I'm going to say "It depends."
For instance, I knew a fellow years ago that hunted whitetail out of club down in GA and said he'd bought a 300 WIN MAG for the deer in the swamps. That just didn't make sense to me. A coworker finally filled me in on the rest of the story: he was the camp drunk.
On the other hand my buddy, SuperCore, had a 300 WIN Mag that he loaded down to 30-06 levels and shot 165 grainers from and it was both pleasing to look at and a joy to shoot.
270 WIN is one of those cartridges that put me in an evil mood just thinking about it. On the other hand, I've never met a 270 WIN shooter that didn't seem sincere. Most of them were women, so I guess that maybe the reason I cut them slack.
People who shoot 35 Whelen are my brothers. I keep a 35 Whelen round next to my chair in the family room. I find it soothing to hold.
223 REM. Look, if you want to shoot deer with 223 REM, I'm all for it. I'm 223 REM- curious myself. On the other hand, if you show up in black tactical gear and have a M92 on a drop leg holster, I'm going to strongly suggest you hunt on the next ridge over.
People who shoot expensive 12 GA shotguns have my respect. People who hunt turkey with cheap 12 GA shotguns have my admiration. People who hunt turkeys with $1200 shotguns for turkey have my disdain. $8/round turkey loads double the disdain.
People who shoot Skeet with a deer barrel with rifle sights I know I'll be fast friends with.
People at the range who shoot full-sized torso targets with 12 GA birdshot at 10 feet are folks I want to stay away from.
I'm neither here nor their on a .300 Winchester. I suppose its a great round judging by all the people that like it. I prefer the Weatherby for its longer neck and It out runs the Winchester about 100 FPS, which is not earth shaking. Actually, I have the Weatherby because I got a good deal on a used Mark V Lazer Mark and took it.
As for the .270 Winchester, I'm no woman and I love the cartridge and I know lots of other men who love it besides me. Most people I know who bitch about it probably never shot one. All I can say about it is that it has worked very well for me for 53 years. With the right bullets it's a bang flop killer of game. I don't shoot at game over 400 yards but it will kill Medium game and elk DRT at more traditional hunting ranges. There is a move on to make barrels with tighter twists and there are some longer higher BC bullets coming out for it, so if you want to shoot to the next Zip Code I'm sure it would do that well. I don't need it and the more traditional bullets for it make me happy. There's lots of people on these forums that use it for elk. I say that even though I've never been elk hunting. But the volume of people here that claim to have killed elk with them makes me believe they are effective for that.
I agree on the Whelen. I know at least 100 people that shoot a Whelen and kill big animals with them and love it. I have a 9.3x62 that fills that niche for me, but I could have gone the other way and built a Whelen just as easily. I just got talked into building the 9.3, and I'm satisfied with it.
I feel the .223 Remington has its place. I have two, a Savage bolt gun and an AR. I haven't used it for hogs yet but know it will work on them and plan to use the AR on some this Spring. I too get cranky when I see some clown dressed like a Ninga using it on elephants. I think it has it's place but anything bigger than deer and hogs should get something more appropriate. However, you hunt your cape buffalo and I'll hunt mine.
I love 12 gauges and own 3. I don't care how much yours cost. Last time I checked my particular Citori was selling for around $1500. If you can find one cheaper good. I also have an express 870 that probably goes for less than $400 new. I don't care how much yours costs. I also have a nearly 80 year old Model 12 Winchester. I have no idea what one goes for today, and if you can find a grass sack full of 'em for $100 good for you.
And finally, I don't care how you kill your skeet. i kill mine with an improved cylinder or skeet choke tube. If you kill yours with a .270 thats fine with me. just warn me if you're doing it around where i am so I can dodge those flying bullets.
Now I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I'm just having a little fun with the OP. Actually, I'm pretty easy to please. However the only pet peeve I have is people touting the 6.5s over other diameters. There's nothing magical about them. Any caliber you can find a barrel twist that will stabilize the bullet that will make it happen for you will make it happen for you. If you can get a barrel for your .270 or hell, your 257 Roberts for that matter that will allow you to shoot your 170 grain (.270) or 130 grain (.257 Bob) that will allow you to shoot into the next zip code then go for it. I'm outta here for now, "Say good night Gracie!"
