Not "overrated" , i.e. given more credit or popularity than they deserve, not "underrated", i.e. given less credit or popularity than they deserve, but "rated" - they are given enough credit and are as popular as they should be.


.375 H&H
.30-06
.270 (gay jokes notwithstanding)


Hmm, might be a short thread...

I agree with those three.

You got the bases covered:
Big game
Deer and elk
Even a coyote cartridge😊

Nah, the 270 (with proper 150 gr. bullets) is good for woodchucks and prairie dogs, a stretch for coyotes. I agree with the 375 H&H and the 30-06 though.

You have a point

I'll lengthen the thread a bit for you- I feel, and have always felt, that the .30-06 is over-rated. It's a great cartridge, don't get me wrong, but no more great than the .308, 7RM, .280, etc. It's often heralded as the messiah of cartridges, without fault or blemish, which all other cartridges have always wished they could be.

I just don't see it. For all practical purposes, the 7RM does everything at least as well with a few more grains of powder, and the .308 does just as well with a few grains less powder. The same can also be said of other cartridges. Great the .30-06 is, but the idol of all others it is not. This is all IMHO.

You forgot one!

.375 H&H
.30-06
.270 (gay jokes notwithstanding)
.22-250

458 Winchester Magnum. Kind of "ho-hum" these days, but does what it does.

Modern day Ellyfant hunters feel you need the extra velocity of the Lott to efficiently kill pachyderms so the Win Mag has fallen out of favor. Bell only ever needed his .275 and he would have just used his .256 had the ammo been reliable.

I'll throw the300 WBY in there and a second on the 22-250.

Despite the seemingly bulletproof deer running around these days, the .30/30 still seems to get the job done, year after year.

They were considered "big medicine" around the turn of the last century, even for elk and moose, and I suspect that they'd still do the job if magazine articles didn't suggest differently.

It's a pretty good round, though I wouldn't want to use it shooting across a large pasture or bean field.

I kinda like the one I bought a year ago, and when I pointed it at a deer last November, the deer ran about 40 yards and dropped dead. Just like any other rifle would have done.

Yeah, I was reading the "other" thread and wondered who underrates the .243 and .30-30, along with several other cartridges mentioned, except maybe gun writers who want to stir up stuff.

Yeah seems to me that we have long since passed the point where we can rationally rank cartridges based on terminal performance; what with so many cartridges packed so tightly based on caliber, bullet weights, velocity etc. Obviously older cartridges are fully up to the task with the right bullets.

Seems we need other reasons to justify newer cartridges and more modern designs but little of this has anything to do with killing.



Among "rated" BG cartridges my own list has always been comprised of: 270,30/06, 7 Rem mag,300 WM,338 WM and 375 H&H.

You can deviate from these core cartridges for BG hunting but I am not sure very much is gained.

Adequate, however, for pests (golden eagles, badgers, the neighbor's cat, etc.).

Well I rate the 30-30 right up there with....


the Model T..


It'll get you there IF you're not going far!


Jerry

I kill deer with mine every season no problem.

Do they usually take out the radiator?

Nobody uses the .30-30 anymore 'cause everybody's got one.


(with apologies to Yogi Berra)

Now THAT'S funny!

This is a great thread for 35 Whelen whiners to chime in with their grievances about how it "should be more popular", or "why didn't it ever..." , or "why do people like the 9.3x62 over the 35?".

IMO the 9.3 doesn't have nostalgia IN the USA.

OTOH I think the 35 W certainly does.

Jerry

The 9.3x62 really has been coming on of late!

It's been so underrated for soooo many years.

Really the whole "overrated" and "underrated" has always been a bit funny to me. Sort of like when someone says "It kills all out of proportion to its size(power)" which really is only pointing to the authors lack of experance. Conversely, no one seems to say it kills "less than its proportionate size" which is often more the case

.280 Ross

Looking at your rated list, it appears you have the trifecta to cover all big game hunting. Here's the but, if it were my list I would bridge the gap by eliminating the 30-06 and replace with the 300 Win. Mag. The 375 and 270 would anchor the ends. Probably just offended 90% of the fire replacing the 06.

