on soybean deer depredations
6.8spc: 390 hogs - 18 coyotes - 42 deer during deer season - 170 deer on soybean deer depredations
308: 3 deer - 1 hog
270: 4 deer - 1 coyote
300WM: 6 deer

Interesting how this compares to die sales. This is 2012 info from RCBS
RCBS 2012 Top 10 Rifle Reloading Die Sales

By Chuck Hawks

Curious about the popularity of centerfire rifle cartridges among reloaders? There usually isn't a dramatic change from year to year; it is more like a glacial movement. Regardless, here is RCBS's 2012 sales list (first published in 2013) for their top 10 best selling rifle reloading die sets:

.223 Remington
.308 Winchester
.30-06 Springfield
.243 Winchester
.270 Winchester
.300 Winchester Magnum
.22-250 Remington
7mm Remington Magnum
.30-30 Winchester
.25-06 Remington

Although missing the top 10, .338 Winchester Magnum remains the best selling of all medium bore cartridge reloading dies. The most interesting changes on this RCBS die sales list are the .308 surpassing the .30-06 as the number one big game hunting cartridge among reloaders and the .300 Win. Mag. passing the 7mm Rem. Mag. Since all .300 Magnums indisputably kick too hard for most hunters to handle without flinching, the latter is particularly deplorable.

Just because YOU can't handle a .300 doesn't mean everyone is that way..

Sorry I guess it was this Hawks guy being quoted..

No prob. I'm just p*ssed that my 375H&H barely got a mention.

270 Winchester

I find my .300 Win Mag, easier to shoot than my .270, despite being a half pound lighter, the .300 fits me a bit better. Could be the longer barrel on the .300 has something to do with it too the weight is a bit more toward the front(although I don't claim to be any kind of expert on what makes for more felt recoil).

6mm rem

270 most by a lot
7RM second
280 third
25-06 fourth

Blacktailer

This is just my opinion not based on stats. I'd think the 308 is/was ahead of the 06 because of the AR platform rifles ! Make sense ?

Jerry

Edit to amend: that list by Hawks is of REloaders not necessarily hunters. By that I mean reloaders are shooters and don't have to be hunters.

I'm with you Reloader28 I have owned exactly 1 and that was for 1 year and then off it went although it did account for 1 deer my nephew shot with it using reduced loads.

I think the 308 and 300WM get used an awful lot for competition shooting. That would explain their higher die sales.

7mm08 followed closely by .260

30-06, followed closely by 308.

That's assuming that the topic is centerfire rifle cartridges. I've taken a lot of turkeys with my 12 ga.

.270, it was my only centerfire rifle from 1972 until .2005.

308 Win for sure

300SAUM but my 243 is rapidly catching up

30/06

A few years back, I got the brass bucket from my club's sight in days. This was in Pa. and the weekend before buck season started. 30-06 was far and away the most prevalent empty in it. 243 was second (about half as many) then the 270 and 30-30. 308, 6mm Rem, 260, 35 Rem and others were there but not in any great numbers.

It's not definite numbers because it might take more shots to sight in a 30-06 than a 243 and many folks kept their brass but the trend was pretty solid, 30-06 was Numero Uno. Seems to me they had about 80 guns come through the line.

Dale

.270win or it could be the .270 🙃

.30-06

30-06. I am interested in almost all of them except the 7 Rem., the .243, and the short mags. My disinterest is more from personal rather than practical reasons.

270 probably, but then I wore the barrel out of a 257Rbts XTR Fwt too back in those days... and only stopped shooting the Rbt's when WW stopped making White Box 100gr Silvertips and never could find anything to replace them with ...and neither could my gunsmith who owned his own range even with his moly coated stuff that was always his sure cure.
Ron

For me it's a .270. It and an old 30-06 were my only centerfire rifles from around 1978 until 2006 when I came across the Campfire.

By now I'd have to say the .223 and its derivative the .223AI

The 7x57 a close second to the little guns.

30-06 followed by the .338wm. Neither make it out of the safe much anymore. Use a lot more mild rounds these days. Just took my 62nd elk a couple weeks ago with a 6.5 cm.

7-08 followed by .270

7mm Rem Mag

7X57 E

.308 for sheer number of game

.350 mag for variety of game

250-3000, in two forms.

270

.223

The most game is with either a 338 or a 416 Taylor. Both of these have been to Alaska and Africa twice hence the "most" game. I have to many deer calibers to favor one over the other.