I am NOT offended..

Jerry

I am. At some point between the .30 carbine and the .30-378 Weatherby you have enough powder propelling the bullet. For me that is the .30-06.

Yep. Did it by the second post. Win.

Jerry

You have forgotten the top seller in the world

22LR

? Big Game ? Cartridge ?

Jerry

Props to JII for an interesting thread. I'll throw some Scandinavia on and vote for the 6.5 x 55.

Another interesting thread might be "Is there anyone out there in Loonyland that does not own a rifle in one of these calibers?"

My "rated" trifecta would be:

22-250
270
375 H&H

Dat's it... but I don't need no stinking trifecta.

Where in blazes is the 7x57? It can cover all bases from gophers to elleyfaints!

Agree on the .30-30 as I load my '06 to mimic it's ballistics.

Yep....poking fun at the 22-250 "Big Game" post

I have a spoon laying around here somewhere

Fine by me.

Jerry

I got curious about what cartridges might “rate” that I’ve either personally used, or have been used by companions I’ve been standing next to. The most frequent companion has been my wife Eileen, where I’ve had not only a personal interest because of our relationship but because the meat would end up in our freezers, and I’d have to help haul the animal home. (She’s the one who uses the 9.3x72R, in a nifty little German combination gun.) Oh, and usually—but not always—I handloaded her ammo. I handloaded some of the other ammo as well, one example the .22 Savage High Power, loaded for a friend who owned one but didn’t handload.

The animals are arbitrarily divided into two weight classes, which is roughly along the deer/caribou divide. I’ve only killed a dozen caribou, but have probably seen at least that many more taken, and they don’t appear to be harder to kill than deer, and probably not as tough as a rutting whitetail buck. But I did feel there should be some weight division.

The cartridges I haven’t used personally but have seen in action are denoted by an asterisk. If the cartridge is followed by an X, that means extended experience, enough to get a real feel for what the cartridge does, and perhaps by observing others use it as well. I might also note that some of the cartridges are so close to each other in ballistics that even though my experience with each individual round isn’t extensive, add them all together and it is. A good example might be the 6.5x57R, 6.5 Creedmoor and .260 Remington, which all have very similar ballistics to the 6.5x55. The same could probably be said of the .250 Savage and .257 Roberts, or the .300 Magnums. I would also congratulate anybody who can perceive any difference in field performance between the .30-40 Krag, .300 Savage, .303 British and .308 Winchester.

The most consistent observations have been that any cartridge works pretty darn well if its bullets are put in the right place, and bullet “failure” hasn’t been nearly as frequent as many hunters report.

All these cartridges “rate” just where they should in terms of popularity, at least to me.

Deer-sized animals (up to 350 pounds):
.22 Rimfire Magnum*
.22 Hornet
.223 Remington
.22-250 (X)
.220 Swift (X)
.22 Savage High Power*
.243 Winchester (X)
.240 Weatherby (X)
.250-3000 Savage
.257 Roberts (X)
.257 Roberts Ackley Improved (X)
.25-06 (X)
.257 Weatherby Magnum (X)
6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer
6.5x57R
6.5 Creedmoor
.260 Remington
6.5x55 (X)
6.5/.284*
6.5-06
.264 Winchester Magnum (X)
6.8 SPC
.270 Winchester (X)
.270 Weatherby Magnum
7mm-08
7x57 (X)
.280 Remington (X)
.280 Remington Ackley Improved
7mm SAUM (X)
7mm Remington Magnum (X)
7mm STW
.30-30 WCF (X)
.30-40 Krag
.300 Savage
.308 Winchester (X)
.30-06 (X)
.300 WSM (X)
.300 H&H Magnum
.300 Winchester Magnum (X)
.303 British
8x57 Mauser
.325 WSM*
.338 Federal
.338-06
.338 WSM*
.338 Winchester Magnum (X)
.35 Remington
.358 Winchester (X)
.35 Whelen
9.3x72R*
9.3 B-S (X)
9.3x62 Mauser (X)
.375 H&H (X)
.416 WSM
.45-70 (X)
.458 Lott
.50-110 WCF
20 gauge
12 gauge

Animals from 350-1500 pounds:
.22-250*
.257 Roberts*
.257 Weatherby Magnum
.270 Winchester (X)
.270 WSM (X)
7x57 (X)
7mm Remington SAUM (X)
7mm Weatherby Magnum
.308 Winchester (X)
.30-06 (X)
.300 Winchester Magnum (X)
.300 Weatherby Magnum
.300 Remington Ultra Magnum
.325 WSM*
.338 Winchester Magnum
.358 Winchester*
9.3 B-S (X)
9.3x62 Mauser (X)
9.3 Sisk (8mm Rem. Magnum necked up)*
.375 H&H (X)
.375 Ruger*
.416 Rigby (X)
.416 Remington Magnum*
.458 Lott*
.50-110 WCF*
12 gauge

John, I gotta ask how the 350 - 1500 lb animal and the 12 gauge played out

Mine will always be,

.416 Rem
.30-06
.243

and if it were legal in all places I hunt, I'd replace the 243 w/,

5.56 NATO

and if looking for one to replace both 416 and 30-06,

9.3x62

Regardless center fire rifle, rimfire will always be,

22 long rifle.

For big game:
243
30-06
375 H&H

Don't overlook the .303" British !

I can add that a 22lr also works on deer size game just fine.

And that a 50 bmg on deer size game is about the most un impressive thing I've ever used on a deer...

Can't say for sure, but I'm betting you might change your mind on the .50 if you shot a deer lengthwise

Exactly, but you left out .223 rem and 338 win mag...

Where is 22 lr 'legal' for deer hunting ?

Jerry

Here in NC for one.

Thats possible. Not much into those shots generally though.

Lung shots have run further than smaller rounds...and they have a pretty good size hole in the lungs...

OT a bit here, but I suspect its the amount of noise the gun makes when it goes off, vs much of anything else.

I was being a bit facetious, but based on my experience shooting gophers with CF rifles like the 7RM, .30-06, etc, shooting them broadside doesn't offer enough resistance to really do a ton of damage, but when you shoot them lengthwise, the body explodes as if it had an IED go off underneath them. I suspect the damage you'd see from a .50 on deer would likewise be more impressive when shot from stem to stern.

You're probably right about the blast.

DG game to chipmunks.

.375 H&H
.300 WBY
.30-06
.243
.22 LR

My collections runs the gamut from 221 Fireball to 458 Win, but I've never owned a 30.06. I do have a 300 RUM to cover the 30 Caliber itch, but my "go to" rifles for my neck of the woods seems to be my 7-08AI and my 338 Federal.

Could be the cheapazz showing as less powder is required , but I think it's the softer recoil and the fact that they simply get the job done. As I age, I'm gravitating to less recoil, and my 6mm calibers and .224 (223 & 22-250) is seeing more trigger time. The 375 and 458 tend to stay home, unless bison is on the menu.

There I fixed it for you.

Anything that doesn't require hand loading rates pretty damn high for me. Which means lotsa stuff available in lotsa places when a democrat is in office.

What's interesting to me is how much of a fad gun writers trigger.
There are many that would generally be "rated" as good big game cartridges, yet as fads come and go, (as well as marketing) the top sellers don't change much.

I think one of the best well engineered is the .338 Win Mag. With one of these in the lineup for big game you really could pass on most everything else.

When I don't fill my elk tag with the bow, the .338WM is what goes out the door every day.

To be new to hunting now days, and be reading up on what equipment to buy, you'd get the impression you absolutely have to have a big cased long range precision rifle, a Hubble scope with knobs and nothing else will be adequate.