.300WSM, followed by my .280 Rem.

12ga. rifled slug.

Using a different rifle often is the spice of life. Killed just a few critters each but with a bunch of different cartridges.

.222, .222 magnum, .223, .250-3000, 250 AI, 270 Titus, .284, 30/06, 358, 375 Winchester

30-06 I've owned 3 models

30-06

280 Remington

.243- It seems to kill coyotes as equally as well as it kills whitetails.

.30-06

.30-06

7-08

30-06

270 hands down. Bought the 1st one in 1969-'70...and almost never been wthout one since then. 257 Rbt's would be 2nd and then a mix of calibers in more rifles than I can remember.
Ron

Looks to me like 270, 30 06. Then 7 mag

Dunno it was the .30-30 or 20 ga. Several tons with each.

.270

7 mag followed by the 7-08. But here lately the 223 is catching up

30-06 0ne
25-06 One
.243 40+
.270 350+

3 all about equal
30-06
25-06
257 WBY

35 Whelen here

270wcf

.35 Whelen
.30-06
.257 Roberts

270WCF

243

6.5 Swede

25/06

Rabbits, coyotes, antelope, wt deer, mule deer, one bull moose.

Could have shot most anything I've used a larger cartridge for, with it

270 WCF. Started in 1979 when I got a Ruger M77 for Christmas.
It was my only big game rifle for a lot of years.
There's probably 35-40 deer fell to it's devastating effects.

First - define "game"... If P-dogs fit - then the 22-250.. If you mean NA big game, then deer with a .264WM..

30-06. But looking back it was unnecessary. I could've done all the same stuff with a 7mm-08 or even a 6.5 Swede. I was a product (victim?) of the PA 30-06 mindset of which I'm no longer a disciple.

.30-06

300 savage
Then 308

7X57

Slow day. Did another quick tally (+/-). ~230 total votes. 38 different chamberings. Outcome to date by chambering:

1) 52 votes - 30-06
2) 40 votes - 270 Win
3) 19 votes - 308 Win
4) 12 votes - 7mm-08
5) 11 votes - tied: 30-30, 7 Rem Mag
7) 9 votes - 243 Win
8) 6 votes - 280 Rem
9) 5 votes - tied: 223, 25-06, 257Robt, 6mm Rem, 7x57


And by bore diameter:

1) 92 votes - .308
2) 40 votes - .277
3) 36 votes - .284
4) 15 votes - tied: .243, .257

.300 Win mag

270 Win

308 Win by far.

Top 3 have the highest number of ammo choices at Midway

308 - 137
30-06 - 121
270 - 61

My guess is the top two include quite a bit of mil-surp stuff. Means nothing if you reload and everything if you don't.

I'd be happy with any of the three.

What, no 25-20?

Without a doubt 270 win. 130 grain Winchester power points. My first rifle, and while it lost its perch as primary rifle a few years ago it gets plenty of backup usage as I leave it locked up at the farm and I can't take guns to work so any afternoon I get off early enough to hunt it get taken out. Just now upgraded the 6-18x50 bushnell banner for a 3-9x50 VX-1. I'd say my primary the last two seasons probably set a 2 season record though, a 338WM shooting 200 grain hornady superformance SSTs. From now on though I see my 270 eventually being passed by a 308 with an undetermined weight partition...

.308, probably followed next by .35 Whelen

30-30

.300 Win mag. Not because I needed the power but because it's always been my go to rifle that doesn't seem to miss. I hunt with several others but when the fun is over and it's time to get meat, the .300 always comes out.

I know you didn't ask but second place would be a tie probably between .280 Rem and 30-30, maybe a slight edge to the .280 since I haven't killed with the 30-30 in a long while. I might have to change that for old time sake.

Although I don't own one anymore, probably a 300 WSM. Man, I stacked up a lot of deer with that cartridge a few years back! Now, I'm running a 280 Rem, and a 308 Win. Not sure which one will be my favorite, as they are both tack drivers. The 280 has an edge, though. I hunt big bean fields primarily.

for me it has to be the 308.

Ive taken Deer, Elk, Moose, Caribou, Sheep of several types and a black bear with it.

Ive used other stuff too but by far, I've done the most with a 308.

3006 , 270 a close second

.280 Remington, 2nd would be a tie between .308 & 7mm-08.