The difference in cartridges from 223 to 458 when it comes to killing stuff is pretty minimal. Pick whatever makes you happy, go hunting, and worry about the stuff that matters, like regularly applying sunscreen and drinking a glass of wine a day to prevent heart disease.

I've shot more elk with 338 WM and 250 Partitions than all other cartridges and bullet combinations combined. I totally agree.
Except I've hung up my bow.

Cartridge over-selection is the male equivalent of trying out a new shampoo and conditioner. The only person who sees the difference in the end result is the buyer, simply because he or she spent the money and thus must convince themselves their new cartridge/shampoo does something better than the old version.

Reminds me of the old L'Oreal ad slogan -- "Because I'm worth it"

Holy schit that's funny, and too damn true. I won't mention the time I counted 27 half empty shampoo bottles from my X

Many men think women can't make up their minds, but how many times have you read "I've decided to go in a different direction" as the reason for selling either a relatively new custom rifle, or the parts for a planned custom rifle in the Campfire Classfieds?

All of them! 30-06 = VO-5

That's because a lot of them don't know what they want to build the rifle for in the first place.

Too quick to throw their money down on something they don't have a clue about. . My money is too hard earned to be doing that chit...

So should my latest 338 WM have a 22" or 24" barrel? All kidding aside, I don't understand the remorse or "new direction" when they haven't tried it in the first place. I get sellers remorse.

23.

"......and maybe one day an elk"

I suspect many people also are influenced by the latest fad they read in magazines or nowadays hear about from the self appointed cool clique on internet forums - whether it be the coolest, latest chambering, scope, knife or rectumectomy device...

Jim,

It doesn't even have to be an Internet forum. Word of mouth still works.

Recently I got a call from a barrelmaker and gunsmith, asking if I knew a guy we'll call Bub. It seems Bub used to live in the gunsmith's town in another state, and the gunsmith built him a .338 Lapua. Bub then moved to my part of Montana, and all of a sudden the gunsmith started getting phone calls from this part of Montana about getting one of his "magic" .338 Lapua barrels that get 3200 fps with 250-grain bullets. The gunsmith kept telling them that he did not make magic .338 barrels, that

So I asked around and yes, Bub had become the long-range hunting expert in my local rod and gun club, which has a 1000-yard range. I do one of the members, who owns the record for the smallest 1000-yard benchrest groups shot in competition, but hadn't yet met Bub, who had indeed been bragging about the magic barrel on his .338 Lapua. But I also out that the action on his .338 Lapua had disintegrated a week or so before, while he was shooting at the range with several other people.

All of a sudden the calls to the barrelmaker/gunsmith for magic .338 barrels ceased, but I wonder how many of the other shooters actually believed Bub's BS?

Somewhere there's guys with the same arguments and the same cast of characters whining about computers....

The 22 Creed is going to make all others obsolete.




Travis

But see, the barrel was magical it was the action the disintegrated. The only thing missing is a magical action and magical brass.

And cars and motorcycles and boats and fishing rods and golf clubs and chain saws and anything else grown boys play with.

Gotta love human nature.

It is always great to chat about these things and we all have our opinions.My opinion is to to a lesser recoiling rifle and a suitable bullet for nearly everything.Bullets these days can be quite amazing...the little 7/08 is a giant killer with them.Cheers

My experience is that people have to have what the winner of the match has. In lever action silhouette it was a 38-55 Marlin. In pistol silhouette it was a xp-100 in a 7mm MSHA (rear grip). If the winner said nothing but Rem 9 primers work, next month most showed up with Remington 9 primers.

If you lost the match it was do to under performing equipment.

I think a .375 H&H, a .264 Win Mag, and a 220 swift. Mostly because you can get them in a pre 64 model 70. If those are all the guns I could own.

A guy with a good a 30-06 pretty well has the bases covered. If he is really lazy then a good 180gr load will handle about anything from moose to deer or antelope.

.375
.30-06 or 270
.22-250